Bio: Greg Berthume

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Bio: Greg Berthume
1-Apr-2003 -- Susan Pichotta
 
A father of four human children and one new software child, this Clarionite is a busy daddy. Also honest - he admits that his kids drive him crazy (but would that be the human kids or software ones?;) He's lived on both coasts and places between, been paid to be a parrot head, and was the sole author of CompuTax (which makes him a tax man, doesn't it?). And don't miss the photo at the end, it's a stunning shot.
 

Greg in Arizona

Who do you work for?
I have my own business, Berthume Software (www.berthume.com) and am very involved with my son's web development business, Epsilon Concepts. My new product, cpTracker, has taken all of my time for the past 5 months. I was forced to go fulltime with Berthume Software because the Clarion opportunities are slim and none!
 
cpTracker is a product I have been wanting to build and market since 1995. cpTracker will assist you in managing your contacts, prospects, customers, sales, projects and tasks to the last detail. Includes Query Wizard, Report Wizard, Spreadsheet Wizard, and more! cpTracker is your Complete Data Management Solution!
 
I have always wanted to have my own business but have never been able to take the risk, mainly because I married young, have 4 children and we have home schooled our children for the past 9 years, which means my wife has had no income! I just wasn't willing to take the risk but things have come together in the last year. The time has come to just go for it. It is scary though, being an entrepreneur and betting the farm but I'm tired of being at the mercy of others.
 
I have been developing software since 1982. Starting out on the TRS-80 PC (I even had a Radio Shack color computer with a small thermal printer), I then moved on to an 8 year stint hand writing code in AlphaBASIC and Assembler for AlphaMicro multi-user mini-computers

Greg in San Francisco Water, anyone?

(like UNIX). I like to consider myself a pioneer in email systems development, where I spent 3 years building (89-93) an ahead of it's time email and groupware system (I/O Mail) for AlphaMicro computers. The only problem was that the AMOS platform was proprietary with only about 30,000 systems worldwide. I'm still kicking myself for not porting the I/O Mail design to C and the PC/Windows platform. It was a fun project.
 
From 1993-1999 I single-handedly built and supported Compupay, Inc.'s (payroll and tax filing service bureau) automated tax filing system CompuTax, built initially using Clarion for DOS and LPM and then converted to Clarion for Windows. I also developed and marketed several Clarion for Windows template based add-ons, PowerRUN, PCL Tools and PTools. PowerRUN has proved to be a very useful template over the years for many developers. I sold around 700 copies and since it was released as freeware (go to www.berthume.com to get your copy!), it has been downloaded about 1200 times.
 
In mid 1999, I became restless after telecommuting fulltime for 4 years and working on the same system for 6, so I decided it was time to head west in search of Silicon Valley Gold. After dragging the family to California and working for several companies and NOT finding any Gold out west (the internet bubble burst and real estate prices were outrageous!), we sold our northern California mountain home and relocated to the Cleveland, Ohio area where I had a 6 month contract with Harley Davidson Dealer Systems. I'm originally from Michigan (left in 82) so it's nice to be near my family again. My wife's family lives in South Carolina.
 

Brittney and Dad

What do you like best about what you do now?
I am really enjoying the challenge of developing, marketing and selling cpTracker. I have many really nice add-ons for Clarion, many of which are used in cpTracker with many more to come. Without the RAD power of Clarion and these Add-ons, cpTracker simply would not be happening, at least not built by a single developer! I just need more time to dig deeper into Handy Tools, where there is a ton of power just waiting to be exercised. Gus Creces is one smart guy!
 
I also really enjoy being my own boss and working my own schedule, which lately has been around the clock!
 
What has been one of your biggest challenges in using Clarion?
Figuring out how to do something in ABC using the right method and embed point. Much of ABC/OOP I have yet to explore but I feel like I'm developing at a very productive pace these days. I'm not afraid to use 3rd party solutions when available to get from A to B and the newsgroups are always a big help in getting quick answers.
 
What has been one of your biggest challenges in business?
It would have to be turning prospects into customers, especially in this day and age with the economy being in the pits and with the war going on. We all have really tight budgets! Unlike many programmers, I enjoy the marketing and sales process. At 16 I was selling car stereos out of my car trunk at the local flea market (West Palm Beach, Florida).
 
