Who do you think you are?

[neksmerj]

I've made some great mates on this forum, and occasionally it's possible to put a face with the forum member.

What interests me more, is your background, one can only surmise where you got to where you are, so I'll start with me and see where it goes.

I started with the State Electricity Commission of Victoria. I missed the first intake of trainees at the draftsman's annex, but got in on the second.

Based in Richmond, Melbourne, it was a four year course where we learned the skills of drawing with drawing machine, set square etc.

That completed I joined the Metro branch in the city where we designed sub stations, and with my drawing skills, quickly rose up through the ranks.

My boss, Jack Raselli, treated me like a son, so I got all the best jobs.

The powers at Head Office wanted to publish a news paper, and I got the job. I knew nothing about printing machines or writing, but learn't quickly. I was commissioned to purchase a Gestetner offset press, and work began. I wrote the text and had the girls on the seventh floor type everything up. Paper plates were made, photos made, and away we went. Head office cut the A4 sheets from huge slabs of paper.

Four years later, I was up for a commission at the Radio Workshops, Richmond, worst move I ever made. A total disaster, my boss in Head Office, gave me a hell of a time. I suggested we get CAD installed, well that was like a red rag to a bull, suffice to say, I was out of there, and joined CIG in Melbourne in charge of the drawing office. That was a great job, I was also involved in factory maintenance. I designed many machines for them, and saw them implemented including a robotized pallet loading machine for their boxes of electrodes.

Life was good until some retrenchments happened. I escaped the first wave, and was finally put off.

Pit Waddell and Bennett was next, now know as PWB. Again in charge of the drawing office, I had a ball designing all sorts of material handling equipment, parts for chain makers, guarding, wire lifting reels, all was good.

I got talked into being manager for an engineering company with an increase in salary and a company car. I left PWB.

In the mean time my missus nicked off with a younger bloke, must have a bigger tool. All forgotten now and no remorse.

Took up rock and roll dancing, and met an amazing lady. Long story short, got engaged and enrolled in a silver smithing course at Collingwood Tech. With new skills, made our engagement ring with white gold and a solitaire diamond.

Unfortunately, my lady friend was far smarter than me being a sociologist, and we parted after five years. She kept the ring.

I'm on my own now and never been happier with my machines, some in my house.

What's your story?

Ken

[BobL]

A few years ago I wrote down a list of most of the jobs I can remember doing over the years - i.e. been paid for


Toy koala bear stuffer
Septic tank cleaner
Selling menswear in an old fashioned menswear store
In-flight Astronomical commentator/guide
Handing out handbills
Car detailer
Schoolteacher
Driving Instructor
Computer programmer
Isotope Data Analyst
Cosmochemist
Chainsaw milling
Chainsaw wood Carving
Crayfish processor
Sewage tank concrete block layer
Mixing 1 ton batches of concrete and cement
Dogman
Potato picking
Root picking
High rise concrete form work construction
Ditch digger
Supermarket shelf stacker
Gardener
University lecturing and administration
Designing and building ultra clean laboratories
Ladies shoe sales
warehouse Despatch

SO jack of many trades and master of very little.

[neksmerj]

BobL

My god father, that beats me hands down.

Root picking, what's that all about, anything do with sheilas?

Ken

edit, you forgot to mention chicken plucker and possum stuffer.

Want to hear from stuystoys, AB, GregQ, shedhappens, pipeclay and all of you guys.

[BobL]

Root picking is walking up and down a paddock after it has been cleared and ripped up by a dozer or tractor with a ripping blade on the back.
All the roots that are ripped up are picked up and stacked in piles for burning.
One of the most endless and soul-less jobs I've ever done.
I rather clean septic tanks - as there's usually some sympathy and a cuppa from the home owner once you're done.

[KBs PensNmore]

I left school at 16 after repeating a couple of year/forms. We (teachers and I) came to the same conclusion, we were wasting each others time. I worked with my father painting for a while, then worked as a grease monkey/welder for a bloke that sold and serviced Toyota cars, sold petrol and did engineering stuff like grain bins on truck chassis, for bagging. Worked on building concrete grain silos at Wallaroo, Pt Giles, then got a job working on a dairy farm, where I went to Adult Education Centre (now TAFE) and did a 2 year course on welding cutting etc. Also met my first wife there. We got engaged and as the couldn't support and other married worker, I left and went back home where my father had a shack that he rented out.
We lived in there while I worked on the Pt Giles silos again and spent the honeymoon at Ardrossan pouring the walls of the silos there. When they were finished, moved moved to Adelaide, where I got a job building trailers, getting a better paying job on a construction site, which was great till Christmas when we all got laid off.
I then got a job welding trailers was there for about 3 months, was late getting to work by about an hour, as my daughter was born that morning. Told not to bother coming back, nice ******^^ he was. Then got a job at an engineering works making all different sorts of items, Cyanide pots, steel frames for ships fire extinguisher systems, roof trusses and installing them. Also drove taxis at night to get extra money, ended up driving them full time, till I had an accident and lost my permit. Worked at another place doing Aluminium welding (the handrail posts on the SE Freeway on the Mt Barker overpass) and stainless for fire proof buildings. Worked for another bloke on weekends at the same time, doing mechanical work, learnt a lot there. Eventually lost interest in that job as it got too political, kept the part time job though. and worked for another engineering company doing all different types of work again, hand rails, carbon silos, mounting machinery, making wool washing machines etc. Eventually had a gut full of them and their penny pinching, and went working for myself, doing general engineering work, building trailers, gates anything that came along. Got an offer as a manager of a trailer hire place, where I redesigned a couple of their furniture trailers, so that they didn't leak, and rebuilt the trailer fleet so that they were better and stronger to withstand the punishment. Designed and built a tipper trailer that had a roll on roll off rubbish container as the service stations (3) they owned, accumulated a lot of rubbish. It was good emptying the rubbish, as to the stuff that was thrown out, new wiper blades, tools, oil filters. Again it got political, 5 bosses 2 workers, told them to shove it.Got an offer from another business doing fire fighting units, and irrigation units, plus other types of work. Did a bit of R&D work there also, eventually they got taken over by another large company where again I did R&D work. One of the things they wanted was a valve that would shut off completely, rather than dribbling continuously, they had a draughtsman there and was told to make it first and he would copy it. At that time I bought my first 4WD a Suzuki LJ50 3 cylinder 2 stroke, I wanted a canopy for it, couldn't get one so I made it, a Bull bar again don't make them, so I made my own. I got asked to join the club, next thing I know I have orders for them and other items, so I started working for myself again, doing maintenance work for the owner of the business where I rented a shed off him, he had a grit blasting powder coating business, so it went hand in hand. Eventually grew out of that shed and went into another about 8 times the size. Ended up doing fuel tanks, side bars even started to make a spray on lawn unit, when I got an offer for the business I thought I couldn't refuse. Wish I had, as after a year I came back from annual leave, the business had folded, still owing me about $5,000. I ended up working for one of his franchisee's making tanks and other accessories. Again after a years annual leave, I was told work was a bit quiet, but I could hear someone doing my job. I ended up teaching welding and cutting for a small employment agency, eventually going back to working for myself again, yep, a glutton for punishment. This time contracting to the bloke that went belly up on me, it was one way of getting some of my money back doing tanks, bar work, he got a contract to supply a heap of tray liners for a mining company, he got someone else to make them and I had to fix the stuff ups, excess weld spatter, missing paint in areas, dodgy welds etc. as the place that made them went belly up. Not long after he bought into my business and within 3 months it went broke, I was quoting X to do the job to him and he was quoting XX to the customer, no wonder I wasn't getting any work.
Worked from home doing the same stuff, eventually outgrowing the shed and got a larger shed, had a customer come to me with a prototype storage unit, which he wanted me to make and further develop. This led to the fridge slide that I developed, made and supplied to a famous make of portable fridge, 100 every other month. 5 years later I had to sell the business because of a car accident, broke both legs just below the knee. The right leg was badly smashed below the knee that the Drs wanted to amputate. It was in 8 pieces, I now have a steel plate with 22 screws, that goes from the knee to the ankle as it was broken just above there as well. When I sold the business there were 14 different places making them, I did 52 different sizes. As the storage unit developed, it gave rise to different units and designs, some were for outboards, several for kitchen units on camper trailers.
Iv'e also done a couple of TAFE courses for AutoCAD 2D and AutoCAD Inventor, before I sold the business.
Eventually, wife number 2 left me with considerable debt, and I ended up with my partner Pam, who has been at my side, through my serious bouts of depression for the last 8 years, where I now get by on a Disability Pension. Which is why I'm always looking for cheap tools to repair and use.
So there it is, basically my life of working, ups and downs.
Also through the 4WD club, I've done a couple of courses, training small groups and workplace training and assessing courses Cert3

Kryn pronounced similar to Ryan but with a K

[jhovel]

This is a funny thread for a metal working forum. But I like the idea. Thanks Ken. Gives one a much different perspective on people you 'invent' an imaginary background for (when they haven't told you).
You are a good short story teller, Ken.
I also like the short-hand version of Bob's reply, so I go somewhere in between for my 'CV':
Arrived in Australia in July 1971, after finisihing high school in Germany in February.
- Second class (not formally qualified) motorcycle mechanic at Mayfair Motors, Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
- head hunted to run a new workshop in Claton by Peter Stevens Motorcycles
- one failed semester of mechanical engineering at RMIT
- self employed taxi truck driver
- semi truck driver for Vaughns Transport, local deliveries to warehouses in the city - REALLY learnt to drive, backing semis into nearrow lanes with loading bays at the end....
- Second class sheetmetal worker in a mechanical services company, McNiece Bros
- moved up the ranks to draftsman, assistant to structural engineer, estimator - eventualy really hated that job!
- student psychiatric nurse (finally got a formal qualification)
- student general nurse (one more qual)
- 18 year carrier in psych nursing ending up deputy director of nursing
- completed a distance ed Bachelor of Health Science, then Masters, then Grad Cert in Public Health
- Health services project officer
- Rural and remote Health researcher
- Senior lecturer in Rural and Remote Health, Monash Uni, continued short course studies in Health Informatics and eventually wrote courses for Monash, Latrobe and University of Launceton, as well as doing Health IT consultancies under the Monash banner - took redundancy after 10 years
- TAFE educator in IT (got myself a Dip IT by RPL only - no studies at all, and a Workplace assessment and Training Certificate to qualify for the job. Also studied and got myself a Grad Cert in Computing at Latrobe Uni to make sure I knew more than my students :) )
- General Nurse Acute services, Castlemaine Health
- Health Services Manager at Castlemaine, Bendigo and Maldon Prisons - for 5 years. Best job I had in my life. The company I worked for talked me into (and paid for) doing a Diploma of Business Managment during working hours! Nice. Really enjoyed it, developed a great team and made lots of important changes in Prison Health Systems (including many that were taken up State-wide)
- part-time community psychiatric nurse, Bendigo. Hated it second time around and lasted 2 1/2 years before quitting and retiring permanently.

