How I Ended Up Here (Short Version, believe it or not!)

I moved to the St. Pete/Tampa area 2 1/2 years ago because of a depressed job market in my hometown of suburban Philadelphia. I came here because after vacationing down here many years and some diligent research, I smelled job opportunities. So I took a leap of faith.
It started with Verizon as an Executive Account Manager for B2B FIOS Accounts. Needless to say, the tactics used to generate leads and procure new business were less than scrupulous, so after getting a very sour taste in my mouth, I left.
I had extensive retail management experience to fall back on beside my IT degree and expertise, so I leveraged that to secure a Store Management position with RadioShack.
After 18 months of working my fingers raw, investing 75 hour workweeks, and watching my family life and health slide into the toilet; I said enough is enough one day and walked out of my store after nearly having a nervous breakdown.
That was in early April this year. Since, I have had to focus on regaining my health (recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and severe neuropothy in all extremities), forcing me to take a break from the workforce and collect unemployment, which is a pittance in Florida, barely enough to survive on for my family. After getting my health stablized and my strength back, I was forced to re-evalute my life. I'm 37, married with a 4 1/2 year old son, worked almost continuously for 23 years of my life, and other than 2 measly 401(k)s, had nothing really to show for all my sweat equity and hard work. That left me angered, bitter, and full of resolve to commit to changing things for the better.
Initially, I though about starting my own business, but my credit, although not terrible, was not in a state that I could raise capital on my own. That's out. Then I though about writing a book, which is something I always wanted to try my hand at. But my income stream is just my measly UC checks, and my wife's lowly income as a Leasing Agent for a local retirement community. No dice there either.

What am I to do????

I pride myself an avid reader, so I dug a little after purchasing a few books to at least set myself up to do research for my book idea; then stumbled across Real Estate investment. I had heard in the past about a technique requiring "No Money Down", so my curiosity piqued, dove into the business section at my local Border's, which I'm an avid customer (unfortunately, they recently announced they are going out of business; typical in today's crudy economy, but led me to stumble upon Dean's and another author's books).
Needless to say, this wonderful new world opened up to me, and here I am. I am new, but I am a very fast learner, and a very quick starter. So I'm looking forward to reporting my adventures here shortly.

Oh, and Dean: God Bless, my Man! Phenominal literary work, now if I can just follow in your footsteps....