It was early 2000. I was living in rural Bumfuck, NC, and had dropped out of school back in '96 (I was working on a C.S. degree at UNC-W). After that, I had spent a year doing construction work, then went back to the local community college to get an A.S. in Computer Programming (money was the main reason I dropped out of the B.S. program). So anyway, I did not yet have even that A.S. finished, and I had no professional programming experience. But... I'd been programming as a hobby and teaching myself stuff for about 6 years, so I knew a modest amount about coding.

Anyway, at the urging of a friend who was about to move to the RTP area, I put my resume on Monster.com, Dice.com, etc. and agreed to split an apartment with him if I could find a job in that area. I didn't expect much, since I didn't have a degree in the field or any professional coding experience.

What I didn't realize was just how in demand programmers really were then. Keep in mind, this just before the "dot com bubble" popped. As it turns out, you could probably have gotten a job as a programmer then if you could turn a computer on by yourself.

Anyway, my phone started ringing about a day after I put the resume up, and I drove up to Raleigh for a couple of interviews, and within about 2 weeks I had an offer.

And that's how this all started...

To Be Continued...