Before TCS: Childhood Start With An Iconic Computer

My first computer was a Commodore 64.  Back in the 1980’s, home computers were not commonplace like they are today.  My dad had an educated hunch that computers would be the wave of the future, so he started me off at age 4 with my first computer.

Needless to say, he was absolutely right!  Granted, the C64 was completely different than the PCs of today, but it remains an iconic piece of computing history, and an innovator in its own right.  To this day, Commodore retains a massive fan base worldwide, despite having gone out of business in 1994.

 

 

 

 

Teenage Years: First PC, First Custom PC Build, & More

My first PC was a Tandy 1000RL with a 20MB hard drive, a 3.5″ floppy drive, DOS, and Deskmate software.  This was my entry into the world of PCs – also a very different system compared to modern systems.

My parents “won” a 286 PC, only to find it was only the motherboard and case.  We went to a small, local PC shop and learned that the cost of buying the parts needed to get this “free” computer working were roughly the same as buying and building a newer 386 system.  I remember this system being a full-tower, with an AMD 386-DX 40Mhz CPU, with 4 or 8MB of RAM and a 40MB hard drive.

 

 

Becoming A Techie

After a mistake I made cost us a service appointment at a PC repair shop (I deleted some important files by mistake), I wrote my first batch script which would backup the important files and allow them to be restored, thus preventing the need for another appointment and the costs associated with it.  I also learned how to upgrade my computer as well as my Dad’s Packard Bell Legend 486 (loved that computer – when you turned it on, it sounded like you were starting up a fighter jet! So cool.)

 

There were many times over the years Dad needed my help fixing something with his computer, and I remember one instance where I had trouble of my own.  MS-DOS 6.0 came out, and I wanted to try a feature called DoubleSpace which would compress my files and save disk space – only to find it was buggy.  It took me all night to get my system up and running again.

 

In the mid-1990’s, I built a Pentium 90Mhz computer.  It was another full-tower PC but had a CD-ROM and a 1GB hard drive.  Loved playing games on it!  Some of my favorites were One Must Fall 2097, Jazz Jackrabbit, Commander Keen, and FX Fighter.

 

 

From Employee To Entrepeneur: The Birth of TCS

I left my job in 1994 to start TCS, where I specialized in providing in-home and in-office consulting to my clients.  After 25+ years of service, my core client base had either passed on, closed up shop, or downsized as a result of various factors.  The final straw was when lockdowns were ordered in response to an outbreak in 2020, which resulted in many small businesses going under.  My original client survived, but most of their customers went under.

My final project was a prototype VPN server I developed for a client.  Over the years I had done everything from consulting, custom-built computers, networking offices, and websites for clients. Sadly, it was time to move on and plan for the future.

 

Relocating To A New Area: TCS On Hold

In 2022, I relocated from Orange County, CA to Nashville, TN.  My new location provided me a vastly less expensive cost of living, nicer people, better culture, and better employment opportunities while I plan the relaunch of TCS sometime in the near future.

 

The Future

TCS plans to relaunch with the same world-class consulting in the comfort of client’s homes and offices, along with custom-built PCs, websites, networking, and more.