Jeff Ali

One of the guys from Lordship, Jeff Ali, is retiring from the Council so there's a small 'do' at the Wood Green Labour Club after work. It's always nice to go cos you get to talk face-to-face with people you've only met over the phone and talk about things that aren't work related!

So I left work at 4pm, went home, got changed, and drove back to Wood Green in time for the presentation after 5pm. Nicky was there so we got chatting, catching up on the news and me talking about my holiday as she went through my photos. My ex-boss did a little presentation to Jeff, talking about how started way back in 1976, to which Nicky (unwisely) yelled, "I was only two then!" I looked at her and said, "Heck, I wasn't even born then!" Jeff had then worked his way up the ladder and had worked all across the borough, in different depots that don't even exist anymore... And then there was the embarrassing revelation that Jeff actually used to be a photographer... to topless models!! All the men started cheering and Jeff was so red! But we were all a little wary of the camera he suddenly procured during the course of the evening...!!

Nicky introduced me to one of the electricians who worked at Lordship, Richard. First question, "So are you Stan's daughter?"
An inevitable question. "Yes," I sigh.
"Not that I know him, just heard of him," came the explanation.
Hang on, an electrician in the same service doesn't know the head lift engineer? Weird. The questions get slightly more personal.
"So how tall are you?"
I tell him.
"And you're how old?"
I look at him and say, carefully, "Old enough not to tell people."
He wrongly guessed 22, which I took it as a compliment!

The conversation then swung to 'other halves' and whether height/age should be an issue. Too in-depth a conversation with someone I've known ten minutes! I make my excuses and politely leave, but not before he's stood on a chair to "hug me at my height". Jealousy is very unbecoming, you know...