Thank you for pointing out why Arduino was important.

I can't afford the luxury of an interpreted language due to the speed hit.

I was let go from a large multi-national in my mid-40's. Went contracting and worked every day I wanted to until I retired.

How did you find work? Something like contract-to-hire gigs from Dice or something? Did you create your own LLC or similar?

Give Arduino a look. C plus hardware for about $60 for a good starter kit.