I am a software engineer because my last name is Rader. My paternal ancestors had the occupational surname Radermacher (wheel-wright / cart-wright.) Over time

I am a software engineer because my last name is Rader. My paternal ancestors had the occupational surname Radermacher (wheel-wright / cart-wright.) Over time, that became shortened to Rader. When my father went to the US Air Force recruitment office to enlist, the recruiter thought it appropriate for William Rader to become a Radar technician. My father learned electronics and went on to become an electrical engineer. He learned industrial automation technologies, including microprocessor design and programming. When microcomputers became small and affordable, he had them at home. I grew up with those computers and was rather fond of them. I went on to earn a CS degree and become a software engineer.