[AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?

Jim Lawrence accessd at shaw.ca
Tue Feb 22 11:27:26 CST 2005


Sure Rocky... but wouldn't you rather be churning out code than playing
golf... let's be honest. You are much too young to consider
retiring...retiring and then you would be just end up programming in your
spare time. ;-)

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Rocky Smolin -
Beach Access Software
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 7:38 AM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?

Steve:

I started with computers when I was 16 - back in the days when they were 
still steam powered (ba-da-boom).  But seriously folks...

I grew up in Chicago and took a weekend course at the Illinois Institute of 
Technology on programming in IITran - their dialect of Fortran.  It was 
punch cards and you handed your deck through the big glass wall and came 
back the next day to find out where you had misplaced your comma.  The 
machines were and IBM 1620 and IBM 7090.  I was hooked.

In college I hung out at the computer center and between my Junior and 
Senior years they installed an IBM 360/40.  I hung with the engineer during 
the installation and when September rolled around I was the only one on 
campus who knew how to run the thing so I got to be systems manager.  And 
they paid me!  I was further hooked.

Then, in my Junior year I wrote a program in assembler to create a variable 
cross reference index, got some free PR in magazines like Datamation and 
sold the program (mailed it on a deck of punched cards) to a bunch of 
companies.  $40 a pop when that was real money.  Now I was totally hooked.

I played with the world's best toys, had as much fun as a person could have 
with their clothes on, and people shoved money at me for doing it!  That's 
as good as it gets.

Until the creation of commercially viable personal computers in the late 70s

I had to work for other companies because of the cost of the systems.  Once 
the PCs appeared I went into business for myself and never looked back.

Now, 25 years later, it's still a bit of a high wire act but we're not 
missing any meals, I get to work at home and be with my kids, and if I'm 
still pumping code when all my friends are playing golf or fishing in the 
Keys, well so be it.

Rocky

>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Steve Erbach [mailto:erbachs at gmail.com]
>> Sent: 21 February 2005 12:44
>> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
>> Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?
>>
>> Roz, Gustav, John C., Gary, Jeffrey, Jim D. Doris, Debbie, Brett,
>> Charlotte, Ken, Mark, John B., Stuart, William, Rocky, Jim L., Jim H.,
>> Andy, Randy, and Tom,
>>
>> Thank you all very much for your responses. Our glorious leader, Mr.
>> Bartow, has asked me to write an article for the newsletter based on
>> the responses you've given. So I'm asking if any of you have any
>> objections to letting me abridge your responses for that purpose? It
>> would also be helpful if those of you who already gave an
> "abridged"
>> version for the survey could flesh out your responses a bit, if you
>> have the time. I would appreciate it. Everyone has an interesting
>> story to tell about his or her own growth in the computer field.
>>
>> I'm so glad that 21 of you have responded so far. Any others?
>>
>> Steve Erbach
>> Neenah, WI
>> www.swerbach.com/security
>>
>>
>>

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