SO WHAT YOU BEEN DOING SINCE YA PULLED THE PIN
Dear Readers Here I go again it seems to me that there are a lot of you out there that i know and have'nt had or heard from since i got out of pussers or i dont know any thing about. I have been out now some 17 years and i thought would write a brief sitrep of what i have been up to since i got out of pussers so readers can know me a little better and perhaps inspire others to write and let us know what you have done with yourself So i will start this thread and i hope you can all add to it. It's hard to condense 17 years in a brief letter but in true pussers cooks tradition ill have a go chief. I paid off at Albatross In november 1990 and returned to Adelaide my home port I done my resettlement training at Elliot Brothers Funeral Directors I stayed with them for 6 months or so but it was too emotional for me I then bought a second hand and antique shop at Largs bay here in Adelaide. Alas i did'nt make a go of it and it took me awhile to realise i was'nt cut out for this I was in the shop for 12months and nearly broke i closed the doors then i put the apron on and went up to Moomba. I spent a few months up there then got a job at Sacred Heart College as Chef Manager. Iwas there 2 years and then i moved on to mining camps in the Cooper Basin on Oil Rigs. I done this for 12 months then my mum got ill and i went home to look after her. I looked after her and nursed her right up to her death in 2005 . She had alzhimers I moved in with my girlfriend of 5 years Karen and her 2 children Skye 17 And Ryan 14. We have been together 7 years now i have now retired And my days are full keeping karen happy selling Avon doing voluntary driving at the local cummnity club and i'm very much involved The local Junior Aussie Rules club The West Croydon Hawks so there you have it.'We plan to be married on Nov 3rd that has been a brief resume of my life cheers Quinny

Quinny, I posted the following (with a few more recent adjustments) quite a few years ago on the original Gun Plot forum:- In the last few months before I paid off I applied to be a Boating and Fisheries Officer. I flew up to Brisbane whilst still in pussers,and had an interview. I wanted to be in fisheries as I knew of a couple of ex pussers in that job. The interview went ok and I was told that more or less I had a job to commence not long after I was due to pay off. (Oct80) Upon paying off I received a letter saying I was unsuccessful . I immediately went into town (Brisbane)and asked why was I unsuccessful after such a promising interview.I was told that it was because I never completed Grade 10 at high school. ( I went as far as grade 9) I was feeling pretty deflated after that. So, on my way back to the rail station I called in at the Mansions in George Street, Brisbane which at that time had offices of the Qld Prisons Dept located in it. Nobody was there except for a very softly spoken clerky, public servanty type of bloke who I thought was just holding the fort whilst the fairdinkum staff were on lunch. I said- "I HEAR YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SCREWS MATE". He squeaked- "we do employ prison officers". I said - "WHERE DO I SIGN, I'LL HAVE A GO" He then requested me to fill out the application, which I did. He also politely noted that I only went as far as Grade 9. At that, I really felt deflated,but my spirits lifted when he asked if I would mind doing a public service entrance exam. He sat me down in a quiet corner of the office and turned me loose on this exam. I'm not sure but I think the pass mark was 60%- I think I got 60.00001%.(I was really annoyed that the Fisheries never gave me this chance.) He then requested if it would be possible for me to attend The Government Medical Offices in 2 days time. I said "YEAH, I SUPPOSE I HAVE TO FRONT UP TO THE PSYCH EH MATE" To which he quietly replied "No, I am the Psychologist for the Prisons Department, This is for your pre appointment medical". To cut a long story short I'm glad this guy never mentioned his true occupation at the start otherwise I would have stuffed it up by trying to ACT normal. Everybody in that office really were out to lunch and this guy just dropped in to pick up some papers and ended up holding the fort. So, after a good holiday I commenced with the Prisons Department in Jan '81. I stuck it out in the Prisons until April '86. I worked with some top blokes in the prison system-lots of ex pussers,ex army etc. Lots of Poms,Scots,Irish also and most of these guys were on the same wavelength reason being most of them were ex Royal Marines,ex British Army and so on.This rubbed off on a FEW of the civvies and they were good hands as well. I got out of the Prisons Dept after major changes started to happen in the system. No longer were the Prison Officers running the Gaols. No longer could you be promoted through the system which was similar to pussers with higher rates type courses etc. The do gooders were now in charge. The results speak for themselves. I have been a Transport Inspector since leaving the Prisons Dept and run into ex pussers everywhere. Jack drives Road Trains, B trains,Cabs, Limos,Buses, Coaches,is involved with Heavy Haulage/Heavy Machinery,Dangerous Goods and just about every imaginable aspect of the road transport industry. In my line of work it does'nt take me long to suss out jack nor him me. His personal standards are much higher than his civvie counterparts generally and rarely do I have negative paperwork to complete when dealing with jack. I really liked pussers and the main reason for paying off was family. (Remember the saying -'If pussers wanted you to have a missus, they would have given you one when you joined up'.) I married in 73'but the kids needed to stay in one place for school etc. I did make enquiries about rejoining in '83 or 84' but some Leading Wran at recruitng who'd been in for about 20 months laughed and said I was too over weight to re-enter. This was according to some height to weight ratio chart in use. I could'nt lose any weight because I have a naturally large frame for a bloke of 5'10". :grin: Yours AYE, Cliff Whatley (ex LSCK)

