I'm passing a milestone… not a kidney stone… a milestone. Having done both, I can attest that milestones are more enjoyable. Today marks 40 years in my career as a software developer. Twenty-four and a half in the private sector and fifteen and a half in federal service, the latter being where I am today. I’ve worked in Charlottesville, Virginia, since 2003, but I began contract work there in 1986.
A side note… I was in Germany for 13 (non-contiguous) months of my 40 years, working there on behalf of the U.S. Government. It is the work I am most proud of… and the work that was the most challenging, rewarding… and enjoyable. I worked with some fantastic folks back then. And it was West Germany for most of those trips, with reunification occurring near the end of my treks overseas. I have not been back, and I sometimes find myself wishing I could visit again… but so much has changed over there, and I no longer consider it safe. Those who know where I work know that my concerns are based on hard facts (not hysteria).
My career lifted off on August 5, 1977. I was attending college when Bill Fitton, an instructor of mine, recognized something in me that I did not, and he set up an interview for me with an engineering firm out of Newport Beach, California. The firm had an opening for a scientific programmer doing work at NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach. They were looking for an "eager to learn" entry-level person. Long story short, Bill Fitton got my foot in the door, and I landed the job. I was interviewed by a young manager named Ken Linville, who hailed from Flagstaff, Arizona (a place I have always wanted to visit). It was he who offered me the job. I owe a debt of gratitude to both of them. I’m unsure where I would be now if it were not for them. Thank God for those who open doors for others.
I must also mention my wife, Laura, who played the most significant role in getting my career off the ground. A year earlier, in 1976, she and I were dating. I already knew she was the girl I wanted to marry… but at the time, I was attending school part-time (paying my way), playing bass in a country-rock trio (weekend nights—The Thornton Gap Band), delivering pizzas (afternoons), and managing local newspaper delivery persons (paperboys and girls—early mornings) on the days that their full-time managers were off (and sleeping in).
Wanting to marry the girl you love has a way of making some things crystal clear… One night, while playing my bass at the Aztec Inn in Virginia Beach, as Laura looked on from a booth not far away, I realized that I needed to get serious about school—and a career—if my dreams of settling down with her were ever to be realized.
So, I did just that, got serious about school, and set some goals. One year later, I was writing scientific software on a Xerox Sigma-9 computer supporting real-time fighter pilot training. Thank you, Laura, for leading me through those “I don’t know what I want to do with my life” days.
And now, after 40 years of telling computers what to do, we two are sneaking up on retirement. The earliest will be October 1, 2018, and the latest, November 1, 2019. I’m hoping for a date closer to the former, but my sensible (and realistic) side knows it will probably be closer to the latter. It matters not; the window is narrow in the grand scheme of things, and if there is anything I have learned in life, it is that time passes quickly.
That’s it… I just wanted to share the passing of my milestone—much better than the passing of a kidney stone—and a bit of its history. And if you read all of the above and are now reading this sentence, it means you truly must be a friend of mine… thanks for hanging around.
