I purchased my first computer in 1980.  It was an IBM PC with an expansion cabinet, a small black and white monitor, and an early dot matrix printer.  I paid around $4000 for the works.  It ran on an early version of DOS and was slower than snail sh--.  I didn't know any better in those days and that was state of the art for a consumer.  As time passed, my interest in computers continued to grow.  Each year or two I bought either an upgrade or a newer faster  machine, at much less cost than the original. Then in about 1994 I took two classes at Riverside Community College.  One was "How to Build an IMB 486 Computer" and the other was "How to Program Your Hard Drive."   At the completion of these classes I stopped buying assembled computers and started building them from component parts.  The more of them I built the more I learned.  Early on, building computers was challenging because of component card conflicts.  That was usually because of IRQ conflicts would arise from installing the interface cards.  Sometimes it was difficult to sort out these conflicts.  As time passed,  it got  a little bit easier.  Probably because I got more computer literate and more likely because of the manufacturer's progress toward true "plug and play" components.  Microsoft helped a lot with developing better operating systems taking advantage of plug and play.

Today, it seems I always have a computer project in progress.  My desk is always cluttered with some sort of upgrade or an assembly of a new rig.  It reminds me of my teenage days when I was building hot rods.  Except now I try to build "hot computers."   It is a great hobby and I continue to learn with each machine I build or upgrade.  Recently I started experimenting in what is called "overclocking" in order to squeeze additional performance from my computers.  I have two computers, each with two monitors on my desk at this time.  I am always messing around with them attempting to improve them or get better performance out of them.

My favorite tech magazine is Maximum PC which I consider the best publication to keep a person up to date on what is going on in the computer world.

Because I have built so many computers and am always working on mine, my friends usually call on me to work on their computers when problems arise.  I have a fairly high success rate for someone self trained and really doesn't know that much...but, like one of my friends told me, "In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king".