Who is the programmer?
My name is Sunny (Sun) and I've been in love with Access for a number of years now. I think it is simply amazing and I can't believe people got by without it before. I completely enjoy typing away in VBA with loud music playing in the background (I love if/then statements for some reason!).

My first introduction to the concept of databases was to Paradox, which I didn't do any programming in really. Then a short time of (frustratingly) using FoxPro. Then I discovered Access 95 and was instantly hooked. I started developing and soon thereafter happily moved on to Access 97 which was a huge step up. Here we are now with just moving on to 2003 after using 2000 for years and years. I have yet to convert most of the programs out of 97 which is why the details of them are not offered here and they are not available for purchase. The permit database on the other hand was developed from scratch using Access 2003.

Toward the beginning of my time using Access I came upon a person nice enough to mentor me. At my unrelated day job, he had been hired by a neighboring department to design a custom program which was largely finished before I started working there. I didn't know him at all, just knew why he was there. I walked up to him one day and asked a question about something that was frustrating me in Access, and was completely surprised to hear that he had seen some of my programs (the IT guy had shown him!), and was impressed. That started a several year time where I worked for his company as an independent contractor helping design databases. I learned an absolute ton from him and was just amazed at the possibilities! For example, I minorly helped him work on a database for a machine shop, controlling so many aspects of the process of stamping out parts. I think it connected with the machines. Talk about a completely detailed program. I'm not certain, but that was like a $10-15,000 project for him I think. He taught me how to think properly for the long term and expanded on my grasp of the magic of variables. He said I was the best Access programmer he knew (of course he could've just been being nice)! Truly, it did come completely naturally to me and just seems to flow with little training.

I did take a beginning class at a community college which taught me some things, but I was really disappointed in the class because we wasted entirely too much time teaching people how to navigate Windows (Windows familiarity was supposed to be a prerequisite but clearly some hadn't touched a computer), then I took an advanced class and the instructor was gone half the term and then quit before the class was over, so we didn't get as much out of that as I would have liked but it helped as well. The way I normally learn is through manuals. I purchased many extremely thick programming books, and read/skimmed through them. When I come upon a feature I want to implement but don't know how, I research it and come up with the solution. Sometimes I just need to be pointed in the right direction (somebody tell me what this would be called!), and then I can look it up and figure it out. I've been able to accomplish almost every feature desired, though one issue stumped me for a couple of years before the light dawned on me. Overall in the database development world I'd probably consider myself a low intermediate level as I haven't even touched on the advanced possibilities that exist. Having said that, though, I can make a pretty darn good, detailed, aesthetically-pleasing program if I do say so myself.

I got out of the business of making custom databases. While it was profitable, it just was not ME, and there are more important things in life than paychecks (who needs to eat, really?). Meeting with clients, trying to understand a business I know nothing about, trying to see someone else's goals, having people constantly trying to tack on other features that weren't quoted out, trying to explain to non-database people that what they want to do is a very bad idea from a database perspective and would hurt them in the long run (frequently people don't understand the concept of a relational database), having to visit client sites frequently, meetings again. . . it just mentally wore me down. I started to absolutely hate it and every project I got would upset me deeply. This was very saddening because I loved to program before. I'm just not a front-end sales or a "corporate" type of person and a large percentage of that corporate world just doesn't sit well with me. Now I only develop what I want to, at my own pace, to my own standards. I do however offer minor customization because I want it to work well for your needs. Enough said.

My goal is to fit into the very small-time user's needs. I think that individuals or small offices could really benefit from some programs to increase their efficiency, but may not have the funds to spend on expensive programs with annual service contracts. I've been on that end at my day jobs over the years... of course it's wonderful to have customer support available at any time, but almost always I look at these programs the company has spent tens of thousands of dollars on and think "Well that's nice but jeez, if I had made it I would've done this, and this, and this, and wouldn't have made it look so boring..." If you as a user are smart about making backups of your databases now and then, if there is a problem that can't be repaired by running Tools->Database Utilities->Compact and Repair, you will then be able to restore it and re-enter only your most recent information. See also Technical Support.

By day I have a pretty normal full-time job (where I got to make many databases!!). I do magazine layout which I love and am available for hire for. I'm a huge animal lover. I am an artist, mostly a painter, and I spend quite a lot of time on this career. On my art site you will see more of the personal side of me so please stop by sometime!