VERSATILE BLOGGER? ME? THANKS.

I'm sorry about my rant yesterday. I know that it was very confusing but what I was trying to convey in my rage was that I know from talking to my immediate circle of family and friends there are massive savings to be made without touching front line services.


But today the sun is shining and I had a message from eddie bluelights that he had a little something for me to collect from his blog. It was "The Versatile Blogger" award. Thank you so much Eddie.

Now the challenge is to write 8 things about myself that are not generally known. This could present a problem because my life is pretty much an open book, but here goes.

1. I left school at the ages of 14 and 15! Yes, I know that's hard to believe because I have such a superior intellect, but I absolutely hated school. I like to say that the "school of life" was my training ground. Isn't that sick making?

I was living in the Channel Islands at the time where the school leaving age was 14. I harassed my parents until they agreed that I could leave. That was in July 1954. Unfortunately (for me) they then decided to move back to England where the school leaving age was 15 so I had to go back to school for another year. I should have reported them for child cruelty.

2. My first job at the age of 15 was in the City of London. I used to commute by train in my lovely new red high heeled shoes. I was a trainee typist with the Post Office near St Paul's Cathedral. It was good grounding. It taught me how to be independent, deal with extreme boredom doing the same damned thing day after day in a typing pool and the importance of presentation. It was drummed into us that we were funded out of taxes and as such were one of the public face of the Post Office. All our letters had to be perfect. If only public services had the same ethos today. This may be why I get so het up about the cavalier way our taxes are wasted now.

A point of interest is that at that time the City of London was one huge bomb site that wild cats had claimed as their home. The miracle was that in the middle of all this devastation the Cathedral stood out like a beacon of hope.

3. I met my first husband at the Post Office youth club. We used to go there after work to play dart, billiards and dance to the latest records. This is where I first heard Elvis and was blown away. A group of us that lived in South London would walk down the middle of the road from St Paul's to London Bridge Station. You could do that then because the City was deserted in the evening.

4. I went to the same school as Bill Wyman from the Rolling Stones, albeit that I was in the girls school and he was in the boys. At one of his booksigning sessions I was determined to renew our non-acquaintance but bottled out at the last minute. However, what I DID say was "hello Bill, how nice for you to meet me". How cringy is that? He looked at me as though I was a mad woman. He was right.

5. Since childhood I have been both very, very poor and moderately well off - several times. I prefer to be well off.

6. I believe in love at first sight because it happened to me twice. When I saw my first husband at the youth club I told my friend that I was going to marry him. We married 4 years later when I was 19 and he was 20. We were far too young and tried to make a go of it for 14 years but Vic was a great guy and a wonderful friend but a crap husband and father. Then I fell in love with Davy at first sight. He was lodging with my best friend, very drunk and making up quotes by Confucius. Madness!

He stopped drinking with the help of AA, was sober for 36 years and, being a great family man, was the complete the opposite of Vic. He died last Christmas and we all miss him so much. Tomorrow would have been his 68th birthday.

7. I hate fish apart from battered fish from the fish and chip shop, tuna with mayo and tinned salmon with vinegar.

8. And last but certainly not least. I am a born again Christian. I had been vocally agnostic, but after going to Al-Anon for several years I became a believer. I had a "Road to Damascas" conversion that would take a while to explain but one day I think that it would be good to put it all down in writing.

My next challenge is to pass this award on to 8 other worthy bloggers. After much thought I have selected the following:-

http://alcoholicdaze.blogspot.com/

http://www.wrestlingwithretirement.com/

http://rnsane.blogspot.com/

http://wwwsueann.blogspot.com/

http://gritsday.blogspot.com/

http://reluctantmemsahib.wordpress.com/

http://sandimcbride.blogspot.com/

http://mimiindublin.blogspot.com/

I won't say anything about these blogs apart from to say that I find them fascinating.