Hurray for summer. Getting tomatoes now and some nice looking Cayenne chillis on the way. Potatoes have started to die off so we’ll need to dig all them up soon. Onions haven’t done so well, maybe the soil was a bit rubbish.
Brave, dignified, noble little Monkey passed away on the 9th of November 2009. He was a beautiful grand old hamster, who will live on in our memories now he is at peace. What a cool little dude. We both loved him dearly. His passing has broken both our hearts.
He came in to our lives and in 2 short years gave us so much joy and was the recipient of so much love, before his old age and weak heart meant that this beautiful little creature had to be put to sleep. He was so brave and dignified, right to the end, keeping his fur in order, cleaning himself as best he could. At the end he was still eating his favourite things, sunflower seeds, dandelion leaves and broccoli but the effort of even having a drink and a snack would cause him to collapse puffing and panting, falling asleep where he lay before waking again and shuffling back to his nest to sleep.
Every creature, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, is a living, breathing, thinking, caring and feeling being who deserves our respect and care. Gone are the days when animals are seen as soulless automatons put on the planet for our benefit, an opinion I’ve always held to be ignorant and self-serving. Care for all animals as if they were your own children, they are a blessing on this planet.
“The use of the word ‘dominion’ in Genesis, where it is written that God gives man dominion over all creatures, is controversial. Some consider this to be a flawed translation of a word meaning ‘stewardship’, a word which would indicate that mankind was given a great responsibility to take care of the earth and its various forms of life.”
Highly experienced systems administrator with over 7 years experience of Linux/UNIX systems administration and over 3 years experience in a busy and successful Internet hosting environment provisioning and maintaining primarily LAMP servers based on Debian Linux and industry standard open-source services.
Solid understanding of networking principles and Internet protocols and services along with experience in their implementation, maintenance, monitoring and diagnosis.
Friendly customer facing manner that has helped to foster good relations with many customers, clients and colleagues over the years.
After one year as a Technical Support Engineer at Positive Internet, I was asked to become the manager of the technical team of support engineers which meant taking on a number of further responsibilities.
A more senior role in dealing directly with VIP customers and liaising with the Customer Account Manager and the directors.
Close involvement with the directors in making policy decisions relating to the running of the company and strategic directions.
Responsibility for making sure that the support queue is properly manned and that all tickets are answered in the required time period as dictated by our support promise to our customers.
Maintaining an overview of the teams work, prioritising each engineers work as necessary and ensuring that deadlines are met.
Interviewing and hiring new members for the technical team and giving appraisals and reviews for the current team.
Supporting a large network of Debian Linux servers in a busy ISP environment.
Responding to support queries via the email ticketing system and phone support to managed VIP customers. Part of the 24-hour on-call team for responding to server alerts and VIP customer problems.
Systems administration of managed shared and dedicated servers running Debian GNU/Linux with Apache, MySQL, PHP and other network services such as SMTP, DNS, IMAP/POP3 etc.
Performing regular software upgrades and security patches. Routine server checks and maintenance.
Working with a small team of engineers providing IT support to a number of small to medium businesses in the South London area.
Building, installing and maintaining Windows and Linux based Small Business Server installations.
Microsoft Windows NT4, 2000 and XP Desktop PC maintenance and repair.
Macintosh OS 9 and OS X installation and maintenance.
Maintenance of a SCO OpenServer installation and Filepro database system including backup and a small amount of ongoing development.
Implementation and maintenance of Linux based file/print, email and internet services, VPNs and telephone systems.
Responsibility for all company IT systems, inter-office networking, desktop support etc.
A desktop support role in the national administration office, on a part-time basis. It also involved consulting on networking, new hardware and software and implementing a basic Linux based file-sharing and Internet proxy server.
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, 2000 Contract sub-principal percussion
Auckland Philharmonia, 1997 . Contract percussion, acting principal timpani.
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, 1996 Contract percussion, acting principal timpani.
Wellington Sinfonia, 1995 – 1999. Principal timpani.
Strike – New Zealand's leading percussion ensemble – founder member.
New Zealand Chamber Orchestra, 1997. Contract work.
