Just who is Betsy Dunphy? Why am I blogging after resisting for so many years? Why all the questions? :-)
The in-a-nutshell explanation is that I’m a computer programmer who has spent the last 28 years of my life playing on computers for a living. I was fortunate in university to be able to learn on a fledgling Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) based UNIX system. It was a far cry from the IBM mainframe and programming in COBOL and using JCL to run jobs. I can honestly say I was hooked then and to this day continue to work on UNIX/Linux based systems. I like to write code but in recent years have given over to using more complex, GUI-based systems to develop solutions for my clients. Having been in the industry long enough, I’ve found that many Open Source solutions work well enough and with the ability to modify and enhance these products gives me the flexibility to give my clients the right solution at the right time.
As a mother of 2 active girls, I find that I can’t spend as much time in front of the computer as I used to do. This is a good thing and has caused me to find other interests that align with my daughter’s interests. These include competitive swimming, photography (primarily sports photography), dog agility, and volunteering my time at the local elementary school. I am a Level 5 certified swimming referee, and a Level 2 (partway through on Level 3) swim coach. My volunteer work has taken me throughout the city helping in schools, pools, ice arenas and more.
I am self-employed and have been since 1990. I like the flexibility of choosing jobs that interest me and having a schedule that doesn’t require me to dress up and sit in an office from 9 to 5. My clients benefit in that I work on their projects when I’m most productive and creative. Click the ‘Contact’ tab if you’d like to talk!