the good thing about being given the boot (my version ,mangement said redundant) was that you could sign on without having the spanish inquisition,and you were SAFE for 6 months,after that the grief use to start,it was stop your money OR join THE JOB CLUB :2funny: :2funny:,turn up for 3 hours a day,get your bus fayre (4 minutes away,they didnt ask,me being a gentleman ,didnt tell them),what a load of misfits all dodging the the thought of a job,(i use to get a job when the money ran out),but this crew were pros ,never done a day and were never going to,there was a bob marley tribute band,they smoked a wierd kind of baccy most of the time :2funny:.spent most of the time reading pop music mags,there was the entire cast of ghandi ,who used to bring me curries to take home,several irish lads reading the racing pages ,motely crew of brummies,doing absolutly nothing,instruction periods consisted of being taught interview skills such as talking to each other using a phone with no wire on it,writing your name on a big sheet of paper and showing it to the person sitting next to you (suppose to break down barriers),on one side i had bob marley jnr whose writing skills were a bit suspect ,couldnt make head or tail of it,on the the other side ihad a chap whose name was so long ,he started writing normal size but then had to go smaller and smaller till he ran out out of room and had to use the other side of his sheet,humour is a great barrier break down,not silly exsersices,we were all in bits ,much to the annoyance of the multi degreed teacher,they were never taught what the real world was like.then tragedy struck,a dear friend of mine GOT ME A JOB,WHAT SORT OF FRIEND DOES THAT,it was at salisbury transmissions at bromford lane ward end,but luck was on my side,this was the era of the miners strike and the 3 day week,i could manage 3 days,this was fine till we decided to march (or drive)to the gates at saltley to support the miners who were blocking the gates trying to stop the lorries getting in.only trouble was ,we had to pass a few pubs on the way,the eagle the mitre and a couple more,so by the time i got there iwas a bit lively ,most people when having a few get noisey and violent,not me ,i havent got an aggressive bone in my body,everybodys my friend and all girls are beautiful,(i am the the bloke who on seeing someone run for a bus and the driver pulls away ,even tho hes sees them gives them a lift to the catch up the bus at the next stop and wag my finger at the driver).getting in the spirit of things(more spirit than things),i am seen to be climbing the gates and generally having a roaring time waving at film crews and doing a very bad wolfie smith impression.next thing i know iam being battered by a very enthusiastic copper with a truncheon (i bet it was you FRANTIC getting your own back for your crappy reliant),i was thrown very heavily into the back of a police van with all the finesse of the waffen ss and generally given a good hiding,but i have a guardian angel,a bit cranky but she never lets me down,bless her,next thing i know i am grabbed very gently by the throat (liar) and flung into a fence with the words ringing in my ears YER NOT THROWING UP IN MY VAN YOU *********,fate had intervened and i was on my toes and away up cato st like no ones business.worse was yet to come,when i got home my dad who was a workaholic had seen me swinging on the gates and generally making a fool of myself all on national tv(isometimes see myself whenever they dig up the miners strike as they always show the gate bit,so as andy warhole said everybody has their 15 minutes of fame .i get mine over and over ,do you think i should ask for royalties.the next day i couldnt walk as i had 3 broken ribs a couple of teeth gone ,massive bruising and a hangover oliver reed would have been proud of.i stayed off for a bit revelling in my telly appearance,but when i returned to work i was told that i had let the image of the trade union down (2000 drunk wesh minres scrapping with the police didnt fit either and i bet they didnt sack them either)so it was 2 weeks money and away i went again.you might ask thats nothing to be proud of but i never believe in being dull or commited,life is for living and making people around me smile (quietly behind my back while extolling the virtues of hard work.hard work never killed anybody did it ?look in the cmeteries at the ages of your grand parents ,i think i will always be a loafer but never bored or fed up with life ,this is it folks its not a rehearsel ,treat every day and everybody like its going to be your last and you will have a lot of friends and fantastic memories.i might add ,down at the dole they were not exactly over the moon at my re appearanc,but i didnt leave of my own accord so i was safe for a bit longer,much to the snotty tyke behind the desk,who happened to to prince albert school as me and i never liked him then,but he must have had a long memory as he tried everything to get my dole stopped ,but i knew more about the dole than he did,so once a fortnight i would get the third degree ,but he never won,hes probably doing councelling now to the deaf ,dumb and daft wondering where he went wrong