Hi, I’m Pam, and I’m Prickly

But sometimes I produce some pretty pink flowers

Greetings, Illuminators!

I’ve been lurking about, publishing a bit, and I figured it’s time to introduce myself.

I’m kind of a jack of all trades. My curiosity does that to me.

Here are some of the things I’ve gotten myself wound up in:

• My first “real” job was as a keypuncher. I can still read the Hollerith code in hexadecimal. Look it up.
• I got fired for organizing a union. That was when the National Labor Relations Board did its job before Republicans gutted it, and I was reinstated with back pay. I also slept with the union rep, because that’s how I rolled back in the day.
• I dropped in and out of college because of Major Depressive Disorder. But I eventually got an Associate of Science in Computer Technology and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. It took me 30 years, but I did it.
• I was a Realtor for about ten minutes. If anybody ever tries to tell you that real estate is a great job for a mom with little kids, you can tell them they’re a liar.
• I worked for 28 years as a computer programmer, programmer/analyst, business analyst, and online learning analyst/developer. I can read core dumps and twiddle bits. My favorite programming language is Assembler. These days I suppose I would be called a software engineer. I would never call myself that because I’m not a pompous ass.
• I led an animal rights group in my city. I functioned at protests as a spokesperson, a statistician, a peacekeeper, and the speaker of the bullhorn. I also did TV and radio interviews.
• I’ve been a vegetarian since 1989.
• I was a USA Hockey Level 3 coach. I took up hockey at the age of 39, the same year my daughter started playing at age 7. I quit coaching a few years after my daughter started college. She played all through college, Division 3, and she’s still playing now. She’s pretty good. I’m lousy.
• I was (am) a commissioned lay minister who has worked with people at death’s door. From families’ comments, I’m pretty good at easing dying people’s fears.
• After I took early retirement from my IT job, I worked for eight years in social services.
• I worked with wonderful adolescent clients and horrible, button-pushing staffers. Pay in this field is so low that staffers can push the kids’ buttons all day long and still stay employed because it’s hard to find anybody to do the work.
• I’m a Certified Peer Specialist, certified by the state of Pennsylvania to work with people who have mental illnesses. People with mental illnesses are fine people, just like you.
• I’ve been writing for a long time. Whether it was academic papers, program specifications, system specifications, user documentation, online courses, or Medium articles, I did it and I’m still at it.
• I have a brilliant, queer daughter who is an ordained minister. She is a hospital chaplain. Did you know that chaplains have to do residencies just like doctors do?
• I have a brilliant, queer daughter-in-law who fits into our family like a hand in a glove.
• I have tattoos on both arms and both legs. Quarter sleeves on both legs. None of my tattoos are random; each one is very meaningful to me. I got my first tattoo when I was 50, and I’m currently planning my next one.
• I’ve been married almost 42 years to the same guy. God bless his heart because I can be very prickly.

That’s my bio.

Thanks for admitting me to the Illumination clubhouse!