Cameron Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 A friend and I were chatting last week, and we got to talking about significant "firsts" we've experienced in our past. I always like looking back on things that totally changed my life, particularly if I didn't realize their significance at the time. This first one is cool because at the time (I was 9) I didn't realize that it was significant at all. We had a new Apple //e computer and my brother had entered a BASIC program from a magazine. It was a simple program that turned the whole screen a particular colour (by setting each pixel of each row to the the colour). He showed me the program, and briefly explained how it worked. Over the next day or so I made some changes so that it looped through all the colours (all 16 of them!), then changed it again so that you'd press a key after each colour and it would go to the next. I even added a menu so you could choose which colour it would use .. etc. I started programming when I was 9, and I still haven't become tired of it; I program professionally, and often in my spare time too (particularly in winter). Second on the list took place in March of 1993. Like the above situation, I didn't realize that this was significant at the time. I was in a coin-op arcade (the Timezone on Bourke Street, for those reading in Melbourne), playing a Terminator 2 pinball that was in really bad shape. There was a tech on the floor working on a video game, so I asked him if he'd give me a part-time job maintaining the pinball machines. I was just starting my second year of college, and this could be a really fun job. I got the job (I can talk my way into anything!), and two and a half years later I moved to Chicago to design and program pinball machines professionally. Finally .. this one is a "first", but thankfully it's also an "only": the first time I felt totally and completely alone. I'd just moved to Chicago and had found an apartment. My co-worker and one of his friends helped me move in .. which didn't take much since all I had was a bed, tv, a tiny set of kitchen stuff (plates, glasses and silverware), a microwave, and one suitcase full of clothes I'd brought with me. Once they left, I was on my own. I had no car, and the phone wasn't connected yet (although I didn't have any local friends to call even if the phone was on). Everything (and everyone) I knew and loved was 7,000 miles away. I couldn't help but think "I've made a huge mistake" - and this was around 10 years before Arrested Development used that line! OK .. I think that's it for now .. But I'm curious to hear from other people. Cameron.
pete4winds Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 I'll bite...this could be a pretty funny thread. First apartment with my wife (happens to also be our current one): When my wife and I moved into our apartment in early August '03 (just about a month before we were married and the day we returned from another first, a Cedar Point trip - we drove out and back thank you very much ), we happened to be moving in during Fall River Celebrates America, a gigantic multi-cultural festival that happens here in Fall River (obviously), MA. While the TPR-friendly (AKA carnival) part is piddly, the event itself is huge and world-famous. For reference, see my PTR of the 2006 event here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27855 Anyway, in '03, we had no real clue what the event was like, but we quickly found out that moving into our first apartment together (other than the two of us sharing a place with my mom pre-wedding - ouch!) on THAT weekend was a HUGE mistake. The traffic patterns and crowds were insane! To make matters worse, our dog had been living with a friend since the November prior because we HAD been living with my mom, who has two cats. My wife went up to the friends house on the northwest side of Boston, about an hour's drive away. I decided to stay home. The electricity had not been turned on yet, and we had no furniture, save for two of those folding nylon lounge chairs that you carry in drawstring bags. I had the distinct pleasure of sitting in the pitch dark listening to the headlining act at Fall River Celebrates.........drum roll, please......... Eddie effin' Money... The heaadliners at Fall River Celebrates haven't gotten much better since then...
ParkTrips Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 I am awaiting the "first sexual experience" stories. I know mine was humerous to say the least
Louise Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 ^ I sent Cameron an email before saying I wanted to participate in this thread but everything I could think of was either really depressing or R-rated!! Go on Jow, you start...
SharkTums Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 Yeah come on Joe, does the story start with the word 'Quad'???
Hercules Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 No. Please. Don't. I have a bad image in my head already.
niiicolaaah Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 R-rated, Lou? I'm disappointed! I thought for sure all your stories would be X-rated.
Carnage Posted October 10, 2006 Posted October 10, 2006 When I read "first time", you're first programming experience was the last thing I expected. But funny enough in a geeky way.
okinawaboy11 Posted October 10, 2006 Posted October 10, 2006 Oh god don't get me started with any of my firsts. They'd be to provocative!
