Bio

My First Computer Experiences

 I started with computers back in high school where we learned on a HP 2114A mini computer with a teletype attached.  There were no CRT's or monitors back then.  We loaded the programs in using the teletype or an optical paper tape reader which was high tech back then.  CD's and floppy disks did not exist and forget about flash drives.

We studied BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, Assembler and Conversational Machine Language or "CML" which was all in binary coding.   We did about three weeks in each language which of course is not enough time to master them.  So don't ask if I remember any of it for I don't.

Cars

After high school dad took ill and I went to work and never really went any further in computers.  I went into working on high performance street cars.  Cars like the Z-28, Hemi-Cuda, Shelby GT's and of course Vette's.   All supercars powered by monsterous 8 cylinder engines that produced gobs of horse power.

Weekends were reserved for street racing at places like West Shore Road, Sunrise Highway, Hemstead Turnpike and what have you.  A few guys would have a track car that they ran at Englishtown or National Speedway.

Then the EPA and smog controls came into play and that took the fun out of it.

Yachting

I moved onto working on yachts and progressed up to chief mechanic for a yacht dealership.  That was also a lot of fun.  I got to play with millionaire's playtoys and got paid for it.  We made a lot of money back then, a lot.  It seemed like it would never end.

As the chief mechanic I was in full charge of the yard.  I did custom installations, water deliveries, purchasing, designed and built custom parts and used a lathe and milling machine holding very tight tolerances.  I even participated in the hauling and launching of yachts and ran a 60 ton travel lift.

I instituted a  preventative maintenance program that increased sales and gave the owners more use of their boats.  I developed a unique and effective winterizing program and reduced shrinkage.

While there I designed and built my own 18' fiberglass boat and stuck a 140 HP outboard on the back.  It took a good four years to build.  In later years I had to sell it.

Black Monday rolled around and we know what happened from that point.  Yacht sales fell off the planet.  Eventually the dealership was sold and the new owners fired everyone on Christmas Eve.  We had to be there on Christmas day to take our possessions.  They gave us only two hours to clear out after that they drove a bulldozer through the shop destroying anything that was left.

Back to Computers

So back into computers I went.  I bought a IBM clone with a 286 processor, 10MB harddrive and had 64MB RAM, real state of the art.  I tore it apart and put it back together, wiped it out and reloaded it time and time again.

I was able to really cut my teeth by going to temp agencies and gained tons of experience.  I went back to school and studied computers to round out my knowledge and learned that going to school about computers is a never ending project with the way technology changes.  I earned a degree in computers and am still furthering my computer education by taking more programming courses.

Later on I had the opportunity to go back into the marine industry and was the parts manager for a large boat yard.  I introduced numerous improvements into their Point Of Sales system and implemented many new controls including tighten the control on inventory.  I save them thousands in costs through advanced ordering.

Shortly after I started to work at night for a small collections company maintaining their computes which after a year became a full time position.  I left the marine business again for this.  I stayed with the firm until the owners decided to retire.  They closed up shop and that was that.

I figured that I would test the waters by doing some private consulting which was OK.  Not too lucrative for getting clients was difficult.  But I was able to put food on the table.  One thing that was bad there was no medical coverage.

Then I received a call from my last employer who heard of my reputation and made me an offer to work for them.  The place was not far from my house which was great.  I saved a bundle on gasoline.

I designed and rebuilt the network from the ground up across seven offices, provided superior tech support, conducted aggressive contract negotiations and more.  I saved them company over $3 million by not out sourcing tech service which is how they operated previously.  Switched hardware vendors and saved even more money.  I brought about numerous improvements while keeping an eye on cost containment.

Then in 2011 the Board of Directors released the CEO who was the founder of the company and replaced him with an investment banker who never ran a business before.  In 2012 the new CEO wanted to get rid of all of the older workers for younger people and downsized the staff and I was one of those let go.

A Little More About Me

Now I am seeking a new opportunity for employment and would like to move to the Keys and make the Keys my home.  I have a lot to bring to the table.  I would like to get some sort of relocation assistance like anything from a referral to a good real estate agent all the way to all expenses paid with the set up of a place to live.  Of course I know that will never happen so I'll settle for the real estate agent referral.

Some of my hobbies including sailing, fishing, building fishing rods, scuba diving (I have 25 certifications), computer graphics, webpage design, photography and astronomy.  I even dabble in painting with oils as well.

I was the SEO of a division of the United States Power Squadrons for 5 years and won numerous awards in education.  I've been published numerous times as well not only in the USPS magazine "The Ensign", but in other newspapers as well.

Why East Egg Bill

Why did I chose the Pseudo-name or handle of "East Egg Bill?"

A lot of my family are on Facebook.  They use it to gossip about each other and to cut each other up the back and some will go as far as discrediting each other among their friends both on line and off line.  I really do not want to get caught up in that crap.

But I figured that Facebook could be a good networking site that could be used to fulfill my dreams of getting a job in the Keys and moving there.  But I don't want to use my real name for the reasons I mentioned above.

So enter East Egg Bill.  The way I came up with the name is simple.  First I live on Long Island NY in the area known in the book 'The Great Gatsby' as East Egg.  If you have ever read The Gatsby you will know exactly where East Egg is.  In some printings of the book they even include a map.  Now my first name actually is "Bill."  I combined that I live in East Egg with my first name and hence, East Egg Bill.

I also have a LinkedIn account but that is under my real name.

If a prospective employer or a lead comes across my desk from the Keys, then I would send them a resume to try and get conversation started.  Of course the resume would have my real name on it.  And with any luck, "good-bye New York" and "hello to the Florida Keys."