My real name is Steve Calkin. I am English, love travelling, watching movies and
enjoy most competitive sports (although I'm too old and knackered now!).
I have been through two failed marriages, have four children (Gemma, Amy, Rebecca
and Thomas) and I am now very happily in love with my beautiful new wife Rachel.
See the album and judge for yourself!
I was schooled in Basildon, Essex starting out in Greenstead School and finishing
in Barstable (which was a Grammar and Technical when I joined, but thanks to the
idiotic Labour Government was ruined by becoming Comprehensive). I left school before
achieving any major qualifications (above GCSE 'O' Level) but have since studied
evening classes to 'enhance' my education. I think its all cobblers really. You
don't actually need bits of paper to prove you are intelligent - and some of the
most 'qualified' people I've met are actually total idiots!
At the age of six I was diagnosed (eventually) as having Perthes disease. This caused my hipbone to gradually disintegrate,
the only cure being to rest the leg. This resulted in me spending three years on
crutches. Sounds like a pain, probably was, but it actually taught me some valuable
lessons. Don't judge people by the way they look (I was a 'cripple' boy); don't
believe you can't - prove that you can (a bit like Nike No Fear); just because you
don't look 'normal' doesn't mean you aren't - and doesn't mean you don't FEEL normal;
but the most valuable lesson came from my Mum and Dad. It would have been very easy
for them to wrap me in cotton wool and smother me (poor little lamb). In fact they
took the much harder decision of not treating me any different to the rest of the
children. No special favours. No condescension. No extra love. BRILLIANT. Talking
to my Mum now she will tell me how many times she cried inside, but outwardly I
never knew anything other than I was normal. No different. Thanks Mum and Dad -
I owe you so much.
I've spent most of my adult life 'playing' with computers. From the very early Sinclair
ZX80 through Atari, Amiga, Xbox and finally various incarnations of the ubiquitous PC.
My favourite? Without any doubt at all, the Amiga stands head and shoulders above
the rest. It was so far ahead of its time.
I am a Tottenham Hotspur fan but I must admit that I am not a 'true' supporter -
I don't get to see them 'live' very often. Nonetheless I have been a fan since I
was about seven years old.
Claims to Fame? Bignose Software
; raising £1000 in one day for the original Red Nose Day. What made this even
more 'special' was that I did it a day early! (I wasn't at work on the actual Friday).