My Story
From Hobby to Engineer
to Writer
By Eric Sutherland
© 2020 - 2022 by Eric Sutherland
T / A Biz & Techie
Writing Services Ltd
Published by Eric Sutherland T / A Biz & Techie Writing Services Ltd
The intent of the Author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you gain the knowledge about
making choices on your career.
“My Story – From Hobby
to Engineer to Writer”
In the event you use
any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right,
the Author and Publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.
Contents
Returned to the South of
West Germany
Capita Insurance &
Investor Services
Upwork and PeoplePerHour Biz docs
Upwork and PeoplePerHour Tech docs
My Parents
Met and married in Stromness,
Orkney and later produced me and my brother Ron. After about 4 years my father
changed jobs from a Lighthouse Keeper to Seamanship Instructor on the Dolphin
Training Ship based in the Lieth Docks, Edinburgh, UK. Most of the students gained
roles in BP and Shell Tankers.
For some unknown reason I picked
up Gaelic and the Island dialect from my Granny, but my younger brother escaped.
On arrival in Edinburgh, I had to attend classes to learn English as a foreign language.
The family then moved to Oxgangs,
when my father joined the 50 Housing Association, and everybody applied their
skills to building houses. At 5 attended Oxgangs Primary School a short walk
down the road. Then later my brother joined me at the School.
Nothing much happened until 11
my father bought us a small mongrel dog. Which got named Lulu. Then with
friends and other dogs, we started playing in the woods and the Pentland Hills
to the South. We started helping injured animals and gathered pets to occupy
our time.
One of the classics being when a
bit of fluff jumped towards our mother while cleaning her bedroom floor. On
looking under the bed found the fishbowl with tadpoles in it. Another when we
all had colds and my mother gave less than an eye drop, of whiskey to our White
mouse, Green budgie, and Lulu the dog. We all laughed at the dog trying to catch
the budgie and the budgie trying to catch the mouse.
Paper and Veg
Rounds
At 12 started High School (Secondary
School) and doing a Sunday Paper Round. Used the pocket money to buy a two-man
tent and rucksack. This led us to camp in a valley in the Pentland Hills with
4 of us and 4 dogs. The fresh air and nightlife made the dogs excited and they
licked our breakfast out of the frying pans regardless of the heat. This made
us give up camp and go home.
Then discovered the Ham Shop in
town opposite the Central Library. Started buying and assembling Crystal Radio
kits. Connected one end across the water pipes in the bedroom cupboard and the
Headphones across the other end and picked up a range of long and medium wave
radio stations. The BBC World Service has the strongest signal and US,
German, French and Russian stations.
In my second year at High School started veg round after school on Tuesday and Thursday and all-day Saturday. Able to
borrow the Mullard Transistor Circuit Red Book and use the extra funds to build
the transistor circuits and learn to draw the circuit and test the theory.
Youth Hostelling around the North
and South of Ireland and running away from the Marches in the North and the
colleens in the South. Visited Paris for a weekend and remember unisex toilets
and being lifted by the police for sleeping on the grass that faced the Eiffel
Tower. Then put on the train back to London in the morning.
Apprenticeship
The Crystal Radio and Transistor
Circuit experience helped me pass the Electronic Apprenticeship Tests and
become 1 of 10 people out of 600+ applicants to be offered a position.
Throughout my 5 years, the Team Leader or Manager asked for a weekly report on
what I did and what I had learned. This helped me throughout my working life
and to write this book.
Learned how to assemble and test
Radar and Auto-Pilot Systems in-flight up and down the Highlands of Scotland
and the Atlantic and the North Sea. Smaller projects covered a Star Identification computer for the Observatory and Laser Cutting. Installed an Autopilot and flew
in Concorde.
Nobody in the company told us about
doing the third year City & Guilds Technician course that would have put us
in the Electronics second-year degree course at Heriot-Watt or Edinburgh
Universities. Since we all felt let down we found other roles.
SGS Fairchild
My first role as Special Products
Team Leader, they produced a full range
of semiconductors. Enjoyed a week in Paris learning about Automated Test
Systems. My products protected electronic circuits if the power supply voltage
increased or a short circuit occurred and the current increased. They worked
with both DC and AC supplies. When the industry took a downturn left to find
another role.
