wotme
Free Member
You guys on here have already been a source of inspiration. I know I've left my introduction a bit late but like they say better late than never. Where shall I start, my academic achievements were pretty crap but so was my uncle Harry's and he became a self-made millionaire. I'm still working on that but I really should have followed in my dad's footsteps and joined the Navy. Every time I fell out with my first wife I was down the recruiting office but for some reason, I never did sign on the dotted line. I was a bit of a handful when I left school and half way through my plumbing apprenticeship I was suspended for six months. As it turned out those six months were the best days of my life as far as work experience was concerned. I was introduced to the ganger at Camber docks Old Portsmouth and put to work as a stevedore. As jobs go it was pretty tough, at seventeen I was working alongside some of the hardest men I've ever known but I loved every minute of it. If container ships hadn't put cargo vessels out of business in the mid-sixties I would probably have remained a stevedore for the rest of my working days. So with the sea being in my blood, I became a shipwright for the Royal Naval Dockyard at Portsmouth. The fact that I nearly sunk the aircraft carrier HMS Albion didn't go down too well with the admiralty so I went back to plumbing and heating for a while before ending up at Esso / Exon Mobile as a steam engineer for 28 years before retiring at 67. Although I didn't become a millionaire like my uncle Harry I can't think of anything I would change if I started over. I remarried in 1971 and boy have we had a fantastic relationship, we've been to most places on my bucket list, raised a couple of beautiful daughters, and now enjoying old age looking after the granddaughter. Apart from globe trotting we've had several enjoyable years caravanning in the UK and hopefully we will renew our love of the outdoors with the Elnagh MH we bought recently, time will tell