Well Quinny you have shamed me into telling my life after pussers story. I paid off from Sterling in the west '93 started cooking in the goldmines, supposed to be 4 on 1 off, more like 8 on 1 off, sorry we can't find a relief for you. They just used you up burnt you out and then spat you out unless you wanted to be the local suck and be their whipping boy. I ended up working 17 weeks straight on one job, I must admit I said I would do 12 weeks straight as that's how long the contract was for, but then they had a few hold ups with workers and they asked me to stay for an extra week which turned out to be 5 extra weeks. Anyhow finally at the end of the contract they said thankyou very much thanks for your hard work etc etc wank wank Go and have some leave and we will call you if anything comes up, 2 days later there's an add in the paper from this mob needing a Campmanager, so I ring them up and they tell me to come in, when I get there they tell me that they have someone for that position and would I like to go to the same camp to relive the Head cook for 4 weeks, ok I will tow the line as they tell me that I will have the next Campmanagers job coming up in 2 months time at a new camp. No Worries. For some reason I decided to drive my car there rather than fly in. On arrival I spoke to the out going Campboss who I knew and he asked why I did not apply for the job, I told him that I had , but someone else got the position. 1 Week later the new Campmanager arrives, during a walk round/handover I was introduced to him, I said I would come and visit the following day after the old Campboss left. This I did and during conversation I asked his background, ex pongo cook of 14yrs been with the company for 6 weeks, it just got worse and worse the more I spoke to him. In the end I asked if I could borrow his phone, I rang the office and spoke to the headman, I told him that I had more qualifications in my little finger than this other peanut sitting across the desk from me and that I had been used by working 17 weeks straight and if this is the way they are going to treat people then I did not want to be part of it, " I am giving you a weeks notice" the reply came back if you do not work the full month we will not pay for your flight home. No worries arsehole I am out of here right now as I have my car out the back. I hung up the phone and said to the new boss , " good luck with tea, I may see you around the traps2 as I walked from his office the phone rang, it must have been the boss because he was just saying, he just asked me all these questions. Needless to say I never went back there for a job. I then had a stint as a security guard, what a joke it was like giving the Victualling office keys to Quinny I say no more. I done this for 12 months, then had a short stint in the bush, things hadn't changed as all of the catering companies were the same, ended up cooking in TPI village in Perth for 9 months, liked the oldies but couldn't handle coming in some mornings to find that one had died the night before as I liked to communicate with them and visa versa. From there back to Security guard at an Oil Refinery in Kwinnana Perth for 9 months. Then received a phone call from the MUA in Fremantle asking if I was still interested in going to sea, I said yes I was. They said come down to the wharf tonight at 1700 as you are sailing at 1900, shit ,shit I had to ring work and tell them I wasn't coming in, I had to pack my knives and cooking gear, my head was in a spin. I arrived down the Wharf at 1700 as punctual as ever, walked up the gangway of my new ship, introduced to the crew, cooking for 11 people, piece of piss, 5 weeks on 5 weeks off sail from Fremantle to Broome then Wyndham then Darwin overnight and return to Perth 17 days (overnight get rid of the dirty water) up and back 2 trips and then 5 weeks off. Christ you had to work 12 months to 4 weeks off, how good is this. I stayed on thet ship for 12 months before transfer to the offshore jobs, More money, 4 weeks on 4 off. I have now changed from cooking to Stewarding, I order the Food/stores forfor the rig the best move I have made. I plan to do this for another 5 yrs and then retiring with a good super behind me with my pension I should be right. I must thank pussers for teaching me the values in life and giving me the opportunity to meet and mix with a great bunch of people ( pussers cooks) and if I had my life over again I would do the same. I met a few dickheads and if they read this they will know themselves as I would have told them but overall the majority of pussers cooks you could not find a better bunch of oppos. It is sad that when you leave pussers you leave alot of friends as we all go in different directions and we still keep in touch it just dosn't seem the same, Thanks for the memories cookies. "Christ Quinny I think I just took your title of waffling on off you2 and I am sober. Cheers bomber

