Broadening My Horizons

As the 1980’s kicked in my services became more in demand and not just under the guise of ‘Dr Hall’. I was now gaining bookings from a variety of sources and broadening my horizons. So by day I was a Technical Officer for the Trading Standards Department and by night something completely different, not quite a Klark Kent and I didn’t need a phone box to change in.

During this time I was also learning to drive, my confidence was sky high about passing first time and fully believed I would, however life as you know occasionally puts in things to trip you up and that I certainly did. In fact, it took 3 times! There were periods with this I thought I would never pass but constantly battled with myself and each time I failed I took it as a test and just brushed myself off and focused on the next test, I was determined!

On the day of the third examination (19th Feb 1981) I had a heavy cold and wasn’t feeling too good, I didn’t mind not being well and in a strange way it took the edge off me and I was really relaxed. The test itself flew by and with it a ‘pass’ certificate was winging its way to me.

From passing my test this made it so much easier to run my business, the next target was to buy a van to complete my independence. I was and am very fortunate in the way of having a brother whom wheels and deals in cars and managed to buy a Ford Transit at a knock down price of £255 (instead of £500). I was so proud of my first vehicle even though it regularly ‘locked’ in gear, was painted using coach paint and whilst it was drying a downpour reacted with the paintwork. To top it all when I was driving it and it rained water would pour in the drivers cab via the wheel arches, so the only way to stop getting wet feet would have been to have worn wellingtons. All this simply didn’t matter as it was mine, bought and paid for!

Looking back on those times reminds me that I still have the same determination and focus now and not to be put off by things that can sometimes get in the way. These qualities have helped in all of my business ventures. That’s how life is and drawing on that experience helps to broaden one’s horizon.