Retirement is of course nothing to do with inactivity! It just means 'I was tired yesterday and I'm tired again today' :)

- Started a horticultural production company in rural India this year to finance a school there.

Woodwork skills were acquired by necessity: never had money and needed to build a house and furniture. Machining skills were only ever an interest and a hobby, acquired when I found the buried CVA lathe and enrolled in a TAFE Hobby Machining course to rebuild it in 1976 until 1980.

There you have it.... :)

[KBs PensNmore]

Root picking is walking up and down a paddock after it has been cleared and ripped up by a dozer or tractor with a ripping blade on the back.
All the roots that are ripped up are picked up and stacked in piles for burning.
One of the most endless and soul-less jobs I've ever done.
I rather clean septic tanks - as there's usually some sympathy and a cuppa from the home owner once you're done.

Where my brother lived, he used a front end loader to pick them up as they were already in piles in the scrub, good money for them.
Was that an invitation to go inside, for the cuppa?????

[Burner]

I grew up on our family Dairy Farm in the Adelaide Hills. I was almost always outside on the farm and enjoyed riding around on motorbikes, trucks and tractors. I got started driving and operating machines quite young. My Father would have a go at fixing anything even though he had never been taught much at all. I would be there in the workshop whenever I could be. It was a fairly basic workshop, a 9" angle grinder, 8" bench grinder, 200amp stick welder, #2 mt drill press, home made press and pipe bender and hand tools, pullers etc.

I changed High schools in yr10 because the new Private school I was at didn't have much focus in tech studies. I was used as a "guinea pig" in yr 11 to try out a yr 12 curriculum for 2 subjects, metal machining and also metal fabrication. It was great being the only student with full run of the tech studies room. I made a step ladder, welding table and 14" friction saw, all of which I still have. I don't think you can build that stuff at school anymore.I also did electronics including Control technology in yr 11 as yr 12 subjects.

I bought a Foster Capstan Lathe when I was in yr 11 and my Father reluctantly allowed me to put it in the farm workshop. After I bored out the worn holes on a Southern Cross Irrigator and made brass bushes to resize the holes, Dad added up the price of spare parts. He then realised that the lathe was a good investment in workshop space. I also bought a Fordson tractor to restore when I was 14. Almost 30 years on it is still unrestored, but I have all the parts now!!

I hated school, mostly because of the social crap and pointless time wasting subjects we had to do! The best bit was doing work experience, at K & A Engineering (race cars), FM Tool and Gauge (toolmakers) and Cav Power(Cat dealers). A deal was made with my parents that if I got an apprenticeship I could leave school. I decided to apply for Fitter & Turner apprenticeships as I liked to machine and build new machines and not just repair things. I ended up at Tubemakers in Kilburn. I was able to share a house with a cousin which was handy because I was to young to get my P plates.

Tubemakers was a good place to be an apprentice as they had an apprentice training centre for us 10 new guys, a large Toolroom, Drawn and welded Tube mills, Bundy tubing and the automotive manufacturing stuff. We had exposure to everything from shapers to CNC lathes and mills, Maintenance fitting to Drawing and metrology, Non ferrous casting to chrome plating, grinding to tube bending and press tools. After 2 there years Tubemakers sold the tube drawing machines to OS and the steering component buisness was sold to Air International.

I was one of 2 apprentices that got taken to Air International out of the 28 that couldn't be signed off. Some stayed at Bundy Tubing, 1 went to Port Kembla and the rest got jobs around Adelaide. We got $600 and up to 5 days away from work for training as the car industry had import tarrifs reduced and people needed to get out of the industry (in 1992!). Apprentices have little choice for training, so I got Forklift, Truck and Motorbike lisences. The best bit about being at a company that is closing operations is that lots of stuff is going in the scrap bin. I took the opportunity and brought home my fair share of "Srap Metal, No charge" as the security pass outs said! That's how I got all the stuff with BTM stamped on it.

Air International was much smaller and I was now confined to the Toolroom. I was slotted into the Toolmaker apprentice position. It was different there as we had 2 parts to the Toolroom. There was the 4 existing Air International toolmakers who designed and built the press tools themselves. They had their machines that they all shared. The bigger part of the toolroom had come from Tubemakers and they had all the tools designed and drawn in the office and then machined and assembled. The Tubemakers way was each man to their own type of machine, Turners, Millers, Grinders and toolmakers only assembled or stripped tooling. Every part had a drawing and machinists just followed that. I was placed with the Air boys which I enjoyed as I didn't like being tied to one machine. I purchased a VDF Boehringer lathe from the toolroom and a Cincinatti #2 mill with verticle head from a dealer and several other machines and welders during this time.

After I finished serving my time (as an apprentice) I left as I was absolutely sick of being locked inside and also was caught in the middle of some power struggles. I convinced my Family and Girlfriend that there was a future to Dairy Farming and returned to the farm. I had to get some part time off farm work as well so I worked as a builders labourer, Diesel TA and farm worker. They were all good experiences but not where I wanted to be. I also continued to grow the workshop with machines and all the other stuff you need. Eventually I was able to give up the off farm work as we had intensified our farm and I was also getting some machining work.

As things got more involved with the girlfriend we had to consider where we could live if we got married. The neighbours farm came up for sale and we bought it. We managed to lease the land in between to join it up so the farm expanded. Then we got married. I reduced the amount of machining I was doing for others but still kept buying tools and machines. We then managed to buy the leased land and lease more. We also built a new dairy.

Fortunatley my wife grew up on a Dairy Farm so she can muster and milk cows, drive tractors, trucks, motorbikes and quads and weld, all while looking after 3 kids and me! I have never seen her weld though, even with the nice new Miller auto helmet I bought the day I forgot her birthday!

The new dairy was an awesome project to manage. We travelled intestate to see the latest and greatest and all sorts of operations. We designed the system we wanted and got it built. I was involved in every step, including the design of everything, particularly the rapid exit system as the dairy builder decided to have a go at building them. We have electric, hydraulic, Pneumatic, Vacuum, Refridgeration, Effluent and Electronic systems in our 16 a side rapid exit dairy.

Not long after the dairy was completed I had a fight with an 800kg Holstein bull. He busted my sternum, numerous ribs, teeth and bruised much of my body. I got him put on a truck and his head cut off. He won the battle, I won the war! This encounter has caused me ongoing back problems and increased depression. After more than 10 years of ongoing pain I have leased out the dairy and most of our land. The dairy industry has been great to us. We worked hard and reaped some rewards. We have had a couple of overseas trips and met a lot of great people. We still owe the bank money, but who doesn't!!

Now I am trying to sort out my mess and repair and sell some machinery. We will probably hold a reduction sale early next year. It may include some machine tools so that perhaps I can buy some better ones!

Boy that got long, I can really crap on too!!

[sacc51]

I left school at 15 or 16, can’t remember which but my folks had to get special permission due to my age. I wasn’t doing too well at school I’d already repeated a year and was probably set to repeat another. When I left I could barely read or write, algebra, trigonometry, physics, chemistry, metalwork, woodwork were simply words I'd heard associated with the HSC. I have spent the remainder of my life, thus far, educating myself through reading, researching and reasoning, but mostly by practicing and doing!

Some that I remember:

My first job was with a steel fabrication business, the boss promised he would teach me how to weld – he didn’t. I spent every lunch hour in the workshop teaching myself – the boss even charged me for the electrodes. If I wanted to know something I had to ask or go to the library, no one offered to help and getting any information was like getting blood out of a stone. My first paycheck was for the princely sum $11.64, $5 of it going to my mother for board – I was rich! Eventually, after all my practice I was good enough to move from the grinders to the welding tables, I also had the occasional stint in the spray booth, The painter 'Fred' was an excellent teacher always explaining how, why and when.. I stayed there for a few years until the foreman and the painter started their own business and asked me to go with them - didn't hesitate.

I stayed put for another few years alternating between fabricating, welding and spray painting. Then I moved onto selling insurance, a dismal failure was I; but, undeterred (and stupidly) I moved onto selling encyclopedias where another dismal failure (based on historical evidence) was assured. I then moved onto labourer where I climbed the ladder to Timberman and then Pipelayer with an occasional stint on the backhoe. Next I gained employment as a dedicated pipelayer laying 24" pipes - excellent money!

