I could say pretty much the same thing as you did - I'm 40, always wanted to do something great, but its just never happened.

I'm still working on it one brick at a time, and have a couple of pieces of software out there, but no-one really using them as far as I know. Haven't even had any feedback.

http://photo-sorter.appspot.com/ http://vs-console.appspot.com/ http://www.globalmartialartsdirectory.com/ http://www.mydailyactivity.com/

I like the LEAN movement, whereby you validate your market first, do the minimal amount of work possible, and launch ASAP - then respond to feedback. They say, if you aren't embarrassed by your first release, you did too much!

See: Start small, Stay small http://bit.ly/YIP5tu The Lean Startup http://amzn.to/XjbdYO

This podcast is brilliant too for many reasons, one of which is that you don't have to do the programming yourself! See http://automatemysmallbusiness.com/podcast-subscribe/

But: Don't get distracted Validate you have a market before you start building Figure out how to market it so people find it START

(All easier said than done).

Good luck, and all the best!