Embedded Files
So, fast forward to 1977.
Saw a guy painting letters on a large white wall of a pub. He snapped a straight line with blue chalk, ticked off the letter spaces with chalk - Just a mark (his only guide), dipped his brush in the paint and went sailing away!
As if he was writing a letter with a pen.
MAGIC!!
Waited and bought him a drink. Would not tell me the price, neither would the landlord.
"Where did you learn it?" I asked him."Just picked it up." He said.
Later I looked through the 'Yellow pages'. No classes anywhere.
Then found that 'Signwriting' was included in the Government 'Painting & Decorating' Courses. 'Friday afternoon' thing. Meaning ~ the weekend starts at Lunchtime in the pub, on Friday -
Obviously no signwriting with 4 or 5 pints inside you!No one bothered.
Just like at Art Collegewe skipped Friday afternoon becauseit was a half hours walk uphill to ¨Hill Crest¨and it was "Only" Lettering . . . So - A "Painting & Decorating' Course"?& just concentrate on the "sign painting"
That's out.
I have already had my share of Govt. Further Education: 4 years at Art School.
I searched and searched, but no one independent teaching it.
'Keep it in the family' ? This was why it was the 'dying art' ?
Nice way to earn a living . . . Especially when I discovered the prices they charged!!
------------
I did a fascia in Brighton,
Cutting out each letter in adhesive 'Fablon' (at home)
Peeling off the back paper and then sticking them on the shop front
- up a ladder in the wind OK in practice, but
I did not know about using soapy water -
Then it is easy to maneuver the letter
But I thought, then, it would not stick.
It STAYS on, but only STICKS about an hour later. The water seeps out & evaporates. It was a near disaster . . . A misplaced letter had to be pulled off, stretching the plastic So it was creased and did not lie flat . . .
Adhesive Plasticis really only good for FLAT surfaceslike glass or PVC.
The slightest lump or crack in the woodand you have PROBLEMS
Then he did not want to pay.
-------------------------
Ah! It was worth a try . . .
But I was into painting shields. A bit repetitive ~
But no travelling every day,
No weather problems,
Work your own hours
Comfy at home in the warm
Good music on
Cuppa when you like
Friends around
Paid when you delivered.
NO ONE on your BACK!!
--------
Not even a wife & kids to support
No Ex wife after MORE money!
No child maintenance (so far!)(Very lucky - a dangerous game!)
------------
This below sums up WHAT I WANTED TO AVOID ~
A real quote from a blog 2018
"However I also have a “real” life to live,
2 kids to feed, 2 jobs, car insurance, bills, rent, council tax and all that sh*t.
I do not have time for hours of meditation, astral projection technique practise, fasting, yoga, etc, etc, etc!
Believe me I have tried.
It is not conducive to my lifestyle anymore."
And how did you get into that situation!!
You have only yourself to blame !!
------------
Anyway . . .
No debts of any kind, to pay off.
No Mortgage,
No Insurance,
No car & endless expenses
I mean: Home & dryWhat more did I want?
PERFECT! Looking back ~
I did not have the real
NECESSITY
to learn sign writing.
BECAUSE I had Heraldry for ever -a very successful business - ongoing for 7 years.
So why bother?
And the "Dole" as a back-up.
I did not need a lot of money.Just pay the rent, and have a pint or two!!
"Snug as a bug in a rug!"
Famous last words . . .
OFFICE POLITICS
OFFICE POLITICS
A new girl was now at the distribution desk. There is a scratch on one of my shields from last week. Told me to repaint it.
I politely refused, unless she paid me for it.
They had been checked the week before. All OK. I had been paid.
'No? OK' she said, and shrugged.
'Any work in?'
'No.'
'OK, pay me for these, and give us a ring whenever.'
'We'll have to pay you later. There's a hitch at the bank.'
Alarm bells ringing. I looked closer . . . That scratch was done with a SCREWDRIVER,
Not just a glancing blowas if fallen off the table.
Had I offended anyone? You never know in work situations: Hidden grudges . . .
----------
Went for a drink down the road where the artists popped in for a gossip. If they happened to be in town that day.
Then, after a pint or two, Triffy came in the pub.