The term Timberman, in this incidence, refers to timbering a hole to prevent collapse. Normally only used in restricted areas where sloping on the sides is not a viable option. A team would consist of a backhoe operator and two others, one with a shovel the other with a sledge. The backhoe operator does as you would imagine, dig the hole and then scrape the sides level with the timbers, the shovel man then scrapes away the earth below each plank and the sledge man above strikes the planks to lower them. Timbers are kept in place by long ??? (can’t remember the name, too long ago, lets call them Stringers) and stringers are kept at width by the use of Toms. As you can appreciate if one side is lowered to far in front of the other the toms will attain critical angle and pop out causing the entire trench to collapse and a sudden coming together of stringers and thus timber planks – not good to be caught in between. Unfortunately, earth has a way of moving of it's own accord, dislodging toms that separate stringers which in turn hold timbers in place, many times I found toms approaching critical angle and had to scramble to get out in time (very difficult to move quickly when below the water table), thus avoiding becoming just a very thin, unfortunate profile...

On one occasion down a reasonably deep hole I was guiding the backhoe operator’s bucket to scrape the sides, every time the operator brought the bucket forward it would crash into my abdomen forcing out the air and making it impossible for me to call out (not that he would have heard me anyway). The tom was going skewiff and in a desperate attempt to keep the tom aligned I was moving my body from side to side between strikes to ensure they stayed at the correct angle. Fortunately, the sledge man saw what was happening and raced over to the backhoe operator and shut him down. After that I learned to choose sledge before shovel.

But I digress:

I then went to work in a precast concrete yard welding reo and moulds. It was a pretty slack job which gave me plenty of time to improve my trowelling skills and play with front end loaders, forklifts and an articulated crane. Then I sat for my semi licence and got a job delivering feed and grain to the ports – never again, what an itchy, $#!tty job.

Through the CES (remember them - they used to find you employment) I was offered a plumb job with the SEC – or so I thought: On the first day I was given the job of unpacking four crates with insulators in them, I’d finished by 10 and asked the foreman for my next job, he gave me a fierce stare and said ‘that was an all day job, are you some sort of smartarse’, I was dumbfounded but I stayed there for a little while to amass some cash and left. The laziest bunch of no-hopers and bludgers I’ve ever worked with or met. In those days the SEC used an old six wheel drive Studebaker with a winch to string cables, on one occasion the operator had called in sick and the foreman was discussing what to do with his superiors, eventually the foreman came over and asked if anyone knew how to operate the Studebaker and it's winch. I put my hand up and said 'Yeh I know how to operate them', 'great' said the foreman 'go down to the office and show them your ticket and we'll get on with it'. 'Ticket, what ticket' said I. That was the end of that - my first indication that a piece of paper was worth more than experience.

But, I digress again:

Labourer for a Bricklayer was the next job, during lunch hour and after hours I practiced laying bricks until I was good enough to move up to Bricklayer, I worked with a few teams eventually teaming up with my brother (a qualified bricklayer) to build houses. Totally sick of the good times/bad times work schedule I decided to move on to something a little more secure, I joined the RAAF.

That was in 1975, I stayed until 2000, serving in QLD, NSW, SA, NT and Malaysia. By this time my body was vigorously objecting, it could take no more (thanks to a very physical job and an underlying failing – enthusiasm) so the RAAF kicked me out. Unable to work anymore due to injuries and wear and tear they gave me access to my super a few years early and called it a ‘Disability Pension’. That was until I reached the age of sixty from whence it attracted it’s correct designation of – ‘my superannuation’

By the time I was discharged I was at the top of the ladder and was heading a four celled section comprised of Police Section, Police Dog Section, Investigations Section and Counter Intelligence Section, with Ground Defence and Physical Training cells also coming under my control at various times. Normally over 30 personnel came under my direct control, in busy times over 60 personnel. When I look back I think that’s not too bad for a bloke with a grade school education. I would have much preferred to continue in the work force (if only for monetary reasons) but unfortunately my body said no more – we are broken! Fifteen years on from that and my body is objecting to my playing in the shed, I think they call that ‘living past your use by date’.


So, who do I think I am: a dope! Given my time over I would have preferred to have been given the option of a private tutor to help me to a decent education (as my brother was) and gone into something that would have provided me with a little more dignity in my later years.

I may have forgotten some of my jobs, these are just some of the more memorable ones for some reason or other. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, my many and varying jobs and upbringing led me to a place where DIY was the only place I was happy, be it welding, upholstery, woodwork, bricklaying,mechanical, clothing alterations (yes really), steel fabrication, painting, what have you.

[jhovel]

This is becoming a very interesting thread of personal stories. Never seen anything like that on a forum before!
What's also interesting to me are the frank descriptions of bad luck or bad choices - but taken with the same gusto as the great times!
Chronic pain and depression also raised it's presence here and there. Incidentally, chronic pain will invariably lead to depression unless it is understood as a natural penomenon that can be under one's own controll - but that's a topic for another day (read up about 'reprogramming your brain' if you are interested. There are a whole swag of new discoveries about chronic pain now).
Given that it is mental health week in Australia, it would be great if we could talk more freely about that in our life stories. Australia is one of few countries where mental illness is reducing in stima and discrimination more than most.

I didn't mention the many episodes of my 'black dog' throughout my life - one of which made me leave Germany and come to Australia. Funny that geographic flight doesn't leave the black dog behind :)
Some of these episodes where actually helpful in making who I am, others held me back from developing who I wanted to be.
I've also had my fair share of chronic pain (two back operations 25 years apart, a hip replacement at 51 and osteoarthitis in most joints - a family trait). But I'm in pretty good control of my pain these days, largely without any medication. It certainly won't be the cause of any future depressive episodes, although they will undoubtedly happen once in a while.... They are part of who I am and I live with them. I know what to do when it happens again and that means I don't lose control. So no real problem. Just a bloody nuiscance.

I can't believe I wrote all that..... well done me.

[neksmerj]

Is that it?

Gregory Q, did you just transgress from gypsy moth to A300 over night?
Phil1, aka steamwisperer, did boiling a billy get you into steam work?
Phil2, aka Machtool, are you going to tell me you went from seamstress to machine reconditioning?
Stustoys, do you have skeletons in the closet? Come across in a convict ship? We don't know, enlighten us.
AB, I wouldn't mind betting you are an architectural draftsman or architect with a passion for machines and photography.

Would like to hear from others with a brief background, if it's too long people won't read it.

Now it's your turn to spill the beans.

Ken

[KBs PensNmore]

It's great reading about others life experiences, the good and the bad, a feeling of getting to know them better. I don't know about being too long, people not reading it? It helps others understand them better, be it the black dog, illness, pain, how others deal with it. Thanks Joe for the tip 'reprogramming your brain'. I'll look that up.
Kryn

[sacc51]

Insights into people’s lives and experiences often give meaning to the way they interact with others. I’m not surprised this post has elicited so little input, many people are well guarded when it comes to the telling of their circumstances and/or life experiences for fear they will be judged, or misjudged, as the case may be; unfortunately, people will judge anyway, it’s a long standing human failing! I wouldn’t expect too much more input!

[Combustor]

Hi sacc51,
For a thread that is barely into its third day I thought it was going rather well. People need time to marshal their thoughts and decide what they will reveal before they go public. Quite fascinating to see the paths some have taken to arrive at the present. Looking forward to more. Must find time to get my own recollections together.
Combustor.

[BobL]

At our mens shed (which is not as public as these forums) we do a similar thing at some social occasions - we basically go around the BBQ and in 30 seconds each member has to say "something about themselves that they may not have told anyone at the shed before", this could be somewhere they have travelled, or made, or experienced etc. Some of things are surprising and help with initiate follow up conversation etc.

[chambezio]

