Category Archives: OGL STORIES
David Walker.
Born 15 June, 1951 to Betty and Robert. The family, David, Kerry, Julie and parents lived at Hampstead Gardens. David attended Hampstead Primary and then Nailsworth ‘No Girls’ Tech.
Armed with his Intermediate certificate he applied for a Comp Apprenticeship, but to his disbelief was knocked back and started as a Print Minder Apprentice on 3 January, 1967.
Confined to the basement Print Room soon David became a dirty, smelly popular member of staff but with a dark side that no-one knew about. David met Wendy Gibson and they were married on 14 January, 1972, soon the newlyweds were expecting their first child.
In the meantime David was hard at work down in the greaser pit at King William Road. For hobbies he took up part time soldiering and Archery. Making no secret that he wanted to get into supervision and keep his hands clean David soon became a leading hand.
It was as Night Shift supervisor that we start to see a different man emerge. A fun loving and wicked Dave Walker.
One night on shift, he together with Derry Lockwood managed (with the help of an air hose) to blow a 25 litre plastic container through the Netley Print Room ceiling. The rest of the shift was spent fixing the ballsup with a skinny printer balancing perilously on top of a forklift in an attempt to fix the ceiling ‘bits.’
Then just before he left the Old Guv at Netley (taking the separation package) David led a “greaser raiding party” up to Andrew Secker’s office and drank his entire beer fridge dry. Andrew’s reaction the next day was, “I hope you enjoyed yourself last night David.”
How did Dave meet Wendy Gibson. One night Dave took his then girlfriend along to a Hampstead Gardens dance. On arriving, this young lady walked off on David and started talking to a group of young blokes. David was not very impressed so went outside for some fresh air. Now along comes beautiful Wendy. They start to chat and decide to go for a stroll.
In the meantime the official girlfriend thinks “Where’s David?” She spots them in the distance and runs up to Wendy and says, “Bugger off, you bloody tart”. Wendy responded with, “I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.” The rest is history…
Since retiring David’s hobbies include Bonsai plants, looking after grandchildren and voluntary work. He and Wendy have two boys Darren and Adam and four grandchildren.
David Walker liked by everyone (well almost) you are a Legend.
“I flipped the flop out of that flippin watch!”
Jimmy Donaldson (Carpo, Salvo and Scotsman) told me this story.
He was working at another factory when a Time and Motion Study Man came into his workshop.
He told Jim he would time him with his Stop Watch as he went about his work.
“Will ye now”, said Jim in his broad scottish accent. “I’ll tell ye what we’ll do!”
“You put your watch on my work-bench and when I’m ready you can start timing.”
The Time and Motion Man did as he was told while Jim prepared his next job.
When Jim was ready the Time and Motion Man started the Stop watch.
Jimmy then walked up to the Bench, hammer in hand and proceeded to smash the Stop watch to bits.
“Now Flip Off out of here and take that Floppin’ watch with you,” chuckled Jim.
Jim never told me whether he got reprimanded, sacked or had to pay for a new watch.
Being the fiery little Scotsman he was I’m sure he would have resigned rather than buy a new watch!
Warren
“Hello, I’m Esther Harris.”
Hello,
My name is Esther Harris, but some of you old-timers would maybe know me as Esther Davis.
I started work at the Netley complex in 1976.
I used to catch the tram and then walk 500 miles to work, hoping to get picked up by a lucky person with a car.
I started work in the Binding Room where I quickly gained a name for myself as a workplace hazard, so was moved to the reading room.
I was there for about 4 years, along with David Clarke, Nick Penn, Bruce Gow Ian Ingham, Jack Flack and Colin Thomas reading epic titles such as Butterflies of South Australia and the Tasmanian Yearbook, and who could forget the Government Gazette?
I’m still waiting for the musical starring Ivan Merritt.
I was a casualty of new technology and made redundant by the Dictaphone.
I then spent a happy 12 months making tealess urns as a Tea Girl and sweeping up crap until it was decided to offload me to The State Information Centre at the Black Stump in town, where all the nutters and toilet stalkers ended up.
All day I gave out completely uneducated opinions on matters of State and Commonwealth legislation until I was expecting my first child Danny, also the offspring of Rodney Parham, our Head Cheese.
Whilst there I met Don Bradman (when he was alive), Big Bird Joel Garner (who I thought was a basketballer) and the strange Mr. Gordon Howie (Government Gazette Crazy and the scourge of the Adelaide City Council).
Since the subsequent birth of my daughter Candace, I have worked in the areas of mental health (result of former occupation most likely) drug and alcohol, homelessness, HIV/AIDS and alcohol brain injury. Currently I’m with Anglicare.
Esther Harris (nee Davis).
Dirty Tricksters: Lockier Bastard Driver and Neville Gurr by the Toff.
Bruce Lockier nailed an empty sardine can under Ross Jolly’s chair in the Reading Room. Poor old Ross searched his room for days, but alas could not find where the stink was coming from.
Finally he went to Lockier and pleaded with him to reveal the hiding place.
What a dirty trick to play on poor old Ross
What about poor old Bob Miller. Yep another dirty trick saw Bob driven out to Kent Town by an unknown store driver to sweep up the binding section.
The driver was to come back later and bring Bob back to the Old Guv. Did that Bastard Driver return? No.
Poor old Bob had to catch a bus and carry with him his tools of trade, namely his broom, bucket and spade.
What a dirty trick to leave him stranded at Kent Town.
Bruce Lockier placed an imitation poo on the floor in the dunny of the comp room with wettish dunny paper placed strategically around it and informed the cleaner Angus to deal with it.
Angus was horrified upon viewing it and went directly to the overseer saying that was not his job.
On returning with the overseer the poo had magically disappeared.
What a dirty trick to place on poor old Angus.
Neville Gurr was so pissed off with David Lascelles being such a bloody know-all that he waited for him to enter the jobbing room dunny.
Neville then produced the largest fire cracker bomb and gently rolled it under the dunny door towards the feet of David.
He saw it coming and panic stricken kicked it away. The bomb was heard as far away as the Ludlow.
Bob Allen who was in the next cubicle picked three horse racing tips on his way up and back down.
Poor old Ken Davis in the other cubicle came out totally in shock wearing a face of total fear.
In fact, he never entered the dunny for three weeks.
What a dirty trick.
