Poppa Gord

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Personal information

Name
Gord Cruikshank
City
Grafton
State, province or region
New Brunswick
Country
Canada
Gender
male
Job title
Retired Software Development Manager/IT Project Manager
Biography
Born in Ottawa,ON May 1950. My summer job from the age of 15 thru 21 was working as a carney in the hanky-pank joints on the midways, primarily in Ontario but also Quebec as well as Oregon and Washington state. I enjoyed a computing 101 course but did not pursue it at the time (around 1970). However my father in law was interested in microcomputer kits (eventually built a north star horizon) and had me take him to attend the annual computer show in Toronto. Not knowing which end of a soldering iron to hold, my interest was minimal until the talk shifted to pre-assembled microcomputers. In November 1977 the Commodore PET was demoed at the annual show and I ordered one from a local dealer. When he advised in January that the PET would not be available in the near future, I decided to switch my order to the Apple II. I had to argue with the salesman to get what I wanted. He assured me that no hobbyist would need more than 4K and I really did not need to spend the extra money for a 16K model. In February 1978 my machine (serial A2S1- 0734) was delivered. Within a few months I had taught myself Basic and some assembler and enrolled in some courses at the local community college. Within a year that programming interest translated into a career change and I became an Information Systems Professional. My interest in the Apple II continued with investments in programming aids, Disk II, VisiCalc, Pascal, graphics tablet, and other developments until the impact of the IBM PC's introduction forced my focus to that platform for professional reasons. My professional career focused on ICL, IBM, DEC and UNIVAC mini and mainframe computers including the early VAX and System 38(AS/400). Along the way, I also wrote programs for some industrial control programs (written on a teletype and loaded via ticker tape) and developed programs for the IBM PC while moonlighting. My retirement in June 2014 allows me the opportunity to finally return my focus to my "antique toy".
Interests
Computer programming and games, genealogy, guitar, grandkids. Not necessarily in that order.

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10 years 3 months