DERRICK and HOWARD JOHNSON

I carried on Cycling and Working for the Co-op Butchery in Caister for a few months in mid to late 1982, but in the end, I got a message from the Area-Manager, asking to give him a Telephone Call!


I remember this as it was unusual occurrence, anyway I Phoned him, and he asked me if I would like to go and be Butchery Manager in the Cobholm Branch, this as it turned out was not such a Big Deal, as only One Butcher worked there!


I would be in Charge, doing everything myself, all the Butchery, all the Shop Serving and all the Bookwork, but Best of all, I would be on my own, working in a Small Supermarket, with a Few Old Woman Shop Assistants!


I jumped at the Chance of Working there and as it turned out, it was a Great place to Work!

One thing I always remember about Leaving the Caister Shop, the Manager (Derrick) gave me a Great Reference (which would come in handy later, if and when I left the Co-op) it was also his Recommendation that got me the move to Cobholm, so I was always Grateful to Derrick!

A few years later when I finally left Butchery, to go back into Catering, I had a few Great Reference's by this time and Derrick's was one of them, but when my Future New Boss followed up the Reference given to me by Derrick, he discovered that Derrick had Died a couple of years earlier, which I was Sad to find this out, as Derrick was a Great Bloke and a Great Boss.


As for the Music around the later part of the Summer of '82, A second Single for former Niteflyte Lead Singer "Howard Johnson" called "So Fine" it Reached Number 1 in the Dance Chart.


The song was on A&M Records and Written and Co-Produced by "Kashif"


I believe Howard Johnson only ever Released 3 Solo Albums, but this Track along with the Track Released in 1985 called "Knees" were his Best 2 Tracks!

THE BIKE WHEEL & THE SHEEPSKIN COAT!

Firstly, my last Blog Entry (on my Life), I thought I changed Jobs before we moved!

That was wrong, after writing the last Blog Entry it got me thinking about what happened first, and an incident that happened back in 1979 reminded me of which came first!

I used to Cycle back and forth to work back then, which was a fair few miles about 4/5 each way! I must have had a Puncture in one of my Bike Tyres, I cant remember that, but can remember what happened when I was taking the mended Bike Tyre back to work to fix back on my Bike!

The Bus Stop was down in the High Street about 5 minutes from where we lived, and I can remember running along carrying the Bike Wheel , I was about 2 minutes from my House, when I passed a couple of Shops, I can remember a Woman standing there with a Nurses Uniform on (I believe there was another bus stop there, she was obviously waiting for a Bus, but this wasnt the bus stop I needed) she was waiting to go to work by Bus!

That day as I remember I had my Full Length Sheepskin Coat on, and I was running quite quickly (I must have been late for work/bus) and some how my Coat got tangled with the Bike Wheel , and Crash???? I fell over on to the Concrete Pavement right in front of this Nurse, near enough right where she stood!

I remember looking up and she was laughing her head off, I felt such a Prat, but all I could do was laugh as well, me and Susan often have a laugh about that incident, to this Day!

I Loved that Sheepskin Coat!!!!!!

END OF SUMMERTIME 1978!

These pictures were taken around late 1977 or
early 1978!

By about August of 1978, we had been offered a move to Susan's Nanny's house at the opposite end of Town to where we had been living at my Nanny's! We jumped at the chance, as Susan was about 1 month away from having the baby!

I also worked at the opposite end of Town from where we were living, so to get to work I had to cycle right along the length of the Seafront, what was about 2/3 miles distance, and at that period of time I was working Split Shifts all the time, I believe it was 10 till 2 during the day and back at night 5.30 till 9.30 , this compared to most Hotels at that time, was an early finish at Night!

I always remember during the day I could cycle along the seafront, but at night time it was a different matter! with the Seafront area packed with people, I forget how many times somebody (a Lout in a gang) would throw something at me or try to push me off the bike! so the ride home was through to Town Centre, and that was nearly as bad, passing the Pubs etc, but most nights I was with one of the other Chefs, so when you were in pairs, mostly I got home without any bother!

Our Home Life at Susan's Nanny's was'nt very good! We always had the feeling of "them going through our belongings when we were out"

Anyway everything in our Life was about to change again, but this time forever!