Life as a Postie - Part 2

You may remember my blog topic the other day about how good my life as a postie is: http://robmacca.blogspot.com/2006/03/life-as-postie.html

Well, as with everything in life there is always a flip side - and today I experienced that. Not only did I get out about an hour later than normal because of the volume of post and the job cut backs, but I almost got bitten by two dogs that escaped from a house. The boxer and the Labrador were barking at me and the boxer tried to bite my ankle and my arm but thankfully not seriously enough to break the skin. I just stood still waiting for the owners to get the dogs under control, thinking that this is just one of the hazards of the job. It wasn't long before I was off singing again and trying to avoid being stung by the bees that seemed to be out in force on this warmer spring morning.

At least now you can get a more balanced view of my life as a postie!

31 Things about "robmacca"...................

"31 Things About Robmacca" will be running throughout the month of March on this very Blog (well, where else is it going to be?!).
This is your chance to learn something new about the man behind the Blog.

Here's the countdown from #31 to #1........................





#31 - robmacca has had a scar on his nose since the age of three, when his brother hit him across the nose with a mop brush!



#30 - On his 14th birthday, robmacca's mother went down to the local newsagents and got him a paper round. This was the beginning of his working life getting up at 05:30am daily and the end of his pocket money!
Interestingly, robmacca has never been unemployed since that tender age of 14!


#29 - robmacca has a whole room dedicated to the Spice Girls, with merchandise ranging from signed CD's to a box of chewing gum. What is rather strange (but typically like robmacca) - he didn't start collecting things until after they stopped making records!
No estimates could be put on the value of the Spice room, it would depend on what your view of the Spice Girls are.....................




#28 - At the age of 17 robmacca spectacularly failed his driving test by not only going through red lights after stalling the engine, but the examiner had to grab the steering wheel to stop him from crashing into a van that was in "his" lane.

No wonder he waited another 11 years before he finally took lessons again and passed!

#27 - The very first girl robmacca fell in love with caused him to vomit in the kitchen sink because he liked her so much, not a very loving thing to do I know - but at the age of 6, what more can you expect!


#26 - robmacca once set off the fire alarm at ASDA supermarket with a vacuum cleaner hose, causing the whole store to be evacuated of both shoppers and workers. Needless to say, he was VERY embarrassed.........



#25 - Feeling adventurous, robmacca set about writing a 26 part soap opera entited "Life or Death". It covered glue sniffing, cancer, car crashes and love affairs with the occasional happy ending. It took about 2 or 3 years to write and only stopped cos of school work.


#24 - Most people inherit some kind of fortune when their parents die but when robmacca's dad died - he got to inherit his false teeth and a smelly fisherman's jacket.


#23 - Talking of inheritance............. robmacca is not likely to leave much behind when he dies either if his investments are anything to go by, most of the companies he invested in were technology companies which soon crashed and burned losing him thousands of pounds.................





#22 - robmacca's biggest single share loss has been on Marconi - which cost him a hefty £10,000 loss, just as well his philosophy is "you brought nothing into the world, you can take nothing out when you go" !




#21 - robmacca (aged about 6) was racing his brother up a slide at a park and fell off when he got to the top, hitting his head on the concrete. There was no family car, so his dad took him to hospital on the bus, while his head was still bleeding. The wound needed a stitch , which was then taken out several weeks later by a neighbouring nurse - who gave a banana as a reward for not crying!



#20 - The very first gig robmacca attended was at Wolverhampton Civic Hall, to see Bjork. At the time he had only heard one song "Venus as a Boy" and was asked by work mates to go.
Life was never to be the same again........................



#19 - When Cadbury's first released the "Wispa" chocolate bar in 1981, robmacca was such a big fan that he would eat a bar EVERY day and across his school books were the words "I love Wispa's"


#18 - Before the age of 18, robmacca had hardly ever travelled in a car. It was considered a luxury and it wasn't until he joined church that getting in a car became a common practice. Weird but true!




#17 - robmacca did not leave the UK until 1994, when he took a trip to America with one of his best friends Lyn. She won a trip to Florida and chose to take robmacca - who had to get a passport especially for the trip. His first roll of film was taken up of clouds and more clouds as he sat excitedly at the airplane window.......


#16 - Loving all things sticky, robmacca thought he was being clever at the age of seven, when he popped a couple of jam tarts into his pockets while at a neighbours house. He quickly learnt that a fleece lining and sticky jam tarts don't go well together.




#15 - robmacca's love for Madonna was so strong in her "Like A Virgin" days, that he would wear black and lots of crucifix's when he went to Sixth Form. Once he even wore green swimming trunks over his trousers, aiming to look like Madonna ("Into the Groove" video).



#14 - At the age of 10, robmacca put flyers up at the school gates in a failed attempt to get fellow pupils to go on strike because teachers wouldn't let them play out in the snow. To make matters worse, the Headmistress read out the poorly written flyer.




