My love of computing started in the 3rd grade. I took an after-school computer programming class using BASIC on the Commodore Pet computers over at the high school. After some careful manipulation and bribing of my parents, I managed to obtain my own Commodore Vic-20, and then eventually a Commodore 64 computer. I spent hours writing my own software, as well as entering countless lines of code from various computing magazines of the day. (Necessary, because floppy disks or even CD-ROMS were still a bit of a novelty at the time.)
After saving for about a year during my high school years, I bought myself an Amiga 2000, which I used well into college. This was replaced by an Amiga 3000. But, alas, the world of the Commodore was going nowhere, so I was forced to migrate over to the PC world. (I have nothing against the Mac, though. I actually love the Mac computers...but it just hasn't been financially accessible to me.)
Anyhow, at the University of Michigan, I earned my Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, with a focus on Software Engineering. I also spent more than half my years at U of M working for the Computer Aided Engineering Network (CAEN) as an editor of technical documentation, training, and then Unix Software Support. I was also fortunate to have started doing web page development and CGI-programming when the Web was in its infancy, starting in 1994. This gave me the experience and expertise to start my first job out of college: the sole programmer for a web-presence provider, Internet Connect.
That company was a small start-up, and offered little in the way of upward mobility, so I sought out a job working for one of the "Big Three". I found it, by way of a contractor, and did web-development and documentation for Ford's Intranet, and then eventually into full-time programming, customizing Metaphase software.
Eventually, Ford split off its parts division, which become Visteon Corporation. This allowed me to finally become a "direct hire", and the home of where I continue to work to this day. I continued doing Metaphase development, but also integrating Metaphase access with the Visteon Intranet. I wrote customized server-side Java, wrote extensive Perl 5 CGI libraries, and worked on a switchover to SAP.
Over time, I transferred into "real world" application of my skills, and started working on Product Development, focusing on Telematics and Bluetooth handsfree systems for major automotive companies, including the worlds first OEM-supplied Bluetooth Handsfree system.
During this professional time, I also spent several years developing a PalmOS-based application for diabetics, Logbook DM. This software is still available at PalmGear as well as Handango.