I had this problem too. Lately, I have become consumed with micorcontrollers. I use the AVR series from Atmel. The capabilities are endless!! No more 555 circuits for me. It costs about $80 for the programmer. Lots of free goodies on the net for support. The chips are anywhere from 8 pins to 40, with an endless amount of features. I think the most expensive ch ip is $21. The 8 pin units are $1.50.