I grew up in the south of Sydney. The old man bought a Milkrun and thats how we ended up there. During the 50s everybody was building there own house. We were no exception so as I grew up watching work being done nearly all around me has given me the ability to do a lot of different things.
Left school at 15 and got an Apprenticeship in Carpentry with a mob doing high rise in the city. I learned alot about digging out mud from trenches and cleaning reo. We did a lot of setting out for other trades so my carpentry skills were not really moving very fast. What I did learn was to bring the trades together at the proper time so each lot could do what they had to do in harmony with everyone else. I was with them for 2 years firstly working on an office block them units in Cronulla.
They went into liquidation and I was lucky enough to get a start with another commercial builder doing warehouses and some schools. It was better work and I picked up more Carpentry skills. I probably should have stayed with them but I went to work for another big mob doing a warehouse that was 4 acres under one roof.
I was very happy living in Sydney and longed to "get away" into the country. A mate (who was a house builder) did exactly that and asked if I wanted to go too. So off to Tamworth we went. It was such a difference going to work on quiet country roads and just feeling "free". Well we parted company after about a year, I was working for myself picking up small Carpentry jobs. Money was tight as the jobs were spasmodic. Met a local girl and could see that I needed a better regular income if we were to marry. I got a job with an Industrial Caravan Maker. They put me in to fit out Dental Caravans with curved corners. The bulkheads with cupboards had to be scribed to fit. Slow job but I must have done OK as they kept me on for 2½years till they went belly up. In the caravan place though I taught myself to weld up furniture that we then put together and fitted it into the vans.
Next place I ended up in made kitchens and wardrobes. I had to learn new things there as it was so different from cottage work and a world away from concrete and steel. We would build the units them install all over the area. It was nothing to drive for 3 hours the put in a kitchen and drive home. I stupidly never charged the boss for the drive home after hours. After 8 years the foreman left so I took his place. I enjoyed a lot of the years on the floor building the units and installing them, but things were about to go sour.
As foreman I was still trying to at least put the units together with the rest of the blokes but as the volume started to expand I had to devote more time in the office. The boss would do the drawings then I would put the job into the schedule and order the materials for it. The boss was always demanding but it seemed the more we could do the more he would expect us to do. Christmas time was the worst because he would load us up with more and more kitchens so "people could have a new kitchen for Christmas". I found myself becoming more and more angry but couldn't vent it away. I started seeing a Psychiatrist who sated me on Anti Depressants. [Looking back now I did have "moods" all through my life but things were getting out of hand.] At one stage we had 12 blokes on the floor. I would start at 7.30 and run all day just to keep up with what was happening. By 1998 the Psychiatrist suggested that I should give work a while, his question was " could you live on the dole?" Boy that flattened me!!! I said no and that I wasn't going to let the depression beat me. Well after 1998 Christmas I was ready to finish at the end of January 99. I could only vegetate. Had no interest in anything. My wife got Austar for us and that at least helped the days to pass.
By the end of 99 our monetary situation was not brilliant and I realised I had to go back to work to survive. My wife had been suffering from Migraines so they put her on Disability Pension as well as me. Anyway I began working for myself. It was good for a while but the long hours etc took its toll and 3 years later I was back on the Pension. I was getting more and more tired (I still get bloody tired now)
I did short spurts of paid work at different times but had to give it away.
I found this Forum in 2009 and have been a reader and sometimes contributor. The words of wisdom and help have been great for me. That Black Dog is never very far away though taking any amount of enthusiasm that I can muster. Like you other fellas I have good days and bad and thankfully the Meds are there to stop me from bottoming out.
My skills that I had acquired over my lifetime.....Carpenter, cabinet making, plumbing and draining, basic electrical stuff, bricklaying, painting, gyprock hanging and setting, welding fabrication, machining on a 100 plus year old lathe. I have made a woodlathe, wide drum sander, chainsaw mill, hydraulic press (a WWII Jeep to restore) sheet metal folder.
The Forum gets my mind on to other things which usually make me work on some thing in the shed.


I didn't say that we built a house out of town and have raised 2 daughters. The youngest daughter (25) is on antidepressants as well as the wife.

[Vann]

I'm the son of Dutch immigrants - the first Kiwi in the family.

I started an apprenticeship with NZ Railways, as a coachbuilder, at the Otahuhu Railway Workshops (Auckland) in 1973 (age 17). Coachbuilding was a recent amalgamation of carpentry, sheetmetalwork, painting and trimming trades "jacks of all trades, masters of none" some old tradies said - and to an extent they were right. When I completed my trade four years later I was sent to the Copper & Sheetmetal Shop (so much for amalgamating the trades :roll:!), where I worked for another 3 years before my frustration with some of the blueprints caused me to apply for a job in the mechanical Design Office, in Wellington, as a draughtsman.

I worked as a draughtsman for 19 years (told mum I was only going to be away for 5 years), on all sorts of wagon and freight projects, before specialising in passenger work. In 1999 they were downsizing, one of the two passenger draughting positions had to go, I was feeling burnt-out with the existing workload. I spoke to my wife, and the next day told the boss I'd like to take "roll-back" (roll back is where your position is made redundant, but you take a lesser position somewhere else within the company). I went back to coachbuilding - this time at the Hutt Railway Workshops (Wellington). The Otahuhu shops had been closed about 1993.

At Hutt I was involved in rebuilding parts of the bodywork on locomotives, as they came in for overhaul. This included two huge "D" class locomotives that we'd bought ex-Western Australia - destined for Tassie (TasRail at that time were partly owned by the same crowd that then owned us).
After two years there, the company announced they were selling off various parts of the organisation, including the Hutt workshops, and the metro operations in Wellington and Auckland. Time to move on I thought. I spotted an advert looking for staff who wanted to train (no pun intended) as train drivers on the Wellington metro. I put my name in and got a job there.

I've been driving trains now for 14 years. Two years ago I completed 40years with the same company (they never did manage to sell off Wellington's metro). This is probably the most secure job in the organisation (if I can avoid running red lights :o), but the management are the least appreciative of the staff of any part of the railway I've worked in. We just keep making the same cock-ups over and over again. I hate it (I want to like my job and help improve service levels, and grow the business - but this division of the company seems to just want to go through the motions).

I was a late developer. As a teenager I was scared of girls - so I spent my weekends at the local vintage steam railway, working on track, carriages, or locomotives as required. Upon moving to Wellington (in 1980) I joined another railway club, but by 1986 I was looking for other interests. I joined a church social club where I met my first wife. We married in 1990, had a son in 1991 and separated in 1994. The usual story, she had little, and came away with half of everything I owned (including half a freehold house). A couple of years later I met my second wife. Funny thing, I would never have married again had she not had similar assets (once bitten, twice shy). We have two beautiful daughters, one born in 2001, the other in 2004 (when I was 49 :o). I always said I wanted to be senile before my daughters became teenagers - and I've only partly made it :;:U.

Black-dog? Yes, I had an episode back in the 1980s - related to unrequited love. I've meet the woman since, and kicked myself for being such a fool at the time. Still there's no reasoning with the heart. I still get down about various things from time to time, but no real dark episodes - so I guess I'm lucky.
So now, at the age of 59 3/4, if I could just get a job that didn't frustrate me as much...

Cheers, Vann.

[RayG]

I grew up in rural victoria, country values and lifestyle, family first, always help a mate whenever you can, and don't take things too seriously, take your time and enjoy life.

I started off in Chemistry at CSIRO in the late 1960's as a lab assistant, and met lots of interesting people, and did some interesting research work, looking back, we were one of the first divisions to get Hewlett Packhard computers for analysing experimental data, and since I liked doing it, and taught myself how to make it do a few tricks, it became part of the work. Moved back to rural victoria when I got married and built my own house, learnt a bit of carpentry, electrical and plumbing in the process. We have 3 kids two boys and a girl, all grown up and happy, (not to forget our 5 beautiful granddaughters, and number six due any day) the youngest Josh shares the workshop space, and most of the people on here have met Josh at scraping courses or elsewhere. He's a better machinist than me. ( but I don't tell him that ).

After moving back to country Victoria, I worked in the fruit industry, developing custom electronics and control systems, we had our own company, a subsidiary of the parent, and I ran that for 30 years, we worked all over the world doing control systems, some weird and wonderful places and jobs. Too many war stories to tell in such a short space as here.

I designed a personal computer in the early 1980's and showed it at a trade fair in the US, this was prior to the IBM PC and Apple Macintosh, while it had some nice features, it was never really going to compete with IBM, and the company that was established to manufacture it collapsed. Still it was a valuable experience. We even did a CPM version ( for those who are old enough to remember those days). Wrote lots of assembler, and I can still write 6502 assembler in my head without referring to op codes. (that's a worry). Got interested in the Forth language and used to go each year to the Forth conferences in Monterey California. These days it's all C and pic processors, although the ESP8266 is a nice little thing embedded wifi, 80 Mhz cpu all for under $4 http://www.esp8266.com/

My eldest son got a job working in Austria a few years back and so we've been commuting to Linz and back for a while, one job we did in Linz was to design and build 5000 custom programmed FM receivers to control lighting for a crowd of 90,000 on the banks of the Danube... there might be a link on the aec web site.... yep. http://www.aec.at/linzerschnitte/

Doing control systems and helping out with Matthew's artwork projects is much more fun than industrial control systems. see http://matthewgardiner.net/ for some of the projects we worked on.
Current projects are tending back towards more industrial work, we are doing a design for a vanadium redox flow battery (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadium_redox_battery), and some research work on photochemical reactors.
Also involved in delwp bushfire communications infrastructure upgrades for the P25 radio network.

Lately I've been learning how to weld plastics and still got a long way to go, but slowly improving.

Life is short, don't waste it on regrets. Or as one of my bosses used to say, "don't die wondering".

[KBs PensNmore]

Thanks Guys for the insight to your lives. I like the idea of this thread, as it gives credibility to some of the replies you get, when asking a question about different subjects. Plus the fact that if you're a victim of the Black Dog, you know you're not alone on here, so a BIG thank you, to all that have replied and will reply to this thread.
Kryn

[steamingbill]

Being an owner builder 25 years ago made me realise that it is okay to have a go at things, make mistakes and learn stuff. Am currently learning how to use lathe, mill and welding machine. Have always greatly appreciated the help I’ve received when asking questions on this forum. Thanks.

Just after retirement (30+ years in coal mines), built a drum sander and a small wood lathe (both made of wood) - wondered briefly about building a metal lathe - but with absolutely no experience whatsoever with metal - "didn't know what I didn't know" - and had no idea it would be far more difficult than building the small wood lathe.

Wandered into the metalwork forum 2-3 years ago and was astonished at the fine tolerances and flatness and tight fits being discussed - although one part of my brain knew that such accuracy was possible in industry, I had no idea that it was within the reach of Joe Average in his shed. With the added advantage of no need to control dust, decided that buying a metal lathe should provide some interesting times in the shed during retirement.

Am always amazed when something works - sneaking up on final dimensions and keep testing and then it fits is hugely satisfying . Seem to have had 4 things half finished for ages now, 5 more being thought about and a list of a further 30+ things to have a go at in the future. Cutting threads that mate properly is always a huge buzz. The main attraction at the moment is increasing skills by building some essential tools and in the future some stirling engines and a few chess sets and then of course some more tools.

I thought the 9" Hercus was a huge and scary piece of machinery when I first got it 2 years ago. The recently acquired Rong Fu 30 Mill is even more amazing. Am glad I bought these older machines - the Hercus in particular seems more "organic", alive and solid compared to my friends modern chinese lathe (although he never gets a stuck chuck).

