Hello! I am Retta Dunlap

In my day job, I am a computer trainer and technical writer for business manage software companies. I love working with people and helping them with their technical difficulties. A STEM job like mine can also be a real brain workout to write a help article that makes sense to the non-technical reader. Or, a bigger brain cramp to track down a technical issue that eventually ends up on the computer screen of a developer. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the challenge but my real-life journey happens when I am NOT doing my day job.

In my day job as well as in the rest of my life, it helps to be autodidactic or self-taught. This has given me an eclectic knowledge base. I wanted to use computers so I learned how. I wanted to lobbying on behalf of homeschooling, so I learned how. I wanted to garden and preserve food as my mother and grandmother before me, so I learned how. I wanted to change my lifestyle, so I learned how. I’ve learned so many things over my life that I was able to have my experiential learning documented and earned a BA in political science in just 18 months of work!

My personality was and is part of how this all works for me. I am curious, not easily distracted, remarkably focused when learning and acquiring new skills. I must always be doing something useful and I tend to finish what I start. It also helps that I am not afraid of something complex but always remembering to be flexible if I need to shift gears.

But my greatest achievements are my children. They have encouraged me to create this website to simply chronicle my journey and the joy it brings to me and perhaps any joy you might gain from it. More importantly they want a repository of my knowledge so that when I am gone from this life, they can refer back to it and get their questions from mom answered. They are a true joy to have in my life!