I was born in England and in 1966 we moved to New Zealand to start a new life down-under following the closure of the family business of James E Davis and Sons, seed merchants. Mum says we were not "10 pound poms" but paid our own way (too many kids to qualify for the 10 pound option). I haven't been back to the UK since we left.

When I left school I wanted to "test things like dairy products" so moved to Hamilton to study towards a NZ Certificate in Science. I couldn't get a science job back in Tauranga but had seen people on TV in white coats on boats sampling water and thought I'd like a job like that. I was lucky to get my dream job of testing the water in rivers and lakes - initially with the hydrology division of the Ministry of Works then with the Waikato River Authority.

I reluctantly gave this up when I had my first son and having done enough knitting I was looking for a mental challenge. I purchased my first "desktop PC" and used the twin floppy device to help with part-time study towards an accounting certificate by correspondence as well as writing a report for the retail training course I undertook the following year so I could assist in the family photo business.

I worked part-time in the family camera store before introducing computers to the business - first for ticket writing and pricelists, then a point of sale system. Then I worked full-time and became the "jack of all trades" and being techy when we went fully digital - cameras, photo scanning, printing, etc I became the unofficial tech support person.

In Aug 2022 I suffered a heart attack - the ECG was "odd" so I was left in the waiting room to await the results of the blood test - 5 hours after first pains a heart attack was confirmed. Angio showed 99% blockage at top of coronary artery so it was a "massive heart attack" aka Missed STEMI. I had a stent but delay in diagnosis caused damage to heart and reduced "Ejection Fraction". I was slim, fit, non-smoker and ate heart healthy meals leaving stress as the likely cause (no one mentioned genetics). To reduce stress I tried to retire but after both our staff resigned I was back working until we replaced them. We then looked at selling the business and found a multi-site camera store willing to take us over. I retired effective March 31, 2023 and Graham will work for another year. I am now concentrating and getting fit and staying fit - I have plenty of time now. I am participating in social craft and cycling groups and meeting other people who are also retired.
I intend to do more research into our family tree but at the moment I am enjoying being away from the computer :) Update - I have "Elevated Lp(a)" which would have been the cause of my blocked artery and subsequent heart attack.