#13 - robmacca has two brothers and two sisters - all living in the same city, one even works in the same building as robmacca.Yet surprisingly, he varey rarely sees any of them in his day to day life.


#12 - robmacca used to collect empty pop cans and stack them in his bedroom, until his mother made him throw them all away.





#11 - robmacca's first record bought was John Lennon's "Woman" and his first CD single was Bjork's "Big Time Sensuality" - even though at the time he'd never owned a CD player. He bought it because it had about 7 mixes on.



#10 - robmacca's first car was a Ford Fiesta Giha. It was a bit of a rust box but handy as a first car. In the winter it would stall all the time cos the choke was not automatic. Not good when your a new driver!




#9 - robmacca used to make his own magazine called "The Pop and Bits n Bobs" - which went on for about 25 issues. Puberty took over!
It wasn't his first "magazine" though, at the age of about 9, he would make up a tiny "magazine" of mathmatical sums and other useless trivia.





#8 - Continuing the media theme, robmacca wrote a "book" entitled "The Mad Man" at the age of 11 and then sent it to the publishers. Naturally it was rejected but it didn't deter robmacca from starting a sequal. Sadly, it was never finished because once again puberty left the story in a steamy shower scene and that is where it remained!





#7 - robmacca's love for all things "pop" music is well known, and in his loft can be found Top 30 UK charts that date back to 1979.





#6 - As a youngster, robmacca once helped himself to the pick and mix sweets at a certain High Street shop without paying for them. Thankfully he only did it the once.









#5 - When he was a kid, robmacca would sit at the front of the top deck of the bus and pretend to be the driver. This went on for quite a while and the only other job he wanted to do was to become a DJ.
He became neither and works as a postman instead!





4# - Continuing the theme of buses ....... robmacca's love of buses continued into his teens - where he had a collection of toy buses which he would set fire in a sadistic sort of way. Not as sad as when he used to ride around on his bike pretending it was a bus! (complete with sounds!!)





#3 - robmacca was quizzed by the police TWICE while on his last Australian holiday for sunbathing! The first was cos he was walking around a park topless and singing/dancing, neighbours thought he might be mad (they didn't know he had a minidisc on!). The second was when he was spread out on a picnic table near a cemetery trying to avoid the ants!


#2 - Nutella became robmacca's favourite
confectionary up until his teens because you could buy it in tiny plastic tubs for just 5p.
Pure bliss for a kid on a tight budget that also included Rainbow Drops for 5p a bag!


#1 - robmacca will eventually die and the memory of him will go as well, so since he will not have any dependants - he will leave any money he has to Coventry City Social Services Department for them to spend helping send children from poorer families go on holiday.
This is to show his eternal thanks for being sent on holiday as a kid, something his family were never able to afford. Sometimes the small things can have the lasting impressions............................


Hope you enjoyed finding out 31 things about robmacca - some good, some bad and some just plain ugly!

Maybe in the coming months we'll see another month long special.

A Postie Tale..............

*picture from http://www.chax.net

It was just another normal day on my post round, as one of my customers asked if I had any letters for her.
She was a dear old lady - as polite as you would expect a traditional English lady to be.
I rummaged through my pile of letters checking if I had any;

"No, none for you today - no junk or bills"

It was at this point I accidentally let out a small fart from my bottom. It hadn't been planned or expected but Ijust hope she didn't hear it.

I carried on walking down the garden paths smiling embarrassingly at the thought of my fart just happening like that...........................

Funny Cartoon..................

* Thanks Kelly for the email last week, this one had me laughing so much.

Coventry - A city to be proud of!

I've lived here all my life and there's a lot of hidden gems about my city that I love.
We have the majestic new cathedral, which is one of the most modern and unusual I've ever seen. Lady Godiva originated here and you can see the statue in the city centre.
Behind the scenes runs a restored canal system that can be seen at the canal Basin.
If busy city life isn't your thing then why not journey to the Coombe Abbey Country Park which is great on a hot summer's afternoon.
Sometimes you just want small, so the Toy Museum is an excellent choice as it's tucked away in the city centre. Just a five minutes walk away from the brand new Motor Museum - a must place to visit while in the city.

Coventry has it all - including the new stadium, a growing airport and a vibrant city centre. Yes, it has a lot of negative aspects we've come to expect with cities like this but I'm proud to be from Coventry!!

Goodbye Melbourne!

Well the Commonwealth Games 2006 are now over, but the past 11 days have given us alot of excitement and fun. Showing that sport is for all, I liked the way that those with disabilities were not seperated from their sporting partners.
Australia once again showed how to put on a great sporting event. I'm glad we still have the Commonwealth Games still.
Wish i'd been able to see more of the events but sadly it was on at night - when I was either sleeping or working!

Non-Uniform Day!

It started with just one man turning up to work without his uniform, then a boat load of others joined the fun.
Before long it became a national "Non-uniform Day"

- Or if that doesn't make you smile - try playing "Where's Wally?"

If you find him/her let me know by replying to this topic.