The facts behind the man behind the blog
Just to add a bit of weight, credibility, whatever, to my blog, here is a complete dump of how I started my life in IT. You might need a few minutes on this one. Get yourself a hot drink, get comfortable and be prepared to skim read, big style. To summarise, blah blah blah but if you want detail, read on.
1987 – 1994
I started my IT career as a junior programmer in 1987 at the ripe old age of 16 (if you’re any good at simple mathematics you can work out how old I am). During this introduction to what I now consider to be “my life”, I developed applications in the PICK environment. For those of you not familiar with PICK, it was an Operating System (OS), a DataBase Management System (DBMS) and a programming language which could be installed on both Intel and “proper” servers i.e. IBM RS6000 (wow, that’s a blast from the past). If it’s still in existence I’ll post a link somewhere. Because it was such a small firm (3 people) we had to procure the hardware, partition the disks, install the OS etc., make the cables (RS232 anyone???), develop the applications, deploy the whole infrastructure on site (including drilling holes through walls and feeding cables through ducts/trunks), train the staff and do the live support. Yes, they were indeed very busy times but this was, without any shadow of doubt, the very best introduction to IT anyone could ever want.
Oh and bit of personal information here. I bought my first motorbike. It was a death trap. I rode this for a few months before a mechanic insisted I took it to the scrap yard before I caused not only my own death but maybe the death of others. It wasn’t until he explained to me that the bike was twisted in such a way that I might as well be riding the thing sideways that I decided to part with it. There were no tears, we didn’t really like each other anyway, it kept throwing me off and I was forever kicking it for not starting.
Back to the professional me.
There’s one problem with an expanding mind, with someone who has such a desire to learn, and that’s finding enough new material to feed the thirst. And so, at the age of 23, I decided to move on, and this is where the big climb began.
If I can use an anology here, my first job was like base camp and the rest have been to aid my climb to the top. Way back then I was extremely ambitious and very determined. Sometimes a little bit too ruthless but it was all because I had this vision of being at “the top”. I’ve no idea if I’m there now, if I’m ever going to get there or even if I’m now actually on the descent. Who know’s. But to be quite honest, I don’t really care about “the climb” anymore, it’s more about enjoying the experience. I’m still hungry, I’m still learning, my only limitation is my stupid brain that doesn’t work as fast as it once used to. Maybe I just need to perform an index rebuild or get the stats updated. I’d do a total defrag but I’m scared of the consequences.
Anyway, let’s get back on the path that leads me to where I’m plying my trade these days.
1994 – 1999
I switched technologies along the way and went from using PICK to coding applications using Uniface, this switch coincided with a change in jobs. I started working for a decent sized software house (there’s a common theme here, no names will be mentioned to protect the innocent, the not-so-innocent and myself from getting sued) and this switch turned out to be the making of me. I travelled the world on the back of this job and because it was a VERY client-facing role I quickly grew the hide of a rhino. I no longer cried into my keyboard when someone had a dig at my code. I gritted my teeth, counted to 10 and shot back a suitable response. Oh and I also learned how to party properly. I mean c’mon, I was 25 and travelling the world on expenses, it was bound to happen.
So, Uniface was where I was at. I coded hard and I partied hard. Good times.
1999 – 2004
After quite stint of working in the hospitality and health care arenas I went to work for the company that created Uniface. Again I’m not going to name names but it won’t take a genius to figure out which company I’m talking about here. I utilised my rhino hide to great effect in my new role as a consultant. I worked side-by-side with my customers, I took their comments onboard, I smiled when I needed to smile and I empathised with them. I felt their pain. I was a proper consultant.
Again I coded pretty hard in this role, I learned stacks of stuff about OO programming, about abstraction, inheritence, polymorphism, proper coding for a change. Well, I was using a bit of Java so all of the above was quite important and when I switched back to Uniface I learned to code so that all objects were reusable, that there was a difference between the application and the business layers, I was rocking out, IT style.
Oh and this job took me to the HQ in Amsterdam for 4 weeks. Apparently.
So we’re getting pretty close to where I am today.
2004 – present day
I somehow managed to land myself a job as a dba working for a major UK bank. I already knew a fair bit of how databases worked - hey I was a developer, developers know EXACTLY how databases work, you write huge SQL statements and stuff comes back, bingo – so I sort of hit the ground running. Or that’s what I thought back then. I’ve since learned that a database is a beautful creature that needs a lot of TLC, it needs to know that you love it and will always be there for it. It’s as big a commitment as you’re ever likely to face in the world of IT. It will wake you up in the middle of the night because it’s not feeling very well, it will demand that you spend all day Sunday holding it’s hand and you will, slowly but surely, become one. Man and machine in perfect harmony. I know most of the databases I look after pretty well. If/when I ever leave this role I think I may actually miss some of them. I was instrumental in their creation, I saw their birth, their first steps and their first tantrum. No, I’m not their dad but I’m as close to one as they are going to get.
So there we have it. My life on a page. If I’m about to leave for “the other world” it now means that I don’t have to try and recall everything ready for the flash before my eyes, I can just read it here.
So, quite a ramble really. I might have to come back to it at some stage and add some detail, take some slanderous comments out, make up something funny even though it didn’t actually happen all for the sake of a good read.
Well there goes my lunch break and I’ve not even bought anything to eat, this blogging sure is addictive. It’s like therapy but without the bill.
Enjoy.
PD
