Point: To track the growth and knowledge increase as I journey to learn programming to possibly break out of my current career path and into that of a programmer.

Background: I started working around the age of 14 years old.  I know, that might seem a little young but my Father had just opened up his first / last restaurant and I wanted to help out as much as possible. The only position available to me was a dish washing position and I actually thrived in it.  I was able to develop an extremely efficient system that got the dishes washes, dried and out in a timely manner.  From there I was pretty much stuck in the service industry.

I started waiting tables, later on down the road, and I got pretty good at that.  I was working in downtown Arlington, VA for Unos Pizzeria, and with in 2 months of being hired, I was the top server and they made me a trainer.  Due to some unfortunate family events, I returned home to Indianapolis and began working in the night club industry.  I learned very quickly that males don't work well in serving positions in a night club.  Males can only be bouncers, bartenders or managers.  That was the cold hard truth and I wasn't old enough to bar tend.

So, I became the best bouncer I could be.  After awhile I became the head of security but I knew the money was behind the bar.  So, I began teaching myself to bar tend and learning everything there is to learn about bar tending.  The day I turned 21, they immediately put me behind the bar and that is where the true problems began.  The money was amazing and the easiest dollar anyone has ever made.  Overtime, I grew my talents by learning as many recipes as possible and teaching myself how to throw bottles, juggle and breath fire.

After awhile, that wasn't enough.  I then wanted to learn how the business truly operated because I realized, managers actually used their brains than physical labor and got paid better.  So, I learned as much as possible, showed my superiors I was driven and moved my way up the ladder.

Overtime, I moved my way up to General Manager of one of Indianapolis' hottest nightclubs.  It was an amazing experience.  Some of the things I saw, said and did are still whispered in discrete corners throughout the community.  We will save those thoughts for another blog someday (maybe).  Overtime, the nightclub became less profitable and the club closed.  I was forced to inform my entire staff and make the appropriate arrangements.  At that point I was jobless but I knew I didn't want to go back to the bar industry.  Though the times were great, it left life lacking the very important things.  I talking about family and time.  See, I was constantly sleeping in late, always underpaid, consistently intoxicated and completely irresponsible.  So, something needed to change!!!

So, I got a job with a car dealership and learned the trade of automotive sales.  The company I work for is a great, family oriented company but the money isn't as consistent as I would like.  At least, for me, I'm unable to remain consistent in my sales to pay my bills on a regular bases.  I have a family I'm looking out for now and I have to make sure there is food on the table and a roof over their heads.  There is no option for failure.  There is no option for quitting.

Last week, a new salesman, named Mike, started at the dealership and I discovered something very interesting about him.  Not only is he a good salesman, but he is also going back to school to be a computer programmer.  Now, I've always been extremely good with computers.  Though I don't have a formal education in Information Technology or CS, I've made my way through pretty well.  I'll constantly assist my co-workers and friends in computer work with out pay.  So, after talking with Mike, I realized I had never thought of doing computer programming.  I guess I was afraid it would be to difficult.

I started to do some research and I purchased a few books on my kindle fire.  I came across "Learning To Count" by Steven Frank.  It was a very interesting book about decimal, binary and hexadecimals.  I was a little lost in the chapters but I finished the book the day I started reading it.  (It was a pretty short book)  After reading that, I wanted to learn more.

I purchased the e-book "Learn To Code. Get Your Dream Job. Change Your Life." by Natasha Murashev and I'm working the steps.  It's a very interesting book and I'm finding it extremely informative. She tells the story of her struggles in learning to code and lays out a pretty organized system of assisting the reader to become a programmer.

Here is what I'm doing.  I'm going to read this book and I'm going to learn to code.  I'll be updating this blog with my progress in an effort to track my growth of knowledge.

This is my story / this is my life / this is my blog