MY BIOGRAPHY. |
1. During the last five years I have done numerous and many very enjoyable things. Talk about doing everything you dreamed about doing, when you retired, and trying to do them when you have no money. I did all I could afford and it lasted about a fortnight. After that it was a matter of making major adjustments. I quickly got used to living in a small flat and not working and enjoyed both, for it has allowed me to indulge in many things that would not have been possible had I been obliged to go out to work and earn a living. 2. Throughout his teenage and early adult life my son had always been interested in Computers. He started out long before the PC, Personal Computer, became the common household object that it is today. He started off with those simple electronic devices that linked into the television and allowed you to play games where an electronic ball bounced from one side of the screen to the other and there was some sort of hand held device that allowed you to influence its track and some sort of scoring device built into it. Then as those developed and improved so did he and my initial involvement was mainly through financing them via birthdays, Christmas presents etc. They had always fascinated me although my interest had been confined to the sidelines and I had always been too busy to take it any further, that would now all change. 3. When I 'retired' and had done, in the first few weeks, all the things that I had dreamed of doing, like staying up late and watching television, getting up late or going for long walks etc anything that cost money being beyond reach. We had then and still have now, only enough to live very modestly on. So much so that we decided that it was not practical to try and divide or share, in any way, our income, so my wife would have it all and accept responsibility for its frugal distribution. Having looked after the family finances all my life and then going bankrupt it all took a little getting used to; especially having no money in my pocket but it has turned out to be the best move I ever made. I have no money now but when I want some I ask for it. We still run, by juggling our income, a small car, very generously bought for us by my father-in-law, the old one having long since passed beyond maturity, and I don't care a damn where the money comes from for petrol, insurance and road tax etc; that is no longer my worry. Neither are the household bills my responsibility. All I have to do is play my part and help ensure that they are not run up out of proportion. 4. We go without an awful lot yet there always seems to be that little something there for the simple but nice things in life. No holidays, but who cares, there were never many in the first place, but at least we live within three miles of the sea and I spend a lot of my time, particularly during the summer, in Scarborough. It has all now become the norm and presents no problems although a little extra would not come amiss. Anyhow, back to enforced retirement. I had always had this very strong desire to write and was a firm, if not proven, believer that there is one good book in everyone. I still had my old mechanical typewrite, that had survived the financial catastrophe, and so I started out on my first novel. Don't laugh; I at least liked to think it was going to be the first of many. Now typing with two fingers on an unfamiliar keyboard where the letters are not laid out in the way that the newcomer believes they should be, I became increasingly frustrated that my mind and thinking and the work on the plot were racing ahead of my actual ability to type them onto the paper and themes and threads very quickly became confused and lost. The answer, the Club Catalogue and an electric typewrite. Club Catalogues are easy to get hold of, as they ask nothing of your background or your ability to pay. The next time I go bankrupt; and god forbid there is a next time, I will certainly see that the Club Catalogues are owed many thousands for to be able to stand it they must be making a fortune. Anyhow back to the electric typewriter. What an improvement in so many ways but so frustrating when you were searching the keyboard and hesitated for that fraction too long on a key and the long row of a repetitive single letters ran, like lightening, across the page and automatically onto the next line. This was doing little for the nerves and temper. I had so much to say and needed to say it quickly before it dimmed and faded away and here I was frustrated and banging my head against the wall because I could not handle the mechanical side of it. Then one evening, whilst looking through the local rag, there was the annual spread for the local Technical College and the courses on offer and wonder upon wonder, old age pensioners and DHSS were either free or received very generous concessions. 5. Open Evening saw me mingling with the masses, who all feel they have the need to go chasing knowledge, as I do, but where it took me only a short time to track down a very attractive and mature lady who assured me that she could teach me to type even if I had never seen a typewriter before. She gave me the form and I took it to enrol for one night per week at a nominal fee of £5. 6. I was once again back at adult school and in an environment I felt comfortable in and one that I had always enjoyed, but now with such an attractive tutor and fellow students, which with the exception of myself and one other, were all young females, I found myself looking forwards to my one evening a week, in which as it turned out, I was to be mothered and looked after as I was the old man of the class. 7. This typing business was all very strange and one of the hardest parts was getting rid of the bad habits that I had already developed, i.e. using one finger and searching with my eyes across the key board for the letters. But the techniques they used were excellent and all my fears of falling behind quickly disappeared and you can imagine my delight when I discovered that I could hold my own, with perhaps that little bit more effort and concentration, with all the others. Come exam time I did as well as anyone and was highly delighted. 