The Start

The start of my working life, back there in September of 1974, was the opening of a chapter that would, in my case, last 33 years, ending in September 2007.

It was the start of debt, in fact I believe it was only a month into my working chapter that I bought a motorbike that I could not afford, on the "never never" as my mother would put it, mind you, in the years before starting work, my mum had done little to avert the habit, her Kay's catalogue was always available for the kids to spend their pocket money on inflated priced trinkets.

The motorbike, well, it was a liability for sure, besides that monthly payment, there was an expensive insurance policy, repairs and not forgetting the occasional brush with the law, with ridiculous fines for something as trivial as not having an "L" plate affixed. At a time when I was earning 14 pounds a week, a 20 pound fine was devastating.

Then I dropped the bike, damaged a Mercedes back tire along with my pelvis and the bike was off the road with a dinged front fork.

Oh, but the payments never stopped.......