Will Bridges

I’ve finally decided to start a blog. I’m going to discuss all sorts of
things on here. I’ll discuss my family, programming, my travels, and
general observations. Let me start by discussing myself a little bit.

I’ve been a web developer and programmer for 8 years. I’ve had my own
business for about that long. I’m originally from Front Royal, VA and
currently I live in Nashville, TN. But, I’ve lived in:

• Portland, Oregon
• Medford, Oregon
• Ashville, North Carolina
• Jackson, Mississippi
• Jupiter, Florida
• Winchester, Virginia

I dropped out of school and started my business developing web sites
when I was 17. I got some lucky breaks by doing some cheap websites to
learn and build my network up. The primary programming language I have
used over the past 8 years has been PERL. So, I used what I knew of PERL
and a book to help build a couple banner rotation system and a shopping
cart. From there I was able to build other programs as I built a network
of clients.

I worked solely for myself for about 5 years on various contracts. Then, I decided to become a programmer for FEMA (Federal Emergency Mangagement Agencey). I worked for them for a year doing windows programming. It was a terrible experience. Almost nothing ever got done working for FEMA. Politics kept everything moving slowly. The mindset was to spend as much money as possible. I left after a year.

I then went to work for a small development firm in Winchester, VA called Iveka. Iveka still remains a client of mine. I enjoyed working for them and convinced them to build some generalized software products. This was my first crack at product development. I learned quite a bit. 20 sites of Iveka still run off of my software.

I then went to work for a company called Outdoor Central. I learned Ruby on Rails got enjoyed a renewed love for programming. OC was in the process of switching an enterprise level of application from PERL to Ruby on Rails. This was a great experience and I learned tons about Ruby on Rails. However, I hungered for more experience with less politics.

So, finally I went back to work for myself after three years of doing side work and working for someone else on salary. I just had a son about 8 weeks ago on Sepetember 11th so it was a difficult decision to drop my saftey net of a salary but I’m glad I did and I hope I never turn back. The only thing that bothers me now is writing requirements, proposals and in-depth planning but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m ready to do what is required of me to show off my unique creativity and skill set.