Aaron Saray

It wasn't that hard to keep 8-year-old Aaron happy. All it took was a Commodore 64/VIC-20, a Black and White TV, the manual, and a few 3-2-1 Contact magazines. The northwoods of Wisconsin didn't have dependable electricity, and I wasn't a rich kid who could afford the luxuries of a printer or a tape drive (the computer was a hand-me-down and the TV was rescued from a dumpster). When the power blinked, I lost all of my work. That's how I learned to type really fast. Not much has changed these days - except now we have multiple terabyte hard drives and I've invested quite disproportionately in UPSs.

The patience, well, that was another story. My first technical job was at an internet service provider, doing tech support. While I later got promoted to the web development team, it was those initial years that taught me patience, understanding and converting technical things for a non-technical audience.

I want to know everything. Tell me all of the facts, concerns, past successes and failures, current restrictions and future risks. The more information the better. And no, I'm not one of those jackasses that just try to sell you on the most expensive service or the thing that's easiest for me. With the full picture, I'll tell you how I best fit in - or if I would suggest working with someone else.

Making things better is about understanding the world is grey. The middle ground is where businesses make money. We can't throw everything away and rewrite it. But it just can't stay like this either.

The part of me that can't leave it like that - that's the same part of me that is furious when a bug (or missed requirement) is mine. Don't let my measured approach fool you; internally, I'm fuming.

Don't be wrong. But when you are, accept the facts, apologize and move on. I like being given a fact I didn't have before. It means I get to learn something new.

And yes, I still read those manuals. If only because I like to know if AI is lying to me.