a) A person who can spell, write reasonably good prose, and can touch type by using a Dvorak board; who has knowledge of, to a decent level, mathematics, physics and geography, history of several periods, including economic, social and political aspects; who knows a great deal about computing and accounting; and is able to work from first principles.
The first two items in the previous paragraph seem to be particularly rare talents in this day and age, and I need not use spell checkers! I do like messing around with web pages, both my and other people's sites, all of which should improve as I learn more. For example, my technical support pages for certain call centre workers at Taima/Convergys proved really valuable: they were both readable and au courant. They are unavailable now, since we parted company.

b) Able to work alone with minimal supervision: a team worker, too. I do, in fact, often surprise myself when my compassionate nature appears when dealing with people.

c) Fond of physical work, of messing around with tools, and building and fixing all manner of things around the house. I am good with metal, not so good with wood, unlike my father, who taught woodwork to his deaf pupils. On the other hand, I really like to write, and to sate my inquisitiveness by reading.

d) Physically fit: I have been a good soccer player with a pulse rate, at rest, ca 40. I have, lately, had to resort to reading glasses, wie schade, but then, that's normal. I am committed to the fitness regime I have used as necessary, which can be found on the Commando and Steely Abs pages. They really make a difference.

e) A motorcycle aficionado and restorer, particularly of old British machines, which weren't reliable! Whitworth sans pareil! Oh, yes, I hold an HGV (UK), Class 1 (BC), ACZ (ON) driving licence: meaning that I can drive virtually anything on the road. That enabled me to see, in Southmead, Bristol, England, a seven-banded rainbow, in March 1977. Amazing light and alternating dark bands.

f) The father of two lovely daughters: their pictures are to be seen somewhere near here, by clicking on the hippy, or here.

g) A product of varied influences, educational and social. I have been at both ends of the management tree, and, of course, at other times squashed in the middle ranks. I have been involved with labour unions, in the UK, and in Vancouver. I have held various positions, such as Secretary Treasurer, Chief Shop Steward and several times was involved in negotiations. On the other hand, when working at GranTree Furniture Rental, as Warehouse Manager (prior to becoming General Manager) I was involved in dealing with the Teamsters when they took our unionised labour force out on strike.
Following that, my trucking and management experience allowed me to succeed as a manager, dealing with my workers and with winning office moving contracts for a large NA franchise. I was a highly successful sales manager at another moving company. Later still, I found that I was working for a crook, when he asked me to fiddle the books of a small financial services company. I did the books, the IT, and other stuff, and quit in a hurry for cause.

h) A complicated character. I can be emotional, severe, affectionate, foolish, strong-willed, even boorish, but certainly loyal. This last is not a hallowed trait in contemporary life. Not least, I am a hater of injustice, racism and bigotry. I would regard myself as a social democrat, remaining philosophically neutral. It's a pity that there is no matching party in Canada.

i) Someone who has worked as an Instrument Mechanic, in England, as a partner. We were involved with the chemical industry, especially during annual shutdowns, and restored motorcycles at other times.

j) A total information junkie: I really enjoy chasing down information and data, the more esoteric the better. My obsession is fed by i) having lots of email subscriptions for IT, soccer, politics, sociology, etc. ii) making daily visits to many sites, such as O'Reilly, MS Direct Access, The Economist, Soccernet, Guardian Unlimited ad infinitum. iii) reading many periodicals, including House and Garden, World of Interiors, The Economist, Guardian Weekly, Harrowsmith, Wooden Boat, Fine Homebuilding, Fine Woodworking, Cycle World, Motorcycle Sport, National Geographic, Granta, Photo, Scientific American, MCP Magazine, Windows IT Magazine, Dr Dobb's Journal, Linux Journal, IEEE Spectrum, SysAdmin and the Wilson Quarterly. iv) reading lots of books: literature, mysteries, history, sociology, biology, geology, mathematics, logic, etc. v) possessing a large reference library.