Do you use any computer languages besides Clarion?
Clarion is the only tool I use for desktop development. I coded in AlphaBASIC for 8 years but since 1993, it's only been Clarion, which has covered my needs thus far. I also use MS SQL.
 
I am starting to spend more time with Macromedia's Dreamweaver MX.
 
I'm also taking a close look at Clarion / ASP and the Clarion ASP.NET templates to see if they can be used.
 
When did you start using Clarion?
I was first exposed to Clarion 2.1 for DOS and LPM back in 1993 while working for Compupay. One of the developers had a copy and was just starting to play with it. Compupay's payroll and tax filing system was written in AlphaBASIC (all handcode). The tax filing system was very limited and needed to be completely rewritten from the ground up. I had my choice of hand coding or using CPD and LPM. I wisely chose the latter. I couldn't believe my productivity! It made me look really good! The combination of CPD and LPM was very powerful for doing DOS development.
 
What's the coolest project(s) you've worked on using Clarion?

Pamela, Joshua and Greg

I'm enjoying building cpTracker and have great plans for it! While in California, I enjoyed converting a travel data warehousing system from TPS to MS SQL Server, which also included creating a report batch processing module as well as ClarioNET support.
 
I'm looking forward to creating SQL, browser and possibly ClarioNET versions of cpTracker.
 
Have you done anything for a living other than software development?
I've been developing software fulltime since 1985. Prior to that I had one strange job that lasted about 3 months. I worked for an Immigration Attorney whose office was in Palm Beach, Florida. I didn't work in his office though. He had purchased a small shack of a building about 300 feet from the Port of Palm Beach (Riviera Beach) which is where the Immigration and Naturalization Service office was located. He turned it into a "Passport Photo" service but it was mainly to get the people in the door so that we could talk them into using this attorney to handle their green card, visas, citizenship, etc.
 

California Desert

I worked with another guy who stood outside in the Port's parking lot talking them into using the attorney to handle their cases. He was a Jimmy Buffet parrot head, literally! We communicated via walkie-talkie. He would send them to the office and I would either take their photos with a special passport photo camera or I would lead them in my car to nearby Palm Beach, to the attorney's office.
 
After a couple of months, "Parrot head" quit and I became the outside guy. The inside guy was the attorney's 75 year old dad. I seem to recall a Swedish lady offering me $10,000 to temporarily marry her so that she could get a green card. I turned her down and thought to myself "this is a really strange occupation!"
 
I quit and got a job working for a wholesale distribution company as an order entry clerk. The company had an AlphaMicro multi-user mini computer (like Unix) and it came with "Alpha Accounting" which included all the source code. They were only using about 10% of the system. I then spend the next 3.5 years fixing the bugs and automating all aspects of the business. I learned much during that time!
 
What are your hobbies/what do you like to do when you're not using Clarion?
I am a basketball junkie and play full court basketball on a regular basis at the local YMCA (I can't ever seem to get rid of my computer gut though!). My son Robby and I are big Sacramento Kings fans since their rise to NBA elite status coincided with our move to CA in late 1999.
 
I also like to Windsurf and sail. I'm hoping to get a McGregor 26 sometime this summer and sail the Great Lakes. I sailed a lot growing up in Michigan (Lake Charlevoix) and owned two small sailboats.
 

Elijah

Married, children, grandchildren, other close family you want to mention?
I have been married to the same person, Pamela, since 1984.
 
We have 4 children and 2 Golden Retrievers. Son: Robby/16, Daughter: Brittney/11, Son: Joshua/7 and Son: Elijah/1. My kids are awesome!
 
Where were you born?
Owosso, Michigan (near Detroit)
 
Where do you live now?
Chardon, Ohio (Cleveland area, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
Editors note: Greg and his family have since moved to the Chicago, Illinois area.
 
What's interesting about where you live?
The home we just bought is in a great location. It's a mile north of Chardon, a really nice small town. We have 5+ acres with a creek running through the property. We are 15 minutes south of Lake Erie and Headlands Beach, which is the biggest white sand beach on Lake Erie and great for windsurfing! We are 30 minutes from downtown Cleveland, which offers all the pro sports, concerts, etc. Cleveland is pretty nice now and is not too big. You can't get lost.
 
Have you lived any other interesting places?
I've moved many times in my life (24 since I got married) and each place has offered new adventures and experiences and I've met some pretty interesting characters.
 
