Shaun is a Senior Engineer here at Web Applications. He has been with the company since May 2006, which puts him at nearly four years. As a Senior Engineer he spends the vast majority of his time on new and bespoke developments, working with most of Web Applications’ various products and offerings. I wonder sometimes what the difference is between a senior engineer and software engineer, so I asked Shaun. His answer? Senior engineers are harder. Awesome, that’s all cleared up for me. But really, senior engineers look after the software engineers, they check their work, make sure they’re doing okay, and get final say on technical issues. If the senior engineer isn’t happy with something, it’s not getting released. The relationship between a software and senior engineer is a beautiful thing, full of encouragement and gentle correction, steering the software engineer towards professional improvement. Shaun’s on Cheryl’s team, who we know and love.

Sometimes Shaun tries to export his helpfulness to other areas as well. Shaun is very useful pointing out any mistakes I make (Full Disclosure: There is a chance I’m not prefect) in fact, it’s almost like his second job, not that I mind, I welcome Shaun’s comments and encourage him to continue his constructive criticism. I only wish I could return the favour. Shaun’s kindness doesn’t stop there, he reportedly encouraged a colleague to join a five a side football team. This colleague, blissfully unaware of his surrounding area, managed to drive his head into another player’s abdomen. Shaun, far from angry, applauded the participation of his colleague and thanked him for providing copious amounts of personal amusement.  In addition to his helpful personality, Shaun has an excellent memory. He can even remember exactly which brand of beer was on tap at various events he has participated in over the years. Very impressive.

Shaun enjoys his sport. He continues to play five a side football weekly near Huddersfield, though the amount of free time he has to watch his local football team, Oldham Athletics, has been limited now that he’s a father. When the weather is nice Shaun likes to bike ride into work since the new office location is very close to his home. In fact, our new offices are one of Shaun’s favourite things about working here. While riding his bike was originally supposed to save him money, it has ended up being more expensive than driving due to the amount of kit and equipment required. Sorry Shaun, no one forced you to mount turbo boosters on the back of the bike, and yes, push bikes have to abide by road laws. Shaun has lived in Oldham all his life and is without a doubt a ‘real person’ (subtext found here). In fact, his crippling fear of sheep has ensured he has never travelled outside the town limits.

Now, Shaun has at least one thing in common with his Project Manager, he has pets. Well, he had pets. In the recent weeks Shaun has tried to raise a variety of goldfish. Sadly, none of them have lived to tell their story. Walter and Walter 2 lived with Shaun and his family for a few weeks before succumbing to a mysterious illness. Sadly, Benny and Dude, the next two goldfish, managed to survive for an even shorter amount of time. Shaun has informed us that he will suspend acquiring any more fish in the near future for fear of an investigation by the RSPCA; I think this is a wise move.

Apart from being a would-be pet owner, Shaun recently moved house and has been busy trying to decorate it. I think his kitchen is a member of PETA. The appliances have formed an alliance against Shaun, and are slowly mounting an offensive attack in a clear retaliation for the death of his fish. Three of his five major kitchen appliances have been on the fritz, including his washing machine, oven and freezer. There is a silver lining to his broken washing machine at least, when attempting to do a wash his family is treated to the R2D2 dance it performs around the kitchen. I find it funny, but that machine goes too far when it adds bleach to itself while chanting ‘Help me bleach, you’re our only hope.’ This would be less upsetting if the machine was not new, and all three appliances broke within their first two weeks of use. The freezer has now broken twice. Shaun is looking into the government body that oversees Appliance Conspiracy.

I will let the readers judge Shaun’s choice of entertainment for themselves. He has begun watching House, borrowing the box sets from co-workers. So far he’s finished season one and has begun season two. Just a hint Shaun, the patients always lie. One of his favourite movies is ‘The Gift’, a thriller with taglines like ‘The only witness to the crime wasn’t even there’ and ‘It was the perfect crime...except someone saw it all.’ You’ll find that Shaun’s favourite actress, Katie Holmes, is one of the film’s stars. He names ‘The Matrix’ as his favourite movie but I’m pretty sure that’s for appearances only.

In closing, Shaun is definitely an interesting character. He has an excellent sense of humour, especially when talking about himself, and completely lacks self-censorship. Whether you laugh with him or at him, Shaun takes the prize for life of the party.