Angel Annie

About

Who I Am

Well, obviously I’m Annie, though my full name is Anne Marie Workman. I’m 27 years old, my birthday is on April 9th – any cards / gifts welcome :*) .

I’ve lived in Britain all my life, I spent the first 6 years in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire before moving to Dursley, also in Gloucestershire. I then spent 4 years in Bristol while doing my degree but I’m now down South, having joined the ‘real world’ finally and got a ‘proper’ job. I’ve lived in 3 diff places in Winchester and recently moved to Southampton. In Winchester, I originally lived near the town centre, sharing with Martin, then in Jan 2004 I moved in with Helen. During the close to 4years we lived together we lived in 2 different places in Winchester. We had some great parties while we lived at the MadHouse (as we called our house in Badger Farm), and there are numerous photos from those days on FaceBook. In May 2008 I took the plunge and moved into my own place. I’m still renting, but living in a little house on my own – and the best bit of all is I can now have a cat again! I’ve signed up as a fosterer with the Cat Protection League, enabling me to have a cat temporarily while helping the charity as well! I’ll put news of my foster cats up on my blog so keep track of them there.

The pic is of me & Dan, my toyboy (he’s a whole 10 months younger than me). We’ve been together since Nov 2006 and it’s all going well so far. He also works for IBM, which is where we met – he was one of the new grads I inducted! Dan is an accomplished webmaster, with a number of sites currently in his portfolio – his recent venture is in Environmental sites, check out his Gadgets site and his hints & tips site.

I have 2 brothers, both younger: Andy, who is working for a publishing firm during the day, and a DJ in the evenings / weekends in London, and David, who recently got married to Anita, is now working as a programmer for a company in Manchester. I can’t forget the cats, I only have 1 cat now, as my other cat had to be put down. He’s with his sister and stays with Mum. My Mum is a Lecturer, teaching Further Ed Computing. She’s lives up North in Washington, near Pat (her sister) and a number of her cousins. My Dad lives in Bristol with his wife Lin and their cat Lucy, he works at Renishaw in Wotton-Under-Edge. Also in Bristol are Dave & Hayley (my step-brother & his wife), with their son Archie, and Paul, my other step-brother.

What I Do

Unfortunately I have to work for a living, having graduated in 2003 from the University of Bristol where I achieved a 2:1 in my MEng in Computer Systems Engineering. IBM decided to employ me, so I’m now a Software Engineer at Hursley Labs. As per usual I’m never content to leave things as they are so I’ve been training to become a Project Manager, gaining my PMP (Project Manager Professional) in July 2008. I’m now looking for a PM role within IBM, hopefully moving by the end of this year. As well as my day job I get involved with a number of things round site, currently I’m a member of the Emergency Team & on the Management Committee for the Hursley Club.

Interests

I enjoy doing a lot of things. A few of the main ones are listed below. I also love socialising, whether it is a quiet night in with a film, or a large night out on the town. Since I’ve had to watch my finances more closely it’s been more nights in than out, but I still try and meet up with people regularly. I also make good use of an unlimited cinema card!

Martial Arts

I enjoy martial arts, both in films and in practice. I had to retire from training in 2007 due to repeated injuries. I tried for a couple of years to reach the level of fitness required for my black belt, and each time had to miss the grading due to an injury. When it was my neck & back that was the issue rather than my knees I faced the inevitable and have now stopped training. Beforere this tho I had restarted my training in Taekwondo in September 2004 at the Ohdokwan Academy in Andover. Originally this was with the GTI again, but the Ohdokwan Academy left the GTI and went it’s own way in 2006. I really enjoyed training again, although it was always a struggle with recurring joint problems. I’m still working on improving my fitness & joint strength though, and maybe one day I’ll be able to take up my training again. In the meantime when able I intend to follow up on some of the weapons we tried during taster courses at the Ohdokwan academy. These have included nunchucks, bokkan, escrima sticks, bo & jo staffs and kubitan.

