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DIY expert Mike Dawson reinvented himself after his first career ended
I left school at 16 to do a five-year engineering apprenticeship and, with this under my belt I set off travelling the world as an electrical engineer
Initially I worked all over Europe, then branching out into Africa, the former Soviet Union and occasional visits to the US. My son and daughter both learned to swim in the Imo River in Nigeria, and started their schooling there.
When that contract finished, I worked as a Service Engineer mainly in the UK, with occasional trips to Europe. The problem was that I never saw the kids.
On one trip to Germany, I was told the job would take a weekend, but I was there for three and a half weeks and even in the UK I was working 14-16 hours a day, seven days a week.
The beginning of the end came in October 2004 when I was on leave from a job in Kazakhstan.
In my absence, a colleague who hoped to gain promotion caused big trouble for me with our client which resulted in me losing my job in December.
I felt terribly betrayed by her, and started to seriously reconsider if I wanted to be a part of the expatriate scene if behaviour like this was considered acceptable.
The clincher came in February 2005. My wife and I were in a pub ordering dinner, when a phone call from the police told us that our daughter and her friend had been in an accident.
A road rage incident had caused a car to mount the pavement and hit them, trapping our girl against a wall, and throwing her friend across the bonnet.
I wanted to help and support my daughter through her recovery so, having turned 50 at the start of April, I stopped looking for work overseas.
I thought it would be easy to practise my original trade as an electrician in the UK, but the Building Regulations now required membership of a trade association.
I joined the relevant classes at my local college and decided to keep busy by doing some “handyman” work, which I have always thoroughly enjoyed.
I advertised in the local paper as ‘Man About the House’, but in practice, most of my work came from friends and acquaintances. I found I especially enjoy working for the elderly or vulnerable, they are so appreciative of the help.
I’m also driving a bus for a day-care centre for people with learning difficulties which I do in two two-hour shifts on weekdays and on a perfect day I will squeeze five hours of MATH into the gap - but I do work evenings and weekends when necessary.
Most of what I earn goes back into the business at the moment and my earnings as driver/carer pay for meals out, holidays and beer.
My wife of 27 years is still a bank clerk, as she was when we met, and the utility bills come out of her salary.
In my last two years as an ‘In Country Project Manager’ I earned enough to pay off the mortgage, finish paying our part of the kids’ education, buy a couple of cars and stick a few £k in savings.
Life may not be so high tech or high pressure, but it is certainly more worthwhile. I feel a lot fitter, as I am a lot more physically active (I piled on weight being desk-bound in Kazakhstan) – and I have never slept so well!
This article was created: 20 July 2006.
This article was last edited: 14 November 2006.
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