Who Am I?

My name is Nigel. I was born in the early 60’s which puts me in my mid 40’s at the time of writing this (2008). I grew up in the Midlands (that’s the bit furthest from the sea if you’re reading this from outside the UK). The town I lived in up until I was 10 is a well-known tourist trap. I went to a small private nursery school there from the age of 2½ to 6. I then went to a preparatory school (that means fee-paying, preparing for public school) from the ages of 7 to 12, in a town not far away. I boarded for my last 3 years there, and after that I went to a famous English public school, also in the Midlands. (For the uninitiated, “public” means anyone can go there provided (a) you pass the entrance exam – unless your father went there – and (b) your parents or grandparents can afford the huge fees.) I boarded there like most others.

I managed to escape at the age of 16 with A-levels and a place at a university in a equally famous tourist trap in the south west of England. (Aspergers Syndrome is sometimes also referred to as High Functioning Autism, but I was not top of the class, and I didn’t get top exam results.)

I did a gap year in Germany and learnt to speak German, and after that I did a 4-year course in Electrical/Electronic Engineering. During that time I met my wife and got married, and we have 3 lovely children, all of whom are now grown up – we didn’t hang about.

I belong to a “lively” Holy-Spirit-led church in the town where I went to university. We never moved away. I have my own rent-a-brain business, just writing software these days (I used to design electronics as well). I do contracts of between 3 months and 2 years in actual fact.