Personal File: Work

Teaching & Lecturing

Teaching English is inevitable if you come to Japan without anything concrete planned. But once you have enough Japanese under your belt, you can teach just about anything that you are knowledgeable about. I did business consulting in Canada for 8 years so naturally I do as much consulting and corporate training work as I can. It's still not enough to become a full-time occupation but it keeps my mind sharp and forces me to study to stay ahead of the curve.

The early 1990s I was kept busy being the only email service provider in Shizuoka. Well, not the only one, but Shizuoka Echo [link] was part of Fidonet [link], an international network of BBSes of over 40,000 access points. Those who take the Internet for granted find it hard to fathom but, for many ex-pats in Japan, Fidonet was their only lifeline to friends and family, given the cost of overseas phone calls.

Fidonet started dying out around 1994, leaving me with idle time from my network support duties. Fidonet was, of course, replaced by the Internet. I continue to do technical support (even the Internet has connectivity problems) and other Internet-based services through Hardfocus.

Many of you already know me as a Freelance Photographer. But I am not limited to that and, in fact, my income from visual arts has shifted from pure photography to graphic design (which may or may not incorporate my photography). I have been asked "why the shift?" read more[]link]

This future is a moving target. I have a few projects on the back burner. I have thought about getting back into the restaurant/hospitality business (dumb idea). I have also considered getting back to product development (also dumb). But ultimately, I love to teach and that will be a part of whatever I do. As

Hardfocus continues to show slow but steady growth it shows promise of being the vehicle for all my services, be they training, consulting/business services or artistic services.