Am gobsmacked at how casually and easily some folk purchase and move and renovate things bigger than my 9” Hercus. Am only just starting to understand that this is a little lathe.

[neksmerj]

Steamwhisperer, a gentle nudge.

You sir probably have the most envious job of all of us.

I reckon you have a fantastic story to tell. You don't just become the "head man" at "The Hill" without some prior experience. Does your current car still have wooden wheels and a coal box on the back?

Let's have it, yeh I'm pushy!

Ken

[Vann]

Does your current car still have ...a coal box on the back?Are you asking if he has a tender behind? :D

Cheers, Vann.

[Steamwhisperer]

Steamwhisperer, a gentle nudge.

You sir probably have the most envious job of all of us.

I reckon you have a fantastic story to tell. You don't just become the "head man" at "The Hill" without some prior experience. Does your current car still have wooden wheels and a coal box on the back?

Let's have it, yeh I'm pushy!

Ken
Hi Ken
it's coming. Since this thread started I have thought about how I got where I am now and have come to realise that somehow I have managed to pack a couple of lifetimes in there. I am trying to condense it a bit before I post as there is some seriously boring stuff amongst it all. :D


Are you asking if he has a tender behind? :D

Cheers, Vann.
Hi Vann
I reckon Ken is talking about a gas producer and of course that is waaaay too modern for me. :D:D

Phil

[KBs PensNmore]

Phil,
Some "seriously boring stuff amongst it all" as you put it, may be of interest to others on here, as to how you've ended up with a most enviable job.
Kryn

[Vann]

Are you asking if he has a tender behind? :D


Hi Vann
I reckon Ken is talking about a gas producer and of course that is waaaay too modern for me. :D:DOkay.

In the early 1970s. the steam railway I used to hang-out at, Glenbrook Vintage Railway, picked up a steam locomotive from a town in the Waikato (about 3-4 hours drive away). The locomotive unit went on the first truck, the coal tender on a second. All the way up State Highway 1 the first truck carried a large sign with the message: "Careful - I have a tender behind" :rolleyes:. Loved it then, still chuckle now.

Cheers, Vann.

[Steamwhisperer]

lol

[neksmerj]

Phil, your CV was amazing, most transparent.

Do you have any more to add?

Ken

[riverbuilder]

What a great read. I'll get around to doing mine when I'm not so tired and pie eyed.

[neksmerj]

Mmmmm, was hoping more members would respond, you don't have to write a tome, just a precis of your working life.

Phil, if you are struggling with the spelling, just get your missus to write it for you.........ah, perhaps you don't want your missus to know what you've really been up to.

You can leave the bit out about getting all those sheilas steamed up!

Greg Q, are you in hiding?

Ken

[neksmerj]

I left a lot of stuff out of my original story, such as, when working for the SEC, Metro Branch, part of my job was to publish a monthly magazine, the Metro News.

I was asked to buy a film camera, no digital cameras in those days, so purchased a nice Pentax.

The idea was to visit various Area Centres, photograph the staff, and do a write up.

On one occasion, I took a dozen shots, and on returning to the office, discovered to my horror, there was no film in the camera. I'll never live that down.

In the dark room at the Richmond Radio Section, pranks were always on the card. Just for a joke, we wanted to see how big a rubber glove would inflate to using compressed air.

In minutes, the glove grew so quickly, we couldn't get passed it to turn the air off. All we could do is shut the door and wait. There was one all mighty explosion that nearly destroyed the darkroom.

I can tell you a rubber glove can grow to around 2m across, amazing.

I've said enough.....it's your turn.

Ken

[eskimo]

Left school at 15, halfway through 3rd year Tech School.

I took on a job (apprenticeship, I was told) in electrical at Berks Electrical. After working there for 6 months, most of it away in the country on hospitals, I was told that I was no longer needed. Turned out the owner knew he had a lot of country work coming up and employed me just for that.

Found a job a few weeks later with Aderco (Adelaide Refrigeration Co), in the city. They signed me up for an apprenticeship in refrigeration. Here I also learnt about rubbing down with wet and dry and spray painting. At the end of 12 months I was fixing domestic fridges both as service calls and for Harris Scarfe’s. We would pick up the trade-ins, fix them and I with the spray painter, would stick a fresh coat of paint on them for Harris Scarfe’s to flog off as 2nd hand refurbished fridges.
Aderco also repaired washing machines for end user and also did same of refurbishing them for HS.
I also learnt this trade…. But I now bloody hate doing washing machines

Just after I received my first decimal currency pay packet, a whopping $13.70 before tax, they folded and I was once again looking for a job.
I was almost about to wander off up to Qld with my cousin when the trade school teacher told to me contact PHR P/L. There I was able to carry on my apprenticeship but this time in the area of air conditioning. Both small and commercial.

Got married, but that was doomed for failure as she was only 18 and I was 20. No children so no one hurt except ourselves.

During this time I was also doing electrical wiring work & it was when they were modernising the office that I stuck a screw driver in my eye. Damaged the lens and they removed it, the lens not the eye. About a year later the specialist wanted me to go to Germany with him while he learnt the technique of implanting a lens but on me as his patient, but workers compensation insurance wasn’t go to pay. I couldn’t afford it, so I had to wait till he returned for the op.
Back then they put the lens in front of the iris but behind the cornea. They now know that this is not the place and they now fit them behind the iris. Those implants being directly behind the cornea causes complications to the cornea and I have since had to have a corneal transplant….oh what a feeling!.... having had this done wide awake. Anyway the eye is now stuffed.
Completed the apprenticeship and a couple years extra study at Trade School. Resigned from PHR and took a job with Season Air. Got sacked from them (owner and I didn’t get on) and was out of work for several weeks – wasn’t really looking but did a few weeks casual at a bottle cleaning place in Plympton.

When I split up with my then girlfriend I went to Auckland, New Zealand and took on job with Fisher and Paykel Engineering. This was the air conditioning subsidiary of F&P. The subsidiary I was with was split up into two groups one being “light commercial” with 20 or so other guys, and the other being “heavy commercial” with 1 guy. I wasn’t there very long when the shifted me into the heavy commercial side (centrifugal chillers etc) to assist the only other tech. They gave me all the best jobs so I didn’t complain.

The local Tavern over there was short on staff one night and asked if I wanted to work part time…took that on as a second job for the remainder of my stay, some 18months. Didnt get a lot of free time because of this but did get to see some of the north island in the co car.

Came home to Adelaide with several $k and took up a job with York Division - Borg Warner (air conditioning). I was the only tech at the time and together with the service manager we got through everything.
Around this tome the Ex decided to get us divorced. She paid for it all.

Went on to work my way up to Service supervisor with 3 others under me. The Sales Manager got sacked and they made me State Manager. (BW certainly looked after their key staff).

Got married again.

BW in the USA floated York and so we were eventually sold off as well. 10.5 yrs at York and I was about to transfered to a new company. Email Air at the time bought the rights to manufacture the products, so I was bound for Email, but only til a supposed best mate convinced me to go and work with him, offering me equal split of profits even though he owned 60%, me 30% and the smaller shareholder with 10%. The smaller shareholder wasn’t offered anything.

Of course most of the commercial customers that I had nurtured over the years at York followed me into my new venture rather than be with the devil they didn’t know. With the following of loyal customers we were soon on our way to becoming the 2nd largest privately owned air conditioning co in SA

That lasted for 10 years when our verbal agreement was soured by his greed kicking in.
That was June 1997.

I left and began my own business and as usual the remaining loyal customers again followed.

I was very selective as to which customers I wanted and as I was by myself and didn’t want to employ anyone, and hence wouldn’t have been able to service them properly anyway.
Then my BIL wanted to know if I’d take him on as an adult apprentice. I thought about it, and decided why not? Almost went broke during this time due to Castalloy and being part of ION group who were foreclosed on by the banks gave me $78K headache. I was lucky enough to be able to trade my way out of it without finance mainly due a another loyal customer who decided he wanted to replace all the air conditioning in one of his buildings.

My now trades qualified BIL couldn’t accept being chastised for being caught sitting in van for almost 3 hours and soon left. This occurred at around the same time that Castalloy were sold off to Harley Davidson by the liquidators and I lost them as a client, and together with the restructure of RDNS and some others, my client base soon began to shrink. This has been added to quite recently with the loss of 2 other clients due to the impending closure of the auto industry.

But I am now 66, have hypertension, ache in a few spots, and I don’t care!!!
(I have three kids, two boys, one 30 one 21, and a girl 19.)

[BobL]

Just to put things in perspective I have ordered the list of jobs into a timeline and you will see it changes things quite a bit
I was the second oldest of 10 kids and Dad's wage as a timber faller only just met our day to day needs.
I started going into the bush with him on holidays and weekends from when I was about 6 and from when I was about 9 I was expected to help carry the chainsaw oil and fuel, lighting the fire for billy tea at smoko etc
From when I was about 9 he showed me how to file chainsaws and used to do the smaller saws - 7 years after dad passed away I started chainsaw milling and it quickly dawned on me that the old chainsaw sharpening methods were not quite right - I wish Dada had been around to see how it was really done.
No pay of course - we never got pocket money, and birthday and many Xmas presents were a pair of school shoes or a school bag
On weekends Dad and my uncle often felled trees for farmers and usually went with them.
It was there I picked up potato and root picking jobs, there were lots of other occasional farm jobs like mucking out stables and cleaning dairies that I got paid for but did not list .
When I was 13 Dad was in a major log trucking accident and that was the end of his physical labouring. He was out of work for 18 months and we lived on unemployment and charity,
At that point I started working every weekend and school holiday.

