Dennis Raddle
writes: ... I guess I'm wondering if it's a good idea to begin a PhD in CS at age 45
Dennis, if you have a passion or even an 'interest', follow it. Beware that a PhD is 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration. I have, sadly, seen many PhDs stifling the passion with which they were started.
My goal is to obtain work that interests me, ...
Re work: curiously, I recently received an unsolicited email from Google inviting me to 'have a conversation' [managementspeak yeuch!]. This was apparently based on my volume of postings on the forum. (I suspect not on their quality ;-) I suggested that first they look at my LinkedIn page, which would have roughly revealed my age -- already greater than yours will be when you 'come out of school'. Since then, nothing. Nada. Not even an acknowledgement. Rude, I call it. I think you'll find ageism is still rife in the industry. AntC