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I was born in 1971. Growing up in the late 70's into the mid-80's was a time of wonder. The video game craze hit in the early 80's, and advances in electronics brought us new games and toys. My family couldn't afford to buy me Legos let alone an Atari 2600. I experienced these games only occasionally, through friends and family who could afford them, which made them that much more alluring to me.
Personal computers like the VIC-20 started showing up in department stores. Whenever mom would go to the store I would head directly to the computer display models.
In grade school we had one Apple II computer. One time one of my classmates brought his Tandy Color Computer to school along with a monitor, cartridges and joysticks in a huge duffle bag. I relished the limited time I had with each of these.
In my sophomore year of high school I would beg my teachers for library passes to skip study hall and go to the library where they had one Apple IIe computer. There was a fellow student named John who did the same thing. We would race each other to the Apple computer when the bell rang. Sometimes I would win, sometimes I would lose. The loser would have to sit there and watch the other do what they wanted, that is until I noticed the two Tandy 1000's in the corner.
Side Note: In 1986, we were watching the space shuttle Discovery launch in the library, and saw it explode live on TV.
I started using the Tandy 1000's instead of the Apple, since they were always available. I reformatted my floppy for Tandy and started to learn BASIC programming. I fell in love with programming, and wanted to spend as much time as possible on computers, since I didn't have one at home.
John and I became good friends. We would spend hours looking at Radio Shack catalogs, staring at computers and electronic gadgets, but it was mostly computers for me. I would daydream about owning a computer. Keep in mind, personal computers were not a common household item. Very few people owned them, and the ones that did were either professionals or computer geeks. Evidently I fell into that computer geek category, but I didn't own one... yet.
My sophomore year I took the only available computer class which had us using and programming on TRS-80's. Between my sophomore and junior years I took a summer job that helped me earn enough money to buy a Tandy 1000EX computer and monitor at Radio Shack. I spent most of my spare time during break programming and enjoying my personal computer.
I switched gears and attended a vocational school my junior and senior year, picking the only class that had computers in the lab, an accounting class. I spent the majority of my lab time on the IBM XT's with monochrome displays, programming in BASIC. I was so into computers I would take the DOS and BASIC manuals home to read them and learn as much as I could.
My senior year of vocational school was more of the same. Plenty of lab time on computers. Near the end of the year my teacher talked me into competing in a programming contest at a local technical college. I could've taken first place, but I managed my time poorly, trying to make the interface look good rather than completing the program's functionality first. Even though I didn't complete the program, running out of time, I ended up getting fourth place despite my perfectionism. I still kick myself for not managing my time wisely. I won some goodies and got my picture in the paper, which was kind of cool.
I had experience with a number of then popular languages, like COBOL, Fortran, Pascal, and BASIC, and could have easily gone on to make it a career, but there was something about programming that I wanted to keep "pure" for myself. I couldn't see myself programming for someone else back then (now I can, and have), but it was a different time.
When I graduated I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, nor where I would end up. Since I had no idea, I made the best of my time, spending it with my high school friends, trying to sow our last wild oats before having to act like adults and find employment. I half-heartedly applied to a few local places, but none of them called me back. Truth be told, I hoped they wouldn't, so I could skate by a little longer and not have to grow up.
Some time and no calls later, my father suggested I apply at the local telephone company. The phone company seemed like an impossibility to me, so I applied.
A short time later (I can't remember, weeks or a couple months) I received a call from one of the department supervisors wanting to do an interview. I was hired on the spot. Thus began my career in telecommunications.
I was hired as a temp repair operator. The job lasted two months before I was laid off. It wasn't long before I received a call from another supervisor in a different department who needed temp directory assistance operators. I worked for eight months before the company decided to move the department to another state. Twice I had been laid off. I called the supervisor from my first job and asked if he was hiring, to which he said yes. I was able to go right back to my first job as a repair operator and start immediately, as I knew the job and could hit the ground running. After working for a few months I was hired on permanently.
Computers/my computer hobby continued to be my main interest outside of work. In 1991, after being hired, I took advantage of a computer loan program through the company and purchased my first custom built computer. It was a 386-33DX with an 80mb hard drive. I still have the receipt for it in my filing cabinet.
