6-23-2021
A Tromp down Memory Lane
I’ve been around computers probably longer than even I knew, but my closest friends can attest I haven’t always been a computer geek.
While in the military I learned to operate one of those huge word processors. During my last assignment a computer was brought into my office a few months before I retired. I learned to play Microsoft Golf and man could I rack up the points, until I was informed that low score is the object of golf.
After retiring, I went to Ft Carson and failed miserably during a job interview when asked about my computer experience.
It was 1991 and I replied, “What is a computer?” It was not the right answer.
During my time in the military there were no computers in tactical vehicles, but in today’s military computers are common place.
I decided to go to school and become a travel agent because I love to travel. Not the smartest reason because when you’re traveling you’re not working, so who is going to pay for your travel?
I became pretty good working at a computer workstation using the United Airlines Apollo Reservation System and became proficient with the American Airlines Saber Reservation System. I worked as a home-based travel agent, using Apollo software and connecting to the travel agency via a modem. I helped perfect the procedures used by outside sales agents to connect to the agency from home.
During a familiarization trip to Disneyworld in 1995 I stopped by to see a friend that decided I needed a computer. He stayed up all night building a computer for me. It was home built with Windows 3.1, 8MB of memory, a 128MB hard drive, a screaming Pentium 75 processor. It had that big old 5 1/4″floppy disk drive.
I checked my computer (3 boxes) as baggage and watched as we changed planes in Dallas to make sure the 3 boxes (pc, monitor & printer) all made it on my flight to Colorado.
When I got home I was at a total loss as where to begin. I asked a friend to help me get up and running. Then he configured my desktop and taught me about getting an email address and searching the internet (didn’t have Google back then).
I missed those early computer years and most definitely I’m not a DOS guy, but with lots of help I was able to start surfing the net. I was eager to learn and wanted to do more. I learned to build HTML webpages from scratch and manipulate the code to make changes.
I earned my bachelor degree in computer science while working at a telephone conference call center. I had built and maintained a couple of websites using my desktop computer as the “host computer”. Yet I managed to get and flunked a Gateway help desk interview because I couldn’t come up with 4 DOS commands.
I had some computer problems (it would turn off on its own). I got upset, reached inside and grabbed a handful of ribbon cables and ripped them out. Soon realizing what I had done, I was on the phone asking my friend in Florida how to put them back? I didn’t know that when a computer overheats it shuts down to prevent damage.
MS-DOS – Microsoft Disk Operating System (1981)…
Windows 1.0 – 2.0 (1985-1992)…
Windows 3.0 – 3.1 (1990-1994)…
Windows 95 (August 1995)…
Windows NT 3.1 – 4.0 (1993-1996)…
Windows 98 (June 1998)…
Windows 2000 (February 2000)…
Windows ME (September 2000)…
Windows XP (October 2001)…
Windows Vista (November 2006)…
Windows 7 (October 2009)…
Windows 8 & 8.1 (August 2012)…
Windows 10 (July 2015)…
Windows 11 (Released in 2021)…
Over the course of time I went from Windows 3.1 to Windows 11 upgrading shortly after each release.
Beginning in 2006 I began working on computers at home. I replacing hardware, upgraded operating systems and installed software out of my home office.
I’ve been fully retired as of 2009 and word of mouth advertising keeps me busy.
When I’m not fixing computers I’m working on websites, administering several Facebook groups, or doing other things – like blogging as The Real Truckmaster.
Writing blog posts helps to keep me in tune with a variety of issues that are of the utmost importance to me. Quite often they are of a topic that pops up in conversation or online messaging.
– rtm
The Real Truckmaster 