Bio: Larry Teames

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This Clarion Bio was originally published on the Icetips News Network

Bio: Larry Teames
12-Dec-2001 -- Susan Pichotta
 

This week, we're pleased to present an interview with one of the gurus of Clarion reporting, Larry Teames. Larry is the author of possibly the best-selling Clarion third-party product, CPCS Reporting Tools, and is also known for his outstanding tech support. In his interview, we learn about his corporate past, his approach to tech support, his opinion of ABC, and how his backyard swimming pool is best used.

 
Who do you work for?
I started my own company (Creative PC Solutions, aka CPCS) back in 1990, after I "retired" from the data processing services industry, which I had been in for 28 years. In 1997 I incorporated, hence the "Inc." now.
 
What do you like best about what you do now?
When I first started the business, I had so many "small" clients each year that I didn't really enjoy things much. There was too much time spent on marketing my skills, and on administrative tasks like hammering out agreements. I like the creative and problem solving aspects of development, but wasn't able to spend as much time at them as I wanted to due to the "other" needs when building a company.
 
Fortunately, after a couple of years, I reached the point where I was working with fewer, but larger, clients each year, plus I began offering the Creative Reporting Tools, and things began to shape up the way I had envisioned back when I first started the company.
 
What has been one of your biggest challenges in using Clarion?
ABC <G> Coming from a reporting mindset, it was quite frustrating to try and work with reports in the "early days" of ABC. Personally, I don't think ABC offers anything important for reporting, but it DOES take a facet of CW that is already somewhat intimidating and hard to understand, and tends to make it even harder to understand. By leaving my Creative Reporting Tools coded in a more "procedural" way, I've tried to make it easier for my customers to understand (not just the product, but reporting in general).
 
What has been one of your biggest challenges in business?
Meeting my commitment to provide useful, but easy to use 3rd party products, and provide top quality support on a very timely basis. I take the act of being a 3rd party developer VERY seriously, so I try to support my customers at the same level that I want to be supported by those from whom I've purchased software.
 
Do you use any computer languages besides Clarion?
I use a small amount of C and Asm in my 3rd party products. Some things are simply easier, or only possible, in some of the "lower level" languages. I have a useable knowledge of various other languages (VB, C++, C#, JavaScript, ASP, ASP.NET), but seldom use them much, other than the ASP related ones. Given my history in mainframe service bureau programming, I used more languages back then than I can ever remember. <G>
 
When did you start using Clarion?
1987, I think (the mind IS the first to go <G>). I was running the financial products division of a national DP service bureau, and we had some developers working on a PC based version of our payroll system (e.g. we were trying to clone our mainframe based P/R system, and make it interactive so the client would perform all the data entry and validation). There were 5 guys at corporate working on that project, and after 2 months all they had to show was an estimate that it would take over a year, and would probably not be able to meet all the specs that had been proposed for the project.
 
Since I had been writing mainframe software for about 20 years at that point, I convinced my boss at corporate to let me take a shot at it on my own (since I wanted to learn something about PCs anyway). Clarion was the only "royalty free" development tool, capable of doing what I wanted to do, that I was able to find, so it's what I chose. (The project ended up taking me a little over 3 months to complete.).
 
What's the coolest project(s) you've worked on using Clarion?
Usually, the one I'm working on at the moment. <G> In general, it's probably been the line of CPCS 3rd party products. Overcoming the shortfalls in CW reporting has been very rewarding in several ways.
 
Have you done anything for a living other than software development?
As I indicated above, I ran a division of a national dp service bureau which marketed mainframe-based financial application (P/R, A/P, A/R, G/L, etc.) to companies large and small. We also provided the service to quite a few banks (for their business customers) in several western states.
 
What are your hobbies/what do you like to do when you're not using Clarion?
I enjoy both fresh and salt water fishing, but especially like bass fishing. I also enjoy puttering in the garage, golf (as long as there's beer involved), and lately I've started to re-aquaint myself with my guitar (after laying off it for more than 10 years while I built my business). In the warmer months, we have some great times playing water vollyball with neighbors. (Margaritas might be involved as well <G>).
 
Married, children, grandchildren, other close family you want to mention?
I am married 23 years to my second wife, Tere. We have a 17 year old boy, Russ, who plays varsity golf and baseball. I have 2 boys, 34 and 30, from my first marriage. We also have a 16 year old dog, yellow lab mix, named Bruzzer, who has only missed bringing in the morning paper 2 times in 16 years.

                   Russ and Tere Teames                
 
Where were you born?
I hail from Dallas, Texas.
 
Where do you live now?
We currently live in Chandler, Arizona, just south of Phoenix.
 
What's interesting about where you live?
Arizona in general, but the Phoenix area specifically, is known for great weather year-round. If you like being outside at all times of the year, and don't mind a little heat in the summer (112-115 isn't unusual at times), this is the place for you!
 
Have you lived any other interesting places?
San Francisco for a year (1979). Too damp, windy, cold, expensive...
 
Which person, from past or present, do you most admire and why?
My dad. He taught me important values that have helped me make something of myself, and that I have been able to pass on to my own kids.
 
What is your favorite drink?
Cooler months, good DARK rum and cola. Warmer months, margaritas.
 
What is your favorite type of music?
Acoustic guitar based stuff. Doesn't really matter whether it's rock, blues, celtic or whatever. There's just something about the mellow sound of good acoustic guitar music...
 
If Clarion never existed, what do you think you would be doing at this time?
I don't even want to think about that! <G>
 
Anything else you want to mention?
Did I mention that my Creative Reporting Tools "makes serious reporting easy"? <G>
 

Bruzzer in his Halloween costume.