8. I have mentioned before that throughout all our troubles there were a few who remained very loyal and friendly. I don't mention any of them specifically as they may not want the world to know that they were in any way associated with me. Anyhow one such couple where interested in what I was attempting to do and one day came along to say that through some contact or other they had been able to acquire an outdated word processor and would I like it. My first 'Computer,' complete with black and white 14-inch screen, DOS based operating system and a simple Word Program installed. I was over the moon and rushing back and forth from the library, read every book; I could lay my hands on, that referred to my 'state of the art' antiquated piece of electronic wizardry. I churned out masses but found it almost impossible, in those early days, to edit from the screen and there was no speller check, now the most important part of any program that I use. But in those early days I would try and edit and loose masses of information in the process because of the way the DOS based programs worked. So my friends, who gave me the processor in the first place, would take my floppy discs and print them for me, on continuous running paper, from their Dot Matrix Printer. Not only very kind but also very generous as nothing to do with computers comes cheap. 9. Life was wonderful but I still needed to know so much more, so back to the Tech College and 'Computing for the Terrified,' a free course for us DHSS and Old Age Pensioners, etc. The 'terrified': I lasted two sessions. It was all beyond me as their equipment bore no relationship to mine (For the technically minded, Windows 3.1 as opposed to my DOS Word) and there was nothing I could do at home to help matters along. Books were a waste of time as with nothing to relate to, they didn't make much sense and particularly when those writing them were trying to convince themselves that they were so superior, in their technical knowledge, that they filled them with obscure waffle. Something, that as you make progress, you realise and quickly learn and see that the majority of Computer books, even today, are seventy five percent waffle and are of limited value to anyone. 10. Anyhow where were we? Ah! Yes, dropping hints and waging a subtle campaign of how the future, very successful, writer needs the correct tools to become that very successful writer. It was hard work and the money just was not there to even contemplate major updates of equipment and systems. 11. Anyhow two young fellows had started up, in Scarborough, building and selling Computers and I called in to see what they cost, what you got for the money, but above all else were there any second hand ones going cheap? The short answer to that was no, not really. Any machines traded in were usually outdated and because they couldn't handle the ever improving software were usually broken down and whatever hardware, which might be re-usable, removed and the rest binned. But I only want something that was a bit better than mine and I forgave them for laughing when I told them what that was. They could certainly do better than that but could I afford it, I asked? How about so much a week? OK, every Friday you bring in so much and you can take that unit away now. 14-inch colour screen, 386 processor and Window 3.1 operating system. The Bees Knees! Wow! 12. The wife was none too pleased when she saw the pile of equipment; you know how big those old Monitor Screens were and the bulky base units, but calmed down when I told here the arrangement I had made. On my second or third Friday visit they were in the process of rearranging their shop and workshop and I casually asked if they could use a hand, as my time was free. As I got to know them I realised that things were not going quite as easy as they appeared and they were still finding their feet and that any free labour, that they could get, would be greatly appreciated. That started a long-term friendship and one that continues to this day. I go in fairly regularly and spend time with them and in exchange for that, I now hope, I have become fairly knowledgeable regarding the building and maintaining of Computers and all the ins and outs of programming etc. They know that I present no threat to them as outside of their workshop the only machines I might 'delve into' are my own and perhaps that of my son. So from very humble beginnings I can now hold my own in the ever-evolving Computer world. Also, with the passing of time and thrift and weekly payments, l am now the proud owner of some of the state of the art equipment and you name a course at the local technical college and the chances are I have taken it, up to HNC level which is the equivalent of the 'spare time' degree. 13. My skills, compared to some, are not all that great but at least I have made some progress from those early days. 14. I was invited and accepted Trusteeship and Directorship of a Scarborough based organisation that looks after the less fortunate from within the teenage groups of the local population and I give my time freely to that. 15. When I retired from the Coastguard Service I retained my membership of the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute for those less familiar with the initials RNLI) and I am a Life Member and Governor of the Institute where as at a more local level I am a member of the local branch Management Committee and that continues to keep me in touch with the day to day happenings on the local station and allows me to continue to mix with the current lifeboat crews both operationally and socially. 16. It was from my retirement and active involvement with the Coastguard and Lifeboat that allowed me to take up and pursue a pastime that has brought me a great deal of pleasure and taken up a lot of my time and energy these last few years. |
CHAPTER 53. The Last Five Years. (2001). |
MY BIOGRAPHY. |
