I’m of Generation Jones, which is a sub-generation of the Baby Boomers. I was too young for Woodstock and the summer of love. Instead, I got disco and the fuel shortages of the 70’s. I did get a pass on the whole Vietnam War and the draft. I was just shy of 16 years old when north Vietnamese forces captured Saigon forcing the surrender of South Vietnam.
I grew up in the town of the original McDonalds. I left high school at the age of 16 by passing the California High School Proficiency Exam. I worked retail (Kinney shoes) for a couple of years and eventually attended Community College. It was there that I was introduced to computers and programming.
I dropped out of college to begin work in the computer field. I got into the industry at a time where if you could spell computer, you were hired. I’ve had a decent career starting out at smaller companies and moving on to working for top tier consulting companies such as Cap Gemini, Deloitte, Accenture and IBM.
I’ve been married twice. Divorced once, widowed once. I am a father to two sons from my first marriage and two step-daughters from my second. I haven’t given up on marriage. I’m going to try marriage a third time to a wonderful woman that has also lost a spouse. No date has yet been set.
I retired in early October of 2025. It’s been now a year and I’m still figuring out what to do with the time I have left. This past year has been projects around the house, a couple of trips to Puerto Penasco MX, one cross-country trip to New Jersey and a few in-state day-trips. I hope to use the airlines miles that I’ve been hoarding to travel internationally this upcoming year.
I will use this site to blog about my life, recount experiences I have had and maybe pass along a few nuggets of wisdom that I have gained.
Please check out the coming soon donaldwheeler.com site for my work skill set and experiences.