serving the Flathead Valley (Montana)

Everyone always asks me how I got started with computers, so I thought I might as well just post a brief biography!

It all started back in 1990, when my older sister gave me a laptop, a printer, and a stack of books. At the time I drove over-the-road, and was on a very brief visit at her house. She'd been trying to get me into computers for years, but, like many of you, I was afraid of them and wanted nothing to do with them. On this visit she assured me that I couldn't break them, and after she quickly showed me how to turn it on and off, I was back on the road. I love to write, and often tried to keep a journal whenever I was riding shotgun, rather than driving, but if you've ever tried to write on the road, you know just how hard that is! With a computer, I'd be able to write letters to family and keep an extensive journal, so I was pretty psyched about it. With the help of the books she gave me, I managed to stumble my way around and discovered they weren't so bad after all.

Remember she said I couldn't break it? Boy, did I ever prove her wrong! Several times I managed to break that little laptop quite severely, and each time she said there just wasn't any way to fix it. But by then I was hooked, and since I couldn't afford to buy a replacement, I fussed around and found ways to get it running again. There weren't very many technicians around back then, especially out on the highway, so I had to rely on diesel mechanics and CB radio repairmen to help me out, along with a bit of stubborness on my part!

In 1993, I had to retire from driving. With the small amount of computer experience that I had, I managed to bluff my way into several temporary positions working in offices with computers, and this helped to broaden my experience. Finally in 1994 I was able to buy my very first new computer, and it even had a hard drive and Windows 3.1! I felt like I was right on the cutting edge. The internet had just arrived in Montana then, so I wasted no time in getting online. Once on the net, I found myself in love with a whole new world! I could find information on just about anything, including how to fix computers and build web sites, and I could download tons of free programs to play with. I downloaded everything I could get my hands on, and as fast as I could master a program, I'd toss it aside and go look for more! There were just so many things a person could do out there on the net, in some ways, there was more to do back then than there is today, or maybe it just seems that way since we now have to be so worried about hackers, spammers, viruses, spyware, and other sorts of malcontents.

That same year a gentleman approached me about designing a web site for him. He wanted to create a mall-type site, with a collection of sites for artists and other entrepreneurs from the Valley. I'd barely been tinkering with my own personal web site, but I smiled and said 'Sure, I can do that!' - then I hit the net hard for days on end studying everything I could about web design!

Since then I've done many web sites, some local, some on the far side of the earth. I continue to study hard when I can, as the technology changes by the second.

It soon became apparent to my friends that I had a knack for computers, not only for fixing them, but also for teaching those less fortunate how to get along with them. Soon I was inundated with requests to fix or to teach, and finally I told everyone that they were just going to have to start paying me. That slowed them down some, but where I lost a few friends, I started gaining more customers - many of whom have gone on to become some of my best friends.

In 1997 I went to work full time with a software firm here in the valley. Everyone in the company had to do a little bit of everything - programming, tech support, technical writing, sales, hardware troubleshooting, even sweeping the floors! It was a great job, and I learned more there than any other one place. Not just specific knowledge, but methods of learning and how to think like a computer.

Throughout the years, I continued to freelance, taking on jobs of most every kind that dealt with computers, from web design to tutoring to troubleshooting hardware and rebuilding systems. Around the first part of this millennium, I stepped out in faith and went full-time into consulting. Well, I didn't have full-time work as a consultant, but I wasn't working anywhere else either! God has blessed me abundantly, providing me not only with wonderful customers, but also with the ability to find the answers to whatever their problems might be. I continue to handle just about any type of computer related work, including printing mailing labels, digital photography and image manipulation. It's harder now to find time to work on the computer, much less study up on the newest technology, as I have a darling 2 1/2 year old boy, and he is my top priority. He has his own computer now, and helps me when I'm taking computers apart. Sometimes he'll go on jobs with me, though that can get quite interesting! As long as people need me, and with God's blessing, I guess I'll keep doing this for a while yet.

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