Meet the author

I am 46 years old and I have been “connected” since the heady days of the early 1980’s when the first personal computers were launched in the UK by the inventor Sir Clive Sinclair.
My first computer was a ZX spectrum and cost me the princely sum of $360 back in 1982.
The processor was a 486 and the programs were individually uploaded to the processor using a desktop tape recorder. The memory did not have the capacity to store the huge amount of data required for the code. Only one program at a time could be uploaded and took an age to upload. It was brutal but a necessary transitional phase in computer development.

Needless to say and thank god things have moved on some since then.

At the time I bought my first personal computer I was also in College working for the Royal Navy on my Diploma in Marine Engineering. I completed this in 1984 and then went to Sea to learn my craft. I served in the Royal Navy for 26 years from 1978 – 2004.

In 1990 I decided that I wanted to try the Royal Naval Submarine service. Despite the rigorous requirements for both physical and mental health there are only a few ways that your physical condition will render you incompatible with life in Submarines. The most obvious one is claustrophobia which is not a good feeling so I am told. I trained like hell for over 5 years doing countless exams and training modules and then qualified as a nuclear systems engineer. Now how cool is that?

In 2004 after 26 years service I decided to leave the Royal Navy and seek pastures new.

I decided that I had traveled the world and never seen any of it. It was time to rectify that and I joined one of the most prestigious cruise companies at that Time, Holland America Lines. My job was to oversee the environmental operations of the ship to which I was assigned. It was a whole new world of opulence the like of which I had never seen. Chrystal chandeliers, shiny brass rails and polished wood were everywhere.

I had my interview for the position in Rotterdam in Holland, I was hired and in less than a week I found myself on a dockside in Venice, Italy looking up the side of the biggest ship I had ever seen, the MS Westerdam, brand new and shiny as hell. She looked magnificent and still does whenever she pulls into the harbour here every Friday night in the summer months. I have to confess I just loved the life style that went with the job. I was paid O.k. but not a huge amount. I traveled the world and this time I actually seen sights like Rome, Dubrovnik, St Petersburg etc. It was very cool.

Unfortunately after just 2 short years and some life changing experiences Holland America and I parted company and I found myself living on the west coast of Canada and about to get married for the second time. I confess I miss my friends from those days and the social side of the job was awesome.

Today I still live in Victoria on Vancouver Island and spend my days working in some capacity as a marine engineer and now Online Marketing also keeps me busy. I am also blessed with a Beagle who demands walks every two hours but he is a cute guy so its hard to refuse him.

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