i would recommend going out to microsoft's site, and getting one of the express editions of their programming languages. vb is fairly straightforward, and C# is fast replacing C++ as an industry standard.
i never finished college, and just barely passed math. but i understand machines (and far prefer them to people).
there's lots of jobs, depending on the area your in. i stumbled across one after a bit of time on unemployment, and from what i've seen from one search agent on a job site i have running there's an average of 4000+ jobs a month in texas. the thing with this industry is you have to be willing to relocate.
good luck.
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