Title:  Programming

Seq:    1.2

Level:  3

Body:

My first computer was... an [IBM 370](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/370). 

Not that it belonged to me, or that I had it in my living room at home. 

But I lucked into a job as a computer operator in 1974, and then taught myself COBOL programming using some training guides I found in the computer room.

And then I was off to the races. 

I did some practical business programming, that eventually got me out of the computer room and assigned my own desk. 

But I also programmed a game. 

The player had to type the alphabet in sequence as quickly as possible. 

And my program timed you! And then kept track of your times! And compared them to those of other players!

And, in order to play, we had to use the only keyboard that was connected to this expensive mainframe at the time... the main operator's console! 

Which meant that, for myself and my fellow denizens of the computer room (including my boss and the lead programmer), we had to pretty much shut down all of the real work we and our computer were supposed to be doing in order to fire up my game and play a couple of rounds. 

But I stuck with programming, and did some serious software development for several companies over the years, and eventually became a manager of software developers. 

And ended up having a great, rewarding career. 

----

And so, in this chapter of my story, I learned some important values:

+ [[Coding is Fun]]
+ [[The Rebel Alliance]]






