I'm usually no big fan of chain letters (it's the "or-else" part that I object to), but this current 7-things-tag going around is pretty benign, and I think it's a great way to get some insight into the people you're reading. Thanks to Elizabeth Smith for tagging me.

Anyway, here's some facts about me that you may not know:

1. I have 6 siblings: 1.5 brothers and 2 sisters.
2. I used to live in Spain and crossed the border to Gibraltar twice daily getting to and from school.
3. I taught myself 6502 machine code on the C64 when I was 10. 'C' had to wait until I finally got my own Amiga at the age of 17; by that time it was already obsolete, but I'd dreamed of it for so long. The biggest barrier for learning 'C' for me was the sheer quantity of bad Intuition code examples floating around on Fish Disks and Aminet.
4. I studied Electronic Systems Engineering at The University of York, where I discovered my first Unix system (IRIX) and had to retake my first year exam as a result of spending too much time in the "Spod Pit" (a room filled with Indigo workstations). In retrospect, that "inappropriate" use of time was instrumental in shaping my career.
5. I once rolled into a 9 a.m. computer lab assessment with my partner wearing tuxedos after partying all night at a graduation ball. The lab supervisor said "let's assess you first, as you look like you've got places to go". (We aced that assessment; preparation was key).
6. I've moved home on average about once every 2.5 years of my life, making my time in the USA one of the longer periods in one spot.
7. I've been told that I have a distinctive look, which is probably largely due to my long hair. In the late 80's, early 90's, I used to have a flat top. Then I discovered Guns'n'Roses and Metallica and haven't worn my hair short since.

As for chaining, in no particularly significant order:

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Yeah, yeah, isn't everyone?

I'm looking for a full-time position doing some kind of systems architecture/development (preferably not grunt work writing PHP scripts all day, thanks!).

I'm prepared to relocate from the UK: west coast USA is appealing as I have family there (I'm married to a US citizen, so getting a green-card isn't going to be a problem), but will certainly consider employment elsewhere.

I've been programming for years and have very broad experience (and depth of knowledge) of a wide range of areas of development: unix, win32, servers, GUI, C/C++, Delphi and so on. I'm extremely flexible and a very fast learner.

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