Tony's Tech Tips!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Getting things started

I've been meaning to set up a blog for a while now, so here goes...

I'm Tony, A.K.A. "The Computer Guy" I've been helping people get their computers running like they should since I was a kid. I was playing with computers before I could walk, using a Commadore 64 instead of a baby rattle. I have strong feelings for what I like to call the golden age of computers, when it was more of a hobby for the elites, and hacking away at a DOS or Linux prompt was just as cool as using windows. Before I turned 14, I began an apprenticeship at a "Mom 'n Pop" computer store down the road, where I began to learn everything I could about computers and their fun little qerks. Thanks to an accelerated learning program, I was able to count the time working at the computer store and got my high school diploma about a year and a half later, I stuck around the computer store for a few more years before getting a better paying job at a computer-parts distribution warehouse, Lyben Computer Systems. A few months after starting as a lowly tech support grunt, I took charge when the system admin got angry at the company and stopped showing up. After a few years the company decided to move to a new location, and it was up to yours truly to handle the network side of the move. That was a great work environment and I grew to love all the people that worked there.

Unfortunately due to a poor local economy, big guns like Dell, Compaq and Gateway really started to take down a lot of the smaller, more locally minded companies... Being Lyben's main Systems Administrator, I was involved in most of the sales report meetings and started to notice just how bad things were going. Also, they had been promising to pay for my network certifications for way too long and I didn't see the company lasting much longer. I heard of an opening at an automotive tool design shop, so I jumped ship just before Lyben sank like a rock. Basically the design shops current admin was overwhelmed with the 3 floors of computer systems he was in charge of, and was neglecting a lot of the AutoCAD groups needs. When I wasn't busy taking care of the normal day to day problems that popped up, I started to learn AutoCAD and actually took to it quite easily. Over time, I started to do more ACAD Proposal designs then actual system administration work. One of the coolest parts of that job was being sent to California for a month to reverse engineer a laser welding system. Mind you, I'm not an engineer by any means and was really there as more of a systems support role for the time, but what a great time it was.

In what seemed like an eerie repeat of Lyben, the main company we did design work for took a nose dive. I won't say what company, but it sounds like christ-ler :) Some 120 people got laid-off over the course of a month or so, and eventually towards the end of the layoffs, my number came up. I managed to get by on the unemployment for a while but not having my certifications really screwed up my chances in the now-ailing job market. So I decided to get in shape and do some manual labor for a while, did some tree work and a lot of side jobs, cleaning out virus's here, building machines there, it was pretty good experience, lost the hackers complexion & physique, had a great time working outside until I had an accident on a tree removal job and messed my shoulder/back up. Since then it's been back to being "The Computer Guy" doing everything from web site design and virus/spyware removal to system upgrades and repairs.

I'm hoping this blog can be used to promote my local business, as well as help people with the chronic computer problems that everyone seems to have now-a-days. I will try to post as many "Safe Surfing" tips as I can. Feel free to post a comment talking about your latest problems and I will definitely try and provide any help I can. If your looking to hire me for my services, shoot me an e-mail at Tonycomputerguy@gmail.com Safe and happy surfing everyone!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Yes, this rocks. I hope we can get some folks using this. I'd love to get IE (Internet Explorer) off the map and start talking alternatives. No posts like 'Mozilla is neat'. Lets get some step by step replacement ideas. Opera is my favorite! Anyone else?

Spyware Hunter, Virus destroyer, said...

Firefox IS neat.

;p

See above. Thanks for inspiring my first real post.