Biographical
You may know me these days as a horn player. Of course there is more to me - here's a small taster! If you want to know more, do get in touch: contact details are on the home page.
A short history
I was born on 22nd July 1967 in Perivale, Middlesex, now part of Greater London. The hospital itself is now long gone, but I also have a brother who arrived in this world at the same place three years later.
Home was in Ealing, West London, until I was 21. I went to school at Drayton First School, Compton First School, Drayton Middle School, and finally Drayton Manor High School, where I took GCE 'O' and 'A'-level exams. To try and improve on the 'A'-level grades I studied for a year at Southall College of Technology, then made a career decision to go into Engineering. The most suitable course for me was a BTEC HND in Engineering, at Nene College, Northampton, and I obtained this qualification in 1988.
Since then, my entire working career has been in Railway Signalling design. For 16 years I worked for ALSTOM Transport Information Solutions (formerly GEC-General Signal - GEC Alsthom Siganlling), before moving in 2003 to Network Rail as a signalling scheme development engineer These days I am still part of the Signalling and Telecomms group, West Midlands Delivery Group as a Project Engineer. Rather than bore the reader with details of this, if you want to know more then please get in touch!
The Musician
My first instrument was the piano, which I learnt privately. These days I don't play serious "classical" piano music, as my sightreading has always been poor. However, I can and do entertain with jazz music by ear, that is to say without the aid of music.
The main instrument I play is the French Horn. I started learning this in 1979 at school, before transferring to Ealing Junior Music School. Thanks to this free tuition (courtesy of the local council) I gained Grade 8. and now I am a proficient player. See the Musical page for more details...
The Internet Bride
I used to be a single man, of course - all men start out this way! The only social life I had to any great extent was music, playing the horn in orchestras and other ensembles. To find other company I joined in the chat room at Club Gabbay (no longer operating). Amongst the many friends I met in there was a lady whose handle was "Shigatsuhana", known in real live as April. We got to know each other by talking in the chat room, then using ICQ, then on the telephone, and of course by writing lots of E-mail. We met physically in Vancouver, Canada, while I was on a holiday trip in 1999, and it was quite obvious that our internet relationship was very real, very stable. So we got engaged after three days together, and we were married in Florida in April 2000. April moved to the UK after gaining a temporary Settlement Visa in July 2000. Since then we have been very happy! April is now a dual British/USA Citizen.
Here's a word to the wise though. Anyone planning to marry someone from a foreign country should be extra careful that they will make it work after all the dust setlles. A lot of that dust could come if you try and live together without the proper paperwork in place, such as a Settlement Visa. We will be happy to answer questions about this if you have any.
