It was mid-afternoon in Tsimshatsui. It was 1976 and I was an air courier, staying in the Astor Hotel in the less expensive tourist section of Hong Kong, then still a British colony. The Astor was known in Chinese as "Langung Chowdin" or "White Palace Hotel."

We sat in two rows facing each other in a black van. We were twelve men, six on each side. The bearded guard covered our eyes with large scarves....

I gave up college to go strike it rich in the software industry by writing software for this startup company, that like many software companies of its kind, promised endless streams of money and happiness in exchange for my ‘20s. Back then, it all seemed like a good idea.