Age

[DAVID L. ORMAND]

Age is 43, started trying to build 6502 machines after being exposed
to a KIM-1 in college.  Then tried to build 1802 machines.  Actually
got one to sort of work!  Then I talked my dad into a TI-99/4A for
"writing school reports" (which it did, plus a whole lot more) and
have stuck to it.  Now have several full-up 4A rigs plus a Geneve.
Also played with Atari STs and Falcons, and dabbled with an 800
briefly.  Now (in addition to the 4As) have several 386es and
486es running a variety of FreeDOS and linux, and a Slackware
main system next to the Geneve and the 4Mb 520STfm.

I learned programming in FORTRAN using punch-cards on an IBM
mainframe at school, where I met a fellow who had built an
8080 machine in a file cabinet in his dorm room, and programmed
it using punch-cards from the Computer Center.  I have played
with several VAXes over the years at work, including an
intimate experience with VMS 4 on a MicroVAX II that was
running the TI cross assembler for our TOW missile launcher
software development (based on the SBP9989, a close relative to
the 4A's TMS9900 and Geneve's TMS9995).  Played peripherally
with a TI 990 mainframe and programmed a real-time hardware-in-
the-loop simulation on a 68000 ExorMACS.

All in all, it's been a blast, and I wouldn't change a thing!