I am 30 years old and have been working with computers since I was 19. I have a lovely daughter, Emily, who still lives in the UK.

I started as a computer operator at Heatrae Sadia on their AS400 system, but became exposed to other systems while I was there. It was a small IT department of 6 people and very friendly. I enjoyed working there but wanted to experience a different sized company.

I moved to Jeyes continuing with the AS400 system, but also learning about other systems like Windows servers, HP 3000 and OS2. Jeyes had a larger IT usage with remote sites. I learnt about networking components for TCP/iP both for LAN and WAN. Some of the remote sites were located quite a distance from the main office and consequently there was a lot of traveling involved. It was quite a busy role but I wanted to spend less time traveling.

Anglian Windows was a large local company that had quite a well established IT department. It was more structured than the previous roles I had had, with people having specific areas to work in. Again my knowledge of the AS400 and HP 3000 systems was used, but I learnt about automation of tasks to improve the operations shifts. It was a good place to work in a lot of ways, but I did not fit in and it was not a comfortable place for me.

So I moved on, and went to Norwich Union which later became just a brand of the Aviva group in the UK. This was a role in which I learnt about Unix systems and large IT installations. It was a really good team to work in and I was comfortable. There was continually a need to learn about new things as the technology was changing fast. The various areas in Norwich Union wanted to take advantage of these new systems and I was challenged regularly with finding solutions to give the company what it wanted.

I decided to take the solution finding part of my work to the next level and became a consultant. This enabled me to get involved with different companies for short periods of time for very specific problems. I enjoyed this a lot, and enjoyed talking to people about what they wanted and trying to provide a solution that was an ideal fit.

After visiting relatives here in Italy, I found that I was more happy here than in the UK, so decided to continue my life here. I am using the time while searching for work here to work on my web site. Which has been waiting for me to do something for a few years.....