4 January 2013.

BRITISH TRAINING STAFFS, TURKEY.
UNIVAC COMPUTERS
DATA GENERAL COMPUTERS
DATAPREP MALAYSIA/ON-LINE MALAYSIA
DATAPREP HONG KONG/ ON-LINE HONG KONG
DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION.
These are some of the companies that I have worked in as either a computer service engineer, manager or instructor.
I had a bundle of Christmas cards this past Christmas from all over the world. I had decided not to send any Christmas Cards this past year but to donate the cash that it would have cost me to a charity. I just did.
I would just love to hear from any of my old buddies via this channel. I will have a look from time to time and see if anybody has added any comments.
I have been remiss about updating my blog. I have considered all these various 'Social networks' a bit too much. Sure I have family who are on lots of them. For example my grand daughter was queen of Hungary for a year and had a Facebook site to keep us all updated. I didn't like the idea of having to be a member to get the news. But I guess that is the way it has to be.

Hugh//

Anybody out there?

Hi, , 8th of April already!

Where does the time go? I've been away for a week. That is from this keyboard....
I went on a ramble today as the weather was gorgeous. It was sunny with just enough cool air to keep up from cooking.
Have you ever roamed around the Thames Valley region? I can tell you that it is as pretty as anywhere I have ever been. Spring is upon us.
Our walk today began just above Whitchurch Hill in Berkshire. It was only about 4 1/2 miles in total. We had a short break at about halfway.

This is the interesting thing. Most of us are computer literate and often discus computers and the things like that. It gives us common ground to chat about. Today to my surprise we got around to people and how they waste time blogging and surfing. I have my own ideas that I have mentioned in some of these blogs, but it was interesting to know that there are many more amongst us who think blogs and similar stuff is such a waste of time unless you really have nothing better to do. I accept that it is a Godsend for people who are unable to get about.

I admit that out walking or riding or driving around also takes up time, but I believe better used than sitting at a computer terminal or monitor reading this sort of stuff that somebody else has written. Probably somebody who you will never meet and probably have nothing in common with yourself.

Have I said it?

OK. to be honest my Grandchildren love to use Skype to communicate with each other. I understand that they also contribute to Facebook. I am registered, but don't contribute. I would use email to contact my family if I couldn't get hold of them by telephone.

Having been a communications specialist in my working life, I have to admit that I believe that the only secure means of communications is by telephone. By secure I mean messages being received. OK so there is always a chance of somebody else listening in. The same could be said of letter writing. It takes two seconds to open any envelope and look at the contents. You send an email and what proof have you that it has been delivered. I don't believe that there is one, even if you get an automatic answer-back.

Who ever reads your Faxes? Who reads your emails? Today, I often wonder is our letters even get read. It is so easy to ignore them.

If you meet a TV reporter in the street with his microphone talking to people about whatever, what determines which conversations get put on the air? Censorship all the time determines what gets a public airing. So I guess that is the reason for the success of Facebook, etc.

What do you people think?

How Time Flies

I hope that somewhere in the universe somebody is reading my blogs.

Why do I want them read?

I want you to read them all starting at the beginning of the story. If you do this you will come across a name of Orhan Hataysal.

Orhan was my mentor and friend in Ankara, Turkey from 1949-1952 when he assisted me in my work. We became friends for life. Unfortunately his life may have been taken.

In my blogs I have made reference to this. So please read and tell your friends to read. Maybe we can solve a problem.

I have avoided putting my email address on this blog because the last time I did something like that I was bombarded with SPAM. I don't want that to happen again. I can be reached at saundershugh@yahoo.co.uk if you really want to comment or if you have information of use.


The reason that I have not posted a blog for a few days is because I have been away. Some excuse, but yes, I didn't want to be using somebody elses computer. I did notice however that one of my Grandchildren did put my URL into 'Favourites'. Maybe she'll get time to have a look at it too. I hope so.

I went up to Lincolnshire to visit a theatre in Newark. Newark is a town in the Midlands. I was very glad that I went because I saw a wonderful performance of dance.

You can have your 'Britain has talent' stuff, but I'd rather see something like what I saw up there. It was a production and very professional too, put on by a Dance and Theatre company that has its home in Sleaford. It was well worth the travel there and back just to see that. Of course I did more than just visit a theatre. I visited my daughter's family.

That's it for now, I have some real work to do.

Bye for now.

Hi,

I'm now more than ever convinced that people who manage to blog every day have really nothing better to do.

I have forced myself every time that I have written a blog to find the necessary time.

I am not a two finger typist and can type at about 120 WPM on a good keyboard.

