Do you know, I'd almost forgotten about my "adventures" on here! That say's a great deal uh? Well, I guess I had better fill in the missing pages as best as I can! I lost the job I had strived so hard get and boy was that a massive kick in the nads. Rightly or wrongly, I always assumed that if I ever did get hurt either at work or not then I would be okay and would be looked after.....ha ha how bloody naive was I. So, a brand new chapter was staring directly in the face and was shouting at me, Rob, what are you gonna do now then?? I admit, for a while, i was lost. It takes a bloody long time to re adjust from being in uniform nearly all of my adult life to then being cut free and thrust out into the unknown. Yes i got a pension but it wasn't anywhere near enough to keep me and the family/house going without finding an alternative source of income. And so it came to pass. I found myself mooching about in my local tackle supermarket. I then happened to make a flippant remark to the store manager and a couple of weeks later I found myself working part time in the tackle industry! This went on for a little over a year and despite working every weekend, the need to move on was growing. I enjoyed the experience. I felt though that something was missing, I needed to be challenged. I had previously seen an advert stating that the Environment Agency were looking for staff so I applied. After what seemed like an age, I managed to tick all the boxes and sold my soul to the devil. The application went off and I promptly forgot all about it. A few weeks later, I had a reply via email stating that my application had now progressed to the next stage and that I was invited for interview...shit, this is all getting a bit real now. Come the day and I was as ready as I'd ever be. The other candidates, well to say I felt like the proverbial token thick twat is a major understatement. These kids were all that, kids. But crucially they all had a degree in something. As for me, well I left school with the IQ of a plant pot so this was going to be a waste of time. I decided that I'd got nothing to lose so within a short space of time it was all over. I left feeling bemused and completely undecided if I had done well or had just embarrassed myself (yet again!) fast forward two months and whilst sitting at home staring at my inbox my phone rang. i nearly fell off the chair when the caller told me who he was and indeed, what he wanted. I was being offered a full time job at the EA as a Fishery Enforcement Officer, m ore commonly referred to as a Bailiff! Needless to say I took the job and two years down the road I'm still there. The very best thing about my job is that I can live and breathe fishing, every day and I bloody love it! I have also been most fortunate in securing some excellent venues and have done reasonably well so far. I've even caught a few Zander...

I have loads to tell so if you bear with me, I will add more as soon as time permits.....