 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|||
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
In the year 1983 I got my start in the computer industry. I started out as an output control clerk. The job consisted of taking paper off a conveyor and sorting it for distribution. Then onto Scheduling and Control scheduling jobs that were to be run on the mainframe that day. Computer operations was next. There I learned how to hang tape, print the reports for distribution and process scheduled jobs. Then I moved into the WHQ as a Programmer Analyst. Within 4 years I received 4 promotions to Lead Programmer Analyst. I've been doing it ever sense.
Computer operations is where I received my first taste of programming. Using my knowledge of printing and report distribution I developed a process of automated report addressing. IBM, JCL, and Xerox laser printer language, JSL, were the tools I used. The JCL would prepend a string of text to a report file. Then when the report was printed the Xerox printer would decipher this string and print an address on a cover sheet. This eliminated hundreds of hours of work a week for the Output Control department.
I didn't stop there. Now that the address information could be captured on the laser printer if we unloaded that data at scheduled intervals and uploaded that data to the new DBase tables any of the reports were not printed a flag was raised and the problem solved. Catching the problems on the third shift meant that the output could be produced and delivered before the day shift arrived.
During my 4+ years as a programmer at the WHQ, I was basically a mainframe developer. Working with Cobol, EZtriev, DB2 and other mainframe development tools I produced lots of green-bar paper printouts. All those reports and jobs that I so diligently scheduled and printed years earlier I was now creating.
Although I understand that my work was helping this multi-billion dollar company survive I was not at all satisfied with my job. I got more satisfaction from the part time painting job I was also doing to make ends meet. I mean after painting a house a man could stand back and admire his work. After producing 4 inches of stacked green-bar paper a man could stand back and see ... well ... 4 inches of stacked green-bar paper.
Then I took a VB course. Wow... now I could make colorful user interfaces, nicely thought out usable interfaces. So I heard that the department was looking for a time sheet application for all developers to use. It would be easy to use and track the amount of time it took to complete a project. This information could be used to produce more exact project estimates for similar projects that were tracked.
So I spent the next
4-6 months of my own time producing the TimeZone. A VB3
application that did just what management wanted. I
showed it to them and they decided to use it.
Unfortunately there were no PC projects for me to do
during working hours.
I was thinking to myself that I had to find a place where I could do PC work and not mainframe work. I quit the big company and went into PC consulting. Now I am having the time of my life. I have worked for a custom shoe company developing VB components that were used around the world. I have developed interfaces and applications for insurance companies. I have consulted and developed my ass off for the last 5 years. Now I am working on a shipping project that will be used over the internet around the world, supporting hundreds of thousand of transactions a day. I love the fact that from any PC that is connected to the internet I can show my wares.
Well, are you bored out of your mind yet? If you have gotten this far you must know me, why else would you read this stuff? Most of the rest of my career is available on this site or through links off this site. Check out the Portfolio page.
