The first thing that I asked for on the first day on the job was two monitors. I pointed out that a second monitor was worth 40% of my salary in productivity.

A few months later, most developers and users had two monitors or extra-large screens, whichever they preferred.

I was always a developer. I never wanted to manage. In addition, I mentored trainees, wrote and taught classes, gave speeches at conventions, and never had a project fail partly because I made sure that I was in constant contact with the users.

Also, here is one other reason I was happy:

I had fun and refused to work overtime, except in an emergency.