Hewlett
Packard
In my next role working on
Microwave Link Analysers this lasted about 18 months. They sold over a million at
£250K each. Paid a profit-sharing bonus twice a year. Then moved to London with
digs in Brixton. The software course then helped gain a role testing ATMs (Hole
in the wall cash machines) at Burroughs Machines. After 5 months, all workers
given a days-notice and then obtained a contract agency's details.
UK and French
Contracting
Started contracting in the South
East with digs in Croydon. Worked on Radar and Medical Systems for a range of
different companies that all got taken over and changed locations. Responded to
an advert to work in Paris for UCC looking after Satellite Terminals running oil and
gas well simulation applications, motorway construction simulation
applications, and global news for Le Figaro Newspaper journalists.
My flat overlooked the Longchamp
racecourse on the other side of the Seine and a short walk to Le Defence
business district and based there for 9 months. Nearly every weekend acted as a guide for daughters, nieces, and their friends of the other Engineers. They
enjoyed seeing the sites and entertainment. My neighbors had listened to
the crumbles from the Concierge. But her son helped me out. This kept them entertained
and they lent pull-out beds. Collected and delivered visitors to Gare de Nord
station for the train back to London. Swapped roles for a month with the Dutch
Engineer based in the Hague. My terminal went on fire while I was flying there.
The UK and Europe
Contracting
Returned to the UK and
contracting and within a week on my way to Frankfurt for a role with GE.
Installing Process Computer Systems around Europe and working in 3 to 5
countries each week. Once signed-up off to Kentucky, the USA for a one-week Process
Computer Course. Returned to Europe and based at Exxon Euro-port, near
Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Worked with the European Instructor. With trips to
Luxembourg, Belgium, and France.
Then down to Italy with a Power
Station in the North. Which had to be rebuilt! The Earth Grid was Open Circuit
on all floors, so the instruments and computers would have no earth reference.
The last project involved a
Nuclear Power Station in Switzerland on Red Alert! Both the Live and Hot
Standby Process Computers faulty, due to an Italian Engineer taking the good
spares and replacing them with faulty boards. After a week of no progress, resigned
and returned to the UK.
Obtained a contract with Varian
TM interviewed all the staff and Managers and drafted the 400-page Service
Manual for an X-Ray Simulator. The manual covered the setup, calibration,
maintenance, and servicing.
Military
Contracts
Next applied for a Support
Engineer role working on the mobile computing and communications systems for the Army
based in different locations in the South East and then the Northern part of
West Germany. Enjoyed two holidays
during this time crossing the USA and Canada for 3.5 weeks in each country.
USA Holiday
Robbed in New York, but it’s a
lot better now. Visited each state in New England as they had a good mix of
things to do from History to the countryside. Boston and Chicago the main Irish
Cities of the USA. Enjoyed New Orleans for Jazz and Texas for Country &
Western music. California a welcoming state with lots of people making
conversation. Great views on the coasts and beaches in the North and South. Orange
County had the easygoing feel with dancing in the bars and cheap food.
Visited Lake Tahoe and enjoyed
the entertainment in the Casinos with the Three Degrees and good food. Made
friends with a local and visited them for breakfast. The wife screamed when a
bear started banging its head on the doorway! Attracted by the smell of good
food cooking. At their suggestion took a two-week Horse Back holiday from
California into Oregon with about a week in each. During this holiday the two
guides always asked for our food to be placed in a sack and pulled up a tree to
prevent Bears from eating it. One of our party was eating chocolate biscuits in the
corner of her tent and a bear nearly took her head off. Her screaming and the
guides firing their rifles into the air caused it to run-off. Everybody had
signed a letter confirming the terms of the holiday and the need to place all
food in the sacks. Mexico for the day through Greyhound Buses and experienced
food and brown beer instead of larger in the US.
