Cycling Proficiency and 25 metres Front crawl with me pyjamas on.
yeah i had loads of swimming badges!football trophies etc at school.
as for exams not so good.we were the guinea pigs for the GCSEs and a lot of teachers were on strike for the last 2 years of my education plus the school wasnt the best.
i already had a rebellious rock n roll streak so only ended up with ART and ENGLISH GCSE.
I used to bunk off school quite regular.i was also in the school band playing drums.
my mum and dad could see i was gonna be a waster if they didnt do something quick!
so i started on a local plant nursery working long hours straight from leaving school and going to college in nantwich,cheshire day release.i liked it for a while but working nearly 60 hours a week(sometimes more!)partying hard at clubs,playing gigs and general womanising took their toll.
they say youth is wasted on the young and i have to agree now at 44.i just didnt realise what i had back then.my memory was very good and i learned very quickly,i knew hundreds of latin names for plants and was running round doing the foremans job at 17 years of age.driving tractors/forklift trucks.
some of the other guys resented the fact a young guy like me was telling them what to do.i had very good organising skills and the dutch manager was going to send me to holland to train as a manager.
one day i found his payslip in the brew room(it must of fell out of his pocket)and i was shocked how much he came out with(£270)for working up to 80 hours a week!(i kid you not!)this was 1989 though.
by this time i hated the job and basically told them to get lost.
i then worked at a landscaping firm and loved it for a while but same problem.long hours/crap money.i got sacked in the end.then i was on the dole for 10 months.(the only time in my life ive been on benefits).
looking back i could of got myself into a lot of trouble,.
then one day at a mates house with a terrible hangover,skint and basically in pieces.i turned round to him and said"i cant carry on like this!i need a job!" and RIGHT ON CUE HIS WINDOW CLEANER TURNED UP TO CLEAN THE WINDOWS!
i asked him for a job.at first he was hesitant as i probably looked like a total scally waster.then he said the magic words"right!ill pick you up at 845am tommorrow!"
that was it.he even says today i was the best worker he ever had!
i worked with him for a year,learnt a few things in that time then started myself back in 1993 after buying a maestro van!
i used to work a few days with him while i was building my round up.i went out nearly every night and sat/sun canvassing for 6 months.
like most people ive had a lot of ups and downs,debt problems,personal issues etc but window cleaning has always been there to allow me to make a few quid and keep my head above water.for that im eternally grateful.
ive been close to being homeless a few times but that was a long time ago now.