I was born Henry Charles William James Davison on 28th. May 1952 in Paddington, London.
I live in Hornchurch, Essex, just east of London with my wife Glynda
and my two son's Barry (Baz) and Jason (Jay).
Glynda works as a Deputy Manager of a local Nursery,
Barry works for a local computer company - Augmented Reality
(was Triumph Computer Systems) and Jason works for HSBC
(Midlands Bank to us older folk).

Glynda has been at different times in the past a Guide Captain (Girl Guide Leader)
and a Brown Owl (Brownie Guide Leader).
She founded the 7th Hornchurch Beaver Scout Colony in 1987 and ran it for 10 years.
During that time she became a District Beaver Scout Leader (overseeing other Beaver Colonies).
Not long after Glynda became a Beaver Scout Leader I suddenly found myself
"volunteered" for the role of Treasurer for the
"7th Hornchurch Boy Scouts & 3rd Hornchurch Girl Guides Supporters Association".
This association exists mainly to raise funds for the
Beavers, Brownies, Cubs, Guides and Scouts
that meet in the Methodist Church Hall in High Street Hornchurch.
I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and would recommend scouting to anyone.
It was amazing to see how the different leaders organise and run their sections.
We had some great events and outings in the short time that I was involved.
One evening we held a "Western Night" in the church hall to raise funds.
Together with my son Barry and two of his friends we formed a "group".
I played my Yamaha PSR 4500 keyboard (a big brute)
and they played their electric guitars.
Hmmmmmmmm!

MY CAREER BACKGROUND.

In 1968 I joined London Transport as a Railway Operating Apprentice
and in 1970 I became a Signalman at Kings Cross (City Widened Lines).
Since then I have been a Signalman in nearly every Signal Box/Signal Cabin on LUL.

I have also worked in five different LUL Control Rooms:
Euston - which currently controls all the Northern and Victoria lines,
Earl's Court - which controls all the District and Piccadilly lines,
Baker Street (Met) - which controls the Metropolitan line
from Wembley Park to Aldgate/Aldgate East
and used to control the Jubilee line from Stanmore to Charing Cross.
Baker Street (Bloo) - which controls all the Bakerloo line
and Wood Lane (where I work now) - which controls all the Central line.

At Wood Lane Control Room I am now employed as a "Service Manager"
having been a "Service Duty Manager" (now "Service Controller") for over 10 years.
The "Service Manager" grade replaced "Duty Line Control Manager"
and "Service Controller" replaced "Duty Service Manager".
The Service Controllers are a multi functional grade.
That is to say that they cover different roles as the need arises.
Line Control, Signalling Control and Information Control.
So one day they may be talking to the Train Operators via the Train Radio,
the next day they could be operating the new Computerised Signalling System
or you may even hear their voice over the Public Address on the platforms.
If you are really bored, click Customer Information to hear my voice.

Very soon Wood Lane will  introduce "Command & Control".
A Service Controller would then cover the three different roles
(Line Control - Signalling Control - Information Control)
at the same time but only for the areas under their control
rather than one role on a line basis as it is at present.

There are 7 teams in operation at Wood Lane working a 7 week roster.
Each team consists of 5 Service Controllers plus a Service Manager.
Between us we are responsible for the day to day running of the Central line.
The Control Room is manned (or staffed to be politically correct) 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The day is split into 3 shifts of 8 hours each.  (Early 0700-1500)  (Late 1500-2300)  (Nights 2300-0700).
Friends (yes I do have some) often ask "What do you do at night when the trains have stopped?"
Well after close of traffic (around 2 in the morning) we often have Engineers Trains running.
These might carry ballast to a site to enable the P.Way Department to repair or renew track.
Or they might be equipped with a travelling crane needed to carry out repairs somewhere.
Then there are the night staff that maintain the signals, the pointwork, the tunnels, the stations,
the bridges, the track, the drains, the sub-stations (electrical supply)
plus all the cleaners that appear after the Underground has shut down.
Should any of these staff (or contractors) need to make repairs on or near the track
then it is us that grant them a "Possession" for the area that they require.
Then at around 4 in the morning, guess what? Yep, the trains start running again.
My daily routine, who would have it?
8 hours at home, 8 hours asleep and 8 hours with my other family - London Underground.

