History

Because the other pages contain more about my work information, this history is more dedicated to life before leaving high school. This section reads more like a short biography and is more intended for those looking to know where I came from and how I began my interest in technology.

Pocatello, Idaho (The early days)

To begin with, I was born in Pocatello, Idaho, and I am the older of two children. My first few years were spent living in the First Baptist Church, where many of my family still attend, with my parents in the basement apartment. At the time my father was going to college and my mother a seamstress, but because times were a bit rough, in exchange for living in the church they took care of keeping it maintained. I don't remember much from those times, but apparently I started my interest in technology rather early because I still remember stories of me going turning on microphones early in the morning to wake others up.

It wasn't long after that my father began working for Farmers Insurance in the underwriting division. We were moving up in the world and soon moving to an apartment. It was around that time I took up hairdressing and I have one fond memory of the girl in one of the neighboring apartments and the wonderful haircut I gave her. My father almost wound up in a fight over that one but the good part was, the hair grew back. To this day, I still think it’s best if I don’t take up hairstyling. And don’t get me started on the time I ditched school because a kid down the street had a ton of change and I couldn’t resist going to the local drive in to buy candy. My friend was with me and you never saw such a happy two kids. Well, until we had to go home and take the punishment, but even today I hate to say it but I don’t regret it.

Once my father was doing well at his job, we eventually moved into our first brand new home. Two stories, it was a dream come true and that’s probably where I met the closest friends I have ever had. When we weren’t at school, we were often found all over the neighborhood. We had many forms of entertainment from the creating of clubs, playing role-play games and even playing in a band that would often play and mimic such world famous artists such as Weird Al or the Chipmunks.

It was around this time that I got my first Atari Computer and I have to say I was mesmerized by it. I spent countless hours learning how to program in basic. I would have to say, if anything spurred me into programming, it was the Atari. Nothing like today’s computers, I spent a lot of time programming in a language I had never seen before and hours would be wasted just saving data to cassette tapes.

Soon after, my school began receiving their first Apple computers and, because the technology was so new, most of the teachers and staff hadn’t a clue how to use it. Like a polished diamond, I began to shine. It wasn’t something I was apprehensive about; I still recall teaching the teachers how to use basic programs such as a crossword puzzle making program or a word find. By the time I left that school, the bug already hit, I was going to be a programmer.

Valencia, California (Jr High School-High School)

I spent my first semester of Jr. High School in Pocatello, by my father received a promotion that would soon take us to California. It was interesting adjusting to new locations, but it was a great experience. Because we were an hour north of Los Angeles, there was always something to do. Not to mention, not even five miles from my house was Six Flags Magic Mountain, a park full of roller coasters, water rides and a ton of entertainment. Not to mention there were several television shows that were filmed in the area. Three that I can think of were Airwolf (Mostly helicopter shots), Knight Rider and the A-Team (which even used my High School in an episode and filmed on the back lot of Magic Mountain).

We were there for about two and a half years while my father spent time commuting into Los Angeles to learn to be a Manager of Underwriting. My mother worked for the YMCA’s children’s program back then and I wound up assisting a great deal many of their outings and projects. I think California was also the beginning to my love for Soccer. I spent a lot of time kicking the ball around and on one team or another.

Phoenix, Arizona (High School)

By the time we got to Phoenix, I was halfway through the first semester of my sophomore year in High School. The school I began attending was brand new, it was the first year the High School was operational which was great for me because they only had freshman and sophomores. Being the first class going through a new school came with a lot of privileges, it meant that I was in the varsity track and soccer for three years. We also had some of the best teachers and a very well-funded school that had about anything anyone would have interest in.

There was a lot going on during that time but some of the highlights that I can remember, would be my interest in theatre and stage productions, my first real programming classes (in Pascal), being a part of the Academic Decathlon team and the various science projects that I worked with.

