T minus and counting - 2015

[bazza]

[guypjfreak]

[JayBalls]

[LondonTom]

[whisty]

[bazza]

[grumpyhack]

A bit of a celebration as my tickets arrived this morning.

Edited May 20, 2015 by grumpyhack

[grumpyhack]

A reg no from Morecombe

And an all-electric bus from California

Edited May 21, 2015 by grumpyhack

[JayBalls]

One from Amsterdam

And no number on this one but here's a drag bus

[bazza]

[LondonTom]

[whisty]

[Jonohorse]

[carlosj]

[Pear_Cider]

[guypjfreak]

[grumpyhack]

A bus number (on the side and a reg no)

And as I'm quitting my job today something to put it in perspective/to scale and a few numbers that might be useful later.

And a different sort of bus

Edited May 21, 2015 by grumpyhack

[JayBalls]

[whisty]

Congrats on your retirement Grumpy, if that's what it is.

Edited May 22, 2015 by whisty

[bazza]

[bennyboi]

Schuey's first f1 ride before he rocked 5 & 1

[LondonTom]

[carlosj]

Happy job-leaving Grumpy, what are your plans? More leisure?

[grumpyhack]

One of the joys of being an oldie is the freedom to tell anyone you work with/for to stuff it. Whereas my daughters being in their early thirties and still building their careers probably have to swallow hard from time to time and just put up with what's being dumped on them.

Actually I've always been a bit bolshie and have never been one to put up with things silently. Many, many years ago when I ran a freelance news agency our biggest customer was The Sun (they've always been the biggest paying daily tabloid). There was an occasion when the journalists at The Sun were on strike and the paper was being put out by a handful of executives including the, then, editor Kelvin McKenzie. I was at the time an active member of the NUJ.

One evening the phone rang at home and it was Kelvin on the line. "Hi Pete (journalists always tend to use first names with each other) there's a little story we'd like you to take a look at in Ebbw Vale."

To which I replied: "Hang on Kelvin, I think you've got a dispute on at the moment."

"Oh have we?" he said.

To which I replied: "You know bloody well you have so f*ck off and don't call me until it's over." and I put the phone down. So I'd just pulled the plug on the editor of our biggest-paying customer.

A couple of days later the dispute was settled and when the every-day guys on the newsdesk heard about my stand against Kelvin, I was showered with thanks and loads of extra work as an unofficial bit of compensation.

So, what goes round, comes round.

My latest spat is with a new department head at the organisation I've worked for for the last 12 years as an adult ed tutor. I decided it was a case of "up with her I will no longer put" and today I quit.

It's a wonderfully freeing feeling and I'm fairly sure I'll still get enough work - but it will be on my terms.

A few years ago at Glasto I bought a T-shirt that at first glance appears to have the Boots the Chemists logo. But on closer examination it reads: "Bollocks."

I think all of us, from time to time need to metaphorically put on a Bollocks T shirt in response to being dumped on.

So, not retirement, just an adjustment of my position for the moment. And, anyway, I've got four festivals to fit in over the next four months, so I need a bit more free time.

Edited May 22, 2015 by grumpyhack

[JayBalls]

Good on you grumpy

Edited May 22, 2015 by JayBalls