Day 13 – How did you become such a geek? Career? Personal interest?

I was born to it!

In my post for Day 01 I covered this to some degree and I’ll build on it here.

Back in the early 80’s when the C64 was king I discovered computers.  Well… I didn’t discover computers! Computers become part of my consciousness.  Without the being a cyborg part though.  Though that would have been cool!

From the age of 9 or 10 I was just fascinated with computers but it wasn’t until I was 14 that I got my own – a Commodore 64.

Just now I had a recollection of an old TV show I loved called Whiz Kids.  Apparently it only ran for one season though at the time I had no notion of seasons I only knew the show was on and then the show was off and sometimes it would come back the next year again.  But this show was one of many that introduced me to the idea that computers can help you do stuff – even fight crime and right wrongs.

Alas I didn’t actually pursue much in the line of computers for a long time.

I took whatever classes that were computer related in high school and straight after high school into university I did start a bachelors’ degree in computer science which was left incomplete after three years of playing an awful lot of arcade games and pinball.

But then there was a significant gap where I didn’t do anything very computer related at all career wise.  I still tinkered away at home but I never had the impetus to use my talents to being a career in the computer industry.

I was still a geek, but it wasn’t until 2002 when friends finally convinced me to take my geekiness and make some money from it.

And so in May 2002, I abruptly quit my job, moved to Wellington, signed up for a one year course in computers and I was away laughing.

From that point onwards, I just got more and more geekier as my confidence and knowledge grew.

It was also the time when I met my best bud @NZCoderGuy as he was starting the same course.

So as far as I’m concerned I have always been a geek.  Computers have always fired my imagination and I can not see a day when computers, gadgets or technology in general would not be a significant part of my life.