WillMontu Posted October 10, 2006 Posted October 10, 2006 I didn't get into prgramming until I was 11, when my dad brought home a copy of Visual Basic 3.0. My first programs were very bloated with lots of colors and flashing graphics, and didn't do very much at all. Later on, my programs became a bit more practical I still remember leaving home. I had a dorm room to myself, but I had phone, cable, and Internet (and a brother on the other side of town, who had started two years earlier than me). Now I'm trying to buy a house
Cameron Posted October 10, 2006 Author Posted October 10, 2006 I am awaiting the "first sexual experience" stories. I know mine was humerous to say the least hah .. well I was going to add a "keep it clean" disclaimer in anticipation of such stories .. But I figured no-one actually wants to read that sort of thing anyway, so I didn't think anyone would bother writing them! Besides, those sorts of stories aren't exactly life-changing (significant, yes - but not life changing). Well, I guess it could be life-changing if it leads to a career in prostitution; but that just gets us back to "who the hell wants to read that"! Pete, your story is great .. thanks for sharing! And Will: I didn't get into prgramming until I was 11 [...] my first programs were very bloated with lots of colors and flashing graphics, and didn't do very much at all Well you were 11, that's OK! Besides a program doesn't have to be useful in order to learn the concepts. Cameron.
Carnage Posted October 10, 2006 Posted October 10, 2006 Well you were 11, that's OK! Besides a program doesn't have to be useful in order to learn the concepts. how true that is. I think I would cringe if I still had some of my high school VB projects. I made the game Risk in VB and hard coded the entire thing. I only had north america coded though. It worked, but it used thousands of if statements. Still got a great mark too.
CoasterCrazy Posted October 10, 2006 Posted October 10, 2006 I don't care to share any of my significant "Firsts"!
FlyingScooter Posted October 10, 2006 Posted October 10, 2006 I figure I'll ask first: Would talking about the first time I went to buy contraceptives be over the top?
Zingo! Posted October 11, 2006 Posted October 11, 2006 I was 18, in college, and broke. I tore through my apartment and car to find loose change to buy smokes. Walking to the store I felt SO depressed and pathetic. When apologizing to the clerk for the change, she looked at me in such a sincere fashion and belted "it all spends the same honey!" Random but life changing.
krouvi Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 One step that changed my life was the first time I walk into computer labs in my UNI and got for the very first time into the internet. I didnt understand what it is exactly buy I played with it and it was ok for 2 hours. The next day I went back and thought maybe there might be some coasters pics in this thing.... I got the shock of my life and that day I spent 12 hours by this pc without any food or anything. I was amazed.
robbalvey Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 The "first" video game I worked on was "Wizardry" for the Nintendo NES. --Robb "Does that count as a significant first?" Alvey
Cameron Posted October 14, 2006 Author Posted October 14, 2006 Krouvi: I remember (in early 1993) seeing a post on the computer system at Uni .. something along the lines of "We have installed xMosaic, a graphical client for the World Wide Web". Until that day, the web was all text.. Robb: The first real pinball programming I did was for a "test fixture" for the game Tales Of The Ariabian Nights. The first time I got a coil to kick the ball was a big-time significant first. Cameron.
Ryan King Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 The first time I ever took a breath was when I came out of my mother's womb! Does this count at all...? -Ryan
USRoadTripper Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 I still have the first dollar I ever made in the journalism business. Ah youth...that was back when I thought I wanted to be a professional journalist! -Julie
Vekoma Fan Boy Posted October 15, 2006 Posted October 15, 2006 R-rated, Lou? I'm disappointed! I thought for sure all your stories would be X-rated. ROFLMAO
Golfie Posted October 15, 2006 Posted October 15, 2006 My first ride on "Paul Bunyan's Log Ride" at MOA - I rode numerous small coasters, and then became deathly afraid of coasters. I'm not sure why... it was almost like how a person likes certain foods at certain times. After that ride, I became what people like to say "an entheusiast" - whatever that's supposed to mean.
Cameron Posted October 16, 2006 Author Posted October 16, 2006 The first time I ever took a breath was when I came out of my mother's womb! Does this count at all...? When was your first pounding? Your first "DDUUDDEE"?? Cameron.
Louise Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 I still have the first dollar I ever made in the journalism business. That's really cool Julie, I have a lot of tickets, receipts, stuff like that, from "firsts". I'm one of these sentimentalists (or maybe just a mentalist) who has a big box full of memories in her closet. I have my first Disney dollar from my first Orlando trip somewhere...
PKI Jizzman Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 Hmmm first time I saw a Barbie Doll, I was scared of it!
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