Welcome

I created this website to share a little information and also to develop my skills in working with web technology.  I have retired so I should have time to spend on my exploration.

I find discovering new things rewarding.  My computer discovery started many years ago in my workplace. I worked for Rank Xerox and Xerox had developed, what I believe, was the first desktop computer, the Xerox 820. It was an 8-bit system that had two large 8" floppy disk drives with CPM as the operating system. This was back in the early 1980s.

At the time I went and learned programming using Microsoft Basic and wrote a program to control stock of our training and User Manuals.  My program saved many thousands of dollars of excess stock.

Another use for our 820 was to set up a messaging system with my colleagues in the UK.  We purchased a 200 baud modem to achieve this.  It was a nightmare to log into so we developed a batch log-in which held all the connection details including our password. This made life much easier although the IT Manager was not impressed when he found out.  This could have been the first time in Australia that emails, as we know them today, were sent.  I can still remember the names of my friends in London, it was during Maggie Thatcher's time so the emails frequently were more political comment than work related.

I hope you enjoy browsing.

Volunteering

One of the joys of being able to retire is the opportunity to get involved in doing different kinds of work now called volunteering; I have met with countless people, many are very different to me and all have rich stories to tell. It is liberating not to be concerned about justifying my salary.

I encourage anyone who is approaching retirement, or has time available, to seek out volunteering opportunities.

In the spirit of reconciliation, I acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which I live, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay my respects to Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.