Thursday Thirteen #61
Last week the lovely Di, at whose shrine I have been happy to worship these many months, did a TT on various firsts in her life. Well, not being one to let a good idea go by unstolen, I’m doing the same this week. Here are thirteen firsts, not in chronological order.
Thirteen Firsts In My Life
My very first job The very first paid work I ever had in my life was when I worked for an off-licence (British for liquor store) for the 3 days before Christmas when I was sixteen. I had to load boxes with various bottles and in some cases deliver them – mainly to local offices for their Christmas parties. Apart from a few tips I got £5 which was pretty crap wages, even then. On the last day, just after shutting up shop on Christmas Eve, the manager got everyone together and thanked us and passed out beer to us all. I have always disliked the taste of beer but I didn’t want to seem ungrateful so I drank it.
The first time I flew in a plane I’m not sure how old I was, but probably about five or six. We went to an air show somewhere outside of London and there was a small plane offering joyrides so my father bought tickets for the whole family and up we went. I don’t remember what sort of plane it was, or how long we were up. I do remember that I wasn’t frightened but I found the whole experience rather uncomfortable.
My first stay in hospital I only have very dim memories of this. According to my parents, I was admitted to hospital with suspected appendicitis when I was five years old. I was there overnight and discharged the next day when it was found to be a false alarm. I have never been in hospital since.
The first article I wrote that was printed I wrote a short piece, about half a page, for a vintage jazz specialist magazine when I was in my early twenties. In return I received a voucher copy of the edition in question and £10 (about $15 then), but I didn’t care about the money; I was just delighted to be in print.
The first car I ever drove on my own It was a red Datsun 510. Datsun, of course, has since become Nissan. I rented it from Avis and drove round northern British Columbia for a couple of weeks, when I was working there.
My first day at school It was a Kindergarten in Hampstead, and I went when I was four. Mornings only, I think. For some reason the school term had already started when I had my first day, so the other children were already used to it. I was very upset at first at being left there, but nice Miss Gauntlet gave me a jigsaw puzzle to do. It only had one big piece, so I was able to do it pretty quickly, and after that I moved onto something else and joined in the games with the others.
My first ever blog posting It was this on, on 22 July 2006 and as far as I know, apart from my wife and myself, no one has ever read it. The first person to comment at my blog was Mark Caldwell of Too Many Ideas, who sent the very first comment to my first TT last year.
The first time I rescued my wife when she locked herself in a lavatory It was at St Mary’s Church in Banbury, to the north of Oxford, where we went on one of our trips to England to see a performance of The Elijah Passion by the local amateur operatic society. It was surprisingly good, and we enjoyed the evening. In the interval we both made use of the washrooms, and after I had done what I needed to do, my wife followed me. I wandered off and came back a few minutes later to see that the queue had not moved at all and people were muttering that the lady seemed to be taking a very long time. And from the other side of the door I could hear my wife calling that she couldn’t open the door. I don’t know how she had managed to lock herself in, but she had. Anyway, remembering a trick from my old police days I managed to unlock the door from the outside and I released her. Back to out pews, and on with the music. It is a joke between my wife and me how often she gets locked in bathrooms, because she has achieved this several times over the years.
My first girlfriend Well, a gentleman does not bandy a lady’s name of course, so she shall remain anonymous. I was but 14 years old, on my very first few dates which, as far as adolescent nervousness and a few fumbles and kisses went, were very enjoyable.
My first cigarette Smoked furtively in the kitchen, under the stove hood with the extractor fan going full blast, when I was fifteen. After which I did my teeth for about ten minutes and scrubbed my hands like Lady Macbeth, convinced they were stained bright yellow. And I didn’t even enjoy it so I don’t know why, many years later, I became a smoker. I gave up a long, long time ago, I’m happy to say. If anyone out there has not yet had a first cigarette but is contemplating it, take it from me – don’t bother!
The first time I went abroad by myself When I was fourteen I spent 3 weeks working on the farm of some friends of ours in southern France. So my parents saw me off at Heathrow airport and I flew to Paris (50 minutes) where I changed planes and flew another hour or so to Nimes, where our friends met me and I thought to myself what a trendy jet-setter I was!
My first arrests A couple called Alan and Lynn, for stealing trainers (sneakers) from a store in a big mall. I have written about that, and some other arrests, in a previous TT.
The first time I took a driving test I was 17 and I wasn’t really ready for it but my driving instructor put me in for it for the experience. The British driving test was, and still is I should imagine, very hard. More people fail on any given day than pass. I knew I was going to fail after the first few minutes but they make you finish the driving (about half an hour) however bad you are, unless you hit something. Then came the speech about how “…your diving has not come up to the standards required by the Ministry of Transport…” and I got the pink failure form. I took the test a total of three times before I passed. Subsequently I took, and passed, tests in British Columbia, which was much easier, and Florida, which was a total farce – once round the Dept. of Motor Vehicles building parking lot, and if you can do that without hitting a tree, you pass.
