How did you get here?

[Carla Schroder]

In my Editor's Note over at Linux Today, I tell my own tale of how I got interested in computers, and invite readers to tell their own stories:

I adore "how did I get here" stories, so please share your own, whether you're a crusty old Unix geek, a raw noob, a leet coder, college student, kidnaped by Linux aliens, ordinary person who just likes computers- everyone has a good story to tell.
http://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2008071802535OPCY

Sooo... how did you get interested in computers?

[ua549]

I first got interested in computers in the mid 1950's when my father took me on a tour of the computing center at the headquarters of the company that employed him. It was a massive machine, a Univac. From that point on I was hooked on computers. In the 1960's got my first job after high school working on the fringes of data processing in production control for a vertically integrated manufacturer. A few years later I got my first job as a programmer - self taught assembler, Cobol and Fortran. I continued programming while I went to college and grad school (Economics/Finance). After a brief interruption to polish my credentials in finance, I returned to IT as a data communications consultant and outside IT director. I retired in 1998.

[Carla Schroder]

They had computers back then? Yeah yeah I know, uphill both ways in the snow :)

[ua549]

I actually did see snow back then in the Midwest.
I escaped to Florida shortly after high school.

[gunderstone]

I told my torrid tale many moons ago:

http://www.mcmcse.com/articles/certification_story.shtml

[Carla Schroder]

“You're finished as soon as you stop trying.”

Perfect closing line. Great story, thanks!

[JPnyc]

I actually got lost and just ended up here. I never could follow directions.

[bigbearomaha]

I missed that left turn at Albuquerque.

Big Bear