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"Part 2 \nAfter leaving my \"cushy\" PO job I looked at my options so far, I had always hankered to be self employed and in charge of my own destiny, so started doing my own work, I already had lots of work  as me and another po engineer used to do heaps of \"foreigners\" anyway, so it was fairly easy to move into, Phil my mate, also packed it up at the PO and he too came in with me. \nAll good for a while, but then Phil had a chance of buying a building company, his dads mate, a single, no family bloke was retiring and Phil decided to do that, he did well, and good on him, and is now a very wealthy bloke, but has left a couple of wives in his wake, but single now and loving life, we still meet on my trips home and recall the good times and bad. He has his yacht on the coast, his Roller, and several other nice toys in a  little country cottage in the trent valley. \nBack to me, I was always searching for that something over the other paddock where the grass is greener, if you know what I mean ? \nI worked in the Middle East for a short time, which soon gave me a perspective of where the \"anus of the world\" was ! not a nice or healthy place but the money was good, but I missed my wife and family. \nWhile there, one of my previous mates who had joined us, a motor mechanic, said \"why don't we get out of this sh*thole, and set up on our own in a garage business ?\" my hobby had always been cars and restoration of old bangers, so the decision was easy. \nNothing gained nothing lost we headed home, bought a lease of a service station on Hucknall road and worked our bums off for two years. \nBusiness was excellent, money good - but, I hated being a \"grease monkey\" 6 days a week ! and could never get me hands clean of oil and crap ! and even though money was good, I never seemed to have time to enjoy it, apart from the odd week in Benidorm. \nWhile out contemplating my future one day I happened to look in a jobs centre place and low and behold, BT (British Telecom) were advertising for trainee phone installers, I applied and being ex PO anyway, walked into my perfect \"clean\" job ! \nI had to break it to my business partner I was getting out, he was a bit took out over it, but saw my point of view in the end and bought me out, he too has done very well for himself,  eventually selling out and moving on. \nBT, \nI started at the bottom of the pile yet again, but the work was great, light, compared to a sparky, easy to understand and do, and best of all I loved it, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Free tools, a new van, great canteens, cheap quality food. \nWe were given 4 jobs to do a day, some were super easy and done in half an hour, others maybe a little longer, the guys were great and the comaraderie brilliant. \nI had my own van and basically did my own thing so long as we got our allocated jobs done per day. There was no pressures from management as all were ex GPO installers and knew the ropes inside out. \nAfter several years I was asked to go onto business sytems as my first line boss thought I was wasted on single line installations due to my age and qualifications. \nSo move on I did and became a business systems fitter. \nJust about now, the early 80's, my \"itchy feet\" started to scratch yet again and after lots of talk around tea room tables, decided that the writing was indeed on the wall as privatisation loomed on the horizon  for the telecom industry as we then knew it ! \nI applied to emigrate but kept it to myself, and carried on regardless during the initial privatisation of BT. Overnight things changed, drastically, we got a heap of headless chooks, came into higher management all realising that if, they, or in real terms \"we\" at the sharp end did not perform they would be chopped ! \nWork quotas shot up, hourly job tallys were checked and reduced, job satisfaction ceased to exist and new ways to make more profit for the shareholders at the employees expence were quickly brought in. \nThis was early 89, we went through some strikes and other union ordered rubbish but the end was in sight for BT as we knew it. \nI then received the magic envelope from Australia house in Manchester advising me we had been accepted to go to Australia. \n3 months after I went to Oz the BT redundancies started. I miissed out on a redundancy package but so what thats life. \nI worked in oz as a sparky for while, did  some security installation work, but decided to go it alone and earn for me and my family, not a boss or shareholder. \nAnd there my friends is my story ! \nAt 55 I took early retirement, as I had a few health issues, so pulled the plug to enjoy what I had left with my beloved and family. \nFive years ago my wife retired and we have been full time traveling this brown land and a few other places overseas since, do I regret anything ? never, I have a great life, great family, five fantastic kids all have done well in both education and life, eleven grandkids, and one great grandson. \nWill we settle down somewhere again soon, who knows, maybe one day when I can no longer drive or walk, but my wife and I live every day as if it is our last and enjoy every minute of it. \n"
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