Mike Lockhart - Support Engineer
This page aims to help others who haven't worked with me before, understand what that might be like.
It’s also a well-intentioned effort at building some trust by being vulnerable, and to share my ideas of a good working relationship, to reduce your anxiety when starting to work with me.
Please feel free to contribute to this page by opening a merge request, particularly if you've worked with me before and know something which should be added or improved.
G'day, I'm Mike! Computer generalist, percussionist, humanist, and dad. Sometimes also a computer-percussionist.
I enjoy meeting and engaging with people, and solving customers' technical problems by being their trusted ambassador to experienced technologists within the company. With my Support role I'm sure to be asking for help from all parts of GitLab. Hit me up for a coffee chat!
I grew up in Northern Tasmania in the 1980s, cutting my teeth on 8-bit British micro's, eagerly typing in codes from computer magazines and library books. After graduating from Uni of Tasmania I moved to Sydney, then the Blue Mountains, and spent 15 years cat-hurding at major IT corporations on all sorts of computers from mainframes to mobiles. My family and I returned to Tassie in 2013, where since I have been working as a support sysop for Linux-based web systems. My wife Jenny and I juggle three boys and various animals, in a little house South of Hobart.
When not computing, I like to read, walk our dog while listening to music, or audio books, podcasts and Support Week In Review. I also cycle (casually) and play music. I play percussion, keyboards, a little bit of blues harp, and code. I also play trombone since I was ten, but not since our first child. With the family I like to play card- or board-games, and I regularly get involved in the boys' Scouting activities.
It matters to me that I can say your name properly, even though I'm terrible at it. So do tell me if I say it wrong =)
The same goes for unconcious biases: if I do or say something to upset you, please tell me about it, if you feel able. I want to un-learn biases and be as inclusive as I can be.
If you're doing something in a way that's different to how I do it, then I'm super interested — I assume there are good reasons for how people work.
I want to earn your trust and gain a better understanding of how you work.
/zoom you after a couple of back-and-forth, if it seems we're talking at cross purposes