Canada
Holiday
Started the Canada holiday by flying
into Toronto and asked the New Stand person for directions to a pub that did
food and he responded in a Glasgow accent. Then took the train to Halifax and found
a gravestone with my name on it. Life seemed quiet here, but that changed when
a man appeared who looked like he fell out of a Rob Roy movie. Slapped me on
the back and offered me a dram and stated the Highland games would start soon
and be followed by Scottish dancing with a cèilidh
Band. After this took the train to Quebec and after seeing the sites, on
another train to Montreal. The New York of Canada with lots to do and see.
French Canadians speak slowly so it was easy for me to speak French.
The plane to Ottawa very quiet, so
took the train to Calgary and watched the Stampede as the guest of the star
with the same name as me. His family trying to work out how if we were related!
During the Highland Clearances, lots of Scots went to Canada and my Grandad and
my fathers’ cousins worked for the Hudson Bay Trading Company. Back on the
train through the Canadian Rockies and in the late evening sent downstairs by
the guard with my female friend. Then in the morning arrived in Vancouver and
after walking around took the ferry to Victoria Island. Spent the last three
days here and then flew back from Vancouver to London, UK via New York.
Working in
the USA
After 2.5 years moved to the US
AFE in the middle of West Germany and then transferred to the US for 8.5 months
and worked in every state except Hawaii. Discovered a huge difference in
cultures and dialects with people from Canada, East and West Europe, China, India, the Caribbean and South America. The Great Lakes attracted me with lots of Scandinavians,
fishing, and the sound of waves like Orkney and around the coast of Scotland.
Spent Xmas and New Year in
Kentucky and enjoyed the company of Hill Billies with their hunting, training
skills, and the Horse racing. Visited National Parks and found Yellow Stone the most
interesting. Hiking trips in Texas, Oregon, and California presented a good
range of challenges, and the need for Guides saved my life more than once. Understanding
the different ways people worked and how to explain different approaches increased
my knowledgebase.
Process and Manufacturing Plants control
systems and their sensors require a lot of analysis and testing to ensure the
replacements and solutions improve outputs and quality of the manufactured products
(for example, cars and buses). Building a Hydro Power Station with an
Oil&Gas Drilling Farm taking out the Water Supply. After Legal Action and examination
of Planning Consents, it was discovered that the route of the water supply started
with two sources. One about 10% of the other The source of the larger was
missed, but after surveys identified and prospecting by the Oil&Gas company
halted.
This shows that both large and
small companies make mistakes and until something which represents a Business
Continuity problem is accepted and identified. This means the Security and Risk
Models are re-engineered and checked. Changing normal processes and standard
operating procedures forces both human and system changes that take time to be
installed. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) will aid the monitoring
and regulation of these changes. Confirming expected performance with quality vs
cost.
Returned to the
South of West Germany
Stayed with a friend outside Ulm.
Helped him become a contractor with AEG and he only worked 30 hours per week. Then
I started working for AEG on Cabinet Cable Harnesses with automated wiring
machines. Spending Friday afternoon/ evening doing German to English technical
translation and drinking beer. After 9 months laid-off and went to Koln to document
switch-mode power supplies for another part of AEG. This lasted about 6 months with
the Rosenmontag Festival taking out about 1 month in the middle.
Back to my friends’ place in Ulm
and then gained a new contract with Dornier at Oberfaffenhoffen outside Munich.
As a Quality Control Engineer covering the build, ground test, flight trials, and
sale run of complete planes. This was a challenging role with Boeing advising 6
German companies on different tasks. With Boeing Engineers saying when I
smiled it was time to jump out the window. 300 people covering 06:00 to 14:00
and 14:00 to 22:00. The 737 planes arrived with the inner shell needing to be built and the equipment installed and tested during the ground tests. Chairing the
Change Board and resolving 10 to 20 changes per meeting. This kept the 4 German
Project Managers busy. The documentation had to cover the correct installation and servicing
and maintenance requirements.
With the build and ground test
stages signed-off, flight trials started, and fixes documented and approved by
the Change Board. Next, the Sale Run started with a successful flight and a
range of different tests covered take-off and landing and crew tasks listed and
ticked off. These all had to be 100% before sign-off was given for the Sale Run
of each plane. Next training the German Project Managers to do the same over
the next 3 to 6 months.
