Things got faster once a Barnes & Noble opened up in my hometown. I would bring a notebook and pen so I could hand-copy passages out of O'Reilly books and Dr.

Things got faster once a Barnes & Noble opened up in my hometown. I would bring a notebook and pen so I could hand-copy passages out of O'Reilly books and Dr. Dobbs. Then I'd walk back home and try them out. This was circa '90-'93. I was in middle school, and had no internet access.