Up until I was 17 (i.e. still at school)
Potato picking
Root picking
Toy koala bear stuffer
Septic tank cleaner
Selling menswear in an old fashioned menswear store
Handing out handbills
Car detailer
Supermarket shelf stacker
Gardener
Warehouse Despatch
Ladies shoe sales

Because I gave most of my wages to Mum, and with the rest I was expected to buy my own stuff like clothes/shoes etc, it took me 2 years to save enough to buy a small record player.

From 18 to 21 I was at uni and i worked during all holidays and most weekends, I lived at home but had to pay board and all my own expenses.
Mixing 1 ton batches of concrete and cement
Crayfish processor
Sewage tank concrete block layer
Dogman
High rise concrete form work construction - this and the previous job were well paying and enabled me to save enough money to get my first car (a VW beetle, and a BMW motorbike)
Ditch digger

When I was 21 I had my first holiday - a 4 week ride across Australia on motorbike.

From 21 onwards things settled down
Schoolteacher
Driving Instructor
Computer programmer
Isotope Data Analyst
In-flight Astronomical commentator/guide
Cosmochemist
Chainsaw milling
Chainsaw wood Carving
University lecturing and administration
Designing and building ultra clean laboratories

[wheelinround]

Wow what a read this is going to be of those above, I read the first few.

I won't bore all with the life I've lead but like most various tracks have been trod.

[simonl]

Some really interesting posts here. It's interesting reading what people have done.

Sadly, it seems I have lived a sheltered life, although I guess it's not over yet!

Born in Mordialloc (beachside suburb of Melbourne) to a Aussie mum and a German Dad. Dad came over to Aus in 1952 after finishing his fitter/turner apprenticeship at AEG Germany. He came over in some dodgy ship (Anna salene I think) sponsored by the Victorian Railways and contracted to them for 3 years working mainly as a fireman. After his stint in the railways he went back to fitting/turning, until retirement.

I'm the youngest of 3 older sisters. We all grew up in an 11 square home. I never had my own room untill all my sisters got married and left home. It didn't seem odd to me, just the way it was. Nobody had 30 square homes back then.

I went to highschool and studied maths/science in VCE as I wanted to be a meteorologist. I then went to RMIT and studied Applied Physics degree still with the initial aim of weather. Halfway through my degree (and struggling to stay motivated) I joined as a volunteer firefighter at a local fire station. I took to it like a duck to water and soon realised I wanted to work in that environment full time. I dropped out of Uni and started working on my fitness. The uni lifestyle had taken it's toll and I was obese. I must of weighed about 125Kg (although I never weighed myself) I took up running and started eating salads. I lost 20Kg in 10 weeks but still had 10 - 15Kg to go. CFA were recruiting full time firefighters and so I applied. I got through the apptitude test but failed the fitness assessment. I was devastated, but knew I had 12 months to fix my shortcomings, since they were recruiting about 12 people a year. I joined a gym and worked out 5 - 6 times a week. I exceeded what was required for the fitness requirements and it became a personal challenge to see what I could become. CFA again recruited and I went all the way, smashed the fitness test (in fact I laughed at it) and was deemed "suitable for employment" However, I was ranked 23 and CFA only needed 20. I was put on an order of merrit and told I would be employeed some time in the future when they recruited again.

For 12 months my life was in limbo as I didn't want to committ to a long term job knowing I would be leaving as soon as I was recruited. I did odd jobs like warehouse forlift driver, aircraft loader, etc. etc. Then Jeff Kennett won the election after a miserable effort by the then labour gov. The state was nearly broke and budgets had to be slashed. I got a letter from CFA stating that they were not going to recruit anytime soon and that I would need to re-apply in competition with everyone else when they did.

I was gutted and felt venerable. I had no career backup plan which left me very exposed. I was in a job that was supposed to be a short term proposition and didn't pay very well nor did it excite me. It was about then that I discovered that NSW Fire & Rescue were recruiting. I applied to them and the selection process was quite lengthy and no guarentee of any success. In another conversation with one of my gym instructors, I was telling him how I was finding it hard to stay at my level of fitness when I no longer had a goal. He suggested I join the army reserves. I looked into it and discovered that (at that time) 2nd Commando Coy were recruiting directly off the street. I turned up to their selection weekends. It was very hard and I came away thinking I wasn't really fit at all but they must have liked me since they sent me a letter of invitation to do an army recruit course at Kapooka and then a rifleman course at Singleton. I did these courses back to back and while it was hard work, I had an absolute ball. In fact my platoon Seargent at Singleton asked if I wanted to go full time. I declined, but it felt good to once again have a backup plan should I also bomb out in NSW fire. Meanwhile, I was making it further and further through the NSW fire selection process. I then met a lovely girl in a bar one night and it turns out that we had a lot in common. We started seeing eachother on a regular basis and I then moved into her place.

I then got a letter from them saying that over 9000 people had applied and that I was put on an order of merrit. Yea right! I thought. 6 months later and I had an offer of employment and a start date for my recruit course. I moved to Sydney in 1998 with my then girlfriend of only 6 months. After a 20 week recruit course I was posted to 39 station Randwick. A busy single pumper station doing about 1900 calls per year. Working 4 on, 4 off it was dream! If I wasn't working dayshift, the hardest decision was whether to go to the gym or go fishing or both! I then transfered my army posting to 1st Commando Coy in Mosman Sydney. Looking back, I think there must have been some kind of rivalry or something between the two units. The Sydney unit were even more full on than the (somewhat) more relaxed Wlliamstown Coy. They also didn't see fit to accept me from the other unit and put me through yet another selction process. This one lasted about 4 days. They confiscated our watches and we were not allowed any food, only water. To this day it was mentally and physically the toughest thing I have ever done but I passed!

I came away with a list of courses a mile long; Basic Parachute course, jungle warfare course, survival course etc. etc. All the good stuff you could think of. I came home and showed the GF and her only reaction was "I moved to Sydney to be with you, when will I see you?" I suddenly realised that it was the life of a single person and I was no longer that person. I went back to the unit and told them I wanted to resign. They couldn't believe me, especially after all I went through to get to where I was. They suggested I take 12 months leave, which I did but I knew I wouldn't be back. It was a chapter in my life that was closing, but I would never forget the blokes I worked with. Hard as all fu** and as rock solid and reliable as anyone I would ever meet. I never saw any service OS (the world was a different place prior to 911) but I still feel for the guys and their families that go over and either don't come home, or come home a different person.

Anyway, 3 years later and my GF and I decided it was time to move back to Melbourne after what could only be described as a 3 year working holiday! Life was busy, we had the Sydney Olympics and I was part of the fire protection team working fulltime at the stadium and aquatic centre as well as the RAS fire station. CFA were once again recruiting and so I applied. It was a great feeling knowing I was already in my "dream job" and so I went into the selction process "fairly relaxed" I was stunned when I walked into the final interview to see the same person who sent me the letter nearly 4 years earlier saying they were not recruiting. I had to eat hummble pie and not tell him what I thought!

Anyway, I got the job and was soon starting yet another recruit course (third course) This one was to last 16 weeks. Redoing another recruit course after being in the job at a busy fire station for the past 3 years was challenging. Challenging to keep a healthy attitude that is. I was hauled over the coals a number of times for my smart attitude and (unwanted) sense of humour, but I was able to back it up with my test results and performance on the training ground.

Since then I have gotten married to my lovely girl and have two lovely children, boy and a girl, Jack and Sienna. I live on over an acre in Bittern (near Hastings) and work 20 minutes away at Mornington fire station. While I am lucky to work shift work and have seemingly (to others) endless spare time and always seem to be on holidays. My metalwork hobby has to compete with physical training, camping, hiking and sea kayaking. Some days are just too nice to be in the shed and so a kayak over to French Is and then onto Phillip Is. is just too nice to resist!

While my life is not perfect (what is perfect?) I feel extremely lucky in life. Most of my problems are "problems of a first world country" and are quite trivial.

I guess I didn't mention that my son has autism. He is 12 and goes to a mainstream school. We must have spent the good part of 100K over the last 10 years in extensive therapy to try and give him the best oppotunities and allow him to hopefully become the best he can be. I love him to bits, as I do both my kids but he is probably the biggest source of my stress as sometimes his behaviors can be challenging. I also know my wife stresses (women seem to stress more than men anyway) about what the future holds for him and us. But, thinking that far ahead only does your head in!

I also forgot to mention that my first job was a paper round. I did it for 3 years while in early high school. I would get up at 5:00am 6 days a week and get $8.34 per week. I still remember that pay!

Hope I didn't bore you all too much!

Simon

[Machtool]

I guess I didn't mention that my son has autism. He is 12 and goes to a mainstream school. We must have spent the good part of 100K over the last 10 years in extensive therapy to try and give him the best oppotunities and allow him to hopefully become the best he can be. I love him to bits, as I do both my kids but he is probably the biggest source of my stress as sometimes his behaviors can be challenging. I also know my wife stresses (women seem to stress more than men anyway) about what the future holds for him and us. !

I'll start by saying, He's a beautiful kid.

That kid should become a chef. I'll remind you of a story which happened at your place. Several years ago - 3-4. You had an open house. I came at late / nil notice. Only thing I could think of on the way there to bring was a bag of Spud's, tub of coleslaw out of the Safeway deli, and some sour cream.

We wrapped the spuds up in Al-Foil and tossed them in the fire. Your young bloke had a shovel, and kept piling on the fuel. I'm thinking here comes charcoal. The Horsham crew were there that day, and they would back me up, with saying the spuds were cooked to perfection.

