It was a more exciting field than the power industry was at the time. I had been programming as a kid/teen since 1980 and had access to a lot of technology growing up. As an EE I found myself writing programs to help me do my job better and easier and it just went from there. I really only chose EE over CS because I didn't feel like CS was going to teach me things I didn't already know. Looking back now, I was correct in my analysis of the matter. A self-taught programmer with an electronics background is a formidable force to reckon with. The best programmers know how computers work at the lowest levels and I'm glad to have had the chance to jump in when things were really evolving quickly. I don't know what they are teaching in CS degree plans these days (besides software equity and inclusiveness CRT bullshit), but I do know that the code jockeys coming out today don't know shit about programming. It takes me about a year to turn a CS grad into a usable coder for my line of work. They are truly getting worse though. Sigh.