It’s not quite a case of Beware school principals bearing papers but the arrival of the boss with correspondence in hand has signalled a couple of transition points in my life.
For a start there was a transfer from Townsville to Palm Island which effectively marked the cusp between The Underworld Years and The Wilderness Years, and a transfer from Townsville to Bowen brought me to the place where, if I have any say in the matter, I’ll be ending my days.
Early in 1995 the boss’ arrival bearing a letter from the Director-General of Education defines the change from The Wilderness Years to The Internet Years.
Over the preceding couple of years I’d been buying various computer bits and pieces from a company in Brisbane. One of my cricket mates, on unpaid leave from the Department, was the Education Accounts Manager and I’d been handed the responsibility of looking after the school’s information technology committee.
There were a couple of issues on the horizon that needed to be addressed and when Granty offered to fly up and offer a bit of on the ground advice, you don’t go looking gift horses in the mouth. Things went off fairly well, and just before his departure I was asked whether I’d be interested in acting as an agent for the company. I said I’d look into it....
In these circumstances you’d obviously go to the Education Department for advice since there were obvious conflict of interest issues. A letter was drafted, despatched to Regional Office in Townsville and I sat down and waited for a reply.
And waited, and waited.