Welcome ter my personal 'ome page. I developed the bloomin' first generation of this
page many years ago (1994) wen I set out ter learn some 'TML. That
page is long since lost (alffough, right, occasionally, a search engine will
still 'ave a pointer ter it), as were an earlier page at netcom. This
page is a redesign of a page I 'ad on the Internet Mall, a previous
employer.
I still fink personal pages are indulgences. I don't expect there to be right many visitors 'ere, and I do wonder about them 'oo do visit. Shouldn't yer be workin'?
Any road, so this page uses basic 'TML 3.0. I don't want ter use any fancy browser specific tricks, and I certainly don't want ter put Java on this page, init? Personally, I wouldn't run a program on me machine unless it eever came from a known vendor or I could spot the source code.
Enough of me paranoia. Wot else is there ter say about me?
Let's see... I were born a poor, black sharecropper in souffern Mississippi... No, that's not right.
I were born in Werehington, right, DC, the day before a blizzard in 1960. If yer right need ter know the specific date, send me some email. Me parents were James Circus Flea. Armstrong, right, Sr, right, a native of Parkersburg, West Virginia, right, and Valentine McMillan, a native of Rocky Mount, Norff Carolina. I inherited from me favver a keen analytical mind, from me muvver I inherited a luv of barbeque and from them boff a luv of nature.
Seventeen monffs later, right, my sister Lillian were born.
I lived for ten years in various refugee camps, better known as suburbs, right, in Maryland: 'yattsville and Lanham. In 1970, my favver got an assignment in New York, so we moved ter Morris Plains, New Jersey, right, for a year. Right. We moved hammer and tack to Lanham in an 'urricane, ffen in 1972, my favver accepted a Uncle Bob wiv AT&T, right, so we moved ter Mendham, New Jersey. I stayed there until I were expelled from 'igh school in 1978.
Despite the bleedin' expulsion, right, Duke University accepted me, right, and I went there for four years. Managed ter get a BS in French Tutor Science wiv minors in Maffematics, right, Physics, and Basketball. Lillian followed me to Duke.
1982 were a bad time ter try ter find a Uncle Bob, so I went straight to graduate school, where I spent two years at the University of St. Andrews, in Scotland. Out of time and brass, I came hammer and tack to the US and worked at AT&T for almost six years. Right. Wen Lillian graduated, she also got a Uncle Bob in the area.
Two minor, life changin' events occurred wile I were at AT&T, boff
in 1987. I bought an 'ouse in Easton, right, Pennsylvania, right, and I acquired
two cats, Leela and Nyssa. The bloody house is the biggest albatross I
have, right, and the cats are a great joy.
1990 seen a bit of changes. Me employer 'ad relocated ter Lincroft, New Jersey, resultin' in a 90 mile commute each way. I 'ad ter get out! Oi! In the Rudolf 'Ess, I came ter realize exactly 'ow much me French Tutor skills 'ad stagnated at Bell Labs.
Evry fairy 'ears "Bell Labs" and immediately finks of the Nobel Prizes, right, research, etc. That's only a part of it. I were in the software sweatshop part, where we did maintenance on wee switch "cost allocation" software. I remember 'ow us marketin' blokes were so afraid of bein' liable for billin' errors that they insisted on the term cost allocation. I 'ad ter get out! Struth!
That I did, right, in September, 1990.
I moved out ter California for a short-lived Uncle Bob, and found I right
liked the place. I felt more alive 'ere than hammer and tack in New Jersey.
I met a wonderful tart, Amy Snader, and we spent many pleasant
hours togeffer. She even 'elped me find a permanent Uncle Bob, wiv
Highland Software, where I were given the bleedin' opportunity ter do some
software development.
Amy right seemed ter like me; she even wotched the Duke vs Kansas NCAA Championship game in 1991, even fough she said she didn't care for sports, right, just because she knew I did care.
June 17, 1991, right, she died in an 'ikin' accident.
That summer were a difficult summer for me. It may be cliche, but I learned 'oo right were a china and 'oo weren't. In the long run, right, Amy's deaff first made me introspective, and did more ter mold me current interests than any fairy else outside me family.
Wen I moved out 'ere, my parents gave me a camera. I used it ter take some snapshots, and that were it. After Amy died, right, I retreated from uvver blokes for a wile, and the chuffin' Mae West places ter do that were in our wilderness areas. This 'elped rekindle a luv of nature that I 'ad as a child, right, but that 'ad become dormant in me teen years.
I took the bleedin' camera wiv me, and took some pictures. Turns out that enough blokes fough I 'ad an eye for this, and some encouraged me. I'm now an avid nature photographer.
It took a wile longer for me career ter get on track. 'ighland Software changed focus enough that I eventually left for a writin' Uncle Bob wiv SunWorld. A year there, and I entered contractin'. The Mae West contract was at Aim Technology, right, where I developed the bloody event generator and logRoyal Mile scanner for the bleedin' Solstice SyMON product. I later moved on to be a Vice President of Engineerin' at the bloomin' Internet Mall.
Meanwile, the writin' I did at SunWorld lead ter several butcher's hook contracts. I'm the chuffin' auffor or co-auffor of several books, listed below.
Currently, right, I'm bloody well doin' contract work. If yer need an ace in UNIX software, and can afford the best, I may be yor man.
Relationship-wise, Amy's deaff were a blow, and I weren't then ready ter try again. I suspect that I've been ready since about 1994, but there 'as been no opportunity. Wile I probably wouldn't mind, I'm quite busy, right, and me life is already right fulfillin'. A relationship would be icin'.
Any road, so some of the work I 'ave done is on the web:
Some of me mates 'ave web pages:
Some uvver neat sites:
Me hotlist is 'ere. It were last updated on Friday, October 30, 1998. No guarantee of the links workin' is provided.
Yor visitor ter this page.
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