Book description
In these days, where rogue traders appear to be increasingly under the
media spotlight and customer confidence in such self-professed
professionals is dwindling, it is heart-warming to read the amusing
anecdotes contained in these memoirs, written by a retired plumber and
heating engineer. His apprenticeship during the fifties was interrupted,
and most definitely enhanced, by his service in the armed forces, and he
became the model of excellence in terms of his honesty, workmanship and
customer care. As seen through the eyes of the raw young teenager that
the author once was, thrust straight from school into the unknown and
alien environment of plumbing and heating, he recognises, recounts and
celebrates the skills, knowledge and guidance of those he assisted in
his journey up the ladder from green-neck to a fully qualified and
highly experienced tradesman in his own right. His training not just
honed his technical abilities but also helped to develop certain
essential attributes, such as humour, craftiness and alertness, that
would stand him in good stead in the years to follow. Preceding each
anecdotal snippet of his life-moulding years in the trade, the author
presents a poem that encapsulates the moment, leaving the reader s
imagination to conjure up pictures of the scenario that follows. In
addition, interwoven throughout the pages are tips on preventative
action and spotting warning signs to avoid the potential comedic
umbrella in the house plumbing disasters that could provide unwitting
hours of amusement for the knights on white chargers called upon to
assist. In these days, where rogue traders appear to be increasingly
under the media spotlight and customer confidence in such self-professed
professionals is dwindling, it is heart-warming to read the amusing
anecdotes contained in these memoirs, written by a retired plumber and
heating engineer. His apprenticeship during the fifties was interrupted,
and most definitely enhanced, by his service in the armed forces, and he
became the model of excellence in terms of his honesty, workmanship and
customer care. As seen through the eyes of the raw young teenager that
the author once was, thrust straight from school into the unknown and
alien environment of plumbing and heating, he recognises, recounts and
celebrates the skills, knowledge and guidance of those he assisted in
his journey up the ladder from green-neck to a fully qualified and
highly experienced tradesman in his own right. His training not just
honed his technical abilities but also helped to develop certain
essential attributes, such as humour, craftiness and alertness, that
would stand him in good stead in the years to follow. Preceding each
anecdotal snippet of his life-moulding years in the trade, the author
presents a poem that encapsulates the moment, leaving the reader s
imagination to conjure up pictures of the scenario that follows. In
addition, interwoven throughout the pages are tips on preventative
action and spotting warning signs to avoid the potential comedic
umbrella in the house plumbing disasters that could provide unwitting
hours of amusement for the knights on white chargers called upon to
assist.
