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Donald is a Web Designer and has built many Internet Websites. He has been interested in technology and computers for most of his life. His first exposure to computers and programming came when he enrolled at Wichita State University in 1968 in pre-engineering. He took all the required classes including Calculus, Statistics & Dynamics, Chemistry and Physics. Don said "I signed up for FORTRAN programming because that's what all the engineers were taking."
In 1970 Don transferred to Kansas State University where he earned a degree in Construction Science in 1973. "This course had broader coverage than engineering.", he said. It interested him because It included classes in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Technology, Project Management and Business. "I really enjoyed the technology involved in the design and construction of buildings and seeing a dream on paper become a reality", Don said. He landed his first job after college with a construction company in Wichita and began managing projects and doing some design work. But Don also had another interest.
Don continued working in the Wichita construction industry but also offered his services as company photographer. Most construction companies didn't have a photographer because that was a luxury, so when Don would volunteer to do their photography in addition to his regular job, the owner's would always be more than willing to let him do it, especially since he had his own equipment and lenses in addition to many years of photography experience.
But this was not Don's only investment in a personal computer, over the years he acquired numerous PCs and was constantly upgrading them to make them run faster and do more. On one PC in particular, Don upgraded every piece of hardware in it, including the mother board. He said, "When I was ready to discard this PC, about the only thing left over from the original purchase was the box it came in". After 10 years in the construction industry, Don was noticing how computers were making their way into almost every business and programming jobs were in high demand and paying quite well. Desiring a change in life and wanting to stay in the field of technology, Don decided to go back to school and get a Computer Science degree. In 1987 he graduated from Wichita State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics. "The more CS classes I took, the more I realized the field of computers was where I wanted to be" Don said. He worked as a programmer at a regional data center for the Farm Credit Bank for two years and then was hired by the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company as a Computer Analyst.
By himself, he wrote training materials, put together manuals, and held classes to teach other Boeing Analysts and Engineers how to use Boeing's Configuration Management System for their programs.
"I was real pleased", Don said, "when one of my clients, who had just given a presentation at a national science conference, told me that he was complimented on the quality of his slides". The speaker was told he had the best slides at the conference, which were the slides Don had made. Don's dad, who served in the South Pacific during World War II loved to give advice. One of the things he told his son numerous times, that Don took to heart, was "Whatever you decide to become, be the best that you can be". While Don was at Boeing, the Internet and the World Wide Web were growing by "leaps and bounds" and Don found this was an area that fascinated him. He said, "I took every opportunity I could to learn about the Web and designing Websites". He also had the opportunity to work on a Website for his group at Boeing. He said "I had a desire to be self-employed and enjoyed being on the Internet so much that I wanted to make that my next career". So after taking early retirement from Boeing in 2005 Don became a web developer. Now Don builds and maintains Websites and "Web Builder's Cafe" is one of them. "My desire is to have user friendly Websites and provide helpful services and information for internet users. So I hope you enjoy your stay while you're at Web Builder's Cafe."
If you'd like to contact me, Click Here. |
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That was in the days before there was online entry with a
keyboard and PCs.
"We would sit at an IBM Key Punch Machine, which was as big as a washing
machine, and type out our code, one line at at time, which would be punched
onto cards, one line per card" Don said,
"When we were done punching our cards, we'd drop them off at a window
where the program would be scheduled to run on the school's main frame
computer. Then, we'd come back
the next day to pick up a paper printout to see if the program actually ran."
Don
bought his first camera by mail order in 1960. it was a Kodak Brownie
model with a built-in flash. "My sister had a Kodak Six-20 box camera,
that didn't have a flash, so I thought I was really 'high-tech' with my
little Brownie", Don said.
Wanting to stay current in the world of technology, Don bought his first home
computer in 1984. It was an NCR Decision Mate V. It had no hard
drive and the CP/M operating system had to be loaded from a 5 1/4" floppy
drive every time you turned it on. It had a 12" monochrome screen and
a grand total of 64 K of RAM.
At Boeing, he started out as a support analyst for CATIA, the cutting edge
software they had recently acquired for designing all of their new airplanes, but
eventually he moved into 
In 1996, Don started a home business in which he used his home computer to
create graphics
for individuals and
businesses. This business allowed him to use many
of the skills he had acquired over the years: Computers Graphics, Drawing &
Design, Photography and Project
Management. Most of his clients were professionals who spoke at
conferences and conventions
around the country, so his final products were usually graphics that were
put on color slides. 