Yes bomber the biggest mistake that the starvos made was giving me the keys to the Albatross butcher shop. (fair dinkum it was like giving a heroin addict the keys to a chemist shop). Well written letter and good reading and reminds me of the time when i went on my first swing of 3 weeks up on the rig ended up being 7 weeks I then realised that i was just a name and a number to them no loyalty in civvie street you find that out very quick. No doubt we all have similar stories to tell and me like you loved my time in pussers and the people that i didnt get along with were the ones no one liked anyway And i left them under no illusions of where they stood with me as an ab i could get away with a lot and if i was a kellick i would have lost me hook on more than one occasion, so in a lot of ways i was glad i stayed an ab I stayed all thiose years at the Tross because i never chased prmotion as we all know that with promotion come the draft as there would be no billet for you where you were serving And Cliff i know where you're coming from also after i had done 15, I decided i would join the NSW Prisons Service the dog handlers used to come to Albatross and train with our doggies and i got to know a few of the screws and they encouraged me to join. I caught the early train from Nowra at 4am And got to Sydney at 7am The pre entry exam was at 0730 so i goes up and sits for all these exams. They finish at about 1130 Then we had a break for lunch, then at 1300 we go back for our results, mind you i was told that because of my navy service it would only be a fomality. So this bloke reads out these names and saying if your name is called please go to the 3rd floor and see this Miss Clarke. Well my name is called along with 2 others so i thought you beauty im in.I proceeds to the 3rd floor and marches into see this sheila and she informs me that i had failed the maths component of the exam and i would have to resit the exam in a few weeks time. By this time i was getting a little agitated and i said very loudly to this shelia Just how many F###### prisoners you got out there at Long Bay?, She said about 700 Well sweet heart i can count that F###### many then i stormed out They rang me the next day and said that they were sorry and would i please reconsider a career with the Prisons Service it was a tad late as only an hour earlier i had signed on the dotted line for another 5 years in pussers. On reflection it was a better result for me I really dont think i would have made a good screw as i wouldnt be able to handle those child molesters and women bashers till next time keep well Quinny r

discharged 2004. By this time had 2 investment properties. worked on Phillip Island at the Continental Hotel. Worked the winter at Perisher Blue Ski resort. Went to England for 8 months worked anther winter at Perisher. Went to England for 9 months. Came back worked in Townsville fro 4 months. Bought another property then a month or so later I secured my current job at Couran Cove Island resort.

Only had a relatively short stint in pussers, but wow!....made so much impact on my life. For many years I used to blame the RAN for providing me with an Apprenticeship/Trade Certificate as a fully qualified Pisshead, would no doubt have gone the full 20 and been much more successful in life had I not taken the wrong turn at them thar crossroads. The devil made me do it!:twisted: Not going to blame pussers for anything, enjoyed most of it except for the last 6 months which was hell, given the choice?, give up the piss or on ya bike:roll: Still, the RAN built a foundation which most definately sets you apart from the average civvy....you all know what I'm talkin' about.

Howdy rustic Paul Noticed you live in Adelaide me to Where Abouts?be good to chat with you to find out how you put that avatar on here ive only been on the computer 8 months now and are just picking up things and i have so much to learn you can give me a ring on 84451224 or mobile 0407504713 Or better still send me an email to quinn52_2@hotmail.com Look forward to hearing from you. I live in Ferryden Park But by your name looks like you live in the bush or in the hills all very Rustic to me Keep well Regards Quinny