Last week marked the second anniversary of my most-recent paycheck, and next week marks the 76th anniversary of my birth.
So I think I'm retired (unless I get a good job offer).
Now my days are spent working on open-source software on GitHub, some of which turns up as gems on RubyGems.
My career in commercial software began on December 13, 1976, and (apparently) ended on January 27, 2017. Half of that was in Eastern New England, and half in Houston, comprising gigs in:
- DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation)
- Micrognosis
- DEC (again)
- Di-Tech (not the loan people)
- Alliant Computer Systems
- Interleaf
- Sun Microsystems
- Visual Numerics
- Telescan
- Pentasafe/NetIQ
- Encomia
- Emlogis
- Shell Oil
- Hewlett-Packard
- R1Soft
Three gigs as a documentor, five developing applications, and the rest in test automation.
No regrets.
I've been blessed, truly.
So to all y'all still in the industry: Carry the torch, move it forward, hold it high.
Oldest comments (31)
76 and still contributing to OSS! Hats off to you. I hope that I can write a post like this when I am 76! #goals
FWIW I wouldn't say you are retired, I would say you have just dialed it back a little 😉
I'm 400 in cat years, does that count?
😒
So impressive, Burdette! What OSS projects have you been contributing to lately, outside of the gems you've been writing?
Thanks, Jess.
No other projects, yet.
Actually I've been looking at a couple of things on DEV!
!!! We'll be watching out for any incoming PRs 👀
Thanks man, that's really inspiring. I have only 10+ years experience now, and sometimes I'm wondering whether I would be able to still do it after 20 or 30 years, and how it will be different.
Have fun with OSS! It's definitely something that can keep you going, and it also connects you with a lot of people.
Very inspiring story! I have a somewhat different question. What do you do in order to stay healthy/fit? I wish to be able to do what you do at 76 :)
Thanks, Dennis.
Coupla slogans:
Update: 'Too much' means too much wine and whiskey.
You drink too much what?
I think, water.
That's not too bad, though too much of it is, just try keeping it in check sir. The world is blessed to have your kind around.
It's good to hear there are others out there for whom age is an irrelevance. I'm close to 71 and in the last year I've learned JavaScript/ES6 (I was previously a Java guy), written a high-level DSL in it, had it accepted by WordPress for their plugin library and used it as the engine for several new websites. I'm having fun so why would I not want to continue?
Exactly!
Burdette! you're amazing!
Thats a really inspiring post. Keep us posted with your creative stuff :)
Congratulations!
Hey. Congratulations! This is inspiring.
I would be truly interested in reading about how you think your cognitive abilities changed over time and how you managed to stay relevant in the job industry. I think 'What will happen to my career as I grow older' is a something most developers worry about.
Congratulations again and happy hacking on Github!
Thanks André. I'm thinking to answer in a new post.
I'm going on 71 with 50 years (started 1968 computer operations IBM mainframes).
I've spent the past 25 years freelancing as an IT consultant and the past 10 years working remotely.
I really enjoy working with the technology, both hardware and software.
I've gained experience with IBM mainframes and DEC computers and gradually moved to Unix and RDBMS administration. I now use Linux on my own systems. Windows gets a VM - that way its easy to get rid of it when it goes sideways.
To all those "old-timers" out there - keep on truckin' - your experience will carry you forward into all of the "new" technologies. It has with me.