re: thanks
Tom, I meant the cost of education then as compared to now, as dtb points out. And the cost of living generally - now, not then. As for your reference to your own efforts, of course anyone should give credit where it's due and it would be interesting to hear more detailed history of your work in the space industry.
As for struggling against the odds in general: gee, I 've survived heaps of outrageous slings and arrows (not only the loss of an eye), but somehow I'm still just barely scraping by. Must be doing something wrong I guess.