This is the essential ABOUT PAGE for this Blog. As far as I can ascertain, at this time, it is NOT a legal requirement to publish a page of this nature. It is about Stephen Walker.
It is provided as a courtesy to our readers, so that they may know a little about the Blog author.
To clarify my position, any website that collects personal data must comply with the UK data protection laws and the GDPR.
This blog does NOT collect any personal data, so has no obligation to publish a Terms of Service nor am I obliged to publish my home address details.
If we ever collect email addresses, they will not be stored on this website but will be held by our email service provider.
I have lived with Multiple Sclerosis, ostensibly, since 1994 although in reality, I have probably had this debilitating condition all my life.
About Stephen Walker
A Life with Multiple Sclerosis.
I was educated at Newbridge Primary School and Currie High School. Some further education was undergone at Telford College and Napier College.
The author of this blog, Stephen Walker, was born in 1958 at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland.
About Stephen Walker Places of Employment
I have enjoyed a long and varied career over the years and acquired a great many skills along the way. I always hankered after running my own business but work and life always got in the way.
That, as they say, is life and we must make the best of it.
I have aspired to many different career paths. Because I have always felt an affinity with the sea, I felt that I was destined to join the navy. I got as far s applying for a scholarship which would have provided financial assistance for my parents and guaranteed me a place on the officer training school.
Post Office Telecommunications.
This is the company that would become Britsh Telecom and finally BT. I completed a three-year apprenticeship successfully. Work continued in the telecommunications field for a year before being attracted away by the lure of the music business.
Life on the road as a roadie and sound engineer was eventful and great fun. We toured around the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Germany. It cannot be described as a period of employment because I was unpaid. We got expenses and our moment of glory in the Spotlight.
This was a fun time but I don’t think my liver could take too much more of the high-life.
GEC Reliance
GEC provided employment after I decided it was time to settle down again. Reliance provided industrial timeclocks and PABX phone systems. As a field engineer, I was based, initially, in Edinburgh and then for a couple of years in Fife.
Marconi Underwater Systems (MUSL)
Marconi was a defence systems contractor. I was involved in the guidance systems for the Stingray torpedo. A very challenging role, where I was responsible for designing and building an automated test system for the guidance-computer circuit boards. My memory impairment makes it impossible to divulge any “Top Secret” information I may hsve gleaned during this time.
DCM/DataServ
A short-lived spell of employment. I worked in their workshop repairing the original IBM PC.
The company became involved in some dubious commercial activities and were bought by a firm of asset-strippers from London.
The chaos that followed led me and my fellow senior engineer to question the management of the company. We had a huge argument with the M.D and lost. We were dismissed forthwith!
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems offered a period of great employment opportunities. Ostensibly, I was a temp originally given a three month placement.
However, I managed to stay for over a year until the company relocated to Maastricht in the Netherlands. I was invited to make the move with them but declined the offer.
All the more surprising because I was being lured with the offer of sharing a flat with a very attractive young lady.
IT Solutions
IT Solutions turned out to be my longest running employer. Initially as a field engineer covering the whole of Scotland. I became the regional manager when we relocated the office from Aberdeen to Dunfermline.
At around this time, I started to experience my first MS symptoms, so when the compmy finally went into administration, I resigned myself to a life dedicated to fighting MS.
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems were a high-end computing company. I was employed as a temp for three months. I managed to stay for two years and was offered full-time employment if I was willing to relocate to Maastricht.
We had just bought a house in Lochgelly, so I was in no hurry to move to Holland.
Information Technology (Systems) Limited
This is the job that kept me employed for the longest period of any job.
The staff st IT Solutions were a great crowd and we had quite a few memorable Christmas parties over the years.
Although I began as a field engineer, I finished my stint at IT Solutions as the Scottish Area Manager.
About Stephen Walker Hobbies
I have jumped from one hobby to the next with dreadful monotony. But, the one activity that has really shaped my life was sailing.
- Skiing
- Model Railways
- Music (Playing, Sound Engineering)
- Mirror Dinghy Sailing
- E-Boat Sailing
- Windsurfing
- Scuba Diving
- Water Skiing
- Web Design
- Blogging
Skiing
My father used to drag us, my sisters and I, off to Glenshee or Aviemore every available weekend. I loved it.
Although one weekend caused my first MS symptom, although nobody knew this at the time
Model Railways
This was a fascination that stemmed from my father’s interest.
When I was a child, my father had a ‘OO’ gauge model railway in the loft. My own interest was for ‘N’ gauge. The smaller scale than the ‘OO’ gauge.
I even set up a mail-order business for my own electronic railway kits. This was successful until I ran into some cash flow problems.
Music
Unfortunately, I never made it as a guitarist.
It transpired that my gift was more on the technical side.
I became a roadie working for a number of bands in Edinburgh. I ended up as a sound engineer for Brodie, Rosetta Stone and The Cadets
Mirror Dinghy Sailing
This was another interest I inherited from my father. My father and I raced the ubiquitous Mirror Dinghy for many years with a reasonable amount of success.
We were the Scottish Champions for several years and finished honourably in both the National Championship and the European Championship.
E-Boat Sailing
Was down to a fortuitous accident with the Mirror Dinghy.
An E-Boat crew were looking for a helmsman and our Mirror Dinghy had just been written-off in a Winter Storm.
Windsurfing
Windsurfing became an all-consuming passion for a few years until I developed MS.
Again, I had some competitive success but, nothing too remarkable.
Scuba Diving
Scuba Diving was a holiday interest.
We had been on holiday in the Dominican Republic and I couldn’t refuse the chance of swimming in the Caribbean.
Water Skiing
Water Skiing was another holiday pursuit. We had won a weekend break to the Old England Hotel in Windermere.
My only claim to success was thet I was able to ski successfully at my first attempt.
Web Design
Web Design was more of a hobby than a business although I did entertain that thought for a while.
This was in the 1990s when the Internet was still very new and I only had a dial-up connection.
Blogging
Blogging has been a riveting interest for many years. My first blog was a homegrown HTML Web site at a time when I hadn’t even heard of WordPress. Now, with far more WordPress experience, I consider myself a full-time blogger.
In Summary
The realisation that I am an engineer.
- Telephone Engineer
- Sound Engineer
- Electronics Engineer
- Computer Engineer
This sums up my life until now. I have three children, three boys, who are all adults now. My eldest son has given me two adorable grandchildren. I have been married twice, moved house at least 10 times.Not bad for somebody with no energy thanks to the chronic fatigue of multiple sclerosis.
I am now retired from full-time employment, as I have been for too many years. MS forced me to give up work around 2010.
Blogging now occupies my time on most days, especially during the winter. Finding ways of mitigating the worst effects of MS also occupies the rest of my time.
Blogging is superbly cathartic because learning all about using WordPress, Pinterest and all other social media platforms provide the brain stimulation I need to contend with the brain fog of multiple sclerosis.
On the subject of mental stimulation. I have begun learning to speak Spanish. I have been doing this for a number of years and while my linguistic abilities have not improved significantly, the learning proccess has been wonderful at limiting the cognitive deficits of MS.