Doorstep Discovery

On July 20th in the summer of 1969, I was seven years old. My father led me out to the front doorstep of our house in West London. Pointing up at the moon he said, 'Son, there are three Americans up there who are going to make history, and change the world as we know it'.

He said it with a lump in his throat and tears welling in his eyes. He was truly PROUD of these men, the scientific community and humanity in general. He has (and does) instill me with a sense of total awe and wonder at the world we live in, all that surrounds us and the human condition in general. Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins have screwed up my life, by making me interested in what we all do, and how and why we do it.

Today I have filled out yet another job application, it's not the first and it won't be the last.

It got me thinking about career choices and how they are arrived at.

I've decided that some people are lucky, they either have a focused career path due to a single interest or goal, or they have no interest whatsoever and simply follow a career path based on merit or wages. The first of these two groups are those who 'love' their jobs, the second 'love' their career.

So what of the rest of us? Those who fall into the unlucky state of being interested in almost EVERYTHING! Unfortunately I'm one of those. There is no mapped career path, no fixed goal, no lifetime vocation, and at 43 years old there's a skill set so varied that as a single entity it's probably useless to any individual employer.

As a result of being made redundant in 2003, after 24 years working in various roles in manufacturing industry, I had reached a crossroads. My career had followed a path of 'make as much money as possible' to spend on indulging my many interests outside of work time.

To follow on with this path I had decided to go self employed. You learn a great deal about yourself when you choose this option! After three years I have discovered that although I am a good technician, a good communicator, and a 'people person', I am definitely a piss poor sales and marketing guy. I always feel that I'm overcharging - even when I'm not, and I tend to give after sales support without charging for the service. This has meant that I lack the 'killer instinct' for sales, so orders are few and far between. Although I have enjoyed great customer satisfaction and repeat business it's too little to make any real success, or money.

So I've decided to return to paid employment working for someone else, and still have the dilemma of what area to work in, and if I can sell my skill set to someone for a decent remuneration. Back to selling, the one area that I KNOW I'm not too good at.

Anyway, during my self employed period, and with time on my hands I wrote this website as a historical document, a testament to a disappearing part of the UK, the end of a manufacturing industrial site. Enjoy it, for the link click HERE.