Returned to Croydon,
UK
Rented a flat next to the main
London to Brighton rail line and everything in the kitchen shook when express
trains passed! No alarm clock needed. After a year bought a flat on the other
side of South Croydon on top of a hill. If the River Thames Barrier failed the
water would only be half-way up.
Changed
technology
Started doing Medical and Pharma
contracts. Worked on financial analysis of R&D Projects at Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Documented the IT systems for European Medical Device
Agency (EMDA), Worked on Product Labelling quality for GSK, Pfizer clinical
patient records storage procedures and then the US Food & Drug Agency (FDA)
Technical Files for Transfusion Pumps made by Alaris Medical.
BP, City of
London, UK
IT Support role - Installed PCs, Laptops,
Network devices and Hubs at different UK sites and rigs in the North Sea. With
Leather and Chain Harness tuned Microwave Dishes with a Strength Meter for maximum
signal. Required for reporting to the UK Treasury oil and gas outputs as they
happened.
Changed
industry
Working at the London Stock
Exchange doing IT Support on share and bond reporting systems and ensuring
these worked at all the Stock-Broker’s dealing desks in the UK. It was 1987 and
the London Market crashed and the rest of the team went and disconnected
all the dealing desks. Then we installed 4 times the number of servers, about
250 and performed audits on all the dealing desks to ensure we had enough
processing power.
Then IT Support at First Equity
an Inter-Dealer Broker and then a Technical Writer for UBS, NatWest, Barclays
and FBCS.
Next a mix of
contracts
Doing different roles in the South
East. In the Home Office on Prison Simulator and Passport Office, Philips analog
and digital processing cards, Phase A and B FEMA on Tornado Stores, Woolwich Arsenal
company on my last day produced work. South West started an 18-month contract
at National Power running the Power Station document team of 14, with 4
technical authors and 10 administrators. The Telecommunications Services Unit
(TSU) had 100+ contracts including Energy Trading and obtained ISO 19001. The
Netherlands documented the Oil and Gas Reporting System for Mobil and documented
a small Commuter Plane for SAAB in Sweden.
Then a lot of 3-month Technical
Writing projects for about 4 years. Followed by working at RBS in Edinburgh supporting
EY on the Datawarehouse project and operations weekly and monthly reporting.
Shell,
London, UK
Returned to Croydon and started
at Shell in the Strand, London for 15-months. Supported the email team covering
Shells’ global operations. Helped solve the Satellite Tracking System problem
for Shell Trading to track its Super Tankers around the World, delivering and loading
a range of commodities. Due Diligence on the project team ended their lack of
deliverables, high pay, and large offices.
Capita
Insurance & Investor Services
My second longest contract. Researching and writing IT Security
Policies,
Processes and Procedures on: Share Registration System with over 60% of the
FTSE100 companies, this covered the buying and selling of their listed shares and
the settlements between Institutions and Stockbrokers. Fund Management System listed
mutual funds and their trading and IFA Portal System supplied a market for Independent
Financial Advisors (IFAs) to buy a wide range of insurance policies and
interfaces to CRM Reporting Systems. Every month worked on M&A Proposals,
RFPs and ITTs.
Microsoft
System Builder
Exercising Microsoft Office and
Visio 2010, SharePoint Workspaces, Lync, and InfoPath on Windows 7, 64bit and
32bit Operating Systems. Ubuntu UNIX and OpenOffice on Sun VirtualBox and Windows
7 XP using the MS Windows Virtual PC.
IBM/AstraZeneca
Business Process Analyst/Technical
Writer covering 200+ Sites and resolving the
Outsource Contracts, process, and procedure issues. Using conference calls to communicate
the changes for each document. Remedy Change Templates used for Workflow to
notify the assigned groups:
Perform Group member selects Tasks Template to
install a PC and starts the SLA clock.
Workflow emails Facilities. To check location, desk
and chair and services allocated.
Emails Stock Controller/Procurement for PC and
standard image build licenses. Build a PC, install it, and ensure End User
satisfaction.