Away from work my main interests are Computers, Music and Sci-Fi.

Here are the machines that I have had the fortune to have owned:
Phillips G7000 computer games consul - still think it was better than the old Atari games consul.
ZX Spectrum issue 2 - started me on the road to computing ( BASIC and ZX Machine Code ).
Atari 520 STFM - excellent computer, I gave it 2Mb memory and it flew along.
Amiga A500 - superb sound and graphics, still one of the best computers around.
IBM 286 PC - my first PC, very slow and temperamental.
CompuSys 486 DX33 - Excellent P.C. built in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
ProSystems Pentium 200 - Started as a Pentium 133 built in Romford, Essex.
Mesh Pentium III 450 - Excellent quality PC that flew along.
Advent T9103 (3.4 GHz Pentium 4) - my current P.C. purchased from PC World.
So for the moment I am actually up to date - but for how long.

My musical tastes are very wide. There is not much that I do not like.
Classical, Pop, Rock, Rhythm & Blues, Jazz, Trance, Dance, Drum & Bass, Reggae.
I love to listen or play. I play the piano, keyboards, rhythm guitar, tenor banjo, ukulele and zither.
Some of the artists I have collected on either vinyl or CD :
Beatles, Moody Blues, Yes, Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Queen, Status Quo,
Mad Season, Frankie goes to Hollywood, Mike and the Mechanics, Alan Parsons Project, Camel,
Grid, Prodigy, Shamen, KLF, Sunscreem, Man with no Name, Santana, Ian Gomm, Robert Miles,
Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Dannii Minogue and Angelique Kidjo. Well I was a D.J. in the 70's.

Steve Miles and myself ran ZOUNDZ MOBILE DISCO around Hornchurch, Loughton and Epping.
We also played regularly in the Limestone Club and The Barge Pole Public House in Thamesmead.
Those days were fun. Beg some records, borrow a van, swindle a booking, go to work shattered.

What can I say about Science Fiction? It is brilliant, entertaining, predicts the future, best SFX.
Star Trek steals the limelight for me. It is more than a series. It is a 'soap'. An alternative reality.
This may sound daft to some of you but I know that there are many who would agree with me.
The Star Trek world (The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager),
is a whole world where you can totally immerse yourself in.
Then came Star Trek-Enterprise. At first I was not convinced due to the low special effects.
However I soon became totally into this new series and thought that it would become another classic.
Now the Star Trek world has come to an end and it has left me devastated.
I feel that I cannot be the only one to feel this way about the Star Trek sagas.
When I watch any part of this world I feel that I am there, taking part myself.
Some shows are all effects but Star Trek is a thinking person's programme.
It is often like a cross between Star Wars and Poirot, another two of my favourites.
I would dearly love to put some graphics and sounds from Star Trek here but unfortunately
in this world it is not allowed - see letter from VIACOM sent to anyone that defies their order.
Sad that we, the fans who have made Star Trek the great success that it is,
are not allowed to share our love for this production with each other.
I strongly believe that nobody wants to make money from this, just share a common adoration.

Anyhow, what about Earth: Final Conflict? It worked for me. I thought it was excellent.
When are we going to see another series? Are these the good guys or the bad guys?
A thought, has anyone noticed that ever since  E.T.  hit the screens with that loveable little alien
producers have been trying to prepare us for something - the 'coming' maybe.
Prior to E.T. there was 'V' the series   where the visitors turned out to be 'killer' lizards.
Then there was Men in Black which told us that extraterrestrials are here already amongst us.
Then we have Earth: Final Conflict  with the Taelons as our 'companions'!?
Maybe we should wake up to the idea that we really might not be alone.
Are the leaders of this world trying to prepare us before declaring this sinister news.
I think so or then again maybe I am just paranoid (hey what was that sound).
Oh and do not forget The 4400 and Taken. Now they were/are good.

Anyhow, very briefly that is me (there is more, maybe another time).

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