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Johnston makes various claims, in emails, when we worked together - probably even in the local newspaper. Most are improbable, but enjoyable to read/hear - particularly the ones involving sex. Anyway - he now has embarked upon a series of emails in which he makes even more claims, one of which is that these represent "The True 1900 Story" - read on if you dare........
21 Aug 2001 - To: mikecurley@altavista.com
Subject: History
Here we go!!
You have some misconceptions about 1900 which I will rectify over the ensuing weeks.
First the company was formed as a result of a meeting between myself and Jim Holding. This was later extended to include one Don Woodland the then manager of the ICL bureau in Holborn with whom I had had a lot to do in sorting out some serious problems they had at the site. Holding, Woodland and I set up the company with a capital of ?100.00 and based in Moor House in Moorgate. I started on my own with Janet (my ex) as secretary and a contract with the British Insurance Association via Mackinsey and Co where Jim worked. This was a job in Cobol which was to run on the CDC bureau in Berners Street and it was a great success.
My first employee was a girl named Adrienne Dix. She was a programmer and undertook some small jobs which I had gleaned from my contacts at ICL. My next contract was at the CITB in Streatham for which I did the systems work using a tape recorder to record interviews. I still have some of those tapes. I was also approached by ICL to sort out a mess they had created at Dunlop Aviation Division in Coventry which meant I had to travel to Coventry overnight to work on their system and drive back in the morning to run the London office.
By this time work was beginning to roll in and I took on a couple of extra staff but I needed some help in the admin side. Janet was pregnant with Claire so she left and Christine Jolly came on board as secretary.
It was about then that Paul approached me and we struck up a deal in which he had Don Woodlands shares as Don had gone to South Africa. Up to that time Paul was not involved. He was working for ICL as I had got him a job when he was tired of the work at Pinchin.
It was before Paul joined that Estelle Mendoza appeared on the scene. I had advertised for a gofor and both Estelle and Christine had applied. I was very impressed with Estelle as she came over so well. I turned her down to her surprise. I explained that the job I was offering was beneath her ability and that if she contacted me in one year I would probably have something for her. I was already contemplating a recruitment company to give me a window on staff. One year to the day she came back to me and the rest is history.
The South Africa saga is also a fair old story. I was opposed to the Bovis take over but was unable to stop it as I did not have enough shares. Once the deal went through you will recall that we were having problems with Curtis so I went down to SA and after having found out how bad things were I fired him on the spot. Like a fool I took him back on but decided to visit regularly to keep an eye on things. After the Bovis take over SA blew up and it was clear that there were some crap contracts one of which was Atlas Aircraft. I hauled Jack back to London and at a board meeting he was fired. This meant that until we found someone to run the place I had to commute to Joburg. It was at this time that you became involved in SA. We interviewed a Darrel O'connor as a prospective MD even had him up to UK but I was suspicious of him and bombed him out.
While I was acting MD of SA it became apparent that we were going to make a big loss and everyone was worried about theor jobs. I called a board meeting in London and presented the position. It was agreed that we would continue to support the South African operation as at that time I had virtually tied up a big project for the Bantru administration dept in Pretoria. I then came back to SA and assured, gave my word, to the staff that their jobs were safe.
Three weeks later I had a meeting in Pretoria with Pierre Fouche the government Inspector to dot the I's and cross the T's on the future workload. My meeting was at 8am and I duly presented myself. His secretary gave me a copy of the Rand Daily Mail with a ringed article and said Fouche wanted me to read it before the meeting. The article stated the Mr Neville Vincent managing director of Bovis had stated that he was glad that his company has failed in it's bid for Cementation as it was Bovis policy not to deal with South Africa and they would have to have closed down all the interests of cementation in SA if the deal had gone ahead. Guess how I felt. I went in to see Fouche and withdrew my quotation until such time as I got a public rebuttal of Vincent's comment. I then phoned the UK got through to Keith Joseph and gave him a piece of my mind. He said that Vincent was a leading light in Amnesty International and that was his view not the Company's. He said he would look into a statement of policy but of course did nothing.
I called a board and flew back to London to resolve the matter. I made it clear that the Government contract was vital to the success of SA and that if we did not get it we would be in dire straits. It was therefore essential that Bovis should make a statement that Mr Vincent's comments were his own and not those of the Company. I was told that no such statement would be forthcoming and that the company in SA must be closed. I then pointed out that we would have to face the cost of repatriation of the staff whereupon I was told that their contracts had been checked and we were not required to do that. It was clear that the board were prepared to dump the staff and leave them jobless with no funds to return to the UK. I therefore tendered my resignation and suggested that I would take over the SA company myself, as I had given my word to the staff that their jobs were safe only a few days earlier.
