Skip Murphy!
I was raised in Brockton, MA. Graduating from Brockton High in 1974, I went to BU and got a BA in in Biology in 1978 figuring on going to Med School afterwards. However, having started with a DEC PDP-8e while at BHS and moving on to an IBM 360 / 370 / 3033 while at BU, I ditched the idea of becoming an MD and and headed the siren call of computers, so I pursued an MS in Computer Science (BU, 1984 and in so doing, disappointed Mom who wanted a doctor for a son). I've worked for a number of former computer giants (Honeywell Information Systems, Wang Laboratories, Digital Equipment Corp) that no longer exist, as well as a handful of smaller companies that died as well (isn't technology change wonderful?). A strange journey indeed. Even owned a small business with my wife for a while. I've programmed, consulted, done pre-sales, taught, and done tech support. Currently, I am a technical analyst for a software company headquarted in California.
Met my wife-to-be during my first (and only full time) year as a graduate student - we've been married for 25 years. Two sons, now grown, leaving time for newer hobbies.
For most of my life, I was apolitical like most engineers - wrapped up in work, family, and for me, church (I am an Evangelical Christian attending an Independent [but conservative] Baptist church). I was in my own little bubble - the typical engineer - I just wanted to be left alone to code and live my life. However, I learned in my late 20's that there were things other than coding that were important, especially those folks called politicians that could make drastic decisions about and for me and my family without my input. Listening to this guy by the name of Rush Limbaugh and reading business magazines, things started to click (ok, slowly - but they clicked!), "stuff" percolated. Always thinking that I was a middle of the road person, I learned I really was a Conservative, Finally, fired up over a Letter to the Editor by a real liberal person besmirching the US, I wrote my first Rebuttal Letter to the Editor. Found out that I liked to factually refute silliness passing as opinion in addition to getting some nice comments on what I wrote, I continued on.....
Wrote a few more, and one was noticed by Niel Young of Laconia, NH. A Conservative activist and columnist, he is also owner and host of The Advocates radio show (WEZS-1350AM, Saturday mornings 8-11am Eastern Time, streamed at WEZS.COM). The show is a mix of local, NH, national, and international news and comments from a Conservative standpoint. Anyways, Niel asked me to come in for what I thought was one time guest slot, but have been on pretty much a regular ever since. Who'da thunk it?
The natural outcome of this was this blog, so I hope you enjoy it! I'll be doing the technical work, so things will look goofy from time to time as I learn the underlying software (Moveable Type) and starting in on graphic design to boot. Once I get better at this, I'll turn on comments and trackbacks as quickly as possible.
I appreciate you visiting us! Feel free to drop me a line or add a comment to any of the postings - join us!
-Skip
Met my wife-to-be during my first (and only full time) year as a graduate student - we've been married for 25 years. Two sons, now grown, leaving time for newer hobbies.
For most of my life, I was apolitical like most engineers - wrapped up in work, family, and for me, church (I am an Evangelical Christian attending an Independent [but conservative] Baptist church). I was in my own little bubble - the typical engineer - I just wanted to be left alone to code and live my life. However, I learned in my late 20's that there were things other than coding that were important, especially those folks called politicians that could make drastic decisions about and for me and my family without my input. Listening to this guy by the name of Rush Limbaugh and reading business magazines, things started to click (ok, slowly - but they clicked!), "stuff" percolated. Always thinking that I was a middle of the road person, I learned I really was a Conservative, Finally, fired up over a Letter to the Editor by a real liberal person besmirching the US, I wrote my first Rebuttal Letter to the Editor. Found out that I liked to factually refute silliness passing as opinion in addition to getting some nice comments on what I wrote, I continued on.....
Wrote a few more, and one was noticed by Niel Young of Laconia, NH. A Conservative activist and columnist, he is also owner and host of The Advocates radio show (WEZS-1350AM, Saturday mornings 8-11am Eastern Time, streamed at WEZS.COM). The show is a mix of local, NH, national, and international news and comments from a Conservative standpoint. Anyways, Niel asked me to come in for what I thought was one time guest slot, but have been on pretty much a regular ever since. Who'da thunk it?
The natural outcome of this was this blog, so I hope you enjoy it! I'll be doing the technical work, so things will look goofy from time to time as I learn the underlying software (Moveable Type) and starting in on graphic design to boot. Once I get better at this, I'll turn on comments and trackbacks as quickly as possible.
I appreciate you visiting us! Feel free to drop me a line or add a comment to any of the postings - join us!
-Skip
