Decisions, decisions - part 2

As mentioned in the previous post, decisions are made virtually every second of our lives. Even when we sleep decisions are made which effect our lives.

Before completing my apprenticeship I had already made a decision to leave my "master" on becoming a journeyman. In fact I had already secured a new position three months before my signing off. I felt I needed more experience and started in August 1965 at the well established book printing company of Page Bros (Norwich) Ltd. I had been promised a job as a Monotype keyboard operator, something I had started at Norwich City School of Art Printing Department.

Joining a much larger company was daunting, but I was welcomed by a brotherhood of printers and made lifetime friends, many of whom still live in Norwich and correspond regularly. As printing technology developed, from letterpress to offset lithography to digital, I and my co-workers developed with it, ever learning new skills.

Taken in 1974 probably during a 12 hour late shift at the MonoPhoto Mk V keyboard. Like the 70s style?

My point is that the decision to join this company, which was founded over 260 years ago and still going strong, was another great one. I retired early in 2000 after enjoying 35 years of working there and 40 years in the printing trade. I can count on one hand, well okay, maybe two, the number of times I woke up and thought "I don't really fancy going into work today", even during some scary winter snow storms, on my 17-mile commute along country roads.

I feel blessed that I was fortunate in making the correct decision for me, and as it turned out, for my family.

The next life-changing choice was made in 1968, but that's another story.

Decisions, decisions - part 1

Except when we are asleep, we are faced with decisions almost every minute of our life. The vast majority are of a minor nature. Shall I have another cup of coffee? Shall I wear this shirt or that one?, and so on. However, some decisions are of a much more important nature, life-changing in fact.

As I was expanding this thought, my mind wandered back to what, I suppose, was my first life-forming decision. As I was approaching graduation from college in 1960, and contemplating my future career I had arranged interviews with three local companies each involved in completely different industries, all of which I had expressed an interest in. As all would involve me and my father signing indentures for a five-year apprenticeship, Dad had to accompany me.

Dad, from childhood always wanted to be a carpenter, a skill which came natural to him. However, he was under pressure from his father to join the family dairy business, which he loyally did. So Dad was keen for me to "do my own thing", albeit with all the help, guidance and support he could muster. Naturally enough, the first company tour and interview was with a joinery firm. Hmmm, a lot different from the woodworking shop at school, but there was a spark of interest. Next came a noisey, smelly, tour of a local shipwrights foundry. That was a non-starter for me, even though it would have included some woodworking skill in the preparation of moulds.

The third interview, at a small jobbing printing works, clinched my future career. I was struck immediately by a feeling that this "was for me". Within 24 hours, I was offered an apprenticeship and Dad and I signed my Indenture on August 8, 1960. The document is a work of art, the company secretary completed his part in beautiful copperplate script.

I'm reading this wonderful document as I write this and several of the terms stand out. For example, Paragraph 2(e) reads "That the Apprentice shall not gamble with cards or dice or play unlawful games or frequent taverns but that in all things he shall demean and behave himself towards his Employer and others having authority over him during the said term as a good and faithful apprentice ought".

Pictured with my "clicker" and mentor, the great Cliff Cooper, during the first year of my apprenticeship.

Then, exactly five years later on August 8, 1965, the Indenture states "We hereby certify that the hereinbeforenamed has well and faithfully served the full period of his Apprenticeship in accordance with the terms of the before written Deed".

Six years later, as a journeyman compositor at the Monotype keyboard

In 1960 I composed (typeset) by hand, but after keying via Monotype, Monophoto, Then by computer typesetting, by my retirement in 2000 we were ready for "customer-to-plate files".

My first life-forming decision was a great one, which not once did I regret making. To be able to say that in forty years I enjoyed every working day would be an exaggeration, but there were not many days I didn't enjoy, and as family and friends will testify, I still love the smell of a newly printed book!

. . . . . . . to be continued.

