About

My name is Jim Day (James Harkins Day III) for those who haven't figured that out by now. I was born on March 9th, 1982 in Virginia Beach, Virginia and currently live in the ATL (otherwise known as Atlanta, GA). My favorite color is sky blue, favorite ice cream flavor is mint-chocolate chip, and my favorite TV show is a tie between Golden Girls and Miami Vice.

OK - so....what else is there to say? Not a whole lot. I'm your typical twenty-something year old guy who likes to relax and have a good time. It was during middle school that I first discovered my fascination with computers. I would finish all of my math in mere minutes so I could hop on a dusty, old Macintosh LCII and sell lemonade in one of those old tycoon games and shoot bears in Oregon Trail. Not being able to afford my own computer, I'd spend most of my free time at the rich kid's houses who actually had the luxury of owning one.

A few years went by and I finally got the best Christmas present in the world: A Compaq 486DX2/66mhz with a CD ROM and modem. As you can imagine my life transformed from "average kid" to hardcore computer geek. I spent ALL of my free time playing, hacking, learning, and ripping that computer to pieces. But when the novelty finally wore off, I turned back into myself and continued my normal life.

Before I knew it, high school was almost over and I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with myself. I knew computers were my calling, but that's such a broad field nowadays. I had a job selling computers at Office Depot and attended a local community college for a semester and was bored out of my mind. I went to class maybe once a week and spent the rest of my time at my girlfriend's house who lived close by. I considered the Air Force but eventually talked myself out of it and finally ended up going to a technical college to study web development.

Two years later, I was given a piece of paper stating that I knew how to use Microsoft FrontPage and a $24,000 college loan to help get me started in life. Although I didn't learn much, I did earn a degree and I guess that's what's important. On top of that, the events of September 11th had happened just nine months earlier and our economy was going straight to hell. Needless to say, I was more than worried about getting a job, but somehow it happened, and you'll be happy to know that I got a decent job working for a small web design agency in Norfolk, Virginia. I stuck around there for about a year and a half and then was hired as a website engineer for an e-commerce company based out of Newport News, Virginia.

God, this is turning into an epic, huh? Anyway, the e-commerce gig was a lot of fun and I met some great people there, but if you know me at all, you know I'm rarely content with my present situation - no matter how appealing it may seem. I believe I went through a "quarter-life crisis" while in Newport News and began to question everything I had done up to that point in my life and where I wanted to be in the future. Newport News was most definitely not going to get me where I wanted (and I still have no idea exactly where that is). So, I began reading and doing a lot of research on the topic of "What the hell is wrong with me and why can't I ever be happy with what I have". I remember thinking that maybe I had found a solution in the book "I Don't Know What I Want, but I Know It's Not This" - yeah, that was the actual title.

I eventually concluded that it was time for action, so I resigned from the e-commerce company and took up a couple miserable, odd jobs freelancing and doing PHP development at Virginia's largest IT employer. Miserable doesn't even begin to describe it - I really had some terrible thoughts at this point in my life. I truly feel sorry for everyone that was forced to listen to my constant bitching and moaning about how unhappy I was with myself. Believe it or not, I'm actually not a manic-depressive.

Then, it happened. I received a voicemail from Delta Air Lines regarding a position I had applied for a few months earlier. Not being one to get my hopes up, I didn't think much of it, but I began talking to a few people there and before I knew it, I landed myself an interview in good ol Hotlanta. I've always been fascinated with anything even remotely related to airplanes and travel in general, so to say that I was excited about this opportunity to combine these interests with my web development background is an understatement.

After meeting with my soon-to-be coworkers and wrapping up my interview, I wanted that job so bad I could taste it. I couldn't go five seconds without thinking about Delta, Atlanta, or Helen Hunt (Just making sure you're still awake). Then, it happened again. Neriza and I were eating lunch at the smoothie place when I was called and informed by Delta that the position was all mine! In a blur of what seemed like 30 minutes or so, I ended my lease on my apartment, got all my things packed and moved to the dirty south.

Suffice it to say, I don't regret moving to Atlanta in the least bit. Even though I only put in a mere six months at Delta, it was a helluva ride and I made some terrific friends there. Unfortuantely, the company was in pretty rough shape due to outrageous oil prices as well as low-cost carrier competition, so, fortunately (before my house was repossessed), I was offered a webmaster position at CNN and what an experience that was...

Anyway, after putting in close to two years at CNN, I was ready for something with a little more growth potential. After speaking to a buddy of mine who was working at a credit card company (CompuCredit), I soon found myself working as an online content developer and information architect on his team. I haven't been there long, but I'm already in love with the company, the people, and the opportunities for personal and professional growth.

And that's where we end.