About Me
About Me |
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You really want to know? OK...
Well, I was born in Inverness,
the capital of the Highlands of Scotland, far too long ago. This
is a town of 50,000 or so, a good 8 miles from Loch Ness, much as I
would have liked to have lived in a wee but and ben on the shores of
the Loch; nevertheless, the Highlands are a great place to grow up, as
I have come to appreciate all the more since leaving.
I attended the hallowed halls of Millburn Academy, then fled south to the University of Kent at Canterbury. (I lived in Darwin College, right-hand arm of the big Y on the Campus Map.)
This was the beginning of 3 hectic years in which I managed to combine the activities of sleeping all day, playing lots of games, listening to music, reading grillions of books (including the obligatory Lord of the Rings in about 72 hours), placing bets on which of the 4 colleges would collapse or slide down hill first (the Cornwallis building had collapsed into a disused railway tunnel shortly before I arrived), and making friends who've lasted til today.
I seem to remember some form of teaching happening, but mainly to other people. I do remember a solar eclipse (partial) and earthquakes in the UK in the days as we eagerly awaited the results of the final exams.
In spite of all the above, I somehow managed to please the examiners, graduating with an honours degree in Computers and Cybernetics, in 1984. The ceremony was in Canterbury Cathedral; which meant that the poor graduates were stuck behind the massive side pillars and couldn't see a thing.
After this, I worked in Livingston, in the centre of Scotland, for 3 years, where I rapidly transformed myself from a slothful and untidy student into a dynamo of technological prowess. About the best thing to say for Livingston is that it's near Edinburgh, a beautiful city.
Finally, I bit the bullet and moved to where the techie jobs are: the south of England, first in Hemel Hempstead (a place whose greatest virtue is making Livingston look nice), where I worked for three years, living in St. Albans, which at least had some history behind it.
After my company went down the tubes, I finally had an excuse to move to a part of England which is actually a great place to live; the south coast, in Poole, Dorset, in the beautiful West Country. This was a vast improvement by any civilised standards.
Poole is surrounded by beautiful countryside; the New Forest is close by, and Purbeck, with its hills and cliffs, is just across the harbour. The beaches are legendary; I worked in the centre of Bournemouth for a couple of years, which meant a trip to the beach every lunchtime in summer. And, of course, there are tea shops all over Dorset, providing proper clotted cream teas.
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Well, Poole lasted me for 6 years; but eventually I succumbed to the old wanderlust and moved again. No mere few miles this time, but over the big pond to California. A drastic move? Not really; for someone who gets immersed in American culture all the time via the movies, it's not a big deal. It's much harder for Americans to understand me than vice versa, though the Bay area is so cosmopolitan no-one notices (or at least they pretend they don't).
6 years working in Silicon Valley, just across the bay from San Francisco, and just a few yours from the Sierra Nevada mountains, was a lot of fun; but I finally had enough of the desk-bound existence and decided on another move -- and to keep moving for a while. So I got my boat ready, and headed off cruising... to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and through the Panama Canal into the Caribbean. A few months cruising the offshore islands of the San Blas, Providencia, and Belize was the time of my life. Read all about it -- and see my pictures -- in my cruising log.
So about me...
I'm a Software Engineer by trade, and a damn good one, if I may say so. Prior to my cruising sabbatical, I have worked on:
So what do I do for fun -- other than cruising... well, back in the Bay Area I was into rollerblading in the disused airbase in Alameda where they filmed the Matrix sequels (the mile-and-a-half long freeway set was there), and hiking the Oakland hills. Mount Diablo is good for a visit, with stunning views towards the hills to the west and the central valley eastward; it's also a good place to find some hangliders taking off. And nearer the coast, Point Reyes has some breathtaking walks, as well as the chance to see a gray whale. But Yosemite was always my favourite place for some outdoors experience.
I most recently drove a Geo Tracker convertible, which is fairly cool. Back in England I had a Fiat Panda (boring), but I used to own a Land Rover, which I painted myself, by the way. Impractical, but fun. I'm into photography, among other things; so here's my photo gallery for you to have a look at, if you want.
If you like, you can go and see what I'm doing these days.
If you want to see what I look like... sure you do...
Coming on watch off California.
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Rough weather off Nicaragua.
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Relaxing in Beaufort, South Carolina.
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Of course, I've chosen only the most flattering pictures of myself. After all, how many people are dumb enough to put all their passport and driving licence pictures on the web? Well, here you are: the mugshot gallery...
Sep 81
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Jul 85
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Apr 94
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Mar 97
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Apr 97
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May 01
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Oct 03
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Copyright (C) 1995-2006 Ian Cameron Smith.
visits since 18Aug05.
Last modified: Fri Sep 22 08:46:19 BST 2006 ($Revision: 1.51 $)
