Big Jobs

A note on jobs, the other day I listed 17 jobs I have done so far, now the surprising thing may be that that was not a complete list.   That having been said i have not had that many employers.

Leaving school at 17 after taking "O" levels and deciding to opt out of "A"s I joined a bank and stayed with them for over three years.   This was the sort of job my Mother wanted for me, clean, secure, well pensioned, everything her generation thought important.   Although I had done well at "O" level stage (Equivalent to GCSEs to my younger readers) I was rather limited by my dyslexia in those days before PCs.   I should stress that this was not only a different century, it was a different age, this predated much in the way of equal opportunities, liberalisation of banking law and roots of what has gone wrong with banks recently. (Our first cashier still wore black and pin to work everyday, and the branch messenger made tea for all the "Gentlemen" while the "Girls look after themselves")

Another male model for that
rubber goods company

After getting so bored I was ready to chew off my own head I managed to get a job with Michelin Tyres, as what was then known as a Commercial Clerk.   This was largely an accounts related role, consisting of transcribing figures and making calculations, there were five of us doing what could now be done by one person with a PC.   I moved from that department to the "Truck Sales Department as the office supervisor, before moving again to the Technical Department prior to being made redundant.   While at Michelin on occasion I woudl get the opportunity to g to a major motor race meeting, we would get in free with the promotional team, and dress up as the Michelin man.   This way I managed to watch several major events, including two Grand Prix.

Having been made redundant I was faced with the problem of not knowing what I wanted to do when I grew up, I just knew that I did not want more of the same, the money ran out surprisingly quickly and I soon found that I was working alongside an old friend dealing in secondhand cars.   Around the same time I started to get some professional work playing the tuba.   For the next ten years I considered myself primarily a professional musician, but as many musicians will tell you at times it can be difficult to pay the rent; so I did some other stuff to help.   This other stuff included doing removals, driving trucks, working for Curry's as a salesman, dispatch riding, van driving, parcel deliveries warehouse man and plenty of other things I have forgotten.   It was also during this time that I first did some paid gardening.   The little brother of my friend P is a landscape gardener and when needed I would do some work with him, it was a revelation that someone would pay me to do gardening!    However what ever I was doing if a decent gig came up I would drop everything to be out there playing.   Towards the end f this period I was working as a dispatch rider, the owner of the Company thought I would be of more use in the office, so I took over the admin with the wonderful title of Financial Controller.    I only left there when the opportunity to work at Expo '92 came up, that was more or less the end of this period, which I think of as my second career.

Out of interest that dispatch company owner is now serving time at Her Majesty's pleasure for the biggest ever Ponzi Fraud in the UK.   He came across as a very likable and credible man, good company and very convincing, just a little reluctant to actually do the work he was being paid for.   I shouldn't have been surprised when I heard of his fate.