While at Uni I trained with the Combat Karate Club for a couple of years. That was Okaniwan Gojo-Ryu Karate, a Japanese martial art. I managed to reach orange belt (7th Kyu) in my first year at uni, but was unable to grade again as I could not train regularly enough.

Before I went to uni I used to train and compete in Taekwondo, a Korean martial art. I started at 14, and trained for 6 years. I was a member of the GTI (Global Taekwondo International) and practiced the ITF (International Taekwondo Federation) style of Taekwondo. I reached red belt (2nd Kup), and competed within the GTI at both local and national level. I was unable to continue once I moved to Bristol though as there was not a club in the right style close enough for me to get to regularly. My old Taekwondo club is now no longer a member of the GTI, it is in the Dragon Society instead. My youngest brother continued to train with them for a number of years, and has now achieved his black belt. I tried to restart my
training in GTI Taekwondo during my third year at uni. I was training at the Wells Club – which was a bit of a drive, but while I was enjoying the training, even if I had forgotten a lot in the last few years, losing my car and starting my final year at uni made it impossible for me to continue.

Horse Riding

Horse riding is something I have always enjoyed. I was on the committee for the Riding Club at Bristol Uni. While I would love to be able to ride every week I find time and money constraints don’t allow me to manage this. Currently I’m going on a 2hr hacks roughly once a month over in the New Forest with a friend.

Science Fiction/Fantasy

I love science fiction, I am an avid reader, enjoying both science fiction and science fantasy novels. I love Lord of the Rings, both the book and the film. I am a Trekkie, and a Star Wars fan. In Star Trek I like Voyager the best. Other favourite films include the Matrix, Stargate and X-Men. In books I love Anne McCaffrey novels, especially her Dragon Series, and Robert Jordan Wheel of Time saga, and the Farseer / Liveship series by Robin Hobb, and the Riftwar series by Raymond Feist, and too many more to mention.

AnnieTanks

I decided to treat myself to a new car, the AnnieTank mk4, and in March 2006 I bought a brand new 06 model Ford Fiesta Zetec Climate – in Purple! Having had her only a few days I decided to christen her Lady Penelope, the name just fits for some reason ) I’m loving all the gadgets, particularly the heated front windscreen, variable speed intermittent wipers & the remote key!

The AnnieTank mk3 was an N reg Fiesta Frascati. I never did get round to christening it – no name jumped out at me. However, it was a good little car and did me well for 2 years before I sold it on to a friend from work. This was my first non-student car, with 5drs, sunroof, central locking, power steering, electric windows and, best of all, it didn’t threaten to fall apart at every corner!

The AnnieTank mk2 was an X reg Escort (that’s 1982 – old X). It complained constantly about having to move during the cold and the wet but
we got along most of the time. Although AnnieTank is a good title this car deserves more and so has also been christened ‘Victor’ (after Victor Meldrew as it was a grumpy old man) ). Unfortunately Victor died on me just before I moved out of Bristol (picking the worst possible time!) and had to be scrapped.

The AnnieTank mk1 was my first little car – an E reg Fiesta, with dodgy paintwork, but I loved it. It was often difficult to keep it running as it should but generally we were quite happy. I hadn’t learnt much more than how to top up the oil and water (computers are still my forte) before we parted company (and the AnnieTank went off to the scrap yard needing a new engine) but I did manage to learn how to drive again – though this point is still debateable depending on who you talk to :*)

Student Security

While at uni I used to work part time on the Student Security Team at Bristol Uni to help supplement the money I got from my student loan . We’d work both at the Student’s Union and at the Student Halls of Residence at a variety of functions. I found it (most of the time anyway) an enjoyable way to earn money, though it did get a bit intense at times.
The best thing about the job tho was the people I worked with. Have a look at the security website, following the link above, if you would like to know a bit more, or to see some of the photos.