Dale Wilcox Bio         
Links to my stuff on the web can be found at Wildew.Net

Sometimes it's hard to believe I've been working on, around and with computers and computer controlled equipment for over 20 years.

Much of my experience has been with Microsoft-based equipment. But I started out on IBM systems; developed UNIX-hosted websites, and have at least a casual familiarity with Linux variants Ubuntu, CentOS and Mint. Along the way I became A+ certified in 1998 and gained an MCSE in 2000. A lot has changed since 2000 but the knowledge gained studying for the TCP/IP exam is still just as relevant and has been drawn on many times while setting up and troubleshooting ethernet networks.

The Internet in the mid-ninety's was a new adventure for many. I thought I saw opportunity there so I taught myself HTML and published a site called The Wildew House with the goal of selling home improvement manuals. It wasn't the success I had envisioned but I enjoyed the challenge of teaching myself HTML CSS and PERL and did use the shopping cart to process credit card transactions for my own plumbing and electrical contracting work.

Since becoming a full time IT professional I have held several positions with one company and completed many side projects. I have found that I get the most satisfaction from creating automated processes to support end users. Much of their work involves tedious, repetitive tasks that can be error prone. Often; some VBA or VBS code can simplify processes while enforcing business rules and reduce error rates. I have also become proficient with Structured Query Language and use it frequently for data manipulation and analysis. Combining VBS and SQL can be a powerful tool for migrating data between various platforms and application environments.

Computers, networks and technology are how I pay the bills now but there are several other areas of talent and interest. I have always been driven to understand how things work and have kept my hands busy all of my life. As a kid I drove my parents crazy working on  everything from a clock-radio to my first car. One thing stood out though; very few of the things I tore apart to "improve" failed to work when I was done and the projects were almost always completed.

I have worked in many environments and with several materials. My early projects where mostly wood-based because of cost and availability. I graduated to metals and plastics later through education and experience gained in high school and college. I always found it satisfying to watch a mill or lathe shape a piece of solid steel into a useful tool. My initial college education was an Associates program in electrical engineering with the goal of becoming an electrician. The education in electronics got me side-tracked into a job with an IBM contractor where I advanced from production test and repair to being relied on to keep the test equipment itself tuned for peak performance.