@Steve: Thanks for your thoughts. Golive was several years after my first web adventures too. First was plain old hand coding (not too tough as back then, tables weren't even around yet). I can remember the first time I figured out how to put a .gif file on a text page! I was so excited! :-) This was in 1995 or so. I littered that page with butterflies, if I recall. Checking the way back machine, my first "commercial" attempt was November 1996. Talk about ugly stuff! :-) Pretty sure that was Pagemill or Sitemill; too long ago to recall. And, yes, I bought into InterAKT too, about 3 months before Adobe killed it off. So no love lost for Adobe in this office.
As far as your thought that Ray might sell out to Adobe, I'd like to think not. Just stubborn pride, if nothing else. :-) I doubt Ray reads all these ramblings, but if you do Ray, it would be great to hear your long term plans, i.e., life beyond Adobe.
And as for me and more time for other things, I have already built up my company, my kids are grown, and there is nothing I enjoy more than working and learning new stuff. It's my addiction of choice.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
A PS: The first coding I learned was working at a newspaper as a reporter and business desk editor. H1 was 72 pts, h2, was 48 etc. I didn't know it at the time, but it served as a solid foundation to writing css. It was always a great humiliation to mis code the type setting and have the press man roar into the newsroom holding a huge sheet of paper with content at 72pt and yelling "who was the idiot who did this!?" I only suffered that one once. :-)