Tiring of color designing and painting homes, buildings and structures, I applied for and was hired by KTA Tator Inc. to perform coating inspections on bridges and oil storage tanks.  This was similar to materials inspection work done previously for Pittsburgh Testing Laboratories.  I looked forward to this inspection work and travel with added adventures of climbing bridges to monitor and test coatings applications.  I would photograph rivers from varied heights and perspectives (wearing magnetic work shoes) in breaks.  A project for me on the Ohio River was set.  

After asking a manager about projects ongoing and registering issues, problems and adverse impacts (like rapidly registering architectural color design factors as weather exposure, structure features, inhabitants color styles, etc.) - I thought to offer a Macintosh on a 30 day rental with select software to see if some adverse impacts can be addressed or even reversed with a tech-aided response.  Management agreed and in a week I started using the Mac as a brush and software pallet as to canvases of projects and related problems.  Tangents of computer tasks followed and to a bit of lasting regret I never did perform bridge coating inspections.  Instead creativity as "painting solutions" to real problems in real life had results of bridging from one profession (color designing and restoration painting) to another (PC and software applications).  I ended up totally bypassing a path I thought to be firmly on (materials and coatings inspection).  And in time more PC projects and paintings of tech solutions would follow. 

The issue was simple.  6 weeks left to complete a project of imputing and calculating data and reporting on lead testing results of large apartment buildings for a county health agency.  A problem was that calculated data performed manually by students for a summer work program reflected a 15% error rate. Lets see... Solution = build a database to enter pre-calculated values and let the computer do the math. Fine, but how long will that take?   

Ah - count data entry key strokes and extrapolate to time required to complete.  Mark key-taps, mouse moves and clicks against available time, resources and budget.  Result?  Still days OVERDUE!!  What to do?

In my 1st independent "commercial" PC application project, I had spoke with a gentleman about my philosophy using a computer.  I thought applications would only be limited by the imagination within technical boundaries.  I had not known he would pose an outright related question in response.  Do you think you could design some toothbrushes that we could use as templates on our dentist office window?  That surprising question challenged my theory.

By now I had taught myself and used a computer for designing and developing forms, databases, spreadsheet models and training manuals in one company.  This question posed a distinct challenge to my imaginative limitation theory.  

In an afternoon within a standard sheet of paper on a layer in my graphics program, tooth brushes were drawn modern style with angled handles.  A group arranged in and as a brush family.  Copied to another layer the group was scaled to fit within the actual dimensions of the dentist office window.  Multiple numbered sheets then printed as an ordered puzzle.  Taping the sheets in numbered order on the office window enable the "artists" of the dentist's family to paint brushes on the window. 

The dentist gladly paid a fee happy with the result.  Yes - you could do that!  And so much, much more!