On Monday, December 14, 1987, I got up and got dressed. Had some cereal. Gathered up my two open-book, open-note, take-home final exams that I had completed over the weekend, and set out.

It was a cloudy-but-not-cold winter morning in Houston. As I drove to the campus of Rice University, where I spent four and a half years in college (and four summers in summer school growing up), I became a little wistful. I was still going to participate in the Spring semester in Rice Concert Band and Rice Jazz Ensemble, and I was going to be there for graduation in May (Rice did not do winter graduation), it was not going to be the same (although one day when I did need to go to campus, I saw the statue that had been turned).

I dropped off my exams at the correct offices on campus, drove around the loop once, and drove out to Southwest Houston, just outside of Bellaire, to the office complex that housed StyleWare, Inc.

I went into the office. My boss had me sign a W2, and gave me an insurance packet, and told me to get to work.

I was now a full-time exempt software professional.