John Donohue              (Use the Back Button To Return) Work History 1984-1985 Torrance CA Retail Computer store

This position lasted for approximately six months. While I was a regular sales person on the floor of the store, I was also the main accounting software specialist, often sent into the field after a sale to install and train on the new system.     I had many encounters with the realities of transferring data from obsolete systems into the new microcomputers. The mini-computers of the 70's were ferociously proprietary. It took a significantly rich bag of tricks to coax data out. Usually this involved dummying a cable to convince the poor thing it was sending it's closely guarded bytes out to a printer, when the output device was actually a disguised local modem hot wired to the ports of the new kid on the block.     I enjoyed these higher matters, but also the experience of selling to families during the Christmas season.