It still has me stuffed how he did it, I'd charcoal then to death. Try and tell me that Heston Blumental thinks the same way you or I do. He's Aspey / Autism. Yet he's a high achiever.

My wife, the one I call the bride, Lisa. She's an Intergration Aide. Several decades working with children with Autism.

Right now she is working with a kid, post year 12 at school. And working with him at another mates place, working him into the kitchen. And he's thriving.

Regards Phil.

[Steamwhisperer]

Here we go Ken and I hope spell checker is working :D
about half way through high school (not Tech School) I had a job at a chook farm that helped to pay school fees etc., yup we were pretty poor and I wanted to finish high school. Dad insisted that all my brothers and I were to get a trade but I wanted to finish my schooling, which I somehow managed to do.
While at the chook farm located in the Upper Yarra Valley the blokes that worked there needed a small front end loader to dig out the chook manure from under the pens kinda' like a Dingo digger but before anything like this was even invented. I watched as they modified a Holden HR front end, made a frame out of scrap steel laying around and machined bits of this and that until the machine worked.
I was amazed at how that all happened and so the seed was sown.
When I left school I had my list of apprenticeships I was allowed to do from the school and my report card that said the usual "works well but is easily distracted":rolleyes:. On that list was Fitter and Machinist. I had no idea what that meant and while working with my old man at Silvan Fruit Processors in Silvan an ad turned up on the tea room table for an apprenticeship as one just down the road at SPC (Shepparton Preserving Company) in Monbulk. I applied, was interviewed and got the job. I had a full weekend to find out what a Fitter and Machinist did. Talk about lucky, it turned out to be everything I wanted to do.
As soon as I started the job and not having a clue because I came from a high school, I literally started from scratch so I would spend every lunchtime machining journals on bits of steel to a size for practise or in the welding bay cutting stuff with the oxy and welding it back together.
As we were the subsidiary factory at Monbulk, everything Shepparton threw out in the way of machinery, we got and it was a matter of restoration before we could use it. I loved it and couldn't get enough of grabbing a worn out shaft on a can closer and making a new one.
I managed to do pretty well at trade school and had finished second year by the end of the first, something you normally weren't allowed to do in those days but what the heck, I was having a ball.
I managed to do this for just shy of 10 years until the wifes parents moved to Alexandra in Nth East Victoria where I worked in a small jobbing shop and being in a small farming community, everything that came into the shop was fixed. We did everything there including grave digging. The boss was in charge of the local cemetary.
I stayed there for 2 years when the bride decided we open a fruit and vegie shop. I've worked in steel all my life and now had moved onto food. I hated it and that only lasted 2 years.
As I had a boiler attendants certificate and the local sawmill needed a ticketed operator in an emergency, I was called up. I did this for 7 years hand firing with the offcuts from the green mill, kiln drying timber. I attended a course in kiln drying timber at Creswick and as we were the largest kiln dryers in the state I ended up running some of the classes. To this day I still laugh at that.
A job in the only other jobbing shop in town opened up (the first one had closed due to it's owner getting pretty ill) and I took it. It was good being back on the tools and I was having a ball but it was about now that the good bride decided that my best mate, who was decidedly more wealthy than I, was way more attractive especially as I had also been bitten by the black dog and she was finding it all too hard.
I got asked to leave the small jobbing shop due to being 'unproductive' which left only one alternative, to continue in steel work by starting my own business with onsite engineering and due to my history (farmers never forget if you do a good job and vica versa), it exploded, thank goodness.
As it is with running your own business, it flies just short of 24/7 and after 7 years solid I was getting a bit burnt out. I would get 3 days off a year to attend the Lake Goldsmith rally with a flying visit to Sovereign Hill. I made the massive decision to take a whole week off this particular year and have a real break and on the Monday morningwas about to head off to Ballarat when I got the usual phone call that a machine had broken and could I have a look at it. I explained I was on holidays and about to leave but he begged me to at least have a look on my way out. I agreed and stopped in at the farm. He asked if I would fix it onsite or should he bring it into the workshop (I had a shed by this stage) I don't know why but I said bring it into the workshop, I should have it finished by the afternoon and be on my way. Next thing I know it is Thursday morning and I am opening the workshop door to continue with the endless list of "while you have the machine can you just fix this bit now" I kid you not. I downed tools and took off.
While at Sovereign Hill that weekend I was standing looking at the boilers and asked the bloke "how do you get a job here", he replied with "what can you do." I explained that I had a first class engine drivers ticket, an unrestricted boiler attendants ticket and I was a fully qualified Fitter and Machinist. They couldn't get an application form in my hands quick enough.
The rest is history.

Phil
ps This is the seriously condensed version :D

[chambezio]

These stories are great!!
Everyone is different to each other but there is a thread that links them ......that bloody black dog. I am just amased at how depression of varying comes upon us. Some can handle it while others like myself fell in a heap.

Another point I would like to add to my story is that I never persued a "career". I was always thankful to have a job as surviving was the upper most thing at any time in my journey.
I always had an enquiring mind and would see something and analyse how it was put together and could usually duplicate it. Hence the building of a wood lathe (from steel), adjustable saw horses, sundry gadjets, then in later years a drum sander with conveyor belt, then only in the last couple of weeks a hydraulic press.
Its comforting to read about the black dog attacks because it makes me feel so isolated, but to read others have the same problems it does give a little help at the time

[BobL]

These stories are great!!
I agree.


Everyone is different to each other but there is a thread that links them ......that bloody black dog. I am just amased at how depression of varying comes upon us. Some can handle it while others like myself fell in a heap.

I was fortunate to only have a relatively brief (~3years) and mild encounter with that bloody mongrel but clearly remember the 7 years it robbed of my Dad's life. I was never formally diagnosed with depression because I wouldn't go to see anyone about how I was feeling. It was only after I started feeling better about things that I admitted to SWMBO that is what I had.


I always had an enquiring mind and would see something and analyse how it was put together and could usually duplicate it.
That is a common thread here too.

My idea of fun in a shed annoys some people, especially SWMBO, because I often find stray off task. I start by saying, it would be fun to make "that", while doing that I decide one of ""these" would be useful, go to the shops and/or look on line, too expensive, or I can make "these", so I start making and then think "these need testing" and for that I need this "gizmo" which I try to make, then while making said "gizmo" I think "tool X" would help ETC Sometime later I have forgotten what I originally started making and when that happens I deem that project successful. These "projects" require me to learn a lot of new things which I guess is the fun part. I t doesn't mean I can't stay on task if I want to, it's just that the other process is more fun to me.

[morrisman]

When I was 15 I tried to get a apprenticeship as a airframe fitter . I rang TAA and Ansett and other places , the guy on the phone at TAA said you have a better chance of winning the tatts lottery, we get 5000 applicants for each position , he said some of the applicants have matric passes in maths physics etc .

[KBs PensNmore]

Thanks for that Phil.
Certainly an interesting career, I thought you said there was some boring stuff in there? Back in time, if you got laid off, you went next door to see if any workers were required, not unusual to be asked when can you start. Them was the good old days.
I don't think there are too many on here, that haven't been touched by the black dog, it's nice to know that you're not alone on here, and most would know what you are going through.
Kryn

[DSEL74]

It has been quite an interesting read and thanks to everyone who has shared their story.. I wasn’t going to post mine as it isn’t as long or interesting a story as other’s and I am still a bit reluctant to publically announce my story/situation. But since the topic of the Black Dog seems to be prevalent I will.

My early childhood was rather uneventful and middleclass both parents working office jobs, I was a very shy and quiet kid. My grandfather was a toolmaker buy trade and had worked during the war as a gunsmith, had had also owned and operated a children’s furniture making business where he made the first steel framed high chair but couldn’t afford to patent it. He at some stage had a Dairy Farm, and a Petrol station and a home engraving business using a pantograph. So his story is probably more interesting to this forum. Unfortunately he died when I was just 8 years old, so I didn’t get the opportunity to learn from him but I did have memories of being in his workshop and it did leave an impression on me. Sadly his workshop contents ended up in the hard rubbish as my Aunt cleaned up for my Grandmother.

Saved were just a few items, his tool chest (missing a lot of contents), a few home made machines consisting of a drill press, abrasive cut off saw and disc sander. As these were in my Dad’s garage at the time. My Grandfather one Christmas gave me the best present ever, I must have been around 5 at the time. It was a wooden work bench with real tools child size. I spent many hours “playing” with those tools trying to make things.

I went to a Tech School and enjoyed the trade subjects nut was channelled into the physics, chemistry, advanced maths, etc but I did manage to keep the drafting subjects as I was destined to become an engineer weather I liked it or not as they made good money. It was during early secondary school that I first started to have the black dog biting at my heals and he hasn’t let up yet.
Through out this time I had the usual jobs, dog walking, lawn mowing, paper round and the fresh produce section of the local supermarket.


Finishing at Tech. We started to go to open days at the Universities for engineering courses, and I happened to walk into the section for the Industrial Design course at Monash as it was within the engineering section and was much more manufacturing focussed than the same course at other universities. I managed to get accepted into the course and found it fascinating, but it was a 3 semester course so didn’t have a Christmas brake. I started straight into the course on semester 3. I didn’t make it to my second semester as I ended up living on the streets at that time, and found my way into security work through a guy I used to train. After getting back on my feet I was able to back into my course and finish it paying my way doing work as a bouncer, security guard, and body guard. Looking back it was quite an eventful time and I certainly didn’t get paid enough for the risk I was put at.

