Bob and Joe, Lindenwold Apt

offering a position. But the one position they had available was in South Carolina. Bob was graduating high school and wanted to graduate with the friends he had made in New Jersey. I promised him we would stay in New Jersey.
    Unfortunately finding a job would not be a simple task. One opportunity I had hoped to get was managing a training school for ITT Tecnical Institute. I missed out on the job because my background did not include any "formal classroom teaching." In hindsight I should have embellished my resume with the training of military personnel on ECM equipement that I gained when I was with AEL.
    As it turned out, I struggled unsuccessfully in several jobs including computer sales, Real Estate and selling mortgages. I was earning less than 1/3 what I made at JCPenney and rent, alimony, and two highschool boys gobbled up what little I earned pretty quickly.
    That June Bob graduated high school and Joe graduated the next year. After ignoring them for two years their mother showed up for their graduations like nothing had ever happened and again began controlling their lives.
    The divorce had been finalized and my share of the money went to the boys. Bob bought a vintage car and Joe bought a motorcycle. The balance paid for their insurance.
    After graduation Bob found a job and moved in with his girlfriend and her parents. Joe went to community college where, for tuition benefits, he had to live with his mother.
    The nest was empty but I hung on to the condominium and began dating again. I bought a Commodore 64 computer with a hard drive and a printer and began learning to program in DOS, the beginning of a wonderful and fun new career.

Commodore 64 with Hard Drive

in payroll, payables, receivables and general ledger but I landed a couple corporate accounts adding inventory control and augmenting their general ledger software.
    Disappointed that my salary and benefits were not matching my production, I took a job with Larmon Photo. Their computer language was Prime, similar to Pick. My biggest project for them was enhancing their payroll program to handle multi-state and international taxes. When they began closing stores though I was forced to look for a new job.
    My opportunity came when Lightship Corp., a company specializing in the purchase of past due receivables. I had a bright office on the 16th floor of a building in downtown Philadelphia. Again I was programming in Prime, not Pick.
    My best work there was an interoffice memo program. It worked like today's email. Instaed of typing and distributing memos, they could be exchanged on the computer. The program tracked every reply to the memos and the memeos could even be "searched" by originator, replies and subject.
    Once again, however, I found myself working for a failing business. This time I hoped I could find a solid job with a major company.
    Enter the Philadelphia Housing Authority. They had Pick OS and needed a programmer. I had many success stories during my 11 years with PHA but the best one was rescuing them from the jaws of HUD's intervention.
    Serving as the HUD liason one year I discovered that PHA's work order reporting was a major factor in their HUD failures.
    Working from home at night, I created an entirely new Work Order system. Convincing them I was right was another story. It took nearly a year before I was given permission to install my new work order software. But, that year PHA passed its first HUD evaluation, and passed it with flying colors.
    I was very disappointed I did not make employee of the year. Someone in the printing room got the honor. Even worse, PHA was moving from main frame to PCs, Windows, portals and the internet.
    My job went from design and analysis to generating reports to determine if the new programs were working. They weren't! When PHA refused to allow my planned and paid for cruise vacation in 2004, I retired.