I was born on August 14^th, 1980 in Yeovil, an urban town in the predominantly rural county of Somerset, which is in the south-west of England.  Following resounding success at school, and slightly less success at college (but still enough to be able to take the next step), I was then a student at Bournemouth University, studying a 4-year BSc degree in Computing.  I was only able to successfully complete two of those years though unfortunately, for a combination of reasons.  But I do still have a "Diploma of Higher Education", representing the two years I did pass.  After withdrawing from my final year at university, I did 4 months of fairly basic temporary work in Bournemouth, and in July 2003 I returned home to Yeovil to look for more permanent work there.  For just over a year, from January 2005, I had a part-time job working at the local cyber-café in town, where I maintained the 6 computers that were in operation and helped people with any problems that they encountered.  However financial constraints meant the café was forced to close at the end of March 2006, but while in the process of looking for something else, the people that were helping me through that process offered me a 6-month part-time administrative role within their own company, which was nice of them.  That's now come and gone too though.  My preferred line of work would be something in the field of Information Technology / computing.

I've lived in Yeovil ever since I was born, with my mum for the majority of my life.  In May 2007 though, I moved out into "supported accommodation" very nearby, where I now rent a flat.  I can stay at the flat for up to 2 years before I have to move on again, into independent housing.  I have a 25-year-old younger brother, who graduated from his Design Engineering university degree in 2005 (also in Bournemouth) with a "2:1" classification! *smile*  Since becoming a graduate, he has had a spell living and working in London, but in November 2007, he emigrated to New Zealand with his Kiwi girlfriend, where they are now settled, both working, and are engaged to be married in February 2010!

My main hobbies are most things involving the wonderful World Wide Web, some other things involving computers (which is understandable seeing as I've done a degree learning about the beasts), watching television, and following sport particularly football (or "soccer" if you prefer - I support Liverpool, from the Barclays Premiership, and my home town, Yeovil, from Coca-Cola Football League One [that's the third tier of English football, the Premiership being the first]).  You may think that is a rather limited range of interests, and you would be right, but that's just the way I am, much as I would quite like to have others.  I just enjoy the quiet life really - going out all the time doesn't suit me at all.  It can be fun in moderation, but I generally tend to avoid such pastimes.

I've been a user of the Internet since around May 1998, when I was first able to get on-line on the few computers that were connected to the Net at college.  However it wasn't until September 1998 that I could use it regularly on the many hundreds of computers that were on-line at university - you could call me an instant addict, as I was hooked from Day 1.  Having found HyperChat UK (HUK), a distant sister of SOI you could say, by doing a Yahoo! (UK & Ireland) search, I joined the site as a citizen within just two weeks of starting uni!  I met many great friends there, some of whom are still friends of mine today.  However things change, and HUK became not to my liking by the middle of 1999, so I moved on.  A lot of my friends felt the same as me about the way HUK was going as a chat site, so much so that another HyperChat site was created, independently from both SOI and HUK, in February 2000.  It was a UK-themed site called "Pukka".  As with HUK, I instantly became a citizen at Pukka, and I remained so until April 2003.  The moderated site had enabled me to keep in touch with many of my old HUK friends, while keeping the negative aspects that dragged HUK down well away.  Many social events (or "meets") were organised, usually in Oxford, England, so that our community could meet up in the flesh and socialise for real ... these meets have been real highlights of my on-line experience.  However, unfortunately, Pukka was unable to attract many new and desirable chatters, and without any sign of management after they lost the desire to make Pukka succeed, numbers using the site had dwindled significantly by around May 2002.  With some "subtle"(!) convincing from SOI's "Dutch ambassador", Teaser, whose home page this is actually based on (because it's just so good!), I came over to SOI and visited Teaser in her pleasant, relaxing chat room, the Sunset.  Then, after a few months of pondering, despite Pukka undergoing something of a "revival" at the time, I decided to sign up right here at SOI, the original HyperChat site of them all, in September 2002.  Just as in my HUK days all those years ago(!), I have made many more new friends from all around the world through SOI, and I hope to maintain as many of these friendships as I can, for as long as I can. *smile*  However, early in 2005, Teaser and I kinda fell out, and she has since transferred ownership of the Sunset to someone else.  I no longer use that room to chat in, but there are always plenty of others I can use to get my chat fix! *grin*  Meanwhile the failing Pukka closed its doors to all users in May 2004, after 4 somewhat turbulent years.  And then in July 2006, with 10½ years under its belt, HUK suffered the same fate.

Believe it or not, Gordy isn't actually my preferred on-line nickname ... it's close though.  I would rather use the one I've used ever since the halcyon days of HUK, which was "Gordie", however one mysterious SOI citizen already has my humble handle even though I've never actually seen it used in the whole time I've been at SOI (*grrr*), so for the time being I'm stuck with this minor variation instead, along with the highly witty "Gordie (with a 'y')".  But despite my preference for "Gordie", this does not mean I have aspirations to be a "Geordie"! *lol*  (Those unfamiliar with the term may like to know it is a nickname for those who come from Newcastle, England.)  Literally hundreds of people have confused the two words over the years, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to set the record straight, once and for all.  I chose the name "Gordie" simply because most of my friends at school and college used to call me that (and still do in most cases), as it is based on my surname, which is Gordon.  And in case you were wondering, my first name is James. *smile*  All clear?!