More About Me

Well, I had to include a photograph of myself somewhere! Actually, there's another one elsewhere on this site, but I'll leave it up to you to find it...

I've always taken an interest in local matters, and particularly local railway history, so it should come as no surprise that I spent many years working as a volunteer for various local community groups. However, while many volunteers prefer to get their hands dirty doing something practical – and I certainly did my fair share of that too – I much preferred to be sitting at a table in a nice warm room, planning, strategising, and generally taking great delight in the minutiae of bureaucracy. Take a look at my Committees page to find out what I've been up to.

Something else you might find interesting are my views on Religion and Beliefs. This page outlines my present philosophies and my views on religion in general, and summarises the small part that religion has played in my life in the past.

Finally in this section of my website are my pages about Naturism and my preference for going barefoot whenever possible. I'm not a particularly social person so my naturist experiences have almost entirely been whilst alone at home, but that doesn't change my enjoyment of freeing my body from the constraints of clothing – as long as it's not too cold, of course!

IT Certifications

In late 2002 to spring 2003, primarily out of personal interest (but with half an eye on a possible future career path), I decided to undertake some "proper" (i.e. expensive) IT training which resulted in my gaining a number of pretty impressive certifications – better even than my Dad had, and he actually worked in IT! Five years later in spring 2008 I updated my Microsoft certifications, albeit this time without the formal training, opting instead to take the much less expensive route of buying a book.

I haven't kept any of these certifications up-to-date since 2008, and nor have I ever made use of them professionally. However, while the CompTIA Network+ certification is apparently "good for life", the Microsoft ones are very much legacy credentials and in fact appear as "retired" on my official Microsoft transcript. Nevertheless, I include them all here as a record of what I achieved all those years ago – just don't expect me still to know how to configure an Active Directory Domain Controller.

CompTIA Network+ Certified Professional

26th November 2002

Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)

Windows Server 2003 – 15th May 2008

Windows 2000 – 15th April 2003

Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA)

Windows Server 2003 – 14th April 2008

Windows 2000 – 17th March 2003

Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)

Windows 2000 – 7th January 2003

The CompTIA Network+ logo is a registered trademark of CompTIA (the Computing Technology Industry Association). All rights reserved.
The CompTIA Network+ is an industry-wide, vendor-neutral program.
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

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