The Webmaster

I've been asked to say something about myself.  This is as of November, 2010

Basic Description

  1. Name: Charles W. Bash
  2. Family: I'm married, have 4 legal children (3 natural, 1 adopted), and we've had several foster children, some of whom we are still in contact with and who still call me "Dad".  Most recent count is 8 grandchildren ranging in age from a month to 18 years.
  3. Career: I'm currently retired.  Previously I worked in Information Technology (IT) for a Global company with about 50,000 employees.  I started in IT when in high school, but in those days it was a card sorter and a tabulating machine, not a programmable computer.  I now carry a "larger" computer on my belt (called a phone) than any of the computers I worked with when employed.
  4. Residence: We live in Michigan, but have previously lived in New York, California and Germany.

Interests

  1. Photography - Once again, this started as a child, and as my experienced advanced I actually had a wet chemistry darkroom which at one point even did color prints.  My current preference is all digital with a SLR for my serious shooting and a pocket camera for occasional shots.

  2. Railroads (big and small).  This is all my sister's fault as she was born right next to the NY Central mainline during WW II.  I spent the better part of 2 weeks watching the action in Oneida NY while my grandmother and father visited her in the hospital.  Since then I've done serious modelling in HO, Z and currently large scale (Called G scale, but it's not a real scale, I model in 1:48).

  3. Skiing - These days it's all down hill, I don't have the lungs for cross country, and in reality, if the snow is deep and heavy, I take an early break until the grooming equipment can get out.

  4. Lighthouses - thus this site.  It started with Wes and Wayne's book on the Great Lakes, and just something the wife and I could do together in retirement.  It expanded from the Great Lakes to the East and West coast of the US, and then somehow jumped "the pond" over to Europe.  Originally this site was just a place to post my photos, but it quickly became evident I couldn't visit all the lights in the world.  I then added the mapping sections to help me plan my visits to various places.  If you have pictures that aren't on my site, I would be glad to post them for you.  If you find errors on the site, please send them to me.

Comments? contact the webmaster