Business & Work

So, when I left school, I ran away to sea ...or more accurately, caught the train to Dartmouth. I enlisted as a Commissioned Officer in the Royal Navy, and after six years on the high seas, transferred to the Army, serving Queen and Country throughout the Cold War. However, when it began to thaw, I took that as my cue to move on. I was a Captain when I left the Army: surely I couldn’t start back at the bottom rung in the police...?

What civvy street had to offer

Instead, I took up a position as a senior manager in an international security organisation. It may sound like something out a James Bond movie, staffed by Pussy Galore and presided over by Dr Evil, plotting world domination, but believe me, it wasn’t.

 I was bored

After a decade in the role, I had my 'epiphany' - my moment of clarity. I had finally seen the light! I realised:

1. The higher up you get up in any organisation, the less fun you have.

2. There is more to life than work.

First comes Plan A

That’s when I developed Plan A (and I figured that if this didn’t work, I still had another 25 letters available to me). Plan A involved handing my notice in, giving back the company car, getting a dog and ...well, joining the police ...and having some adventures again!

Life on the beat

The result is that I’ve never been happier in my life. I’m a uniformed PC, blue lighting to incidents, running after criminals in foot chases ...and loving it. I’ve no interest in rising up through the ranks – I’ve done that. I also have time for hobbies too - magic, mantle-piecing and, more importantly, writing.

I am now the author of 2 books:

Shakespeare My Butt! encompasses many things including my military service, writing the ‘Ten Commandments of Dog’ and my odyssey around the bizarrely named places in Britain.

Police, Crime & 999 covers 12 months of my life as a front line officer.

Both are humorous, both available at Amazon and Waterstone’s, and both show that there is still much more to get from life ... whatever age you are!

To purchase the books go to:

www.amazon.co.uk

or www.waterstones.co.uk