Hi, I live across the pond from the majority of Medium writers, in England, in a city called Manchester in the North West of England.

I trained in Natural Sciences at university, did some research and then moved into Industry where I worked for a motor-component company, in Birmingham in the West Midlands, helping to develop manufacturing processes. I was interested in modelling using computers to represent stresses and strains on components, but could not transfer into that division. I spent a few years exploring robot programming and mechanics, before moving to a job in data collection in a factory supplying components to the UK Ministry of Defence. From there, I moved into computer support for a company in the East Midlands, which supplied control systems for the power generation industry. Databases were evolving then, back in the 1990s, and I learnt Unix administration and also became acquainted with Oracle database administration. By that time, I was married and had two small children to support.

The control system company folded 3 years later, as they lost a contract (it's a long story), and I moved into technical sales for Oracle Corporation. I survived there for about two years before the management changed, and my position was terminated. I moved back to Manchester, with my wife developing my skills and advancing my knowledge of what people call computer infrastructure in various roles before retiring at the age of 60 from full-time work.

Back in school, with my interests in music, I learnt to play the cello. I still enjoy listening to classical music and also to jazz. But with internet access becoming available in the 1990s, my interests broadened on the financial side. Interest rates had shot up, affecting our mortgage payments, so could I make more money outside work?

My Mum had told me that her dad had invested in shares in companies. With access to share dealing on websites, the 1990s opened up investments to retail investors. This became a new interest and hobby for me.

With my background in Physics, Mathematics and Engineering, I could appreciate the potential of companies related to those areas. My experience learning about the initial academic work on Artificial Intelligence in the 1980s, and my experience working in computer-related work on infrastructure, and the technical support of large software development projects, allowed me to appreciate some of the potential of listed companies working in those areas.

Although I am not fluent in foreign languages, I have a working knowledge of French, due to my experience working for a French-English joint venture engineering company back in the 1980s. However, my fluency in conversation has deteriorated due to my lack of practice, but I do read articles and watch some videos on YouTube.

Another area that interested me was the opportunity to study the Old Testament text in the original Classical Hebrew. After completing a basic Classical Hebrew grammar course, I joined a weekly study group exploring texts and the commentaries over a period of over 15 years. This has also prompted me to explore various related areas.