Hi. My name is Martin Dixon and I am getting on a bit. I was born in 1944, but never felt more alive. I am due to reach retirement age this year, but probably won't. I am the eldest of three children, born three years apart, and "was a young man, way back in the 1960s". And if you recognise that quote, there is a good chance you were too!
I am married to Sue, and have been since 1978. We have three children, Michael, James and Helen, and two lovely grandchildren, Sam and Jessica. We live in Braunstone Town, on the South West outskirts of the City of Leicester in England.
I was born and grew up near the City of Peterborough, where my mother still lives.
I am an engineer, and have been working primarily in the field of computer software for engineering applications for most of my career. I am a graduate in Engineering from Leicester University. My current job is for a company that supplies airfield ground lighting products to airfields worldwide. My own interest is in the airfield lighting control systems. My software is in use on airports on all five continents and in most UK airports (including all five London airports).
This work sometimes involves travel, and in 2008 I spent periods in both California and Australia, as well as other locations nearer to home. I might have to go anywhere where there is an airport!
I have many and varied interests, some of which I no longer persue, through either lack of time or advancing age.
I became a Christian during my teenage years, and am currently heavily involved in the work of my local church, Christ Church United Reformed Church, as an Elder and Church Secretary. I am also the Church Organiser for Christian Aid, and every year during Christian Aid Week which falls in May, I organise a team of collectors that does door to door collections. Some years, we have raised over £1000. I have also edited our Church Magazine, for many years. I also occasionally lead worship and preach in my church.
Sue and I are curently on our third motor caravan, and we have been motor caravanning in the UK and Europe since 1992. Our current van is a coachbuilt based on the Ford Transit. Before that, we had always owned Volkswagen Campers. Before we were motorcaravanners, we were tent campers, and my first such holiday (in a rented caravan at Cromer) was at the age of 18 months. Camping and caravanning have therefore been a lifelong passion of mine, one that I introduced Sue to before we were married.
We have visited many countries on the near continent, as well as all over the UK in recent years.
The weather and climate are another lifelong interest of mine, one that I have held since childhood. I still record temperature statistics, and have records in my current location going back to 1974. Recent statistics are available on this website.
I am extremely sceptical about the claims that carbon dioxide emissions are the main driver of climate change. Climate change is natural and has always happened, and to my mind someone needs to explain why there has been no global warming for 15 years now, and some cooling for the last 8 years whilst carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has been increasing.
This is another lifelong passion. Sue and I usually attend between a dozen and twenty concerts a year, many in our local De Montfort Hall, but also in other locations (I particularly love the Birmingham Symphony Hall). My taste in music is broad, everything from opera, classical music, to folk, rock and quality pop. My favoutite music is primarily spiritual, and I notice that it is impossible to dance to most of what I listen to. One genre that has never appealed to me in general is jazz, although I enjoy some jazz. My interest in music is strictly as a listener, not as a performer. I wish I had the talent! My church as a strong musical tradition, which is no doubt one of the reasons I chose to join this church.
This is something else I got interested in as a child, but nowadays I mainly take photographs as a part of my other activities.
Is something I have been involved in professionally for 40 years, and like many others spend a lot of time using the Internet these days. For many years I have been a fan of Briitish computing in the form of the former Acorn, and now other computers based on the ARM family of processors and the RISC OS operating system. This website was created and is maintained using a RISC OS computer.
But these days most of my computing is focussed around my other interests, rather than being done for its own sake.
These are things that I have done in the past, but for reasons usually of time and advancing age, don't do now.
I played badminton for about 30 years. I was never very good at it, but I enjoyed it immensely.
I used to fly gliders many years ago. This is a sport I really loved, there is nothing quite like the freedom to fly, the beauty and joy of silent flight, and the challenge of trying to prolong your flight by finding rising air. The problem with it is you have to dedicate a lot of time and money to it if you are to progress. I progressed far enough to have flown several hours solo, but a work assiginments overseas for several years, then marriage and children put an end to my gliding career.
I also have an interesat in cultivating cacti and succulents. This too started as a teenager, and at one time I had more than a thousand different plants in my greenhouse. I still have a few of my favourites, but once again, it was time that was the problem.