Around this time I solidified my interest in programming when I was taught in Pascal. Pascal may not be around anymore, but it’s amazingly similar to a lot of the visual languages and even C. There was structure and because of it, I molded a lot of my programming from it, early on. Also something to note was that I was taking apart and rebuilding computers during this time. These weren’t the computers of today, plug-and-play wasn’t even known and the designs required IRQ switches to be set in order to communicate with the board properly. Today, there’s no need for the switches because once the board communicates with the cards, the board decides where to put them which means less troubleshooting of conflicts.

It was my math teacher who first got me involved in the Academic Decathlon. It wouldn’t have been something I would have normally dove headstrong into, but it was an experience in learning that I will never forget. If you haven’t heard of the competition before, it’s basically a competition on a variety of subjects that are vaguely listed and it’s your responsibility to learn and understand all the subjects in great detail and then test in each subject against competing teams.

Barry Goldwater High School Academic Decathlon Although my memory is hazy when it comes to the knowledge that I learned, the one day competition consisted of tests on art (paintings from various artists and styles), math, science, history (the topic was all of the American Presidents), speech, an interview and an essay. It was probably one of the most stressful and yet most exciting events I have been in and I was really glad I was a part of it.

Another teacher who pushed me in to learning more was my science teacher. Probably one of the most interesting teachers I had met, he was working as a school teaching but his job before that was working in nuclear science at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Tonopah, Arizona. He was this fairly young vegetarian who made science and chemistry fascinating. Sure some of us got into trouble for creating rotten egg gas, and placing it under a vent as well as our brief experiments with highly flammable powders that shot up like fireworks because of the metal content in the chemicals. Oh, and who could forget the many heat resistant ceramic dishes we broke. Other than those things, he had an interest in science that was contagious.

As far as the theatre department, I had a knack for working with lights and sound which lead me to a job in the theatre department at the high school. While other students were working productions for the fun of it, I was getting paid for performances and other events.

Youth Conservation Corps Appreciation Certificate

My first job out of high school was working with the Youth Conservation Corps. It's one of those jobs where you don't get paid much and you do a ton of work that benefits many others. Working under the Department of Agriculture, we created trails and cleaned up areas. We also assisted with the planing of trees and fencing off areas to help prevent from animals deforresting sections. One of the greatest benefits of the job was being next to Yellowstone. Often we worked hard, but spent a lot of time socializing and going into areas that most people never get to see.

Work History Prior to Leaving High School

Ever since I lived in Pocatello, I’ve had one job or another. This is a list of jobs I’ve done.

Job	City, State	Timeframe
Paperboy, Idaho State Journal	Pocatello, ID	1981-1983
Assisted with outtings, YMCA	Valencia, CA	1983-1985
Paperboy, Santa Clarita Valley News	Valencia, CA	1983-1986
Selling Magazine Subscriptions	Valencia, CA	1985
Covenience Store Stocker, Circle K	Phoenix, AZ	1987-1988
Stage Technician, Barry Goldwater High School	Phoenix, AZ	1988-1989
Youth Conservation Corps, Dept. of Agriculture, Island Park National Forrest Service	Island Park, ID	1989

Organizations/Activities Involved With

Organization/Activity	Involvement	City, State	Timeframe
Violin	Student	Pocatello, ID	1979-1981
Basketball	Player	Pocatello, ID	1980
Clarinet	Band	Pocatello, ID	1980-1983
Soccer, American Youth Soccer Organization	Player	Valencia,CA	1983-1986
YMCA	Organization Member	Valencia, CA	1983-1986
Varsity Soccer, Barry Goldwater HS	Player	Phoenix, AZ	1986-1989
Varsity Cross Country, Barry Goldwater HS	Player	Phoenix, AZ	1987-1988
Academic Decathlon, Barry Goldwater HS	Member of	Phoenix, AZ	1988-1989
Theatre Department, Barry Goldwater HS	Technician of	Phoenix	1987-1989