About Peter (Founder of TFG)

About Peter

Family situation (About Peter)

As a Belgian, I was born on May 10, 1962, in Diksmuide, a city in the province of West Flanders. At that time, there was still a “mother house” there, as it was called in Belgium, and one did not have to go to the clinic, especially. My mother got the “honor” of having the very last delivery there because then the institution closed its doors for good.

So I am somewhat of a local unique. My mother stayed at home taking care of the children while my father was a painter/decorator and worked many hours, even on weekends. Because, of course, we needed bread on the table. I have another sister who is one year older than me, and then a younger sister and a younger brother.

My school days and further studies

We all had carefree childhoods, but at school it was different! Ever since kindergarten, I loved “going to school” and cried when my mother took me back home. This was the opposite of my older sister. It is not for bluffing, but I was a very good student and I learned while playing. Many children had to study hard to get the materials processed, but I went outside with other children to play football or we went fishing.

At the age of 18, I had to decide whether I wanted to continue learning. It was difficult for me to choose. Of course, I would like to, but I thought of my parents, who were a bit difficult financially …

But then my father said that I had more to offer and should go for it. That was the best gift I received from him. And I didn’t disappoint him! Computer science seemed like something to me, so I went to college to study there for two years.

It soon became apparent that I would no longer get there while “playing” … It was tough and especially the boring dry, theoretical fare was sleep-inducing for me.

The courses

The other courses were really great for me: the programming languages ​​Basic, Fortran, Cobol, and Assembler (sorry, but I’m talking about the years 1980-1982) and the various mathematics courses: integrals and differentials, numerical mathematics, boolean algebra, etc. There were 16 hours a week teaching math which was enjoyable for me and hell for others.

I optimized my English there because everything that revolved around computer science was not yet in other languages. I’m not saying that my English is perfect, but I do my best as a small Belgian. Did you know that most Belgians read/speak 4 languages: Dutch (or Flemish), English, French, and German. And when Windows, for example, came on the market in Dutch, I had to translate the terms into English in my mind to know what they meant.

Bachelor’s degree “Informatics – System analysis” / The Army

I finally obtained my bachelor’s degree in 1982, and without re-examinations. I had not disappointed my father and that was the most important thing to me. He was so proud because no other child in the family went to college. And by that, I don’t just mean our family, but also that of his siblings.

When I graduated, I first had to do 10 months of active military service because it was still mandatory in Belgium at the time. There I was a clerk in the captain’s office. I still call that a wasted time in my life, because you can’t go to work and you don’t earn anything!

So I started working in September 1984 and in 1986 I married my first wife and we had two beautiful daughters, Evi and Eline.

My Professional Past

First job

My very first job was as a programmer at a computer company. I did this for 17 years and never got bored! It was mainly software for invoicing and stock management, but mostly it was customization. That is why I went to see people to do a thorough analysis on-site for potential customers.

Second job

My second job was as a clerk/programmer for a wholesaler of catering products. There I started from scratch by building a network and developing a program that had special needs. At the time, I used “Novell” software for the connections, and I programmed in “Clipper” (a variant of Dbase). Then I compiled everything. It was also an experience for me because the program worked simultaneously on about 10 workstations, and so I built a system of file locking and record locking in the software. That was a really wonderful time!

Third job

My third and last job was something completely different. I worked as a technician for the Samsung company (the department in Belgium, of course). I replaced the fuses in certain American refrigerators because they were insufficient. We (a team of 40 technicians) visited all the customers throughout Belgium.

We, therefore, worked with 40 technicians. For me, I was especially pleased to be on the road and I had to visit about 6 customers a day, but I sometimes had to make several detours. Then I wrote a planning program that could draw up the best planning between the various customers of the day, starting with the furthest customer and returning home.

My current situation (About Peter)

Now fate has struck and I have become incapacitated for work, but that does not mean that my eagerness to learn has diminished, on the contrary! Now I have even more time to be self-taught.

Hobbies and interests (About Peter)

I’m crazy about all kinds of gadgets. The last product I bought was a “Magnetic Charging Cable For Mobile Phones”. But there are thousands of gadgets for all kinds of applications. Currently, I will focus on the “latest fishing gadgets”.

I also love the sport of fishing that my grandfather brought to me as well as all the other things he taught me such as: completing crosswords, carbine shooting, woodworking, building bicycles from an empty frame, etc… I vividly remember catching my first little fish and my grandfather going to tell everyone what a great fisherman I was, how I miss that man!

Maybe you are an angler and are you looking for a new rod, casting rod, reel, bait, lure, or other accessories? Then you’ve come to the right place. I still work on my site every day, so it will change quickly. So be sure to come back regularly and maybe what you were looking for might be on the site.

This website will be updated several times with the latest novelties. I really hope I can show you something interesting you are looking for. Please also take a look at my ‘Affiliate Disclaimer‘ and ‘Privacy Policy‘ pages.

Best regards and a good search.

Peter.

Founder of “Top Fishing Gadgets”.