Who Am I and Why I have Stumbled Upon The Idea To Quit My 9 to 6 Job – Part 1

Part 1 The Beginning of My Digital Education.

Hi, My name is Jaan. Welcome to my Personal Page.

I believe you would like to find out who I am and what kind of knowledge and the main goal ( Quit 9 to 6 ) journey I might have to share with you? Surething, Let’s roll..

The story of my digital Life started in the mid-90s. Internet Connection was very slow, I mean VERY SLOW, it was a maximum of 56.0 kbit/s.
For example, now I have a 518 745 kbit/s (It’s crazy x10000 times more, wow)

I remember our landline bills were crazy high. Yes, you have to “call” the server and get the connection up via landline. No one could get through to us because the line was always busy. Good old times…

Anyways, early Second Millennium times sucked me into the Digital world with my head. Yahoo, MSN, Google, and ICQ were the biggest services at that time we could use and get information from. I was searching for different things all day long.

Search here, search there, click click click.
More…I need more.

I was obsessed with the idea that Information is there, It’s publically available and you can access it anytime you want. Copy any contexts (text or music) for free.

Times changed, Times Passed.
Home Internet connections evolved to separate lines. (ADSL, Cable, and RJ-45). My obsession with the Internet became stronger and stronger.

I remember I have asked myself – how can I create my own Web Page?
The answer was simple and short: Learn HTML.

While I’ve searched our local University or College places where I can get the HTML knowledge, I’ve discovered a completely new thing to me: Turbo Pascal.

(do you know what Turbo Pascal is? Check the Wiki -> HERE

By the way, the first operating system I faced was MS-DOS 6 version. Then Windows NT and Windows 95 were my first Windows systems I learned quite well. Since we had nothing else to do, we could only click everywhere in the system and open all the files, and pictures, remember since we had no internet at that time. At all.

I think it is time to gather my “Digital Skills” list from this point.

Skills or Experience I have so far:

• (some of them might be lost or a bit outdated, so I need to refresh the memory or learn the updates)
• Turbo Pascal
• HTML
• MS-DOS
• Windows NT
• Windows 95

Fast forward to modern days, skipping all the transitional age. (First alcohol drink, a taste of cigarettes, first date…)

At some point, I have discovered the “Piracy” world: Games & Software Cracks, CD/DVD Rips, and other different hardware these days are Illegal things. It was something completely new for me.
A new world of Peer To Peer networks, eDonkey/eMule, Kazaa, DC++, Torrent, Private FTP. I had a huge collection of old-school mp3 files… that I’ve lost at some point… Moving back to the skills, right?

At that time we couldn’t buy any software, there were no internet stores, the only place you could get something was a bazaar/outdoor market with huge shelves full of CDs with all kinds of installable (sometimes portable) software already cracked, or with serial key generators, and other types of hacks, so you could get the one CD with a ton of “licensed” software for like 1 or 2 USD per CD.

The biggest thing was when you could buy a CD and make another physical copy of it or share the files via Internet (Peer-to-Peer networks, on Forums), so it’s a Pirated copy of a Pirated copy of the software. Lol.

By the way, understanding how programs/files work and managing them back and forth with backups, sometimes changing the contents of the files helped me quite well along with my journey, so I might add this to the list of my knowledge base.

Before I step into the Adult story, I want to mention that I had some friends who were web designers, so they grabbed my attention with their creative mindset and skills. This is when I discovered Adobe Photoshop (CS version as I remember now). I’ve learned all the options, menus, radio buttons, and switches. Today we have tons and tons of different tutorials, but at that time we did not have any, so I used to discover everything on my own by scanning all the options and applying them to my photos, drawings, or sketches, one by one with a different sequence.
I got confidence in creating something I might sell to someone. What, where, for how much? No clue…

A friend of mine decided to create a party, or I would say Disco Party for 300+ persons, with tickets, DJs some kind of contest, so I’ve volunteered to help him with Digital Design (Banners and Tickets). It was my first barter/sale. I was pumped and hyped when all the 300 people had their tickets in hand with my design.

After a few months, a new order for a new design. And then another one. Now I’m doing all kinds of banners for people I have never met before. (new skill point earned – Adobe Photoshop).

Skills Set Recap:

• Turbo Pascal – Courses
• HTML – Self Learning
• MS-DOS – basic understanding
• Windows NT – basic understanding
• Windows 95 – almost all features investigated and learned
• Peer-to-Peer Networks – Knowledge on how to use
• Piracy – where to get the information, what to avoid
• Adobe Photoshop CS – knowledge of the software

Moving forward, after some successful Designs projects for other people I’ve realized that I am not an artistic-figurative person, at all. I can do things when I see the path, and If I do not see it I cannot create it. This is why I have discovered a proprietary web development tool Adobe Dreamweaver. You remember I have some kind of Coding Experience, right.
A new world opened for me. I know HTML, I have some coding understanding, and I know how to Photoshop pictures. Now I can create simple HTML web pages for anyone from my surroundings who can pay some money, right? Few bucks here and there. Now I have experience with a few simple HTML websites.

Time was going forward and I did not have a clear vision of what to do in the future, not knowing how our world works and what is the key to success and happiness.

I remember I was close to 21 years old. My parents clearly stated that I must find a job, or go to the Army and then move out of their house afterward.

All the skills and knowledge I had in my head did not give me enough money to leave my parent’s house and not willing to go to the Army (this is completely not my thing for various points). I’ve been able to bypass the Army, now it’s time to find a job.

Luckily a friend of mine offered me to try to pass the interview to the IT company.

Spoiler alert – I did pass this, but that is for Part 2.

It is time to move further, Young Times ended.

So what do I have had before my 21-year-old checkpoint?

• Close to no roof situation
• No Money Income
• No Government hunting for my body for Army purposes
• No Idea what to do next

Skills I have learned so far:

• Turbo Pascal – Courses
• HTML – Self Learning
• MS-DOS – basic understanding
• Windows NT – basic understanding
• Windows 95 – almost all features investigated and learned
• Windows 2000 & Windows 98 – advanced experience
• Peer-to-Peer Networks – Knowledge on how to use
• Piracy – where to get the information, what to avoid
• Adobe Photoshop CS – knowledge of the software

Come back to read my:
Part 2 – The Maturing Times or how I have stepped into the big IT world

My ToDo checklist for the Part 1 story:
[ ] Links to resources that might be interested to My Reader
[x] Pictures / Screenshots if any
[x] Link to Part 2