Shortly after buying the computer, a co-worker invited me over to see his Commodore 64. He showed me his modem and BBS (Bulletin Board System), introducing me to a whole new world of possibilities. I went out and purchased a 2400 baud modem, and started downloading BBS software to try, with the intention of starting my own BBS. I chose VBBS software, because it came with the source code, which was written in QBasic. I set about modifying the source code, combining it with scripting and ANSI art. I ordered two phone lines. One I used for voice and the other for the BBS to receive calls.
The BBS grew into a small community of users, both local and long distance. I set up networked message subs, which dialed into a node to exchange messages every day. The BBS led to me calling other BBSes and downloading MOD music and demos, which I posted. I met other SySops (System Operators) in the local area, and got together with them regularly to exchange ideas. Another SysOp and I formed an ANSI art group with several others and released our first ANSI art pack in 1993, which can still be found on ANSI art archives.
I continued to run the BBS until approximately 1995. The internet and the web won out over BBSing.
I transitioned from the BBS to the web and hosted MOD music files on my website using a CD changer on the server side (a local web space provider). I kept the site up for several years, but eventually shut it down as I moved on to other things. Fast forward to 2023, the MOD music collection is online again, as a page on my current website.
In 1995 the company decided to do away with the repair call center, but this time they had jobs for us in a newer call center across town for orders and billing. The transition was seamless. Our department closed and most of us moved to the new call center to undergo training for the new software we would be using.
I worked as an orders operator for three years (8 years into my career) before I decided I needed a change. The stress of the job and the monotony had reached its peak. I didn't want to be an operator anymore. I was burned out on it. I discussed my options with my supervisor, who was pleasantly surprised and wanted to help me. I decided that I wanted a technical job. To be eligible for a technical job, you had to pass electronics and digital tests. Thankfully, the company had the information on the test in the corporate library, made available to any employee for a small fee. It consisted of floppy disks with a DOS program that taught you what you needed to know through CGA four-color graphics and text. The information was presented as many times as you wanted, after which a randomized multiple choice quiz would test your knowledge. Once you ran through it enough times you could ace the tests.
I repeated it until I could answer every question confidently, then scheduled and took the tests. I passed the first time. If I had failed I would have had to wait six months before I could test again.
After passing the electronics and digital tests the technical jobs were available for me to bid on. There were plenty of field tech jobs, but I waited for a central office job to open up. What I didn't know at the time is it can take years, even decades for a central office job to become available, as central office technicians stick with the job their whole career. I was extremely lucky that a central office technician job opened up in a neighboring city within weeks after I passed the tests.
I bid on the job and was called for the interview. The interview was mostly just a formality, for the supervisor to discuss the job with you, and clear up any misconceptions. I met my new supervisor and his supervisor at a restaurant, and we discussed the job. They asked if I was ready to dedicate myself, because I would be the lead tech in the near future (due to techs retiring). I answered yes, that I was willing to put forth the effort to be able to take on the responsibility. I was given a date to be at my new job, and washed my hands of being an operator.
I showed up on time on my first day. My boss gave me the keys I needed to access the buildings and walked me into a room where a few other techs were sitting around talking to each other. He introduced me and left the room. I sat down and looked around. No one was doing anything, they were just sitting around hanging out.
As an operator I had to be at my desk and online taking calls at an exact time or I would get yelled at. As a tech I just had to be there and on hand for whatever needs done. No one counted the seconds. You were left to do your job. The stark contrast between the two jobs and their demands made me smile. I had made it. I was now a technician. And it wasn't even that hard to get there.
I applied myself and learned as much as I could from the other techs, and on my own. I paid my dues and worked second shift, midnight shift, on call and overtime. I did eventually become the lead tech, and by the end I was the only tech left.
Years passed and the job became more diverse in its scope.
When I first arrived at the central office, there was already a host of equipment to learn and maintain. Each a different manufacturer. The job became increasingly more complex as new technologies were added, and what was initially classified as a central office technician became a broader term, network technician, to cover all aspects of the network. These days the network leans ever more heavily on ethernet, but it is way more complex than that. Think IT on steroids. As a central office technician, you're responsible for a vast number of things. I'll try to explain that in more detail when I pick up this document again.
I have more to write, but it's 1:23am and I need to sleep. Stay tuned, I'm about to go more in-depth into my job and so much more about my life. I will probably split this file up into separate pages so load time is faster.