It's now the summer of 2011 and so much has changed with my career. I had a fairly technical job for twenty years in the Air Force but I realized that I didn't want to work on airplanes forever so I finished an IT degree in 2004. Now that I'm retired I'm working on aircraft yet again...not ideal but my training and education made me a perfect candidate for the world of unmanned aircraft...much of which is IT driven. In between (and during my military career) I had my own business as an IT gun for hire, focusing on small businesses that didn't have their own IT staff. I even worked as a customer technology consultant for a major shipping company for several months...a dream job that just didn't pay well at all.
So, technology is in my blood...computers, gadgets, aerospace, telecomm, automobiles, motorcycles...as such I'm constantly bombarded by friends and family with technology questions, usually regarding computers, operating systems, smartphones, and everything Apple. My family thinks that my IT degree means that the answer to any computer problem resides in the forefront of my brain function and that I can troubleshoot any issue over the phone in 10 minutes or less. I can't...I tell them that every time but they refuse to believe me.
In addition to my education I've had experience with many different types of computers and systems. My first computer was a first gen iMac...you know, the candy colored one with the 6 gig hard drive, a 333 MHz Power PC processer and (gasp!) no floppy drive! Now of course I used computers before that...mainly at work in the military, mainly Windows 2000 and the occasional Win 98 box. I bought that Mac because everyone I knew with a Windows machine was constantly having to tinker with their computers to get them to work. So I started with Macs early, way before it was popular or stylish to be seen using one...way before Apple invented the iPod, and way before they turned an iPod into a phone or a pad. Apple changed their operating system to a unix based system right around the time I was doing my internship and learning AIX and Tru64 unix. I had a handspring with Palm OS way before Google thought up Android, and I was the first in my family to own a cell phone. I believe the quote from my wife was "What do you think you're a big shot? A doctor or a drug lord or something? Having a cell phone is unnecessary and I will never have one!" That was 1998...thirteen years ago and judging by her cell bill, about a billion phone calls ago...
So, imagine my surprise when my wife...the one with the anti-technology manifesto...suggest I start blogging. She says I'm a great writer...debatable but since she's the second member of the family to encourage me I have decided to give it a go. I've decided to start writing about technology because it's what I know...and because nobody likes politics right now. By all accounts I'm now tech blogger ten million and one in the known universe. I don't imagine I know more than the other ten million tech bloggers out there, but perhaps my opinions on technology developments, gadgets, computers and operating systems will enlighten and inform someone. If anything, it will give me something to do in my spare time and with luck my writing will improve as time goes on. If all else fails, I'll bribe my wife's friend into teaching me some blogging chops...she's brilliant and very well followed in the blogoshere.
So, that's the idea. I'm calling it my tech two cents for now until I find a less lame name for it. Wish me luck. And away we go...
JQ
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