BRENTWOOD I.T.

The world of Brian, Eileen and Karen Smith

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Hello - we're Brian, Eileen and Karen Smith. We live in Brentwood, Essex, England with a dog, three cats and a canary. You're invited to view our home, our cars and our family album.

We're a family of computer consultants and have been in the IT business for over 30 years. With Brian and Eileen in retirement, Karen's maintaining the family tradition.

Brian worked on mainframes and PCs and did analysis, programming, operations, training, recruitment and you-name-it. In latter years he moved from technical work to the personnel side of IT. His last assignment was as Resource Planner for an information and communication technology (ICT) company, recruiting and managing teams of PC analysts and systems administrators throughout the UK.

Eileen was a veteran IBM analyst programmer with many years' experience of mainframes, plus PC user experience. She was Operational Systems Manager for a major unit trust company before finishing her career in consultancy. Her last assignment was as Analyst Programmer for a motor finance company in Brentwood.

Karen is an MCSE-qualified Network Engineer employed by LAN Works, a company that provides customised IT solutions, based on products from Microsoft, Cisco, Hewlett Packard, Compaq and APC. Previously, she supported executive personnel at the London headquarters of one of the major clearing banks.

Our leisure interests are many and various with just a few mentioned below. Though our professional involvement in computers spilled over into our leisure we don't let computers or the Internet dominate it.

Brian writes short stories, magazine articles and illustrated travel articles. He has a very broad taste in music, stretching from Bach and Vivaldi to rock from the 60s and 70s. His favourite English classical composers are Sir Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Sir Arnold Bax and George Butterworth. His favourite classical record company is Chandos.

On the popular front, Brian's favourite bands include the Shadows, Shakatak, Moody Blues, Electric Light Orchestra and Dire Straits, plus Pentangle, Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. His favourite singers are Maddy Prior, Barbara Dickson and Kiki Dee. Eileen likes music in general and has no particular favourites, though she was once a fan of 70s swamp-rockers Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Brian owned Minolta SLR cameras from 1970-2004, his last one being a 7000 with a wide range of lenses. He now uses a Minolta Dimage 7i digital camera but has yet to explore its full possibilities. He also has a Digital Dream compact, primarily for point-and-shoot opportunities. Have a look at one of his favourite SLR photographs, taken at Kentwell Hall.

Eileen is a keen gardener, especially where her greenhouse is concerned. She loves house plants, making up hanging flower-baskets and potting up plants for the patio. Eileen's also a competent needlewoman, though this activity tends to be restricted to the winter months. She promised herself that she'd spend more time on her hobbies when she finished full-time work but then the dog came along. Still, one day...

In 2003 Karen completed two Hiking Challenges in aid of Macmillan Cancer Relief; first in Iceland, secondly in Derbyshire's Peak District. A selection of her photos can be viewed at Karen's Been To Iceland. In 2004 Karen repeated her Peak District Hiking Challenge for Macmillan. She also abseiled down Harlow Water Tower in aid of local Rotary Club charities and did a parachute jump in aid of the Anthony Nolan Trust. In March 2005 she will undertake the New Zealand Pack Horse Challenge in aid of the International League for the Protection of Horses.

In support of Karen's fundraising, Brian conducts Internet auctions on eBay and QXL. Take a look and find yourself a bargain!

We're rose enthusiasts and have many varieties in our garden, mainly climbers and hybrid teas but also a fair collection of miniatures, such as the County series. We love gardens - especially those of the National Trust, English Heritage, and the Royal Horticultural Society and we are members of all of these organisations. Won't you come into the garden? We would like our roses to see you.

Of late, we've revived our interest in brewing and winemaking. We used to make a lot of home-brew years ago but it took a back seat for many years while we were building our business and bringing up Karen. We restarted brewing and winemaking in the mid-'90s with renewed enthusiasm and since then have made a wide variety of beers, wines and liqueurs.

Making Contact

If you share any of our interests, why not contact us? We promise a reply to everyone who sends us an e-mail. Particularly welcome will be friends or colleagues from over the years with whom we've lost contact. As the radio hams say, we QSL 100 per cent! Send an e-mail to Brian or Eileen. Alternately you can complete our Response Form.

Equaintances

Many thanks to everyone who has contacted us. A selection of your web sites may be viewed from these links:

matt73.co.uk - Matt is a respected member of the QXL auction community and a seller who specialises in football programmes. If you're looking for items to complete your collection, be sure to visit his site.

Linn Barringer - Internet and e-mail consultant of Woodbridge, Suffolk. Linn's site also contains links to lots of interesting sites in Suffolk and further afield. Local history and news rubs shoulders with oodles of pages on topics of general and specialist interest - don't miss it.

Sandra Haynes - of Chelmsford, Essex; an animal-lover and a keen gardener whose fuchsia collection alone warrants a visit to her site. She's also a dolls' house enthusiast and enjoys walks in the Essex countryside, especially when they end at a welcoming pub.

German Rose Society - the Bremen branch of the national society. Visit this site to learn about new German rose varieties and about rose-growing in northern Germany.