I first used the name Tandarin as a character name in EverQuest in 2001. The name stuck. And now, regardless of what other character name I choose, my friends still call me Tandarin. My real name is Ron.
I have been working with computers since the 1980’s. By working with, I mean taking them apart and putting them back together, and keeping them working. My parents bought me my first computer when I was about 14 years old and the first thing I did was take it apart to see how it worked. My mother nearly had a heart attack when she saw the pieces all over my bedroom, but it worked just fine when I put it back together. I have been putting computers together ever since.
I graduated with a B.S. in Automated Manufacturing with Honors in 1998. I worked in the silicon industry with pattern mask generation systems for 7 years. I am currently the Senior System and Network Administrator at my place of employment and have been here for over 7 years. At its peak I was Network Administrator of 16 branches in 9 states with over 500 computers and 1000 users which I managed from our corporate location. I am in charge of purchasing and maintaining all the computers and servers at all branches. I work with our interstate network provider to keep everyone connected. I am familiar with Active Directory and Exchange user setup and configuration and configuring Group Policies. I purchased and set up our Blackberry Enterprise server and support all Blackberry users. I am in charge of all cell phones in the company and the PBX system for the five local branches. I also provide phone support to all users and have been told several times that people prefer to work with me when they have to contact someone in our department.
People like working with me because I love what I do. When a computer is not working properly, it is like a fun puzzle for me to figure out what is wrong and fix it.