He has just got 30 shieldsAND he's been paid !! "Ah! So it's the favorite's game." Cannot do much about that.
"Dickhead's in charge."
"Take her a bunch of flowers!" He joked.
--------------
Office politics. Favorite's. So much for independence.
And the scratch?
I was eventually certain I had offended no one there.
Surely not the new girl.I had only just met her.So, obviously, she had been "put up" to it.
-----------
WHY?
------------
In my mind,I went through every conversation I'd had with everybodyin the last week or so. Every action.
----------
I finally deduced that it was someone else outside the firm, that had requested a 'favour' - and they went along with it
Now,
UNLESS it was the boss, paying me back for leaving them so long,
I mean, I had left them - Plymouth, Brikkies mate, Stillroom -3 years!
But it had not affected his business!Just more work for the other artists!
No.
I was 95% certain who it was. the dots joined up.And the timing - ESPECIALLY the timing. . .
In which case, it could happen again and again . . . and again
THAT was what was depressing -
----------
I will not tell you who requested this event, or why, because you would not believe me!!
Well, you might, Long story, dating back . . .
-------------
Hassle of the dole.
Then 2 weeks later a letter saying 'more work'
'Please send payment' I replied, 'I am just winding up this temporary job . . . 'They sent the money
Then I sank into the gloom of indecision. Go back or clear off?
There was now a cloud hanging over the situation.This "Someone" - with the help of the firm,could pull the plug anytime.
Yet back to unskilled crappy boring jobs, as 1965 to 1969working with toxic people again,was a very depressing thought.
What a dilemma !!
----------
Letter to the boss - I´ll come back if you tell me 'Who did it and why?' I wanted proof of my suspicions.
-------
He avoided the question.
So there was still a 5% chance it was him
He replied by offering me the position of 'Art Director'
"Art Director" indeed. He already had one, and he was deeply embedded.
Anyway, Sit in an office?
Travel Wandsworth to Croydon every day? The rail / road system is like a spiders web. London at the center. Going across the web every day on a bus! I'd need to re-house.
A fortnight went by. I stayed on the dole.
Paralysed with indecision
Then they sent a letter saying that the Social Security were looking for me. I had been "claiming while working"
This is getting nasty.
----------
I found the boss's abandoned partner from since 1970. He had set up the same thing, with someone else near Epsom.
Guess who was there? The Croydon "Art director", painting a shield Was he short of work? Or perhaps it was a set up?
Was there a message here? ~ Like ~ "It's ok to work for a rival firm, as long as you come BACK to us!'
--------
Then THEY ran out of work. Well, end of January. Christmas backlog cleared up.
I brooded . . . staring into the abyss - of having to do 'Any old job' again.
For the rest of my life!
--------------
The snag was there was almost no one else doing Heraldry.
Mullins in Dublin.
One in Derby (plastic / printed - military / civil plaques.)
The ex-partner in Epsom You could almost say I was "Over-specialised"
---------
Then the Freezing winter. Behind in the rent. Dithering . . . I went through the motions of getting the materials together for selling parchments again, but I really needed a
TRUSTWORTHY enthusiastic full time marketing person -
while I got on with making them. "Churning them out" Ideal. Each one could take a couple of hours minimum - I would need a continuous flow of orders And having to visit these people as well. (If I was solo)waiting for buses - then he's not in. Well - impossible
Unless I had a shop or a market stallBut extra Rent to pay
or find out WHERE they got the coppers.Much more convenient.
---------
Then - talking to a guy in the pub,
"Do one in my name,
(Its always THEIR name they want!)
and I'll put it around! You'll get TONS of work!"
Heard it all beforeBeer & Bulls**t Depressing
---------
I was forty years old. Unskilled. Now what? -------
Well, now the dream job has gone, it's back to unskilled labour . . .
Good whilst it lasted . . .
Page 6 next
I politely refused, unless she paid me for it.
They had been checked the week before. All OK. I had been paid.
'No? OK' she said, and shrugged.
'Any work in?'
'No.'
'OK, pay me for these, and give us a ring whenever.'
'We'll have to pay you later. There's a hitch at the bank.'
