Curing (computer induced) headaches since 2006

Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun. - Colleen C. Barrett

I take my work seriously and I do my best, but at the same time I want to enjoy what I am doing. That's not to say it's always fun, or that I'll quit as soon as the going gets tough. It means that if I'm going to do something for the rest of my life I'm going to do something that I want to do and have a good time while doing it.

Now that being said, I'd like to explain a little about my background.

At a very young age I became interested in computers and would watch my dad work on them. I would constantly ask questions to find out what he was doing (Looking back I'm still surprised by his patience with me).

When I was 13, my dad brought home a computer from work for me to learn more with. Months later the computer tragically died and half the power in the basement was knocked out, because I attempted my first internal computer repair. Oops...

At 14, I saved up enough money working for my dad to buy my first computer. It was a custom computer that took me (with a lot of help from my dad) 6 hours to finally put together and get running.

Since then, I have spent the majority of my time working on, breaking, fixing, building, dismantling (and just about anything else I can think of) my computers. In February 2004 with the help of my dad, I started Right-Click, a business focused on personal and small business PC repair. In December of 2008 I decided to let Right-Click end and was content with a day job as a computer technician at the local computer store.

But it was not meant to be. After many phone calls and requests for my personal business to be started back up I decided it was time to give it another try. This time I started BlueCurtain with the help of a few others and after only a short time we now have a great team working together to make BlueCurtain a success.

I have currently received an A+ in two College/University courses in computer science and am planning to continue my studies. My aim is to learn more in the areas of Linux Server Administration, Web Design, and Business Management.

I enjoy the puzzle of fixing a broken computer. It could be a virus, a buildup of dust in the fans, or the computer may have been kicked in frustration a few too many times, among many other things. I find a great deal of fun in finding that problem and making it work again.

I first started to use (and break) computers when I was 5. Conveniently, Brendan was usually around to zap them with his mystical powers, but when I was 12 he began teaching me how to do it myself. I'm now a 6th level technosorcerer.

I have now worked at BlueCurtain for three years. I handle almost every computer that gets dropped off at the office, I do remote support, and at some point started making the lunches and hot chocolate.

I've always had a keen interest in computing in general. When my dad brought home our first machine when I was about 12, I spent a lot of time playing around with it and poking around inside it. In fact, my first repair job was on that machine, replacing a broken 3.5 inch flopppy disk drive with a new one. I popped open the case and discovered that the "professionals" that had installed the old one had hot glued it in place....

When I was in high school, I salvaged a couple of old computers (a 386 and 486 respectively) to play around with and practice my BASIC programming for school projects. And play Asteroids. That was a great game....

The first computer that I purchased was a pre-built machine from Best Buy in 2002. It was a decent machine at the time, but the numerous upgrades and repairs I had to make on it over its five year effective life span were enough to convince me to do all my own work in the future. My second computer was a custom build in 2007, and I'm happy to say that it's still running well -- though it is starting to have trouble keeping up with the games they're making these days.

I've helped out friends and family quite a bit, building and upgrading their computers, networking, cleaning out infections, installing software and re-installing operating systems many, many times.

I took over the web design portion of the business a few years back to allow Brendan to focus more on repairs. It can be pretty exciting work, and it's a great feeling when I'm able to build a site for a client in a way that makes their life that much easier.