Part I: Pre-History

I began using computers in elementary school and I was fortunate to have access to several through school as well as friends, during the time of the TRS-80, the VIC20 and C64, and the TI-99.

The first computer I owned was a TI-99/4a with 16K RAM, a joystick and a cassette tape drive, then later the Peripheral Expansion System and a floppy disk drive. My first programs were games - My Dad made a conscious decision not to purchase any as a means of motivating my creativity to write my own. I also wrote my first database programs on this computer, not that at age 12 I had any data worth storing, much less retrieving.

In 1984 I bought a Sanyo MBC 555 "75% IBM PC compatible" computer, with 256K RAM, 2DSDD floppies, a green screen mono display, a Panasonic KXP1091 NLQ printer, and a 1200baud external "Smart" modem. I think it was around $2,200. It came with a bunch of software, including WordStar and PC FILE III, and shortly thereafter I located a version of Minitel for the Sanyo, which opened up the BBS world for me.

In 1987 I bought an actual PC clone, a 10MHz 8086 with the Phoenix BIOS, 640K RAM, 2DSDD floppies, CGA adapter and monitor, a 1200 baud internal modem, *and an internal clock* so you didn't have to set the date and time every time you turned it on. I later acquired two used hard drives - a Plus Technologies 20MB HardCard, and a Western Digital 33MB MFM hard drive.
I studied mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland. In 1990, at my first "real job" working for an engineering consulting firm in Washington, DC, my boss introduced me to Paradox 3. We were conducting a design recovery for a nuclear power plant and the client needed a way to cross reference safety commitments back to specific actions within the DBR process.

I wrote what had to be the worst Paradox application ever. Seriously.

This gave me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes, which were both copious and comical. I redesigned the application before delivery and corrected the most egregious flaws from the original, creating both a functional application and a satisfied customer.

Then a funny thing happened: Within months, I was called on to write new apps, and wash and analyze data, and found myself the "go-to" guy for database work. And there was a lot of it: within a year, I was integrating other software tools into automating a lot of the tasks that were previously done by hand. My peers were calling me "Paradox Man", and (more importantly) my superiors were seeking out my involvement on a variety of projects.

Stay tuned...