So, now
you find out a bit about me. My name is Mike and I'm a
collator operator/guillotine operator from Sydney,
Australia. My interests are centred around computers,
building, repairing and upgrading them. I also dabble in web
site design.
I have
two children, all grown now, a step-daughter, and
three grandchildren, two boys and a girls.
My
favourite colour is black, my favourite music is metal.
I keep
snakes. At the moment that is limited to a solitary Diamond
python. We also used to keep and breed Australian Parrots,
and at one stage had more than 13 cats (some how all the
strays seemed to end up at our place). At present we have
one cat, an ex feral who turned up a few years back when she
was far too young to be away from her mother, and who now
thinks my lap is her home.
I also
collect Native American
objects!
Why
snakes you might ask? Snakes don't lie. Snakes don't
cheat. They don't play mind games, or use your emotions
as a yo-yo, unlike some people I know. Snakes are honest, if
you frighten them or they feel threatened by you they'll
bite you. that's it plain and simple, but you know they are
going to try that.
I've
always been interested in snakes, perhaps because in my
birth country, New Zealand, there isn't any. When I first
migrated to Australia in the mid 1980's one of the first
things I wanted to do was visit a zoo to see
snakes.
While
studying for my BSc, in Computer Studies (Before the various
subjects became specialised), one of the extra subjects I
took was zoology, at some stage this turned my interest in
snakes into a passion. After achieving my BSc in 1994, I
thought a lot about my future, and decided to study for my
Masters degree in Zoology, which I achieved in 2000. Since
then I have been studying and researching snakes, which
contributed to me being awarded an honorary PhD in Zoology
in 2008. It seems rather strange that I'd be working in a
factory with these qualifications, but there aren't that
many positions available for someone with a MSc in Zoology.
And I had to earn a living while I was studying for these
degrees, so I seem to have fallen into the printing
industry.
A couple of years back, I was
lucky enough to receive two small estates in Scotland.
Under Scottish law, any landowner has the title Laird
(Lord). So I'm also the "Laird of Kingsdale" and the "Laird
of Lochaber". Not that the titles mean a lot in Australia,
but they do help get results, sometimes, with some
things.
My other love is radio controlled cars, which I'm just
getting back into after a six or seven year break. My son
and I used to race on-road electric ones before he left home
(and Australia). My son in law has just got a nitro off road
one, which has refreshed my interest in them and now I have
one too. Although after the break it's a little like being a
noveice again.
Cheers,
Mike
First
second
email: mike at m-n-m-snakes.com (substituting the standard symbol
for at)