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Mousehole
(pronounced “mowzell”) This is another charming fishing village, at the other end of the UK. It’s in western Cornwall. We spent several Easter breaks here. I love Cornwall. Time was, I entertained thoughts of moving there, but I’m not the only one and the county is getting pretty crowded. It was here that I saw what many small boys like to imagine – my sister falling into a sewer! It’s ok – we fished her out.
We were spending our summer on the French Riviera and friends who were spending their summer in Italy asked us to join them for a few days. I remember it was very warm but windy, and after several weeks of seeing red, white and blue tricolours on every flagpole in France, I kept doing a double take at all the red, white and green ones there.
How could I not include this one? I was here for a week. Somewhere I never thought I’d go. I swam at Waikiki beach, and was surprised at how shallow it was. 100 yards out I could still walk on the bottom. Behind me was Diamond Head. Memories of the opening titles of a certain TV show. “Book ‘em, Dano!”
a bit of tourism it had not swamped the local way of life,
as I rather think it may have done by now, a couple of decades later. Tunisia is a secular state, of course, so there were hardly any women in burkhas, but we still used to hear the muezzin calling the faithful to the mosque every day, from the top of a minaret. I was very disappointed to find out it was a tape recording, played through a couple of big speakers! The town was very clean, and there was plenty to see, including (pictured) an old pirates’ fort dating back 300 years.
Gozo This one of the three islands that make up the country of Malta, situated in the Mediterranean, about midway between Sicily and Libya. When we were there, there was not much to Gozo but small villages, 
one so-called town, an unspoilt rural life for the locals, lots of beaches and coves with hardly any tourists. So it was ironic that on the second day there we were in the local market and bumped into someone we knew from back in London!
Waterville The loveliest part of Ireland, in my opinion, is County Kerry, and Waterville is a coastal town there. We were there once, on holiday with another family.
We explored the whole southwest corner of Ireland in a minibus big enough to hold both families (11 people in all). One of these days I am going to get my Dad’s collection of 8mm cine films which he took during those 2 weeks and have them converted to DVD, so we cam see them again.
St. Paul de Vence This village in the south of France dates from the middle ages, and is still surrounded by a centuries old stone wall. These days homes there are very sought after and some of the hotels here are among the best in all of France, with 3 Michelin stars.
We did not visit often because my family has never been made of money, but occasionally we ate there. The house we were renting was across a valley from St Paul, so we used to see it from our patio every day. Once a year they have a night-time festival to commemorate the time the town was ransacked and burned by Saracens in the 12th century. They let off fireworks, followed by a pyrotechnic display that make it look as though the whole town is ablaze. Amazing!
Labrador The full name of this Canadian province is Newfoundland and Labrador but every Labradorean I spoke to was at pains to point out to me that Labrador had nothing to do with Newfoundland, except in name. Some even wanted Labrador to break away and become a province in its own right. I stayed in Happy Valley, many years ago. Lots of nice people, and not too many amenities. There was only one TV channel there then (CBC) and every weekday at 3.00pm the whole town came to a halt to watch “The Edge Of Night”
alongside the new office blocks, and the majestic stone buildings that were built during the Raj, I saw unbelievable poverty too. India fascinated me. I can’t wait to go back and have another look.
Grindelwald My one and only winter sports holiday (so far). We stayed in Wilderswil, in Switzerland, and did our ski-ing on the slopes at Grindelwald. That was a 30 minute drive away, along alpine roads, through the snow. I loved it, but we never went again. I don’t know why.
Taipei The capital of Taiwan – the Republic of China, as it calls itself. I spent a few days here when I was on a round the word trip. At that time, I didn’t know anyone who had been here and didn’t know what to expect. I thought it was a rather lovely place. All the street signs were in Chinese, of course, and I didn’t find it hard to get lost! But I was never worried, not even at 4.00am, wandering the streets. I knew I’d be ok. I felt perfectly safe. I can remember to this day the sound of Mah-Jongg tiles clacking away coming through the open windows of so many houses I passed. People stay up very late there, it seems.
Pacific Highway I was in San Francisco, and loved the place. I wanted to see what LA was like, and I decided not to fly but to drive down there, and the route I took was the Pacific Highway. I took my time, it was a wonderful day for it, and I am very glad I went that way. It was beautiful. In fact, the route to LA was far more attractive than LA itself, which was a bit of a sprawl.
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