Crafty Love

I wrote some time ago about Gail’s passion for crafting. Mainly knitting, cross-stitching and the like, but recently quilting.

Of late, and especially since living here in the USA, another of her qualities has been increasingly noticeable. I’ve always known it (although probably not always appreciated it), but many of our friends have actually commented on it. What is this quality you are no doubt asking? To put it simply, which is always a difficult task for me, it’s the fact that she is Gail!

She has a wonderful way of always being cheerful; she is usually very tolerant; she is extremely generous with her time and love; she genuinely loves helping people; she isn’t one to open her mouth before giving what she is about to say a lot of thought; she has never shown envy of anybody or anything. The list is endless. Is she a saint? Of course not, (although she ought to be canonized for putting up with me for near on forty years).

The point I’m trying to make is that, although life has not always been kind to her, she has always been kind to life. Whether it’s visiting housebound friends, running to the grocery store for them, taking people to hospital appointments or cooking a meal for the homeless guys who visit our church property, she has always had faith, even when I had lost mine.

Getting back to the crafting. My reason for writing this is that not only did she agree to knit three prayer shawls for a lady she had only briefly met once, but feels that her hands need to deliver them, not via the US Mail or FedEx. On Monday we will be travelling to Georgetown, South Carolina to ensure that her labors are delivered with love. It’s a nine hour return trip.

Am I proud of her? Do I love her dearly? You bet your life I do and I’m not ashamed to tell y’all!

Seven days in the life of . . . .

Looking back over the past week I am reminded of "the curate's egg" - good in parts.

Ups and downs, peaks and troughs or whatever you want to call them, are part of life. It's how we cope with not only the low points, but even the highs, that can make all the difference to others. Both Gail and I experienced unrelated frustrations towards the end of last week. Talking to friends not only helped both of us get past these difficulties (as minor as they were, in hindsight), but hopefully gave those friends a sense of helping and of being "wanted". It's a reminder that we all not only need, but rely on, one another. Seeking help is not always easy, but is generally rewarding for both the seeker and helper. Thank God for the family of friends we have and love.

Yesterday, Sarah telephoned from Norfolk, England, to tell me that she had successfully booked the flights for Caitlin, one of our wonderful granddaughters, to visit us this summer. To say we are excited is an understatement!

As this wonderful world continues to turn, a dear friend's younger brother died on Saturday and yesterday another friend gave birth to a beautiful girl, Macy. Lows and highs, mourning and rejoicing, they are an integral part of life . . . and death.

As Gail says every morning "Good morning life . . . how can I make a difference today?"

Food, glorious(?), food

Getting ready for the onslaught

Almost three weeks since my last posting. Gee, doesn't time fly? It's not that I've been lazy (although that's a subject in which I could win an Olympic Gold), it's that our time has been amazingly well utilized.

A more than usual proportion of our energy seems to have been spent on food, either eating out or entertaining. That, inevitably resulted in me gaining a few extra pounds, "oh dear, how sad, never mind" (no prizes for guessing what TV show that quote comes from). We had eaten out so much that Gail needed an orientation course just to get back into the swing of preparing meals in our own kitchen!

The eating marathon concluded on Saturday when we held a cook-out for friends and neighbors. It seemed, from my vantage point slaving over a hot grill, to have been a success by the 39 guests who attended. I thought I would never stop grilling ribs, dogs and burgers and swore that I wouldn't want to see another rib for months. Needless to say, by Monday, I could have died for a rib!

I mentioned above a favorite TV sitcom (It Ain't Half Hot Mum), which is now considered not politically correct, but really is a classic. I have just been informed by Amazon that my order or the complete series of another of my favorites, (thanks to my amazing friends Dawn and Michelle sweetly remembering my birthday) has been shipped. I had pre-ordered it six weeks ago and have eagerly awaited it's release on Region 1. It is "Open All Hours", starring the exceedingly talented Ronnie Barker and David Jason, and is an English classic. I don't think PBN would have shown this here, as I'm not sure that an American audience would be able to grasp the Northern humor (the series was set in Doncaster, Gail's home town).

