Thomas L. Harper, MCTS

I went to The University of Missouri-Columbia after High School studying Chemical Engineering. Part of the curriculum involved computer programming (Fortran IV) and I found it to be interesting. The worst part of programming was punch cards. Each line of code was typed into a punch-card writer and a card was ejected. Keeping them in order was a challenge, no one mastered. It was my first exposure to what a byte is.

Living away from family for the first time was the hardest part of going to college. It was not so much that I missed family, as it was living on my own. Columbia is a nice town, but, after living in Kansas City, it seemed small. I made new friends while at MU, since none of my friends growing up went there. I played my first round of golf while at MU. Even though I shot somewhere in the mid-100's I was hooked to the game.

After completing three years of Chemical Engineering, I ran out of money to continue my education and went to work. I hired on at Bendix in Kansas City working in a lab. My parents, who were the last of my family to remain in Kansas City, were transferred back to Chicago, and relocated to where else -- Tinley Park. It was not the small farm town they left! My oldest brother was already living in Chicago, so they had some family there. My middle brother was serving in the United States Air Force at McChord AFB in Tacoma WA.

I continued my education while at Bendix. The University of Missouri-Kansas City became my next college. I switched over to Mechanical Engineering, since they did not offer Chemical Engineering. The rest of this story is on my education page.

The Family Years

Photography became an interest of mine in 1984. I bought my first 35mm camera (a Minolta XG-A) then, and learned how to shoot on my own. I did a lot of experimentation with types of film, lenses, and filters to create photos. The camera set the shutter speed based on my settings of the aperture. It was a manual focus camera, so I learned how to focus quickly when taking moving subjects. Needless to say, I have purchased other cameras since then.

I started square dancing in my mid 20's. At a single's dance, I met someone who eventually became my wife. While we never had children of our own, Carol's sister's kids spent a lot of time with us. We took them on some memorable vacations. See the individual travel section to get more information on this.

Carol and I have resided in Olathe, KS since 1986. A few years larter, Carol's parents moved a couple blocks away from us after living in Overland Park. It made it easier for us to visit them. This also worked out well, as her parents aged. In the mean time, My dad retired and my parents moved to Alabama. They purchased a lot of land outside of Birmingham and they built their dream home. Deer visit the house on a daily basis.

Carol and I built a new home in Olathe, after 19 years of determining what we want in a house. We took a basic floor plan from the builder, and redesigned the interior to meet our desires. We moved walls, took rooms out, added rooms and extended the back of the house. After it was all done, it turned out like we had planned. It was sad to leave the old house, but, we were much happier with the new home.