Bowlworks
One of my passions is turning fine wooden bowls. Some bowls begin life as pieces of lumber, sometimes exotic and sometimes more common woods. They may involve layers of different wood. Other bowls are my firewood bowls. They begin life as a piece of firewood that I salvage from the logs that help keep the house warm during the winter. These bowls are typically one piece of wood and often highlight the quirks and blemishes that appear in the growing tree.
Software
I also enjoy the challenges and puzzles associated with programming. Over the years I have learned a number of programming languages. As a teaching language, nothing surpasses Pascal! However, Pascal is not a great production language, it is not inherently object oriented and it doesn't have much in the way of development environments.
In the early 80's, I taught myself C and later C++. This is now my language of choice and I use MS Visual C++ with MS Visual Studio 2005.
All software posted on this site is available for personal use without charge. If you find it useful, I'm delighted. Please let me know. If you encounter problems, I'll do my best to assist and the problem you identify may result in an overhaul of the code. Similarly, if you find some aspect of the user interface awkward or less than intuitive, let me know that as well. All feedback is appreciated and I will respond as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Please note, however, programming is a labour of love and not my occupation. I do have a day job that is also interesting, challenging and very demanding.
Trips & Journeys
Over the last few years we have been taking some very interesting trips. Recently these have included trips to the Mexican Yucatan peninsula. While there we have visited many of the Mayan archaeological sites and I have done a considerable amount of scuba diving, including excursions to Cozumel. We have definitely fallen in love with Mexico and anticipate we will return frequently. This page contains descriptions and links to pictures. It has some of the characteristics of a blog, but I'm afraid it will not be updated as frequently. :-)
Software Recommendations
I work primarily in a Windows environment. At home I am now using Windows Vista and at work, I use Windows Vista and prior to that Windows XP. My primary productivity tools are MS Office (Office 2007 at home and at work) and MS Visual Studio 2005 (C++). There are, however, a host of other programs that enhance the things I need to do, the things I like to do and the computing environment in which I do them. On the Software Recommendations page I have listed those programs, freeware, shareware and commercial, that I regularly use. I've added whatever comments I think may be relevant to describe the software and help you decide if you should give it a try.
NSTU Home
I am a staff officer with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. This is the professional association for all public school teachers in Nova Scotia and the professional association of the Faculty and Support staff with the NS Community College. Not only is the NSTU extremely effective at protecting members' rights and benefits as well as achieving additional salary and benefits through negotiations, it is the most significant single organization that supports members' professional development. (To contact me on any NSTU related matter, please contact the NSTU directly. Please do not use the personal contact information from these pages.)
Links
Over many years I have collected many links to a rather eclectic set of sites around the Internet. I've made them available for anyone who is curious.
About
The foregoing has provided some insight into who I am. For more detail, click on the About link.
