A NEW CHALLENGE

My Dad Worked Hard All His Life.

I was born in Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, a gold mining town.  My parents had eight children, four boys and four girls in that order.  The first five came in six years and then the next three came over a 13 year period.  I was born at the end of WW2 and like a lot of families of that period, we had a hard time.   But my mother always looked out for someone less fortunate to help.  There weren’t many let me assure you.  However she found the elderly who couldn’t do their own cooking, or their own housework, and she was there doing it for them.  My dad was a plumber and in those days, plumbers  did not earn anything at all.  Yet he did work for people at no charge, in fact some people gave him a bottle or two of beer, sometimes we were lucky and got a duck or a chicken. My parents were fantastic  people, who thought that to serve others was in their best interest.

My Parents Had One Thought.

And that was none of their sons was ever going to work on the mines.  And none of my four brothers did.  In fact for a family that never went to University, my brothers were successful in their chosen careers which included a journalist, two bankers and a baker.  Not the candle-stick-maker!   And yet there was no plan for the four girls.  They were to marry, that was the only plan.  Nothing was said to any of us about  preparing for the real world.  And that was because nothing was ever said to them either.  We came from hard-working parents, of extremely modest means, but who hard strong work ethics,  and who knew nothing about money.  Only that they hoped they had enough to pay the bills, which  they didn’t by the way.  We bought “on credit” from a store and it took my mother 20 years to pay that off.  But that is another story for another time.

I Had to Make a Decision

At the end of my schooling I tried out for an examination to enter one of the banks.  My brothers were there, and whatever they did I was sure I could do.  At that time, the bank had an examination and the top 20 people were immediately offered a job.  The exam was in three parts, English, Maths and Typing.  Over 300 from our town alone were attempting this exam.  I had no trouble with the first two tests, but then came the last one.  I had never typed in my life.  I sat there frozen, watching the others type madly, hit the return button, and then type madly again.  I had to look at the keys and slowly plod along.  I remember getting three keys in a row at one stage and looking up with a huge smile on my face as if I had achieved something!  I ended up with just five lines I think, and most of that spelt incorrectly.  A few weeks later we got results and of course I never got into the top 20, however, to my amazement, I got in the top 40!  So they figured they could teach me to type!!  In the meantime, not wanting to be a burden on my parents, I sent along application forms to  the three Services and within days I received a travel pass to go to our state capital of Perth, for an interview with the Navy.  So off  I went and joined around 50 others waiting for interviews.  I was told I was accepted but would not be gaining entry for six months.  Home I went.  By now two months had passed since my bank test, and then I received a letter offering me a job.  The very next day, I received a letter from the navy informing me that I was in the next intake.  I had to make a decision.  I went and saw my bank manager.

Our Bank Manager

In those days, bank managers were respected in the community (are they now?) and he and I had a talk.  He knew my family, knew our work ethics, knew our sporting involvements, knew my two brothers who were both working in the same bank, but in different towns.   He told me he knew I would be suitable for his bank, but he then said to me that if I stayed in Kalgoorlie working for him, then that’s where I would always stay, I would probably marry (then I would have to leave the bank, no married women worked there) and stay in Kalgoorlie for the rest of my life.  Now I loved my home town, just loved it, but to live there forever and not see anything else.!?  As I sat there I thought about it very hard.  In fact I most probably had already make up my mind, as I had talked the problem over with my father.  He was all for my joining the “Queen’s Service:.  He himself had been in both World Wars.  So here I was with the bank manager and he in fact was telling me not to join his bank!  If I joined the navy, then I would immediately be going to Melbourne, after that, who knew.  I had a decision to make.  I made it, the bank manager shook my hand, wished me well and told me I had made the right choice.

I Joined the Navy

Within days I was in the navy.  At the boot camp I learnt typing!!!  I learnt morse code, and I represent the navy in basketball, and was on the cricket team.  Wow!  I stayed in the navy for four years, loved every minute of it, met some fantastic people who knew of my strong morals and helped guide me to remain faithful to these morals.  These lovely people are still my friends today.

Recently New Decisions Had to Be Made.

And this will be the next chapter about me and what led me to CarbonCopy Pro.