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Click on these links to select a different server; or to break out of frames.
Provider-One server: www.wuronga.me.uk/index.html
Demon server: www.baronmoss.demon.co.uk/index.html
SupaNet server: www.baronmoss.supanet.com/index.html
UK Online server: web.ukonline.co.uk/baronmoss/index.html
Tripod server: baronmoss.tripod.com/index.html
My Universal Internet Number is 1603832 and
my handle is HelenEdith.
Click here for my ICQ Web-Pager panel and ICQ download instructions.
You don't need ICQ to page me.
My current ICQ status is
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This site originally came into being because my ISP threw in some free webspace with my account and I wanted to get value for my money, so I put up a website using the Web Page Wizard in Word 97. As a contract programmer, I wanted a web presence because of the potential for finding jobs that way, so the Work Page came into being. Pages reflecting my various interests soon followed, and when my email penpals wanted to know what I looked like, the Pictures Page was started. It quickly took on a life of its own as I realised the potential of using the Internet to showcase my photography, and now there is a large hierarchical structure below it into which I have categorised my pictures. I started writing my own HTML when the Pictures Page expanded, as Word 97 offered limited facilities for laying out images. Enthusiastically loading pictures onto my website soon exhausted the webspace allocation given to me by my ISP, so I expanded into free webspace elsewhere on the Web, eventually discovering XOOM, now part of NBCi, which offers unlimited free webspace. All my pictures are now located on the NBCi server, but some are additionally located on the other servers where I have a presence. I have provided information on individual pages to indicate from which server(s) the pictures located on that page can be viewed. Note that JavaScript is used in this process, and if your browser doesn't run my scripts, you will not have access to this navigation assistance.
My site is now taking on another purpose as well: I am formalising my knowledge of HTML and JavaScript, writing more sophisticated code where it is justified, and my site is becoming a showcase of my abilities in this area.
There are several problems at present with the increased sophistication of my site:
This is an expensive and time-consuming process. Rewiring, a new central heating system, and drainage repairs were carried out by my tradesmen before I moved in at the beginning of December, 1996. The windows and the back door were replaced in October, 1997. The bathroom was refitted during March, 1998. The kitchen also needs to be refitted, but I spend more time in the bathroom than I do in the kitchen, so I decided that it had to be done first! Since then, money has become very tight, and there's a second hand kitchen sitting in the garage just waiting to be installed - when Stephen gets the time and I can face up to the disruption! The whole place needs redecoration, and finally, new curtains and carpets are needed. I thought that this project would take me until at least the year 2000, and I have been proved right: the last thing that was done was wallpapering in two upstairs bedrooms at the beginning of 1999 and only during 2001 did anything else start! As work was very much on the lean side in 2000, and I lived on my kitchen restoration fund, things are now proceeding on a very definite budget, with Stephen doing the work himself. He has stopped the roof of the sunlounge from leaking, but eventually replaced it completely. He has also stripped the wallpaper in the downstairs hallway, filled as necessary, and painted the walls. He is in the process of doing the same job upstairs. He has also built in hanging space in the back bedroom, which has got at least some of my clothes off clothing trolleys! He's currently eyeing up the living room for decoration and some built-in cupboards.
In May 1997 I upgraded from an Amstrad PCW9512 to a PC.
I had been using an Apple Mac at work, but this was my first exposure to Windows. In October 1997, my office Apple Mac was replaced by a PC running Windows NT. It also had Office 97 on it, and it was an advantage to have been using Windows 95 and Office 97 at home for a while, as I spent minimal time on getting myself up to speed on the PC in the office.
I eventually outgrew my Windows 95 PC and upgraded at home to a larger Windows 98 PC, which has itself been so extensively upgraded as to be an almost completely different PC.
I was a new-comer to the Internet in 1997, and I made an enthusiastic start on learning my way around it, and now that my RPG programming skills are a bit outdated, I'm making an effort to properly learn HTML, Cascading Style Sheets, JavaScript and Java, with a view to a change in career direction. Expect to see my web site improving!
This is an on-going project, which has not progressed very far. When I purchased my first PC, I purchased one of the language learning software packages available, but never managed to load it onto that PC. I should dig it out and see if I have better success with the newer PC.
After achieving a pass with merit at Grade VII level, I upgraded to a superior instrument so that I would be able to play the Grade VIII pieces, but then I got out of the habit of doing regular practice. I was hoping to prepare for Grade VIII during 2000, but job hunting took top priority, and now I'm contemplating further vocational studies, so it's anyone's guess when I will have the time to prepare for this exam.
I was born in Mount Barker, South Australia. I received my primary and secondary education at the local schools, before going on to attend the University of Adelaide, where I completed a B.Sc. in the Faculty of Mathematical Sciences at the end of 1975. I first came to England in 1979, and apart from a year in Plainsboro, New Jersey, USA; and a year in Largs, Ayrshire, Scotland, I have lived in the Kent/South East London area ever since.
I enjoy classical music and my favourite radio station is Classic FM.
I take a practical interest in music as well, as I play the bassoon. I was a regular member of the Beckenham Concert Band until recently, but I do not currently play regularly for any orchestra. For more information, and some useful links, please go to my Music Page.
I have become rather a slob lately, but when I get to the swimming pool, I enjoy both swimming and springboard diving. I have participated in the March Swimathon as a member of a relay team consisting of Rebus iS employees a couple of times. The hardest dive I can do is a single somersault off the 1-metre board, from which you will understand that my interest in diving is purely recreational. I did do trampolining for a while in the hopes that it would improve my diving. It was good fun, but I don't think the diving improved.
I enjoy skiing. I have been to Austria four times, and have done a lot of skiing in the Scottish Highlands. I also visit a dry ski slope from time to time, particularly when I'm trying to get fit for a skiing holiday! My local ski slope is the Bromley Ski Centre, which is located alongside the A20 Sidcup Bypass.
I enjoy sketching. My preferred mediums are pencils and pastels. I have never got to grips with paints. Maybe it's time I took some more classes.
I used to be a keen photographer, then switched to sketching as I found that I preferred to spend an afternoon producing one sketch, rather than running off a whole roll of film and not getting anything particularly rewarding off it. I have now come full-circle and have become keen on the photography again. The Internet was a catalyst, as I needed good photographs for my website, and having such an outlet for my photographs gave me a reason to take them. I have now joined the Bromley Camera Club and have started submitting my photographs to competitions.
I play a lot of Canasta when I visit my family and friends in Australia. I have discovered a version which you can download and play online. Visit my Links Page if you want it. Maybe we'll have a game online sometime. I'm interested in playing friendly games and ladder games, and am most likely to be found online at weekends. My time zone is Greenwich Mean Time/British Summer Time depending upon the time of the year. I once had a ranking on Case's Canasta Ladder. I needed to play regularly to keep it, but haven't done so. Visit my Links Page for the ladder. My ladder handle was HelenEdith and if I get back on the ladder, I would expect to reinstate that handle.
I enjoy Scrabble, and hope to play Scrabble over the Internet one day. I finally came across the Hasbro CDROM at a computer fair and must get around to putting it onto my PC.
After being down during September and October, the Guestbook finally returned at the beginning of November, 2000. You can always email me if you have any comments and the guestbook isn't functional.
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This page is mirrored on SupaNet, UK Online and Tripod.
Last Revised: 23rd October, 2005.