My impression is that you know that there's nothing "wrong with you" and that the dynamics expressed by that recruiter in part 2 explain enough (to me at least) and indicate your own awareness that there's nothing wrong with you.
It sounds like you may need an outlet to vent, not necessarily "your frustrations", but maybe you need a way to outline or give a retrospective account of the past ~40 years so that you can come to terms/appreciate your journey thus far (which sounds very interesting).
Start a blog or a newsletter or something and tell your story. Respectfully, I think that it would be a great opportunity for you to "give back" to the new crop of 20-something, motivated self-learners out there. In general, I think readers in the fields that you have done work in can benefit from real accounts such as the ones I'm sure you have to share. I'd like to read more from you.
It sounds like you may need an outlet to vent, not necessarily "your frustrations", but maybe you need a way to outline or give a retrospective account of the past ~40 years so that you can come to terms/appreciate your journey thus far (which sounds very interesting).
Start a blog or a newsletter or something and tell your story. Respectfully, I think that it would be a great opportunity for you to "give back" to the new crop of 20-something, motivated self-learners out there. In general, I think readers in the fields that you have done work in can benefit from real accounts such as the ones I'm sure you have to share. I'd like to read more from you.