“Welcome To Jurassic Park”
It’s the last line of my email signature at work, but since it’s placed there automatically through my email preferences I honestly had forgotten it was there. For some reason it caught my eye yesterday, and made me remember the reasoning for including it on each and every email I send.
If you’ve seen the movie Jurassic Park, you may remember where the line is said. It’s towards the beginning of the movie when the two paleontologists are riding in an open air jeep through the island seeing plants that they believe have been extinct for millions of years. Suddenly one of them sees a dinosaur in the distance, reaches down and forcefully turns the head of the other to see a heard of giant beasts. As the woman gasps and stands up, their host utters the phrase.
In that moment, they are experiencing something they never thought possible. They are witnessing their passion come to fruition, and living their dream.
When I was in first grade, I was one of three people in my class selected to go to a special room for an hour once a week and use a computer. In 1979 that was a HUGE deal. I knew from the very first time I laid eyes on that beautiful piece of machinery known as the Apple IIPlus what I wanted to do with my life.
In 1995 I visited the IBM site in Rochester, Minnesota for the first time as an intern. I walked into one of the machine rooms to see prototype servers humming away. The phrase that instantly popped into my mind?
“Welcome To Jurassic Park.”
I’ve wanted to be an engineer since I was 7 years old. My dream had come true. In less than a month I will celebrate my 18th service anniversary with IBM. I’m still living my dream. Today, as I drive into the parking lot and walk towards those big blue buildings, I will think of the wide eyed first grader looking at a computer for the very first time over 30 years ago – and remember just how lucky I am.
Fist pump with me.
Posts That Make Me Fist Pump
- Your Mortgage: Is 30 Years Too Long? from Club Thrifty
- Where Did Personal Responsibility Go? from Debt Roundup
- 5 Steps to Save Money on Groceries from Young Adult Money
- Delay Your Gratification (Even If You Have The Cash) from My Personal Finance Journey
- 6 Smart Spending Questions To Ask Yourself Before Making A Purchase from Bible Money Matters
- Spend a Fixed Amount at the Grocery Store Every Week or Stock Up During Sales? from Beating Broke
Shameless Self Promotion
Other fist-pumping posts I wrote this week from around the personal finance blogosphere:
- What Age Should Kids Get a Cell Phone? in the CareOne Community
- How Much Should I Pay My Teenager to Mow the Lawn? at Money Ning
- Should We REALLY Tip Spray Tanners? STK 063 is a podcast I participated in at Stacking Benjamins
Update: Here’s a link to the scene on YouTube. Imagine dedicating your life to studying things that are extinct, knowing that you will never, ever get to see the things you are passionate about for real. Then, THIS happens. Imagine what that would feel like????
Beautiful man!! How incredible you get to live your dream like that – good for you, sir. Had no idea how much you enjoyed your job – I love it 🙂 Great read for a Friday morning.
Thanks for fist pumping with me, J!
Thanks for the mention! It’s always nice to hear about people who truly love the job and industry they are in. While I wouldn’t say I absolutely love being an accountant, I do love being able to work on a computer at a desk on a daily basis. I was even thinking yesterday as I sat in an interview for a financial analyst job just how lucky I was to work at a “desk job.” It sounds funny but I really like working with software and learning ways to better utilize programs. Anyway hope you have a great weekend!
I know a lot of people that wish they could get away from the desk and be outside….I make sure I mention that to them when I’m INSIDE on very hot summer days. The thing with me is having a job that keeps my brain moving – thanks for dropping by DC!
Good stuff Travis! Happy Friday!
Thanks Brian, hope you had a great weekend!
Congrats on the anniversary Travis! That is quite the accomplishment. You are doing what you love and that is a great thing! Thank you for including my article. I appreciate the support.
Anytime, my friend….I’m hoping to be one of those guys that spends his entire career with one company….half way there! 🙂
Very cool Travis! Congrats on the 18 years at IBM, that’s awesome. However, it’s just crazy to think that movie came out just over 20 years ago! Have a great weekend sir.
Yeah, I hear you, John..I had to check the date of release just to make sure my memory was lining everything up right – and it was! Still LOVE that movie!
Thanks so much for the mention and I’m glad my post made you fist pump, lol!
Have a great weekend!
Stop back and fist pump every Friday, Holly! Thanks for reading!
Congratulations! I only hope to love my job someday that much! And yes I totally remember that scene from that movie. 🙂 OH, and I also totally remember when they bought Apple IIE’s to our schools for us to try. Of course there were like 5 computers for the entire student body, but I remember where it asked you to type in your name and all of a sudden the computer was like, “welcome Tonya….bla bla bla” I thought that was the coolest thing EV-AH! They we proceed to play Mystery House and The Oregon Trail. Oh how far we’ve come. 🙂
I remember the talking software too!!! I think the one I had was S.A.M – although I can’t remember what it stands for. I do, however, remember making it say curse words and giggling about making a computer say the ‘F word.’ LOL…good times!