About Me

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I never wanted to be a fitter and I didn’t even know what a fitter was or did, until it was too late. The story of how I came to be one can be seen on my website: www.calvertonfitter.com After 45 years in industry working on such diverse things as aeroplanes and textile machinery I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog and to share some of the things that I've seen and done. Some of the posts are funny and some are sad. Some are political and some are about racism. Hopefully you will find them all interesting, and even entertaining!

My Favourite Posts

Some of MY favourite posts include: The Congo, Deltic (3 posts), On the Buses, The Bus Drivers Story, Classical Music and Sherry, Working in Karachi 1988, Going to Karachi 1988 (hilarious), Broken Mug, Tilbury (4 posts).





Saturday 6 September 2008

Working in Dublin

Went to the physio again on Friday and had another dose of ultrasound on my knee followed by a massage. She was well pleased that I could bend it through 110 degrees, which is apparently exceptional considering I had the op. only 3 weeks ago. So I’m pleased as well.

I think it was the same year that I worked in Lurgan that I also installed textile machines in a Dublin Factory and it was a completely different experience. I was a guest of the MD and stayed in the house he had inherited from his father the only change he had made was the addition of a swimming pool. Ooh yes!! And it looked out over Dublin Bay. Stunning. He and his wife took me out to a restaurant and that was real eye-opener as it seemed to be ‘unofficial’ and was just a large Victorian terrace and completely unmarked. He said only tourists went to ‘proper’ restaurants. The chef was the owner-occupier and the staff were dressed as penguins, very proper, and the food was great.
A month or so later my boss had a call from him and I was despatched to Manchester airport the following morning with a drive shaft and pulleys tucked under my arm. It was just too big to go as cabin baggage so had to go in the hold. I was in a queue of English businessmen at check in and they laughed and joked with me that I’d be bringing it back that night. And I did. My boss had got the story wrong, it was just a small adjustment that was needed and damn me, those same guys were at the airport laughing at me and doing the ‘I told you so’. They thought it was an ‘Irish’ problem but I knew better.

I have just been listening to the Pakistan election results with Benazir Bhutto’s widower (Mr 10%) winning the presidential race. I was in Karachi in 1988 when Benazir won for the first time and will try and prepare a post of that experience.

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