Various operas, shows, session recordings and TV and radio events.
Freelance photographer – weddings, events.
Assistant to the Broadcast Engineer at Massey University student radio station where I was also a volunteer DJ.(1989-1991)
Summer Contract archiving analogue audio tapes from the Electronic Music studios at Victoria University in Wellington, NZ. This involved restoring and transferring to DAT tapes of various vintages and conditions and creating a database for future reference. (1994)
Various other summer holiday jobs.
Bachelor of Music, majoring performance – 1994, Victoria University, NZ
Bachelor of Science, majoring electronics and physics – 1991, Massey University, NZ
Able to analyse and problem solve thoroughly and efficiently.
Enthusiastic and able to learn quickly.
Excellent communication skills.
Able to work well with others, team player.
Courteous, proactive and responsible.
Cheerful outlook and sense of humour.
Music: All forms of music – with a couple of exceptions. I am still actively involved in music making, being involved as a drummer in a band with regular gigs throughout the UK and also playing with a number of amateur and semi-professional orchestras in London. I also enjoy being in London and seeing bands and orchestras, in particular as a season ticket holder to the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall every summer.
Photography: I am keen on traditional and digital photography and am still asked on occasion to take photos for friends and family weddings.
Travel: I am a keen traveller and look forward to seeing more of Europe and the UK.
Cuisine: I love cooking a good meal and sharing it with friends and family.
I really must update this more often, Here is what's been happening…
* Britta got a full time contract at London Zoo for 6 months and is now a Zoo Keeper proper!
* We moved house and now live in Manor House. It's the first time I've really lived anywhere other than West London but I am liking it so far.
* Warblefly are getting a head of steam up for the summer. We have just done a couple of gigs and have a few more lined up over the next couple of months including the Wickerman Festival, Wallingford Bunkfest, Broadstairs Folk Week, The Hairth @ Knockengorroch and a few other goodies.
* I bought a couple of cool new cymbals for the drum kit. A 20" A Zildjian ping ride and an 18" Zildjian custom crash. They make a good sound.
* I had an operation on my neck today to chop out a cyst thingy that had been there for ages but they reckoned should come out…
* Went to a Gong gig on Sunday night and Britta and I caught up with Daevid afterwards. What a great gig! It was the first time I'd seen Steve Hillage playing too!
* I have a whole stack of photos to put up at some point.
* I'm sure there's more stuff that's happened..?
Just got back from a seeing Jean Michel Jarre in concert at the Royal Albert Hall with Simon. He played Oxygene on all the original instruments. See some photos here…
Hello everyone. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I made a surprise visit to Mum and Dad in Balmy Palmy for Christmas and was just about over the jet lag when I had to fly all the way back to London again. Meanwhile, Britta had a lovely Christmas with her family in St Albans and no jet lag 🙂
I have been busy uploading Warblefly albums to Last.FM and you can see the results here…
I am in Chicago! The Wndy City. Actually, there was a very loud thunderstorm last night. I have been dutifully taking a few photos and these are in the New Gallery. I have brought my old Voigtlander with me so it might be a while before those photos show up knowing me. I have so far been on a sailing boat on Lake Michigan, eaten a lot of food (Americans eat too much) and caught lots of taxis. I am here with chaps from work as we have been to a hosting convention. Fly back to London tomorrow night. Going to see the Blue Man Group tonight. Busy Busy!
Hello everyone! I am going to Glastonbury Festival. Expect some photos eventually. Mostly of mud… 🙁
Hello everyone. Click on the "New Gallery" link above and you can see that I have a proper gallery again. I am working hard to get some photos up there but you can see some wedding photos in the 2007 album.
More soon…
… to everyone!
It has been a long time since I updated the site. I have put up a few new pictures and even tried to get a better gallery installed with limited success…
But so far it only has pictures from when I was in Scotland in September. Better than nothing though.
In other news, it has been a quiet Christmas period and I am now nearly 20 stone (eek!) so I think I have to start doing something about that. I would like to start cycling to work again so maybe that will help. Britta and I are going to have an alcohol free January (or at least try to) and generally detox. Watch this space!