A friend recently lent us the BBC adaptation of Barchester Chronicles. Some of my favorite actors starred, Donald Pleasance, Nigel Hawthorne, Geraldine McEwan and the wonderful Alan Rickman, who played the creepy Obadiah Slope and the equally wonderful Clive Swift playing Bishop Proudie. What a great adaption of Trollope's masterpeice and just like the books, we didn't want it to end. Thank you Lynn for sharing.

Okay, I think that's enough of the TV theme. Now, what was I going to do? Oh yes, get ready to out for the Ninth Street Neighbors Lunch with some of our friends. And that's where we came in.

A Sad Loss

Yesterday, we mourned the loss of a dear friend. I refer to an 80ft hickory tree in our yard. Sadly it had died last Fall and although we put off having it felled, it was too near our house to risk leaving nature to do the work for us.

You may wonder why I call a tree a friend? Let me tell you that my native Norfolk, England, has witnessed the disappearance of trees at an alarming rate over the past half century. Few homes, even in the countryside, have the abundance of trees that we are fortunate enough to enjoy here in North Carolina. Modern farming methods dictated the removal of many small woods and copses and just as importantly, hedgerows. This had a devastating effect on wildlife and it is only comparatively recently that the importance of this is being widely recognized. The mighty storms of 1987 contributed to the loss with thousands of established specimens felled by nature's wrath in 24 hours. Add to this the scourge of Dutch Elm disease and a huge percentage of natural woodland was effected.

Our time in near treeless southern Spain made us realize how much we missed trees. So on our first visits to North Carolina we were enthralled at the amount of woodland. My cousin, on her first visit here from England, commented on arrival at RDU that she was amazed at the greenery and trees she saw from the windows of her aircraft on it's approach.

We still have a large number of trees in the yard and I have negotiated with our friendly tree doctor for some of those to receive "surgery" in the Fall to help manage and preserve them.

Our dear old hickory - probably ninety years in the making - was felled and cleared in less than ninety minutes. Yes, I love trees!

TW3 (That Was The Week That Was)

I haven't posted for some time. I sometimes wake up in the early hours and whilst laying in semi-consciousness I think of excellent topics on which to post. Of course, by the time I get up, have been for our daily pre-breakfast walk, had said breakfast, done chores (okay, the latter doesn't take that long) and switched on the lap-top I've forgotten all the ideas I had for writing.

It was my birthday on Wednesday, a monumental one for me, reaching the age of 65, the normal retiring age in England. I retired from a very stressful job nine years early, following a minor, but nevertheless frightening, heart attack. A sign to ease off on the stress. Praise the Lord I took it seriously and did just that. I still have days (fortunately very few) when my body tells me all is not well. I know the signs and react by "shutting down". This happened on the day before my birthday. I had planned so much for the day, a pot-luck lunch with Ninth Street Neighbors, a one-to-one meeting with our vicar, bible-study in the evening, but after stubbornly going grocery shopping I knew I had to cancel these events and "shut-down". As usual, it worked and by the anniversary of my birth I was all but back to normal.

It wasn't exactly an exciting day, but I did manage some long telephone conversations with family and friends in England, catching up with the latest news from there and Spain (two friends had just returned from seven weeks there).

My former local soccer (football) team, Norwich City, has just been relegated to the third tier of English League Football, the minor league club I supported and helped run for quite a few years, Great Yarmouth Town, just missed out on promotion, whilst the team I follow in Spain, Málaga CF, look as though they will miss out on a UEFA place. Still the soccer season is underway here and I look forward to attending some Carolina RailHawks home games.

And, after some tornado warnings earlier in the week we at last seem to have some signs of summer - just 90F (32C) today so room for higher temperatures yet, hence the pre-breakfast walks and mowing the grass before noon!

Just where the week went to? I have no idea.