Jack of Harts

I graduated from college in 1999. I studied in computer science with a business secondary, and went straight to work in the industry I had long since chosen to aim for.

Computer technical support. My first full time job was on site at the Mayo Clinic for one of the many companies that contracted out to them. It lasted for three months. You may remember the 2000 scare. All the computers would fail to boot up on January 1, 2000, because their motherboard clocks were designed to only recognize two digit years starting with 84, so 00 was just right out. Many people were hired to work on that, and I was hired on the tail end of that job. As the job came to completion, my company began to downsize. I was laid off in the second round. There were two or three more rounds after that, and then they sold the company. And at the same time, every other computer company was laying off their excess computer techs as well.

It was the worst time to enter the computer industry. The only way to get a computer job in my hometown was to be an 8+ year veteran of IBM, which had been downsizing for years already. Those computer scientists with 4 or 8 year degrees who had designed entire new computer systems for the world banks and such were getting tech support jobs. The rest of us could pound sand.

I got a part time job at Best Buy while trying to find something better. Then one day I sold a computer to a businessman who was starting a new company. He liked how I asked what he wanted, and then got him a computer that would do what he wanted. Two actually. He offered me a job on the spot. I started working on the overnight shift when the hotel was still sticks, lacking even doors on the rooms. First it was my job to keep TVs from walking out. Then it was my job to run the daily audits. And then the owners wanted me to run and report the numbers for them, and many other business related items.

I guess that business secondary turned out to be more important than I thought it would be.

Twenty years later, I am still here. Three owners, three names, more managers than even I can count, and I am the last man standing of those who saw the hotel rise from the field. I’ve bought two homes, multiple vehicles, and built a good life I am happy with all thanks to this job.

This weekend, the longest-running manager we have ever had left for another opportunity.

And my twenty-year watch continues…