Friends call me codewritinfool, or just code for short.  I’m a fortunate man.

I grew up in a small town in the midwest.  I started playing with switches, lightbulbs, and batteries in grade school, and often collected bottles from ditches so I could buy the new Radio Electronics or Popular Electronics.  Old-timers gave me wire and speakers and electronic parts.  I was young enough that I was not allowed to solder.  I built all kinds of things, radios, alarms, even light bulbs, but what I dreamed of was a computer.

I came along when home computers were just a dream.  Machines of the day required special skills to get them to do anything. I had the good fortune to experience this first-hand.  This exposure to front panel code entry via direct manipulation of switches, magnetic tape, punched cards, paper tape, etc. was an experience that is almost unheard of for someone of my age, and I believe ultimately laid a foundation that made me a better programmer.

I’ve been writing software since I was an early teenager, back when timeshare machines were the rage and if you had access to a teletype and an acoustic coupler, well, you were lucky.

I was also fortunate enough to have parents that supported my need to take the “activity bus” from Junior High up to the High School to get a few precious minutes on a timeshare machine with the other 4 or 5 geeks.

Those same parents bought me a computer back in 1979 and didn’t really see much of me for the next 6 years.  I breathed computer science.

I was again fortunate to meet my lovely wife when I was about 17, though I didn’t know it yet; it took about 14 more years for that.  We met “online” way before there was an internet.  She shares my passion for computing.

I’m not an expert by any means, but I’ve been extremely privileged  to work on bleeding-edge technology in my career, some of which was nothing short of a miracle.  From below the Earth’s surface to 22,300 miles above us and all around the planet, I’ve contributed to all kinds of systems, both hardware & software,  that make our lives safer & more enjoyable.  At the same time, I’ve had the honor of working directly with some of the most formidable minds in the business and have been awarded several U.S. patents.  Heady stuff, that.   I told you I was fortunate.

Couple all of that with a roof over my head, clothes to wear, food to eat, and the best friends in the world and I am indeed fortunate.  I am not deserving of any of it, but I do know this much:

I was born for this. I am code.