I've lived: All over Michigan, West Palm Beach, Florida; Coral Springs, Florida; Greenville, South Carolina; Selma, California (raisin capital south of Fresno); El Dorado Hills, California (between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe); Shingletown, California (15 minutes west of Lassen Volcanic National Park - active volcano) and now in Ohio.
 
We had a blast the 3 years we were in California. We visited virtually every place of interest in California, both natural and man made. Our home in Shingletown (elevation 3500') (www.citlink.net/~gberthume/) featured a small building 200' behind the house, which I turned into an office (was telecommuting fulltime for a Bay area company). It was so peaceful! I had a dirt bike (Suzuki RM250) that I could ride on the miles of lumber trails to take a break from programming.
 
Which person, from past or present, do you most admire and why?

Rob, Pamela and Greg

My wife Pamela. She has been the best wife, friend and homeschooling mom! Homeschooling is HARD work and she has done an outstanding job for the past 9 years teaching our kids. She takes it very seriously. She's also been very supportive while I've been chasing after my dream of building my own business for the past 5 months.
 
Robby just graduated at 16 from homeschool and is now focused on his business for the next year and then will go off to college. His class ring says PB HS on the stone, which stands for "Pamela Berthume Home School". He's giving credit where credit is due. Robby is going to be on a local radio program discussing homeschooling in a couple of weeks and I'm trying to get some newspapers and magazines to do an article on him because I think what he's accomplished, what he's accomplishing with his business and the person he's become is very unusual and special. He is not your typical teenager! He's actually a mature 25 year old young man in disguise! <G>
 
What is your favorite food?
Breakfast: loaded bagel with cream cheese
 
Lunch: big juicy hamburger with grilled onions, swiss cheese and bacon or grilled chicken Caesar salad
 
Dinner: steak and lobster, Italian (love linguini with clams), Mexican
 
Snack: popcorn (lately I've been pigging out on microware Kettle corn), buffalo wings
 
What is your favorite drink?
Iced Tea, Iced Water, lemonade, Coffee, occasional Margarita
 
We discovered Alaskan Amber beer while out in CA. It's excellent! We can't find any here in the Midwest. I'm not much of a drinker as I've been busy being a family man for most of my adult life and we family men must set the right example for our kids!
 
What is your favorite type of music?
I like all types of music except RAP. Just depends on my mood.
 
These days I listen to mostly Christian Contemporary music and new age (when developing software). Mike Hanson sent me a couple of songs that he created and I thought they were really cool.
 
Christian Contemporary music has gotten really good and diversified in the past 5 years or so. There's a positive message in each song as opposed to much of the mindless lyrics in today's music. DC Talk, Newsboys, Pillar, FFH, Jars of Clay, Audio Adrenaline are all really good.
 
Recent concerts: Rush (they still rock!) and the Newsboys (www.newsboys.com).
 
What is your favorite book? Movie?

Pamela and Greg in the California Redwoods

Most of the books I read are biographies and books about business. I've lost interest in fiction. I like books about real people and real events. The last couple of books I've read have been based on sailing adventures. One book was about 3 friends who traversed the entire Amazon River from start to finish on an inflatable raft. It took them 6 months.
 
I like all types of movies from action to drama to comedy. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Dick Van Dyke is one of my favorite movies from childhood. James Bond movies are cool, especially the old ones. Movies that keep you guessing are great stimulation. I just watched The Hunter with my son and it was like Rambo. Good guy flick.
 
What do you find annoying?
My kids when I'm trying to get work done! I love them to death but working at home fulltime with the family also here homeschooling fulltime can be a challenge at times. We've lived this way for most of the past 8 years. We are a very close family, literally!
 
If Clarion never existed, what do you think you would be doing at this time?
Probably working twice as hard to produce half as much!
 
Anything else you want to mention?
My life has been quite a roller coaster ride but it's also been very rewarding with regard to being able to work via home office for the past 8 years and having such quality time with my family.
 
I wish there were more companies that would allow their software developers to work via home office. Life becomes much more enjoyable! If I reach a point where I need to hire developers, I'm not going to make you move! Live where your happy and spend more time with your family!
 
I'd like to wish all of my fellow Clarionites the best of luck in your current and future endeavors and I hope Soft Velocity can keep Clarion going for a few more years!
 

Lassen Volcanic National Park, California