Alarm bells ringing. I looked closer . . . That scratch was done with a SCREWDRIVER,
Not just a glancing blowas if fallen off the table.
Had I offended anyone? You never know in work situations: Hidden grudges . . .
----------
Went for a drink down the road where the artists popped in for a gossip. If they happened to be in town that day.
Then, after a pint or two, Triffy came in the pub.
He has just got 30 shieldsAND he's been paid !! "Ah! So it's the favorite's game." Cannot do much about that.
"Dickhead's in charge."
"Take her a bunch of flowers!" He joked.
--------------
Office politics. Favorite's. So much for independence.
And the scratch?
I was eventually certain I had offended no one there.
Surely not the new girl.I had only just met her.So, obviously, she had been "put up" to it.
-----------
WHY?
------------
In my mind,I went through every conversation I'd had with everybodyin the last week or so. Every action.
----------
I finally deduced that it was someone else outside the firm, that had requested a 'favour' - and they went along with it
Now,
UNLESS it was the boss, paying me back for leaving them so long,
I mean, I had left them - Plymouth, Brikkies mate, Stillroom -3 years!
But it had not affected his business!Just more work for the other artists!
No.
I was 95% certain who it was. the dots joined up.And the timing - ESPECIALLY the timing. . .
In which case, it could happen again and again . . . and again
THAT was what was depressing -
----------
I will not tell you who requested this event, or why, because you would not believe me!!
Well, you might, Long story, dating back . . .
-------------
Hassle of the dole.
Then 2 weeks later a letter saying 'more work'
'Please send payment' I replied, 'I am just winding up this temporary job . . . 'They sent the money
Then I sank into the gloom of indecision. Go back or clear off?
There was now a cloud hanging over the situation.This "Someone" - with the help of the firm,could pull the plug anytime.
Yet back to unskilled crappy boring jobs, as 1965 to 1969working with toxic people again,was a very depressing thought.
What a dilemma !!
----------
Letter to the boss - I´ll come back if you tell me 'Who did it and why?' I wanted proof of my suspicions.
-------
He avoided the question.
So there was still a 5% chance it was him
He replied by offering me the position of 'Art Director'
"Art Director" indeed. He already had one, and he was deeply embedded.
Anyway, Sit in an office?
Travel Wandsworth to Croydon every day? The rail / road system is like a spiders web. London at the center. Going across the web every day on a bus! I'd need to re-house.
A fortnight went by. I stayed on the dole.
Paralysed with indecision
Then they sent a letter saying that the Social Security were looking for me. I had been "claiming while working"
This is getting nasty.
----------
I found the boss's abandoned partner from since 1970. He had set up the same thing, with someone else near Epsom.
Guess who was there? The Croydon "Art director", painting a shield Was he short of work? Or perhaps it was a set up?
Was there a message here? ~ Like ~ "It's ok to work for a rival firm, as long as you come BACK to us!'
--------
Then THEY ran out of work. Well, end of January. Christmas backlog cleared up.
I brooded . . . staring into the abyss - of having to do 'Any old job' again.
For the rest of my life!
--------------
The snag was there was almost no one else doing Heraldry.
Mullins in Dublin.
One in Derby (plastic / printed - military / civil plaques.)
The ex-partner in Epsom You could almost say I was "Over-specialised"
---------
Then the Freezing winter. Behind in the rent. Dithering . . . I went through the motions of getting the materials together for selling parchments again, but I really needed a
TRUSTWORTHY enthusiastic full time marketing person -
while I got on with making them. "Churning them out" Ideal. Each one could take a couple of hours minimum - I would need a continuous flow of orders And having to visit these people as well. (If I was solo)waiting for buses - then he's not in. Well - impossible
Unless I had a shop or a market stallBut extra Rent to pay
or find out WHERE they got the coppers.Much more convenient.
---------
Then - talking to a guy in the pub,
"Do one in my name,
(Its always THEIR name they want!)
and I'll put it around! You'll get TONS of work!"
Heard it all beforeBeer & Bulls**t Depressing
---------
I was forty years old. Unskilled. Now what? -------
Well, now the dream job has gone, it's back to unskilled labour . . .
Good whilst it lasted . . .
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