<https://nottstalgia.com/forums/topic/14752-what-jobs-have-we-done/#comment-423550>
<http://schema.org/text>
"I went to Gedling Sec Modern after failing my 11 plus by a smidgeon (so I was told) but my excuse was I was only just 10 st the time as my birthday falls in julythe start or end of the school year which ever way you look at it. \nMy school years were pretty dismal, I could never understand maths, my maths teacher told me I was useless and would never make anything of myself (yes thanks mr Greenwood) anyway, by 14 3/4 I hated school apart from metalwork,woodwork and handycrafts ! my english was passable but so what, dad was a builder and he intended me and my brother were going to be the new family firm ! \nBy this time my brother was an apprentice plumber, I was told I was going to be an electrician and apprenticeship was arranged for me. \nFoor my first year I did the usual stuff at work, but they paid for me to go to night school 3 nights a week, and suddenly at Peoples college I learnt maths !  It was a wonderful thing to see applied maths and the penny dropped what all these silly numbers and x's and y's and geometry and calculus were really used for. \nI did my 3 years at college but by 18 got fed up with the job so on a whim packed it in, and went walk about for what we thought would be a year or more around Europe, Scandinavia etc. \nWell after 3-4  weeks I was missing my beloved so much back in Nottm, that I bailed out and came home ! another failure I thought but no, I got a job at Gedling pit as an electrician (one of me dads mates pulled a few strings) and after a few weeks of basic trianing I joined the underground team. \nI also got married to my beloved sweetheart ! \nThey paid for me to go back to college, which I did for a year, but by then I was getting wary of coal dust and my asthma played up too. \nLooked about and saw an add for electricians on the GPO, for \"mechanised engineering duties\" went for the interview and got the job. which it turned out was not the gpo but the now separate entity of Post Office engineers ! \nMe and several others had been recruited for the new mechanised mail handling facilities that were being hastily built around the country. Nottm Derby Leicester etc. \nWhen I got over my initial dissapoinment the job actually became very good, and I rose quite quickly though the promotion ranks and became the youngest chargehand at 21. \nAnother thing was we could do as much training or college as we wanted so I completed my 5th year City &amp; Guilds Tech certificate in electrical engineering on day release, also got a heap of other minor diplomas for related stuff, like elevators/lifts, hydraulics some plumbing skills, yes we did the lot because we were engineers not just sparkies, the first multiskilled force had started. \n I became a Techy in the office for a while in planning, did clerk of works duties for several months at Derby mech sorting office (overseeing contractors etc on the new building.) \nAnyway one day my boss and I had a disagreement on how my staff should be treated to get the best from them, he thought the big whip was the way, I knew a better way, treat your guys well, and they in return will work with you rather than against you was my motto. And never expect anyone to do any job I wouldn't do myself. \nIt came to a head and I told the old prat where he could stuff his job ! he thought I would cool off and come round to his ways and ideas. \nNext day I handed my notice in and walked away two weeks later ! did I do the right thing, maybe not, did I regret it no ! \npart 2 to follow. \n"
<https://nottstalgia.com/forums/topic/14752-what-jobs-have-we-done/?tab=comments#comment-423666>