Fun story, thanks for sharing! Is it correct that it was around the year 1997 that you were using your Commodore 64 with a tape deck to get into computers? You mention that the college was using Windows 2000 and VNC setups, and that you were interested in the D language, which would place the start of those college years no sooner than 2001. I also kept using my Commodore 64 up until the late 90s!