Mick

Back in the day, I was a COBOL programmer.

I left IT to raise a family and became a

widow when my daughters were 7 and 11. Now

they are both in college. The 21 year old is

at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champagne

studying Computer Science, and the 17 year old is

studying at the Fashion Institute for Design and

Merchandising (FIDM) in San Francisco. She lives

with me.

My 4-year BS degree is from Rutgers in Natural

Resource Management, Forestry Option, and I did

work for the Forest Service in California and

Oregon, but it was mostly physical labor, and

my strength is my mind, so I moved on. That's

when I got into programming in San Francisco

and the Bay Area.

When my daughters were born and in their early

years, I was a full-time parent. One learned to

read while she was still two, and was figuring

out simple derivatives in Calculus when she was

five. I homeschooled on and off, and was always

teaching my daughters or providing instruction

from other sources.

I've learned a lot about Internet Marketing but

never did much with the knowledge. I became a high

school Math teacher, but realized it wasn't a

good match for me. I started studying to be a

pre-k Montessori teacher, but had a change of heart.

I thought about becoming a real estate wholesaler or

other entrepreneur, but I'm tired of doing things

alone. A job where I'm around others and have set

tasks and am assured a salary is what I desire now.

I've always loved logic puzzles and math, and was

addicted to Sudoku puzzles for awhile. I even figured

out a pattern that can aid in solving sometimes that

I have not seen documented anywhere.

Programming is a great match for my analytic/logical

brain. I desperately want to get back into IT, and

that is why I am studying as much as I can as fast as

I can. (I finished a 7-week Udacity course-- CS101 Intro

to Comp Science with Python-- in two days by pulling

an all-nighter.)

We've been living on Social Security Survivor Benefits,

but since my daughter graduated high school early (at

17 instead of 18-- both daughters skipped a year of

public school due to accelerated homeschooling), the

benefit will stop when she turns 18 on Dec. 22, 2012

(the day after the widely speculated upon 12/21/2012 date).

So, I need a good job asap, and that is my aim.

Back to learning!