Paul Diskin

Network Engineer

Network engineer Paul Diskin has been suffering some leg-pulling in the Samarind office. Hard-working Paul says he "doesn't do holidays" and he's not kidding - the last time he went away on holiday was in 1980!

This year, however, a few friends have persuaded him to break the habit of his working life, and for the first time in 27 years, he will be jetting off to sunnier climes for some well-earned R&R.

Paul explained: "I go away for odd weekends but this is the first time I've taken a proper holiday since I was a kid. My colleagues think the whole thing's hilarious.

"I'm going to the Greek island of Rhodes for a week. I'm not really sure what I'll do when I get there. I hate lying around on beaches. I suppose I'll just see some sights and enjoy some nice food and drink.

"That's what you do on holidays, isn't it? I guess I can survive that!"

Paul, 43, may seem eccentric to some but he's a man who doesn't need to travel. Paul has friends from many nations and he regularly enters other worlds, ones rather more exciting than dull old Earth. Paul is a keen online gamer.

"There are thousands of games you can play on the internet and your competitors can be people from all over the world," says Paul. "I've been into role playing games since the old days of "Dungeons and Dragons".

"The one I spend most of my time playing is a fantasy game called "Tibia". In "Tibia" you create your own character, drop them into a virtual world and they face various challenges alongside similar characters created by other gamers worldwide. Whose characters you interact with depends entirely on who has logged in at the same time. You're able to send the players' messages and chat with them while the game's ongoing. I've got to know people from all over Europe."

Computer games were the spur that inspired Paul's interest in computers - he still recalls with nostalgia his first computer, a Spectrum 48K he acquired in 1983. Originally an electrician, Paul retrained as a computer hardware engineer in 1999. Paul, who lives in Connah's Quay, just a few miles away, joined the Samarind team in February 2000. He now feels something of a veteran.

"I do feel my age a bit," Paul admits, "because the rest of the team are a fair bit younger than me. I'll refer to an old rock group like Cream and they'll think I'm talking about a nightclub! That sort of thing."

The feeling isn't helped by the fact that Paul has an extremely wide general knowledge, which not only makes him a pub quiz star (he's a regular competitor at the Cornist Hall pub in Flint) but also lends him the air of being the 'wise old man' of the team.

"Working in IT keeps you fresh, though," says Paul. "Technology is always changing so you have to keep up with things. There are always new challenges to overcome, which keeps it interesting.

"It can be very busy, a lot of hard work. But I enjoy it. I wouldn't want to do anything else."

Not even go on holiday, Paul?

Published Autumn 2007