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All about Peter Lane-Collett
Who am I? Who knows? I am old (those pesky birthdays) and getting older by the moment. I was born in New South Wales in Australia but we moved up to Queensland when I was 3 because my father had been employed at Moura Mine in Central Queensland as Chief Electrican to oversee some of the construction (wiring) of the new Marion 7900 dragline. We lived in the town of Moura until 1968 when a tragic housefire occurred which took the life of my younger sister. We stayed with friends for a time then in 1969 we moved to Biloela. A new town meant a new school and I did grades 6 and 7 at Biloela State Primary School. I completed Senior (grade 12) at Biloela State High School in 1975, and in 1976 I began an apprenticeship as an Electrical Fitter and Mechanic at Moura Mine where my father was my boss. Tragically that same year my father was killed in a car accident while travelling home after working too many hours. In 1977, during my third year of tech college, my life was again interrupted by a motorcycle accident which resulted in a permanent spinal cord injury, after which I moved to Brisbane in 1978 and have lived here ever since. I did some other studies over the years including anatomy and physiology and some engineering as well as electronics and CAD, and among other things, worked for ten years for a Railway Signalling Engineering firm in Brisbane, Australia doing Computer Aided Engineering Drawing and computer support. I even did an office course just in case. After a couple of prolonged hospital visits in the last few years and some periods of being confined to bed, work seems to have been a little elusive. Due to a fear that my brain might atrophy from lack of stimulation, I keep having thoughts of embarking on some form of external study program, possibly in the area of Computer Science or Information Technology, although this in itself may have been delusional as I still haven't done anything about it. I continue to fiddle about with various things such as computer repairs/upgrades and building a few circuits for use with my computer and for friends (see the projects page for a link). I've also recently developed an interest in making replica props from TV shows (see the projects page for a link) and trying to learn to program microcontrollers. I must take a moment to sing the praises of the nursing staff in the Spinal Injuries Unit at Princess Alexandra Hospital here in Brisbane. They are a great bunch of people who often help make the sometimes long stays there at least partly enjoyable for the patients. Some patients may only be there a month or two but some may be in there as long as a couple of years. These nurses and ancillary staff become your friends as well as caring for you. The doctors do a good job too but it's the nurses one sees so often. So a big "hats off" to you all. Get the Google Earth .KMZ file to see the Spinal Injuries Unit. I like watching TV series and movies and enjoy most types of music except rap, house, "dance", headbanging rock and the kind of jazz where it sounds like each of the band members is playing a different song from the others. See a list of TV shows that I like here. I have attended quite a few Star Trek and Sci-fi related conventions such as Conquest here in Brisbane over the years but have missed a few due to my health issues. People who share my birthday of February 11 (42nd day of the Gregorian calendar) (Peter Harre you were so close) 1981 Kelly Rowland, American singer (Destiny's Child) 1980 Natasha Bobo, American actress Matthew Lawrence, American actor 1979 Brandy Norwood, American singer 1977 Mike Shinoda, American singer (Linkin Park) 1973 Varg Vikernes, Norwegian musician (Burzum) 1969 Jennifer Aniston, American actress 1963 Diane Franklin, American actress 1962 Sheryl Crow, American musician 1961 Carey Lowell, American actress 1956 Catherine Hickland, American actress Didier Lockwood, French jazz violinist 1953 Jeb Bush, American politician 1941 Sergio Mendes, Brazilian musician and songwriter 1940 Robert George Pickett, American musician (Bobby 'Boris' Pickett) [d:2007] 1939 Gerry Goffin, American lyricist 1938 Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and dictator 1936 Burt Reynolds, American actor 1935 Bent Lorentzen, Danish composer 1934 Tina Louise, American actress Mary Quant, English fashion designer John Surtees, British race car driver 1932 Jerome Lowenthal, pianist 1926 Leslie Nielsen, Canadian actor 1925 Kim Stanley, American actress 1920 King Farouk I of Egypt [d: March 18, 1965) 1919 Eva Gabor, Hungarian-born actress [d: July 4, 1995) 1917 Sidney Sheldon (b.Schechtel), American author [d: ] 1909 Max Baer, American boxer and actor [d: November 21, 1959) 1908 Vivian Ernest Fuchs, English geologist and explorer [] 1904 Sir Keith Holyoake, Prime Minister of New Zealand [] 1903 Hans Redlich, Austrian composer [] 1900 Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher [d: March 14, 2002] 1898 Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-born physicist and peace activist [d: May 30, 1964] 1874 Fritz Bennicke Hart, English-born composer [d: July 9, 1949] 1847 Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor and businessman [] 1812 Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Americn Confederate Vice President 1802 Lydia Child, American novelist and abolitionist [d: July 7, 1880] 1800 William Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer [] 1776 Joannis Capodistrias, Greek governor of Troezen [] 1535 Pope Gregory XIV [d: October 16, 1591] 1466 Elizabeth of York, queen of King Henry VII of England [d: February 11, 1503] Why not poke your birthday and learn some interesting facts. 
 See my links page to visit some of my favourite sites. (including sites to which I have turned my hand) Last modified: 14th December 2011 |
