Daniel J. Dick

After a few years of software engineering work, systems and general technical work In Fresno State’s Computer Science Department, I decided to try my hand at independent consulting.

Actually, my work at Fresno State was quite challenging and satisfying with such a large variety of work and opportunities to learn new skills, though I did not have the large amount of professional training that I enjoyed in later years in Silicon Valley.

Building PCs

A close friend of mine, J. B. Masbrata and I decided to try our hand at building and selling PCs. A friend owned a shop that sold cases, motherboards, and all the parts I needed.

While we enjoyed building the machines, we could not agree on the price to sell these machines. I felt we needed to charge enough to make the business survive. He felt we needed to compete on price and sell them cheaper than I felt we could afford.

AT&T Unix Consulting in Fresno

So, in the end, I focused more on offering services. Fresno State’s Agricultural Department needed their AT&T 3B15 and several other smaller systems configured for use. And, as I had set up the Computer Science Department’s systems, this was a natural job for me.

I did some consulting in Fresno with Liberty Bell, a small pay-phone business in town. They had an AT&T dual operating system desktop that ran both Unix and Windows or MS-DOS.

The computer pictured above is not that computer, but rather a Model 7300 which ran on a Motorola 68010 processor, one step down from Sun Micro’s Sun 3 systems that used the 68020 prior to coming up with their own RISC processor called the SPARC.

PC Database Development Consulting in Fresno

Another consulting job here in Fresno I loved doing was for a cancer registry that my sister had previously worked for. As this was so long ago, I cannot remember exactly the nature of the work I did for them. But I remembered going out for lunch with them, and learning that they considered me more open to trying different foods than my sister was.

Sometimes I wrote some database programs in various PC based systems. For instance, I wrote a membership managing system for an adult literacy council to facilitate notifications of seminars they held.

Consulting for a Pension Actuarial Company

Another company, a pension actuarial firm, had some Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets they needed built from legal specifications. As I had a degree in Applied Math and had passed the first actuarial exam by then, I was able to help set up the spreadsheets they needed.

HVAC Software Consulting in Fresno

Neil Marthedal owned an HVAC company called A.A. Marthedal, and he wanted a management system specifically written for Xenix. So, I went over the specifications with him. He needed a system with four terminals, Xenix, and a specific commercial HVAC system.

Setting up the system, installing the operating system, and installing the software was no problem. And I certainly thought stringing up the cables for the terminals would be a piece of cake until one day. I went up into the attic, and being very careful not to step between the rafters, I drew the wire for an old-fashioned RS-232 serial connection toward the secretary’s desk.

Sometimes Consulting Goes Through the Ceiling

Whoosh! My foot slipped through the ceiling. I caught myself on the rafters which stopped me from falling all the way through. The secretary had a tendency to use coarse language sometimes. And while I felt embarrassed falling through, the boss, Neil, a devoted Christian seemed more upset that the secretary swore. And he was concerned and wanted to make sure I was OK.

Soon after I finished setting up his system, Neil needed some customizations. I felt it was wiser to let a consultant more familiar with Business Basic and this application.

About that time, a contractor for NASA Ames Research Center offered me a systems administrator position in Mountain View. So, I helped transition Marthedal to the other company who I knew would do an excellent job. And they did.

And I ended my time consulting in Fresno.