After completing my degree I go a job as an Exhibition Consultant, which meant I had to find clients, design exhibitions, cost, have built, and install them. I did very well at this and even did many international jobs. This is when I the black Dog took my by the throat and I had my first major breakdown and was let go.

I was to debilitated to deal with centrelink etc and with nobody in my life to lean on I used up all my savings. I managed to get a job as a furniture removalist and slowly things improved. I then got a job 3 days a week designing and documenting motorised blinds and awnings. These were both indoor and out door. I had to also document all the manufacturing processes for the staff to follow on the factory floor, especially due to the high turnover of staff. The owner was a violent bully and would verbally abuse staff and throw tools etc at people, some didn’t last a single day. He was also a coward and due to my security details in my resume never treated me that way. I however couldn’t handle that sort of atmosphere and found another job. As it turned out I worked there for 365 days exactly. In that time I saw the staff of 12 roles turn over close to 100 people.

My new job was Store Design for Coles Myers. This was where I worked for the next few years. It was a very varied role as we designed every thing from the physical store and car parks, through signage to checkouts and refrigerated cases. The problem was that the internal clients were mostly over promoted trolley boys that had worked their way up to very highly paid positions with no qualifications and big egos.
So would change projects on a whim wasting huge dollars or cancel projects because they didn’t understand how they worked rather than admit it. We also had between 1-3 restructures per year in the time I was there and it was a case of musical chairs, your all sacked and now reapply for your job or someone else’s but there is less jobs. This was all due to constantly changing CEOs and them getting bonuses for cuttings cost then leaving. The company was understaffed and all the people would get rehired as contractors but this would cost more and so on. What should have been looked at was how these egos were costing the company money. A case in example is, we as a team spent 6 months reviewing the dairy case in the stores and redesigning the optimum case. This involved the correct stock holding ratio, air curtains, lighting, efficiency etc., etc., etc. This was then rolled out store wide nationally costing a fortune. A month or two later we had a new restructure and one of the Bilo team moved across to coles and he preferred the look of the low height 1500mm case Bilo used so wanted to chaned the Coles standard. He was informed of the recent study and roll out and his answer was I don’t care I like the Bilo case make a document up to support that. The task was assigned to me and I refused to do it as I thought it was unethical and a waste of money.

I had another major episode while I was working at colesmyer and was seeing a specialist weekly, and medicated for Chronic Biological Depression and Bipolar disorder. I have been on every medication currently available on the market and none have worked for me and most have had terrible side effects. I have also tried many therapies. So I decided to take my first overseas holiday and travel South America on my own. While on holiday the company had another round of musical jobs. I was offered the opportunity to retain my position, but I declined due again to the general atmosphere the constant restructures was having due to lack of job security, my health, and the fact that I took great pride in doing my job to the best of my ability and qualification but had to deal with the “EGOs” put their mark on it without understanding.
So I left in late 2006.

Again having no income I lost my house and the little I go back from the bank was used to finance my grandmother going into nursing care. Since then I tried a career path change and have worked as a photographer and a retoucher but haven’t been able to find any permanent work only occasional contract or freelance work for days, or weeks. I got my qualifications as a Master Trainer, and Personal Trainer, but shortly later tore my Bicep which in some ways is linked to nerve damge. This prevented my from doing any physical work that require lifting more than 1kg. I am currently trying to learn Solidworks so that I may have some hope of picking up some Industrial Design related work.

In 2014 many years after my Grandmothers passing I was finally able to get some of my money back from her estate which was being held to spite me due to family politics. No good deed goes unpunished. I was finally able to move to a new place with a shed, where I’m trying to set up a workshop on a very limited budget to do the one thing I actually get some satisfaction from, making and restoring things.

I don’t know or interact with many people (I had a whole 5 people at my 40th) and certainly none that share my interests. So I am very grateful for the forum and it’s virtual company, what I have been able to learn and the help people on it have provided me.

well that is a lot longer than expected.

[simonl]

I'll start by saying, He's a beautiful kid.

That kid should become a chef. I'll remind you of a story which happened at your place. Several years ago - 3-4. You had an open house. I came at late / nil notice. Only thing I could think of on the way there to bring was a bag of Spud's, tub of coleslaw out of the Safeway deli, and some sour cream.

We wrapped the spuds up in Al-Foil and tossed them in the fire. Your young bloke had a shovel, and kept piling on the fuel. I'm thinking here comes charcoal. The Horsham crew were there that day, and they would back me up, with saying the spuds were cooked to perfection.

It still has me stuffed how he did it, I'd charcoal then to death. Try and tell me that Heston Blumental thinks the same way you or I do. He's Aspey / Autism. Yet he's a high achiever.

My wife, the one I call the bride, Lisa. She's an Intergration Aide. Several decades working with children with Autism.

Right now she is working with a kid, post year 12 at school. And working with him at another mates place, working him into the kitchen. And he's thriving.

Regards Phil.
Hi Phil,
Thanks so much for that story. I had forgotten about that. Thanks also for the encouraging and positive attitude. It's always nice to get positive feedback regarding our Jack as it comes from another persons perspective, which I find invaluable.

Cheers mate,

Simon

[RayG]

Hi Dale,

Thanks for the background, I now understand a little about where "BlackDog Custom MotorCycles" comes from, one of the many good things about this forum, is that it brings together a lot of people who would otherwise never manage to make contact with each other and share a common interest. Josh and I are keen to come down for a blacksmithing weekend one of these days.

Ray

[simonl]

Some amazing stories here. Well done to everyone for sharing their lives and stories. Some of the details would not have been easy to share but thankyou all for doing exactly that. :clap:

Simon

[DSEL74]

Ray you & Josh are always welcome, you just let me know when.

[neksmerj]

I had no idea this post would be allowed, let alone get the responses it has. Everyone has a different story to tell, and some have poured their hearts out, good onya.

Black dog......that's an expression I've not heard before, now I know. Fortunately I've only had white dogs in my life, except when my missus nicked off and I hit the bottle pretty hard.

Not singling anyone out, but Steamwisperer your story was great and obviously a cut down version.

Would still like to hear from Stustoys and Greg Q. Anyone else like to reveal how they sailed across on the
Endevour and bartered with the Aboringinals, or rode with Ned Kelly?

Ken

[BobL]

Where my brother lived, he used a front end loader to pick them up as they were already in piles in the scrub, good money for them.
We called them mallee roots even though where we did this there was noy much mallee around. Mostly we just burned them because good quality easy splitting fire wood i.e. Jarrah could be purchased for next to nothing. A few years later the roots were being sold for really good money and the pay for picking them went up accordingly but I never went back to that job.


Was that an invitation to go inside, for the cuppa?????
I don't recall ever being invited inside.

[KBs PensNmore]

Down the bottom of the leg we call them that also, but around here they are known as Pinaroo Marching Girls?????
Kryn

[Bedford]

Keep it clean.............

[Stustoys]

Guess its my turn


Sadly, it seems I have lived a sheltered life,
You think that's sheltered? Well hold on, you ain't seen nothing yet lol

Parents from western districts, so many hols spent on a sheep farm, with the odd "helping out" at a dairy farm was great for a kid. If I wasn't there, I was likely on the bay sailing. Also had a paper round. Slave labor that was - made more money in tips at Christmas than pay for the year. Dad did a lot of woodwork so I have a grounding in that though I don't like to use it much.
A sports fall at around 16 left me with a back injury that comes and goes to this day.
Tech to form 5, never much good at English and "easily distracted". Then a 6 week job over Christmas which turned into an sheet metal apprenticeship, which turned in to punching holes, 28 million on one machine alone. Was an interesting place to work, parts of it stuck in a time warp, others parts with pretty advanced machines. Now when I say "pretty advanced" I mean for the time. I used to write the G code, deleting an 0 from each line number to save space.. those were the days ;). Used paper tape until they couldn't buy it anymore so I cobbled up a program so it would I/O with a pc instead. This is where I developed my dislike of needless accuracy; sure I can make boxes with many holes position +/-0.1mm and the rest +/- 0.2mm but for a power supply, 90% of the time it's not needed and it's not cheap. I also picked up the habit of not throwing out "stuff that might be useful one day". The up side was we were often left to our own devices to service and repair "our" machines + 2 weeks over Christmas shut down for maintenance on the rest of the factory. You could also get around the factory and have some time in other departments. Had a toolmaker when I started and I learnt a lot from him, along with a fitter and machinist when there was a maintenance department, both taken on by the press shop over the years. After 17ish years of doing most things "the same way we'd always done them" the factory was shut down for any number of reasons. I moved to the share market, though I've done a few months here and there as a drive/mechanic for a mates business were I was assaulted by another employee, now that did my head in a little - he lost his job, I didn't want one - go figure?



My idea of fun in a shed annoys some people, especially SWMBO, because I often find stray off task.
You to? lol

Stuart

[.RC.]

It used to be easier to get lower skilled jobs as you did not need to have the dozens of useless "competency" tickets before they would let you on site. The old wharfie overseer I used to work with would say back in the older days, 1990's and before. If you needed a couple of fellas to fill in for a day, you could go down the pub and grab them. Not these days though. Big business in "training" these days and plenty of political lobbyists to make sure it stays that way.

My life story is quick.

Went to school, ate lunch.

Left school, starting chasing cows.

Not caught them yet.

[KBs PensNmore]

Whatya going to do with it when you catch one?

[.RC.]

I will worry about that when I catch one ;)


:D:D

[eskimo]

I will worry about that when I catch one ;)


:D:D

Can you clarify please....is it you or the cow that needs to worry

[Mike4]

It might not be the result that we are thinking , some of those cows end up looking very delicious on the plate , along with the usual trimmings.

Michael

[Gavin Newman]

Moooo(ve) along now...