Then log on to Remedy to close the Change Ticket. The configuration team stops the SLA clock.
Upwork / MASTA Ltd
Freelance Writer drafting a B2B set of IT Policies covering:
PC, Laptop and Smart Phone Usage, e-mail, Internet,
Working from Home, IT Security, Backup, and Storage Systems.
UPS, Encryption, VPN, Disposal, IT Product, Data
Protection, GDPR, and ISO9001 / ISO27001.
Upwork and PeoplePerHour Biz docs
Freelance Writer doing the writing, proofreading, and editing roles:
Short Story, Mission/Vision Statements, Business
Plan, and Enterprise Security, White Papers on Data Governance Application and
Open Source Search.
Global Immersion
Contract Process
Consultant drafting processes and
procedures to enable implementation of SAP One for Immersion Theatre Systems
support functions and applying LEAN PM to Finance,
Mechanical and Optical, Electronic Systems plans.
Upwork and PeoplePerHour Tech docs
Freelance Writer doing the writing, proofreading, and editing roles, producing
specs, User Guides, for JSON based APIs. Constructing Help files
for software development and Web site product descriptions.
Upwork Dev Project
Freelance Writer working with Business and Technical Analysts,
Developers, and Support Engineers, drafting documentation on Framemaker for
client/server application Testing. Reading business and technical books between
projects.
Sapient ERP
Contract
Technical Writer producing an ERP software application
specification with Backoffice APIs for Supermarket and its suppliers.
Upwork Rest API
Freelance
Writer working on XML and REST API Test
Specs for payment, loyalty, and telecommunications
projects. Reading business and technical books
and doing MS and MIT courses between projects.
Upwork Telematics
Freelance
Writer testing and correcting
Ship2Anywhere.com content and XML, R&D Plan for
Grant. Reworking Study Guides on Logic, Thinking, and Strategy.
SMFG Trade Sale
Contract Technical Writer
working on B2B writing, proofreading, and editing Human
Resources, Finance, and P2P / SAP documents with Business, Operations, IT, and Finance
inputs to deliver a Trade Sale document set.
Upwork and IBM
Freelance
Writer proofreading and editing Portal
content and, IBM Cloud/Premise Smart Metering Tender for
Australian Water Board.
PeoplePerHour Dev Projects
Freelance
Writer working with Business and Technical Analysts, Developers, and Support
Engineers, writing short and long-form articles for Blogs and websites.
Mendeley Ac Search
Contract Technical Writer producing an API document for academic database document searching, creating
test data sets for 100 search parameters, and updated bug lists. Development
teams using Agile and SCRUM delivery process frameworks.
Upwork IT Security
Freelance Writer improving
and maintaining IT Operations and Security Policies, Processes and Procedures for products and services. Using
HTML, XML, and Framemaker for DITA files.
PPRO
Financial
Contract
Technical Writer Interviewing, Stakeholders and Subject Matter Experts in London,
Munich and Koln. Producing Document Set list for FCA regulator certification. Researching
and drafting 40+ Policies for review and approval.
Fiverr and
Upwork ITTs RFPs
Freelance Writer writing
or responding to ITTs, RFPs, and SOWs. Covering small to large projects using
Confluence, Jira, GitHub, and MS Project. Supporting DHS SAP Identity Mng. and
USAF Mng. Office Workflow Solutions.
360 Cross
Media
Freelance
Writer writing, proofreading, and editing for Financial, Technical and Legal
Clients. Withholding Tax Harmonisation White Paper and Satellite application. Legal
Practice interview, Moscow, and Paris offices Press Releases.
Intercomms
Freelance
Writer interviewed telecommunications
products and services CEOs, VPs, and Subject Matter Experts. Using agreed
questions and then expanded and improved their answers. Restructuring and
reworking long-form articles for on-line Journals / Website.
TES Global
Freelance Writer researching, writing (MS Office, SharePoint Admin, Photo
Shop) and selling Business and Teacher Resources on a hosted online shop. Focus on Business and IT,
recent sales Micro-Entity Accounts, and GDPR procedures.
