GENERAL INFO

My full name?... David George Carter

Age? ... Old enough!

Status? ... Free and happy!

Home? ... The darkest depths of Brownhills, West Midlands, in the UK.

Occupation? ... Network Servers & Operating Systems Product Specialist

It's so disappointing when my on-line mail-box is empty so, mail me at [email protected]

Well! Am I an interesting individual?...The kind of person you'd like to invite to your party? Or a boring old git, which is why I hide myself away creating web sites. READ ON!! and decide for yourself.

THE THREE ADULT ERAS OF DAVE CARTER

The Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll Era

Unfortunately, not enough sex, no drugs, but copious amounts of drink and plenty of rock 'n' roll. Life began as a drummer with a band called "Hats Off to Larry", a Birmingham University based band with me being the odd one out, i.e. not a student. That didn't stop me from enjoying the pleasures a University social scene has to offer, especially as a member of one of the most popular bands located at the Uni whose biggest claims to fame would be blowing "Amazulu" off stage at the height of their success (remember them?) and just missing out on supporting "We've Got A Fuzzbox..." on a UK Tour as we'd split up the day before the offer..

As the guys from "Hats Off to Larry" graduated and left to follow their chosen career path, I hopped into another popular University based band called "The Rhythm Method", a Jazz Funk setup. Rehearsing our set of songs (many with complex arrangements) took around 6 months but this time was rewarded by becoming a firm favourite with the students especially the medics (possibly because we had two med students in the band), headlining several University bashes such as the Medics Ball (twice) and the Graduate's Summer Ball at the Metropole Hotel at the NEC, Birmingham.

This era came to an end when, again, most of the lads 'n' lasses in the band graduated and entered the big, wide, real world of working for a living. From here I was left in a state of limbo - I needed a new direction, a purpose, a future. Hey! What better way to gain these and extend the good times than become a student myself - University beckoned ...

The Student Era

I hardly chose an easy route. I had left school with a token number of 'O' levels at mediocre grades (4 to be exact) so, it was back to school to do Maths, Physics and Economics 'A' levels at the grand old age of 26. Two years of pain-stakingly hard work got rewarded with not fantastic grades, but enough to be accepted by Swansea University to read Physics with Medical Physics (mmm!... again, could've picked an easier subject I suppose).

It was in my first year at Swansea I decided to invest in a gadget that was finding a niche in the consumer market called a Personal Computer. Parting with a not too insubstantial amount of cash (around £1300) placed this wonderful invention of the modern world into my hands. An Amstrad 80286 12 MHz PC with 1MB RAM, 40MB Hard Drive and a cooling fan that woke the dead was mine. I immediately became hooked, to the point, I suppose, where I was far more interested in messing around on my PC than studying Physics.

However, I did have a life outside Physics and Computers (I'm not a complete anoraked, techno-nerd). I have been involved in all manner of Outdoor Pursuits ever since my first real wilderness adventure on an Outward Bound course in Minnesota back in 1979. When most people on that course were thinking "never again!", I found it a truly excellent experience. Joining the University Rambling Club re-kindled a passion for the outdoor scene and provided some great times at home and abroad with the friends I made. Such adventures include mountainerring in the French / Swiss Alps and the High Atlas in Morocco, skiing in Italy and Austria, expeditioning in the rain-forests of Indonesia, and many more. I love travelling and although a lot of my friends seem to be catching me up now, I've so far visited over thirty countries worldwide.

After five years, with one repeated year (because of the Indonesia expedition) and a year out, I finally graduated. The real world beckoned ...

The Professional Era

After a 3 month adventure hiking, hitching and sightseeing in Canada, Alaska and Hong Kong it was back to earth with a bump. It was my time to face the real world and get a job. At 33, I couldn't afford to be too choosy but I knew where my interests and talents lay - squarely and firmly in Computers. Luckily, things have worked out well and I'm now enjoying a good job in the industry I wanted to be a part of. The social side of life has now taken a bit of a back seat and I do confess to being an out 'n' out techno-nerd at times (you've gotta be when people ask you whether you've got a PC at home and you reply "no, I've got a Windows NT network") but I still see most of the good friends I made at Birmingham and Swansea Universities and enjoy a regular pint with my brother-in-law and another mate down at the local. This era of my life has only really just begun so I'm not going to dwell on it and you can always read my CV (if you're that way inclined) to see how things have gone so far in my career.

Well! That's my life in a nutshell folks - not mind-blowingly amazing but not as boring as it could've been. The future beckons ...

Home Page ... CV ... Picture Gallery ... Travelog ... Links