So, you want to know about me, do ya?

Click here to see my picture gallery.

Meet Bryce, the human. My full name is Bryce Newall. "Newall" is, at least in my family line, an Americanized version of the German surname Neuwahl (pronounced "NOY-vall"). My father's side of the family is from Germany (my father was the last of his family to be born in Germany), from a small town called Gelsenkirchen. When his family came to the U.S., his parents kept the original name, but he had his legally changed to Newall, which is undoubtedly simpler and easier for anyone. Wouldn't you agree? :)

My mother is also of German background -- Pennsylvania Dutch, to be exact. She was born and raised in the United States, in -- you guessed it -- Pennsylvania. My parents met at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, during a foreign language graduate program. They met "in Spanish", you could say -- during the program, none of the students were allowed to speak any English!

From that, you can probably infer that both of my parents became Spanish teachers, which they indeed did. My dad is retired now, working part time for a small non-profit organization called Amity Institute, where he works with foreign exchange students to place them in schools around the United States as foreign language teachers or aides. I do some part time work there myself, keeping their database system up to date and their Novell network running smoothly.

And speaking of me...

The picture you see above is with my fiancee, Eliana, on Father's Day 2000. We went out for lunch to a really nice restaurant called Tom Ham's Lighthouse, which is located right on the harbor in San Diego. My parents, my sister, Eliana, and I were all in attendance. Eliana, or Ely, as she is known by to her friends and family, and I have been together now for almost 3.5 years as of this writing. We got engaged on May 27, 2002, our 2-year anniversary (2 years from our first date), at a Padres baseball game at Qualcomm Stadium.

I was born and raised in San Diego, California on August 18, 1972. (I'm sure you can figure out my age from that.. *Grin*) Ely and I live in a townhouse in Chula Vista, a suburb of San Diego, CA. I am currently working for a small computer firm called Computer and Communication Services, LLC, as a Senior Engineer. My job involves visiting various clients throughout the day, troubleshooting problems, installing new equipment (including desktop computers, servers, printers, and other equipment), performing hardware and software upgrades, doing network maintenance, and pretty much anything else you could think of involving a computer or network.

Previously, I worked for a similar company called Network Resources, Inc., after being laid off from my System Administrator position at a now-defunct telematics company called InfoGation Corporation. I had come to InfoGation in late September 2000, after working for over 7 years for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) as a computer support specialist and network administrator for Novell, Lotus Notes, and Windows NT. I graduated from San Diego State University (SDSU) in December 1998 with my bachelor's degree in Computer Science, and have just finished 8 months' worth of coursework at National University to prepare me for the MCSE exams. I have so far taken 3, and have 5 more to go.

I also have other interestes aside from Computers. I'm an avid fan of Star Trek (as you could probably tell by my Data personality); I like biking, hiking, cars, going to the beach, meeting new people, and water activities. I also became a certified Open Water SCUBA diver in March of 2001, and completed my Advanced Open Water training in August 2003. Ely has been a diver for many years, and it was partly because of her, and partly because of a trip to Costa Rica we took together in November 2000, during which I got to try out SCUBA diving and loved it, that I decided to become certified.

Music is also a large part of my life. I play the piano, violin, and viola (if you don't know what a viola is, it's very much like a violin, except that it's a little bit larger, the strings are tuned to differnet pitches, and it has a deeper, mellower sound than the violin). I play in a local community orchestra called the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (named after the Tifereth Israel Synagogue at which we rehearse), which is where Eliana and I met. I have also rejoined the Grossmont Symphony Orchestra, in which I have played off and on since the summer of 1988. Viola players are more in demand than violinists, because there are fewer of them. Also, we violists become the butt of a lot of jokes. Check those out; they're actually quite funny! :)

Last Updated: 14 October 2003