In light of Father’s Day I figured I’d quickly dedicate a post to my father. Noah always has the good ideas.

My Dad works for McDATA which is, basically, providing big storage solutions for big companies. I remember his earlier days at McDATA; he worked in a big lab full of nerds, big computers and racks bigger than a fridge. I would always go to ‘Take Your Kid to Work Day’. I remember one year I was able to install Windows on a few of their servers. I also had the opportunity to apply some patches to some other boxes. This was the first time I had been exposed to so many cables and computers in one place. Even though I didn’t even understand what it was I got to see fiber optic cables, too. Another year he organized a meeting for me and the web team. I worked on the company’s intranet and checked for errors on the external site. These were certainly important experiences at that time in my life.

Before that my Dad has done a number of things that I’ve always tagged along at. Before McDATA my Dad worked for a small group which I ended up becoming webmaster for. I remember going into work with him for almost an entire summer. I drank coffee a lot too. I couldn’t have been much older than 12. I don’t really drink coffee anymore.

Before that he worked with another group and this is when I was really introduced to the internet. I created my first webpage at his office and called it ‘DWP’ (Devin’s Web Pages). I can vividly remember the black marble texture background I used. This was in the days of Geocities and FortuneCity (when it was cool). Guestbooks were all the rage, oh the memories.

Anyway, I wouldn’t be where I am today (a nerd with a brand new Dell, two LCDs, etc) if it weren’t for Dad and his uncanny ability to rub a little bit of technology off onto me. Sure, I’ve learned a lot on my own but if it weren’t for his patience showing me how to connect a hard drive and go through a BIOS setup I never would have built my last two computers. Funny though, I sometimes feel like the tables have turned and now I’m showing him how to navigate Windows XP installs.

Thanks for everything, Dad. Thanks for taking an interest in everything I do (including this blog). Thanks for sharing your insight, for turning me off to coffee, and for being there to discuss what other people quickly find boring (computers, business, Google). Thanks for also teaching me some important life skills. It’s been fulfilling to say that, for the most part, I’ve been financially independent for the last few years. Although I don’t rely on you for money or ‘Take Your Kid to Work Day’ anymore I value the new dynamic of our relationship.

Thanks for everything, Dad. I love you.