Here’s the short version:
I’m a longtime Geek with no formal training in anything tech-related. Everything I’ve learned is self-taught, which keeps me humble, since I know there an a great many more folks out there who know a great deal more than I do. All that being said, I have built a number of computers from scratch, written several small applications that actually work ( 🙂 ), and make a living designing and coding websites. I am a serious Mac Fanatic who wishes everyone would switch to Macintosh computers because life would be much better if that happened. I spend most of my waking time on my computers, and much of my spare time helping friends, loved ones, and even complete strangers fix theirs.

I have a rather warped sense of humor and I often see a funny side to things, and can’t resist pointing it out. As I travel this complex web you can bet I’ll be posting about anything that makes me laugh – I hope whatever it is will make you laugh too!

Really want to know more?
Many years ago a very kind stranger saved my life. Well okay, that’s just a little bit of an exaggeration – but he most certainly saved my job. Helping others is my way of repaying him.

You see when I was young I had a job at an insurance company, doing some very simple clerical tasks including some very simple data entry. This was in the days before Window$, way back when the disks were still really “floppy”. We had ONE computer in the office (can you imagine – only one?) and ALL of us used it – the office manager, the bookkeeper, and me. I got it last, being lowest on the totem pole. So one evening I was just finished doing our daily data entry, after everyone else left for the day, and I was doing our backup (to the floppy disk). Business was good, and there was much data entry, so for the first time the backup needed TWO floppy disks. I knew the second one needed to be formatted first (yes Virginia, in those days we had to format them ourselves!), BUT being the n00b I was then, I forgot the “/a:” after the “format” command (I can hear the collective groan of all you geek readers – it was a monumental error). “But wait”, you’re thinking, “what about that warning – you know, the ‘are you sure you want to do this’ thing that is supposed to prevent dummies from re-formatting their hard drives – HA! Remember, I was a young kid with little ‘real’ knowledge of computers – I was just good at data entry, not at all the same thing.

Yep. I ruined the computer. Broke it good. Erased everything on it – all the data, all the programs, the operating system – everything. I felt sick. Really sick. Like someone hit me in the stomach with a sledgehammer. But I didn’t panic (thanks to my Dad – that’s another story for another time).

You see JUST the day before I had attended a luncheon at the behest of my bosses who were not able to attend (to take notes for them) and I met a very nice gentleman from Chicago who was a computer consultant, who happened to be sitting next to me. We chatted just a bit and before he left he gave me his business card, as any good consultant would do. I stuck it in my purse and didn’t give it much thought – UNTIL that moment. I thought to myself “well I know one person who knows something about computers” and so I called him to ask what I should do. This very kind gentleman from Chicago spent almost 3 hours on the phone with me that night, teaching me how to reinstall DOS, how to reinstall my programs, how to restore from the last good backup I had, and put me back in business. I was there a few more hours on my own re-entering the lost data from that day, and once again backing it all up (VERY carefully this time!). I learned a painfully hard lesson that night. I knew I didn’t like that feeling when I screwed up, and so I vowed to learn as much as I could about computers so that it wouldn’t happen again. I also decided that when his bill came in I would pay it myself. But he never sent a bill.

One day, after a couple of years and a bit of learning, someone asked me to help them with a small problem they were having, and I was actually able to help them! As the years went by and my knowledge and experience grew, I began to realize just how much the kind stranger from Chicago had really helped me that night – what a great gift he had given me. It still to this day blows my mind that he would take so much time – several hours – to help a complete stranger, and never charge me for his time. If there is a Heaven he will surely end up there. Although I recall thanking him somewhat profusely before hanging up the phone that night, I truly and sincerely wish I had kept his business card, because many times over the years I have wanted to write to him to tell him how he’d changed my life. Hopefully maybe someday he’ll be wandering around the internet, find this and recognize himself. If so, Thank You.