Gary Baxter

Experience

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  Sonoma County Agriculture Department

  May 1984 - Jul 1985

  Clerk/Typist to Database Programmer/Designer ('84 to '85)

  Hired as a file clerk, I learned the job in a week and began streamlining to save time and space. A month later, I found a computer in a back room that had been installed and set up by the State of CA, but had never been turned on or used. With my boss' permission, I began learning about it after work during the evening and on weekends. Used a simple programming language tool, dBase (Wayne Ratliff) and DOS. In two months, I invented and perfected an automated pesticide management program to effectively track every regulated substance (pesticides, herbicides) used on every crop on every plot in Sonoma Country. It reduced multi-hour processes to minutes, and I was able to give it to other CA Counties to use until the State of CA finished their version of the program. It was also Very Useful for local citizens' groups concerned about pesticide use in Sonoma County... Show less

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  Capital Holding Corp.

  Jan 1986 - Jan 1995

  Application Programmer

  * "Managed Activity Tracking System" project leader/lead programmer. Responsible for all phases of design and development ('C', SQL, Visual Basic). Began design in October 94 and completed training and implementation in 210 Agencies in April 95. * "Planning for Financial Security", lead programmer created a complete computerized sales presentation program for use by 3000 insurance agents. Supervised technical training and support teams.* Developed software applications for agency workstations and to improve Help Desk. User Interface programmer for Property & Casualty distributed processing system. * Developed corporate software applications in 'C' and Visual Basic.*Evaluated and recommended expert system software for 17-person corporate help desk. Show less

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  VECO Engineering

  Jan 1996 - Jan 1999

  IT Mgr / Project Mgr / DBA / Developer / DBA

  * Database (SQL, PL/SQL, T/SQL) developer* SQL Server Database Administrator* Project Mgr - FileNET EDM project - Calgary* Corporate IT Project Manager - Alaska, Calgary, Denver, Bellingham* $3M Veco / British Petroleum Alaska project (Dec 98)

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  Aon

  Jan 1999 - Jan 2005

  Oracle DBA / Solaris Administrator

  * Achieved 99.999% 24x7 operations of 20 corporate Oracle databases on SUN Enterprise servers.* Developed programs to automate database operations to optimize performance, security, and guarantee data integrity.* Maintained 100% reliability of database backups and recovery.* Developed standards and documentation for all aspects of database administration and other IT areas.

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  British Petroleum / VECO Engineering

  Jan 2006 - Jan 2007

  Oracle DBA / Developer

  Oracle database support for McLaren upgrade. Onsite DBA (with BP/EDS India DBA staff) - improved issue resolutions (5 days to 1 hr) . Managed technical engineering project documents. Provided on-site desktop hardware / software technical support.

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  Rescare Inc.

  Mar 2008 - Jul 2011

  Oracle / SQL Server DBA

  Oracle (10g,9i) DBA on AIX5L and Solaris. SQL Server 2005 DBA on Windows. Backup/Recovery, Performance tuning, 9i to 10g upgrades, SQL, PL/SQL, T/SQL programming.

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  US Army

  Jul 2011 - Jul 2012

  Oracle Database Administrator

  'Secret' security clearance, Security+ certification..Oracle DBA - Daily administration of Oracle 10g and older databases, including security, performance tuning, backup/recovery, programming in SQL and PL/SQL, Windows desktop software, and other end-user support.SQL Server 2005/2008 DBA - Daily administration of SQL 2005 and 2008 databases, monthly maintenance, programming, and system documentation.

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  Flolancer

  Aug 2012 - now

  Exploring New Avocation...

  In 2012, I took a extended leave from work to care for my mother and and help my older sister with their medical issues. I was upgrading my Oracle and SQL Server DBA skills for new versions and certifications, but after my older sister's death and my mother's placement in a nursing facility by her daughter, I returned to Bellingham as I had promised my daughter Lilly and my son Paul. Every week from March 2008 to June 2012, I had promised them I would return as soon as I possibly could, and I was finally able to do that in Summer '12. Driving from Fort Knox to Bellingham WA brought back great memories of the 1975 Lobster Wagon cross-country trip ("We only do the wiring..") with my friends Jim, Tony, LJ, Randy, and a few others we picked up along the way...After retiring from I.T. and Programming, I am focusing on Music. It is so much Fun to learn to read music and to memorize Italian, German, and French songs. The best way I have found to learn is closely observing famous Baritones' performances and master classes on Youtube. With no formal training or experience, I will learn by closely observing professional Baritones to see and hear how they sing. This is FUN and it will be "interesting" to see what unfolds. Show less