User talk:Gtrhead

About Me
I was born in San Francisco, CA but spent most of my life growing up in Cerritos, a suburb of Southern California. For a brief stint, my family and I lived in Hong Kong for 2 years where I went to kindergarten. I now live in La Mirada, CA with my wife.

Chronology

 * 1974: Attended kindergarten at Hong Kong International School in Kowloon, Hong Kong
 * 1976-1982: Attended grade school (grades 3rd through 6th) and junior high (grades 7th and 8th) at St. Pius V in Buena Park, CA. Activities included playing guitar in church services.
 * 1983-1986: Attended high school at St. John Bosco H.S. in Bellflower, CA. Activities included marching band (clarinet), concert band (clarinet), theater, wrestling, and Honor Roll.
 * 1986-1993: Attended California State University, Long Beach where I received a B.S. in Computer Science (class of 1993). Activities included Shotokan Karate Club
 * 1993-1996: Worked as a programmer for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. I developed in-house systems for Industrial Waste and Accounting using PL/I, CICS, DL/1, VSAM on an VM/CMS mainframe.
 * 1996-2000: Eager to learn technologies beyond the mainframe environment I was in, I accepted a position as a programmer for the Capital Group Companies. I worked on the reporting sub-team of a Portfolio Accounting system using C, Unix, and Sybase databases.  I was also the SME for a VMS-based mainframe formatting tool called CSF (Custom Statement Formatter).
 * 2000-2006: Transferred to a Technical Architecture team working as a Technology Analyst. Initial responsibilities were learning Windows desktop technologies by inventorying all Windows desktop applications in use by the development teams, supporting and enhancing several Java-based monitoring applications, and eventually becoming an SME for Rational ClearCase and ClearQuest.
 * 2006-2009: Returned to school to pursue an A.A. Degree in Music (Jazz Guitar) from Fullerton College. Music has always been a passion in my life since age 10 when I first began playing guitar and I was eager to obtain some formalized education in this area.
 * 2007: Married a wonderful woman
 * 2008: Formed a band called The Jazz Exchange, a quartet consisting of bass, drums, guitar and sax. Since its formation we have added a keyboard player and singer.  Our repertoire consists of a variety of genres within the jazz vein including old-time swing standards, bossa novas, blues, jazz-influenced pop, bebop, and light funk.  My band has played at a number of venues including Steamers Jazz Cafe in Fullerton, CA and the Cerritos Performing Arts Center.

Why I'm Here
With technology changing as rapidly as it has been, I have found it increasingly difficult to market myself in the Information Technology world. Skills and technologies I have spent years learning have become obsolete, programming jobs are now more commonly outsourced and the continually changing nature of I.T. puts one in a constant state of having to play "catch-up".

During my tenure in I.T., I had a number of support duties, one of which was documenting systems for end-users. Time and again I received high marks for my written communication skills from peers, clients, managers and end-users. People found my writing comprehensive, detailed and concise. After putting some time into documentation efforts and making them available, I found that I was spending less time answering basic questions in one-on-one settings. Interestingly enough, I found that I enjoyed this aspect of my job as I was getting more praise than critiques on my writing.

While studying music, there were a number of classes each semester that required the submission of Concert Reports, where we were supposed to attend a music concert and write about it. The impetus of these assignments was to


 * 1) Support the arts
 * 2) Analyze the performance using our own knowledge of music terminology

With a background in Information Technology and a demonstrated strength in written communication, a position in Technical Writing seemed a logical way to marry my technical background with my writing skills.

Accomplishments

 * 1992: Black Belt (1st Degree), Shotokan Karate of America
 * 1993: B.S. Computer Science, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
 * 1994: Black Belt (2nd Degree), Shotokan Karate of America
 * 2009: A.A. Music Performance (Jazz Guitar), Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA

Interests (in no particular order)

 * Music: rock, jazz, classical, new age
 * Games: Scrabble, Scattergories
 * Entertainment: documentaries about astronomy, science fiction
 * Sports: karate, weight lifting
 * Stock market trading

 Hello Gtrhead, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. All users are expected to abide by our Privacy policy, Civility policy, and the Terms of Use while at Wikiversity.

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You don't need to be an educator to edit. You only need to be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage. See you around Wikiversity! --Ottava Rima (talk) 16:11, 17 November 2011 (UTC)

Exercise 1
Use search engines and Wikipedia to research the background of wiki contributors. List what is known about these people. List what is unknown.

Known

 * Name: PamD
 * Female
 * Lives in Leeds and Silverdale in Great Britain
 * Is looking after her mother in Silverdale
 * Retired librarian
 * Likes to proofread and correct

Unknown

 * Pam's "range of interests"
 * Age
 * Marital status
 * Kids (if any)

Exercise 2
Write "How to make instant coffees" steps for Wing Lee.

Since it is noted that Wing likes to cook, I have done this assignment as a recipe to make as concise as possible.

Ingredients

 * 2 cups boiling water
 * 1-2 tsp. instant coffee mix (i.e. Folgers, Taster's Choice, etc.)
 * 1-2 tsp. sweetener (i.e. sugar, Sweet and Low, Equal, Splenda)
 * 1 tbsp. creamer (i.e. milk, Half and Half, Carnation powdered creamer)

Mix water with instant coffee mix, stir. Add sweetener and creamer to taste, stir. Enjoy!