This is 40 (not the movie)

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Last month, I turned 40, and I am not happy about it.

In fact, I feel a great deal of sadness because even though I can legally sue for age discrimination, I feel shut of potential employment because of my age (and for being a non-traditional learner), despite knowing much of the technology needed for good-paying work.

My age is also an obstacle for meeting people with the same interests, and with dating, I have officially reached "dirty old man" status. Most people with the same interests are in their 20s and 30s. Even if age wasn't a factor, nobody in Houston has the same interests (animated sitcoms) as me, due to Texas being right-wing MAGA country. I have considered relocating to Seattle, figuring that there are way more people with the same interests there. But housing costs are so high that if one doesn't have a 6-figure income, they're doomed to long-term homelessness. So I have studied the technology needed to find work there that pays 6 figures, even if it's way over my head.

That's the problem. The field I am trying to get in, data analysis/data science, *is* probably way over my head. The field I am experienced in, GIS (Geographic information systems), is a very small field, and doesn't pay enough to where I can live in Seattle. Urban planning, my specialization with my geography degree, is another field I am qualified for, but it too, doesn't pay enough.

As far as relationships go, I haven't had one in 13 years. I am wondering if I should just give up. Nobody here has the same interests, I can't afford to live anywhere where people do have the same interests, and on top of that, my sex drive is through the roof and I am stuck in an evangelical, flood-prone wasteland.

I can't be myself in Houston. I am a political moderate, where I am expected to be either a "Trumpian" or a "Bernie Bro". I am a Lutheran, where I am expected to be either Catholic or go to some megachurch. I watch shows like the Simpsons and South Park, which nearly all conservatives consider to be as bad as porn--though I don't identify as liberal either.

All this is stressing me out severely.

I'd have a midlife crisis if I had a life. Joking aside, I feel you. I feel so incompatible with my age. I too have been single for well over a decade. Most people my age are mature adults that have life, mostly figured out, I am not that. It seems most women my age are incompatible and I too am a dirty old man in how people tend to talk about men my age. I am not a Sugar Daddy nor would I ever wish to be one. I am constantly reminded how old I am and feel like I have no place in this world. I wish I had some sort of advice to give. I hope it works out for you Tim, you seem like a good guy.

I'm doomed because my degree isn't in the great, almighty computer science.

The only way I could have gotten what I want would have been to:

Have gone to the Univ. of Washington right after high school (that way, I could have already been in Seattle), majored in computer science, finished in exactly 4 years, had a job before I graduated (and met every requirement, basically being the "perfect" candidate), never gotten laid off (so no gaps in employment).

And I would have to found work during a "buyer's market" as far as housing goes.

What really happened:

Went to a local community college, majored in GIS, worked full-time for a few years, went back to college full-time, majored in geography from a 4-year university in Texas. Because my graduation was during the Great Recession, finding work in GIS or urban planning was nearly impossible, and I couldn't meet the qualifications for any other field of work, so I have been pigeon-holed into the GIS and urban planning fields. I have studied new IT technologes, both online and on campus, but it isn't enough because my degree is in a non-STEM field.

Here is my current skills set:

1. C++ (on campus)
2. ArcGIS (on campus + work experience)
3. GPS (on campus + work experience)
4. Microsoft Office (on campus + work experience)
5. Java (on campus)
6. SPSS (on campus)
7. Oracle SQL (online + books)
8. Python (online)
9. Data Science skills (online bootcamp)
10. Tableau (online bootcamp)
11. R (online)
12. Hadoop (online)
13. MongoDB (online)

But since my degree is in geography and not computer science (couldn't handle calculus), none of the skills matter.

Trump's acquittal has only fueled the need to move north and west. A couple of weeks ago, a right-wing evangelical woman trolled a Rick & Morty fan page I am on, calling fans of animated sitcoms "basement-dwelling perverts". Plus the One Million Moms group's response to the Burger King ad where the guy says "damn" and the Super Bowl halftime show makes me want to leave Texas yesterday.