From : Raymond John Lavin. [I have just updated this information 2nd. June, 2014]
My name is Ray Lavin and I live in beautiful Ross-on-Wye, close to the Welsh Border in Herefordshire. [England]
I am 65 years old and have two daughters, plus my five adult step children and a lot of friends and customers, in this local community, which I love.
My official trade is a Technical Engineer, but I started off, as a Jaguar Specialist and received my qualifications as a Motor Vehicle Technician, then I progressed on, to become an Associate Member of THE INSTITUTE OF ROAD TRANSPORT ENGINEERS. Prior to becoming self employed, I was working as a Maintenance Engineer on furnaces, which provided the metal for rotor blades on jet engines, false hips, knee joints, not to mention fifty pence pieces.
I started a business in 1983 with my girlfriend, Joyce, who was kind enough to marry me, in 1986. We were FREELANCE AGENTS for Replacement Windows, Doors and Conservatories, which we eventually started to manufacture ourselves, here in Ross-on-Wye. Business grew virally and we were quite successful, until the recession, then life became hard. Paying a £300 per week mortgage, did once seem easy, but when your turnover drops by more than half, then it is no joke, especially as you may not find it easy to sell your house.
I think I may have coped with all of this, if it were not for the fact, that Joyce, my beloved wife and business partner, fell ill and died with cancer in 2011. Joyce died one month before our SILVER ANNIVERSARY. Maybe the stress of all this, could have made Joyce ill. As a result, I threw in the towel and declared myself bankrupt. I had already been studying Website Creation and many Internet Skills, since 2009. I was hoping, that I may be able to grow my business, through the Internet.
After Joyce’s death, my mind was unable to cope, with the learning curve, that I required to carry out my ambitions. I found it hard work, to even calculate a few simple figures, for customer quotations. I was a member of the Home Learning College, studying Dreamweaver Website Creation, HTML and Animation. I needed to rest from all of this, so I started to join local dancing classes and some spiritualist groups.
I had already written some Sonnets, just for fun, as far back as 1970. The earliest one, I could find, was a fourteen line Poem, but not a proper Sonnet, which I have nicknamed a Lavinnet, called RAY OF SUCCESS, which was published in a book for local charities, printed by A LOCAL RADIO STATION called RADIO WYVERN. I also wrote a Lavinnet for Joyce’s funeral. Someone saw the Poem, that I wrote for Joyce and published it in a local Newsletter for THE MONMOUTH SOCIETY OF SPIRITUAL AWARENESS. Since then I have published one Poem per month, in the same Newsletter. I have now written over 50 Poems, for the Newsletter.
The Poetry is quite popular with Mediums, that have asked for permission to use them for Philosophy etc. A lot of people said, that I should write a book, but my determination to finish the work, that I had previously started, created a strong desire inside me to build a Website, especially for Poetry. With this view in mind, I started to Post a few of my Poems on Facebook, Tumblr and many other Social Sites. I have now been getting SKYPE CALLS, from various members of Poetry Groups on Facebook, who are interested in my work.
I have just realised how small our Planet has become. One call comes from Florida, from a very talented Poet. I am honoured by his interest in my work. I have seen his work and he is absolutely amazing, or should I say AWESOME !! We all have our different styles. I doubt, whether I could copy his work, no more than he could copy mine. We are two completely different people. I think that Poetry may come from the SOUL, or even the SPIRIT.
So here I am, creating my second ever Website and I have already stepped a mile further, than I have ever done before. This Website Automatically changes its shape to fit on an Iphone, Tablet, Ipad, Laptop or Desktop. I am actually learning to build this Website as I am working. When I have finished building this Website, which I will be adding to for ever more, I will be starting to build other Websites. Compared to what I was trying to learn, in 2009, it all seems very easy now. All of this is thanks to WORDPRESS and my various online teachers.
As this Website grows, I will be able to use it, as a sample of my work, in case I am asked to build some more Websites for my colleagues.
So here we are, with the very latest technology, using the new WORDPRESS 3.6 Update and the new RESPONSIVE THEME.
Thank you to everyone, that has helped to make this possible.
Cheers !! Ray.
