(since you asked)

Throughout childhood I was fortunate enough to be taken on many holidays abroad to exotic and wonderful locations as diverse as Alaska to the Caribbean, to all over Europe. No matter how much I may have loved other countries, and no matter how many beautiful sights I saw, I was still aware that our little island had plenty of beauty of its own to offer.

By 18, my love of the sea had become so much a part of me that when I went away to college in Oxford I realised that I would never want to live anywhere far away from the ocean. I was amazed, during my first term break, to arrive back in the island and smell the clear, salty, sea smell in the air - having just spent my first extended period away from Jersey, it was the first time that I had noticed it.

After college I came back to the island and started work as a secretary, but never really felt happy in the office environment. I moved from job to job and even tried temping to give me some more freedom. It was only when I was given the chance of working at Jersey Zoo that I realised it was not really the office environment I disliked, but simply the boredom of being a secretary. I didn't perceive it as a worthwhile job. At the zoo I worked for the Zoo Director and the Trust Secretary and at long last I felt I was doing a job that was both stimulating and rewarding - my work was making a contribution (albeit small) to a global cause which was particularly close to my heart.

In 1980 I met up with my childhood sweetheart again and we started dating, and in 1982 we married. I had two very happy years of work at the Zoo and left in 1984 to have my first child, marking the end of my formal 'career'.

Our second daughter was born in 1988 and to keep the children amused we spent just about every weekend out exploring, and therefore learning more and more about the island. The upshot of this was a greater appreciation, on my part, not only of the diverse and beautiful scenery here, but also the unique nature of Jersey's heritage and history.

Anyone with children today will know how important it is to have an understanding of computers and I went on my first computer course in 1991 to learn the basics of word processing, thereafter moving on to computer aided design work. Last year (in 1999) I dipped a toe in the water of web surfing and struck up some e.pal friendships across the globe, corresponding on a regular basis and swapping stories about our lives. As a result of exchanging e.mail with people so far away, I not only re-awakened a love of writing, I also realised just how much knowledge I have about Jersey - and how much I enjoy telling others about the island. It seemed a natural progression to make my own website, so in May of this year I went on a short website building course and in July 'JaynesJersey' winged its way into the ethers.