The purpose of this site
This site is an indulgence on my part and is really just an area in which I
experiment as I develop my website building skills. I'm not a professional (if you're a professional and look at the code you'll be disappointed - get over it!!). I'm an improving amateur.
Links
This site contains links to a number of sample sites which I have built as I have developed website building skills - for pleasure not money! These are mostly for charitable organisations. Some of those involved have requested that I don't put links into this site which I've respected. Those shown represent about half of what I've built.
So what about me?
That's me on the left. I was born in 1949 (work out the age for yourself) and I've come to this website stuff late in life. Mostly, I've been building sites for charities which are prepared to accept the limitations of my skills - particularly as I'm free! I've had no formal computer or website training - I just keep learning by experimenting. It sounds good, but sometimes I really bodge things up and it takes hours to undo the mistakes I make and retrace my steps.
Personal History:
I had a very basic education - sub GCSE at school. At 15 I went into an apprenticeship as a sheet metal worker/panel beater which I hated. So. At age 19 I joined the RAF as a musician. Later I retrained in the RAF to became a Russian Linguist following a motor bike accident which did my abilities to play trombone rather a lot of harm. From an educational point of view, the RAF was good for me and I did an Open University degree in Engineering Technology. After nine years, my time in the RAF ended in not altogether happy circumstances (that's a serious understatement) and a divorce. After the RAF, I went to Hull University and did another degree in Russian - it was cheaper than paying maintenance to a wife who had cleared off with someone else - and I could already speak it quite well. It obviously did me a whole lot of good because - two degrees later and qualifications in music - I hardly used it again and I've spent the remainder of my working life mostly as an
insurance broker
(no-one is born with a burning ambition to be an insurance broker - but it paid well!) specialising in corporate medical insurance before I took early retirement in 2003. This was followed by several years working part-time in a volunteer bureau - extremely enjoyable, but not terribly lucrative.
I'm married (twice for my troubles), but more than happy with what I got out of the deal this time. I have four children (two with each wife) and four grandchildren. One son is a postman, one a doctor, one daughter is a house'wife' (she's never married him, so 'wife' is a bit of a misnomer) and one is a group leader in an outdoor adventure centre for young children. In my spare time, I'm a member of Rotary International (as you'll see from some of the sites I've built). And for fun, I'm well into World War One and American Civil War history. Oh, and I spend a lot of time in France where Vanessa and I have a second home..
I live in the East Midlands of England and I'm early retired. I still frequently work in a local volunteer centre in various unpaid roles which I've done for some time now and which I greatly enjoy. I regularly get to drive a bus and provide basic instruction on driving and familiarlisation to new drivers. In my dottage, I've taken up ballroom dancing which is good fun and I greatly enjoy. What I lack in skill, I make up for in enthusiasm.
We have a family home in France which I'm able to visit often and I spend as much of the summer there as I can. Last year I spent seven weeks there with my wife, Vanessa, and our dog, Dylan. Since she's been made redundant from the Police, she's taken retirement too, so we're likely to spend even more time there. There's a link somewhere on this page to a website for our place in France (it gets moved as I experiment).
I can be contacted at himself@johncookson.info
THAT'S THE BORING BIT. HOPEFULLY, YOU'LL FIND THE PAGES MORE INTERESTING.
