Email to workmates on retirement.

Various ad-hoc notes, links to internet sites etc.

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sjj1805
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Email to workmates on retirement.

Post by sjj1805 » Sun Jun 30, 2013 1:51 am

My last tour of duty was originally set for the first 4 hours of a night shift commencing Saturday 27 July 2013.
However our Admin Department seem to have found some extra annual leave and time off due to me. The good news is that the date of my tour of duty has now been brought forward to Wednesday 24 July 2013.

Every Silver lining has a cloud, way back in November last year A few of my colleagues and myself all received some emails informing us of various duty changes during the summer of 2013. I remember mentioning at the time that I thought they hadn't given us enough advance notice but hey ho, we all have to do our bit to help out our workmates so they can have their summer leave. As luck would have it Wednesday 24 July 2013 was one such duty change and so instead of working my last tour of duty with my D unit workmates on lates, I will instead be working an early turn!

Wednesday 24 July also follows my set of 5 rest days (I am a part time worker). In view of this I shall arrange to have a box of samosas brought in on my last "Late turn" which is Tuesday 16 July 2013, so don't get eating too much before coming to work that day! - I thought it better to do this on lates rather than my last two night shifts because less of us work nights.

I will of course be coming along on Tuesday 27 August to the Pizza By Golly to join in the celebrations of Max leaving for pastures new, and so hope to see you all again there.

My plans for the future are simple, it will not involve working again! theoretically I should have "retired" at the end of my 30 years as a Police Officer, but not only is 49 years of age too young, despite all the publicity it gets, I do not think the Police Pension is good enough to retire at that early an age. By continuing to work for an extra 10-11 years and thus preserving the lump sum that goes with the Police Pension, this has placed me in a position where I can now retire without having to make a dramatic change to my lifestyle.

Two of my 3 sons provided my wife and I with 3 granddaughters which have all now just turned 1 year old. Quite a bit of my new found time will be spent with baby minding duties!

Other things that will be taking up my time will include my hobbies of reading, photography, 4 King Charles Spaniel dogs, my vast music and video collections plus of course my computers. All I have to do is try and avoid my wife's attempts at getting me to exercise my arm with a paint brush etc!

I will not bore you with the details of my past experiences / postings etc. If you want to know what the Police Force was like when I joined then I recommend a set of 4 novels by retired Police Inspector Charlie Owen. If you have seen the TV Series "Life on Mars" and the sequel "Ashes to Ashes" then you will find these books somewhat similar. They are based upon a fictional Sub-Division near Manchester with the phonetic code "Hotel Alpha". The Local Council had housed all the "Riff Raff" in a suburb named Handstead. To go with this any Police Officers who found themselves in any sort of trouble with the Force Complaints Department find themselves moved to "Hotel Alpha". The "H.A." Sub-Division earns the nickname "Horses Arse".

The books are named (in order)
Horses Arse
Bravo Jubilee
Foxtrot Oscar
Two Tribes.

I guarantee you will be in stitches of laughter at these stories which are based around the 1970's. This coincides with when I joined the Staffordshire Police Force as a cadet way back in 1971. There were no computers those days, the work we do now as 'RAD's" was all done by way of pen and paper!

Over the past couple of years there have been many changes to our work environment and there are lots more in the pipeline such as the two hubs at West Bromwich and Lloyd House. Had I been a bit younger I would have loved to take part in these new changes, but as you are all aware my hearing is not what it used to be, I have new family commitments mentioned earlier, plus its about time I got round to looking at some of those DVD box sets I have acquired over the years and so it is time for me to move on.

I hope that these changes make your working lives better and easier. The new hubs and other changes such as new shift patterns will inevitably mean many of you will be working with a new set of workmates. It is my hope that with whatever group you find yourself working with, you enjoy that feeling of being a part of a family like I have experienced throughout my time with the Police Force. We spend much of our lives at work and it is better when we can enjoy what we are doing and who we are working with.

I have enjoyed my time with the Police Force and could not have hoped for better work mates and wish all of you and your families good luck, best wishes and a long and prosperous future.

You can keep up with news of what I am doing at my website http://stevejjones.co.uk

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