Summary of
Experience
Lived and Worked throughout
Western Europe and across the USA. Then Globally over the Internet. Sectors
covered Local and National Government, Defence, Transportation for Land, Sea
and Air, Medical Devices and X-Ray Systems, Pharma, Oil&Gas, Utilities, Manufacturing/Engineering,
Media, Legal and Financial Services.
Side Hustle
Spent the 1990s producing
and selling template management systems which saved the clients time and money
to implement and then gain certification to the related ISO standard: Quality,
Environmental, Health&Safety, Service Management, Corporate Communications,
Service Management and IT Security.
My Books
Cover different functions that a company performs. First Example
RFP and Checklist An RFP is written and checked against the checklist to
ensure it covers all the requirements like terms, specification modes of response
with email and hard copy or electronic copy, with an electronic signature. The
Request for Proposal (RFP) is then sent to suppliers or partners to obtain their
price for supplying the product or service as stated in the specification part
of the RFP. Companies and government departments might have a list of approved
companies and send them an email containing the Notice describing what the RFP
covers and a link to download the RFP.
Second How
to do Requirements for your Project Product or Service Requirements cover:
Business Requirements – the cost of producing and maintaining it.
Technical Requirements – how to build, test, and install it.
Functional Requirements – what functions does it need to perform.
Non-functional Requirements – disaster recovery, business
continuity processes to recover the product or service back to normal operating
condition for the company providing the product or service. A bus is a product,
but when it transports passengers it is supplying service.
User Requirements – cover how the product or service interfaces
with users. The bus company and drivers operate the service and the passengers
are end-users.
Third Product
and Service Design Procedures cover corporate governance needs and
the service management catalog. Governance relates to how products or
services are designed with the maximum recycled parts and tracked as assets for
accounting needs. With Service Management one or more approved suppliers are
listed and specification states the applications for the product or service. A
unique organization's number is allocated. With a software application showing the
complete product or service and where this product or service is used. On a bus, there are multiple seat grips/handles with the same number.
Fourth Learn
to implement LEAN Project Management like Agile Product Development the
Project Management Methodology should not use too much of the developers' and
engineers' time with processes, procedures, forms, and records.
Fifth Cloud
Computing for Small, Medium, and Home-Based Businesses with an increase in
virtual teams around the World. This is the route they should be taking, and
Microsoft and Google apps enable it.
Sixth How
to do Micro-Entity Accounts covers the format of the accounts and shows how
the figures relate. This is how I do my company annual accounts and present
them online to HMRC and CompaniesHouse.
Seventh Single Person Meal Planner covers 30 days Explains how to cook simple meals using a
Microwave and Halogen Oven. With Meat or Fish, mixed vegetables, pasta or
potatoes. Small Chicken, Fishcake, Pork Sausage, Haddock or Cod, Hamburger,
Pork Shoulder Chop, Duck Leg, Meals Planner covering 30 days.
Eighth How you can manage your Event covers a pragmatic approach to Event Analysis,
Planning and Tracking Costs of your Event.
New Challenges
Now researching and writing Lifestyle
books with three others as Work in Progress.
New Technology applications using AI, ML, Blockchain, VR/AR
and BOTS look possible towards the end of the year or next year.
Hash House
Harriers (H3)
In 1980 my friend started the Ulm Hash House Harriers since
he was running with Surrey H3. This got me started and I have nearly run in every
European Group. Visited the East and West of Australia, Malaysia were, it
started back in 1938, Singapore and St Petersburg, Russia on a day trip from
Helsinki, Finland. Run 20+ Marathons, Red Dress Runs and 20+ Ball Breakers 3 to
4-hour cross-country runs. Nash Hashes around Europe, Inter-hashes in Malaysia,
Cyprus and Cardiff, UK, and Euro Hashes.
Offer and
Contact info
Open to considering Joint Venture Book writing covering business,
technology, engineering, and lifestyle subjects.
Now you have read my book feel free to connect on Social
Media:
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/ericsutherland1
https://www.facebook.com/eric.sutherland1
@biznetworker1
Contact
email: ericsutherland@btws.co.uk
Mobile: +44 777 640 3252
Skype: Eric.Sutherland1
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