You have probably guessed that if you have read my other blogs because being a typing instructor I used to demonstrate how quickly my students should be able to touch type at the end of my courses.

In most cases they reached speeds of about 66 WPM. Quite a strange figure. I have never been able to understand why. I can only imagine that a kind of barrier comes up at that speed and the person has to practice a lot more before passing that barrier. Does anybody out there know the answer?

So where have I been?

Let's say I have been away and I am going away again.

This weekend I am going to a reunion of the guys who I served in the army with in 1944-1947. After date we mostly went our own respective ways. For example I went to Egypt and thence to Turkey after that back in the UK and again to Germany before I decided that the army was no longer for me.

I left the army and started a career of doing all kinds of things related to electronics. For example I went to Aden (in the Yemen) as a radio technician. I worked at IBM as a designer and after that with UNIVAC, still in computers as a FS Engineer and instructor.

Then Foreign lands called me and I went off to SE Asia. Want to know more? Then ask.

Bye for now.

If I really have time on my hands I'll blog again.

It looks very much as if it will be impossible for at least a few days. I have a few people asking for advice on their computers and that needs my attention, plus I am going away for a few days.

I can tell you it was cold

I keep waffling about the use of Blogs because it seems to me that typically they are put by people who are inviting people to view their diary.
I didn't want to do that when I wrote my first Blog. I wanted to draw attention to a problem. I guess that problem will never be solved by my putting a Blog.
I have also produced a Website where I have put my case. I still have not heard a thing. So today I'm simply going to blog like all the others.

Yes I've been away for a week. My son had to go overseas and couldn't deliver one of his children to school. Let me explain. He has just moved home and one of his children has been accepted in a school near to where he lives, whereas the other has still to attend the old school which just happens to be many miles away.

So this is where I came in. I volunteered to go and stay with my daughter - in - law and make myself available to take and collect one of the children from school while she did the works with the other child.

I enjoyed it so much, but it was so cold. So cold that I had to borrow clothing from my son so that I didn't freeze to death.

My task has finished. There, I've made an entry into a blog that is very much like the stuff that other people make. Anybody at home?

P.S. I've even used the Spellchecker today.

What a day it is today.

I have come to my computer to add a blog for today and my mind is a complete blank.

Anything unusual about that? Yes! Definitely. My mind races most of the time and I have so much to do and so much done in my life to recall. It can't possibly be blank....

I have no real interest in telling you that today I am having a new garden fence put up. Along with a neighbour we decided to have all our adjoining fences replaced. We had a friend who 'knew somebody' so we let him give us a quote. Yes, the quote came and it was accepted but nothing seemed to be happening. My neighbour obviously got a bit fed up waiting and sought another quote, accepted it and had the work start.

I was a bit surprised when I didn't recognise the chap putting up the fences and when I told him what I thought would be nice he seemed surprised. It was then that I was informed that he wasn't the original bloke who had been employed. He also told me that he didn't have any instructions to do my fences, but, he said, he would give me a quote if I wanted.

I was in a good position to watch him work and I am impressed. He is a pro. So I approached him and asked him for a quote. My own son wanted to do it for me as he is on 'Gardening Leave' but I recognise that an Electrical Engineer with a good degree probably isn't as good at putting up fences as a good old fashioned pro Fence Erector. So my son won't have to worry, nor will we.

If anybody reading this has a vacancy for an Electrical engineer turned Sales Manager, let me know and I will tell my son.

That is the sort of stuff that I see in other peoples blogs. Not for me. Pah!

Am I in the wrong camp? Is this what I should be writing?

I discussed this with a friend yesterday, complaining about the mundane trash that some people write and he replied that they are 'real writers'. Real writers? I have to tell you that he is a person who wants to be recognised as a writer. Sure; he writes short stories and that entitles him to support blog writers - Heck!

Bye for today. Any comments, please post them.

My Eightieth Birthday. Some of my family.

In deference to my son who told me that I have to add to my blog, here is the latest photo taken on my 80th birthday. It is very similar to the one taken on my wife's birthday a few months ago.

There are four of my Grand children missing. I'll explain. The party (for my birthday) was on a Saturday and held in a restaurant in Caversham. The above photograph was taken on Sunday, just before everybody (except those from Spain) went to their own homes spread over England. One boy lives in London and had to do things in London on Sunday morning. One boy lives in Winchester and had to get back to Winchester to work. Another Girl from Southampton didn't realise that the party was gong to last two days and went home on Saturday night. Another young lady actually stayed away in Spain where she is an artist and had lots of engagements. You think I got the count wrong? No. One of the young ladies in the photo is my Daughter - in - law.

I wonder if my family will look at this blog. They are probably too busy..