The first question was where would I get the money and I was given a week to come up with an answer. I left the office trembling with rage. I went straight to ICL and held a meeting with senior executives, chief of whom was Echo Organ the overseas director. We agreed in principle a strategy and concluded the deal the following day subject to certain criteria. It was agreed that ICL would acquire 90 per cent of SA and I would retain a 10 per cent interest but I must be prepared to come to SA and run it.
That is how that all came about. I hated the thought of being back with ICL but I had no choice. After about 5 months within the ICL camp I had had enough. I was continually in punch ups with their Finance Director, they wanted me to move to ICL house which I refused to do, and also with the bureau staff and management as we were supposed to get all their programming work. Then Allborough left and Hartrick took over and I could not stand him so things went from bad to worse. I was convinced Hartrick was either mad or terminally ill. He proved me right.
It was about that time that I came back to the UK and was contacted by all the managers of 1900 in London. They took me to dinner at the Royal Garden and as one man, Alastir Donald was spokesman, tried to persuade me to come back to the UK and organise a management buy out of 1900 as it was going to pieces. I told them that I had a 2 year contract and I couldn't break it. That was the last time I saw them.
It broke my heart to leave 1900 but I had been set up and I just had to do something for the crew in SA or Bovis and 1900 would have ditched them. That is the true story. There are many other hair raising tales.
They will come later.
Regards Ken
--
Ken Johnston
From: Mike Curley
To: Ken Johnston
Date: 22
August, 2001
Waaaaaaahhhhh!!! Kneth ? what a roller coaster ride that was!! It would make a great novel?..
As I read so many ?things? kept coming back??
Don Woodland ? I remember him ? he was Operations Manager at Putney for a while ? fair/ginger haired, bear of a man ? pleasant though. I guess he may have come to Putney via Holborn?? Either way ? with me on his Team, he was assured of success!! Cannot remember him in South Africa.
Also I remember Jim Holding & McKinsey, Jim eventually had a house on the Thames near Cookham Bridge ? not so??
Didn?t realize 1900 started in Moor House. I can remember that being built (and then the other blocks along London Wall extension) ? Tucker and I sneaked inside to the top floor soon after it opened ? because it was ? a skyscraper?!!! All of 18 or 20 storeys if I remember correctly. I also ended up working in it years later ? on contract to Cocoa Merchants ? when the agency told me the name of the Company ? I immediately imagined ?Coco Merchants? ? and had visions of Coco The Clown and his entourage!!
Now ? I?m getting well confused with all your women. You say you started in Moor Hose with Janet (your ex) , then you say ?Janet was pregnant with Claire?. Now!! I think Jane produced Claire (probably with no help from you). And you currently live with Janet. Are you calling the Moor House lady Janet ? when in reality she was Jane??. or what??
Adrienne Dix ? was she the ?part-time? lady programmer at Finsbury Pavement?? A little plump, only used to work 3 or 4 days a week??
CITB ? of course I remember very well ? AND ? I can remember listening to those tapes, ?cos although the Levy and the Grant systems were underway ? I remember you and Paul needed help with the much more intricate Accounting system ? so I had to leap in and design that. I was back there many years later ? I think maybe playing golf with Paul and Bill Shoebridge, and he said that they still used the Accounting system ? something like 8/10 years after we?d left ? what great design!!
I can remember the first meeting with?.. ????. the Financial Controller at CITB ? Scot, white haired, didn?t have a car, used to get lifts in from his employees, lived in Kingston, nice man?.???
Dunlop!! I?d forgotten that ? never got involved on the contract, but I can remember your traveling to and fro ? what old banger did you have then??
Had forgotten Bassy worked for ICL, thought he came straight from Pinchin to 1900. And Estelle too ? didn?t know she was ?around? so early on.
The Bovis takeover, the way I remember it, had McKinsey & Co going into Bovis and recommending a re-structuring? each of the (4??) McKinsey consultants that worked on the project getting high positions in the restructured company ? including one Jim Holding who headed up the ?New Business Division? ? which promptly acquired 1900.
Yes ? South Africa ? I remember Jack Curtis explaining the Atlas Aircraft and Joy Manufacturing contracts to me ? they were fixed price, systems investigation, design, programming and implementation ? which was crazy anyway, but I asked him ?what about documentation?? ? and he replied ?what documentation? The contracts don?t specify that we have to produce any ? so we won?t. We?ll do that as another contract!? ? Jack ? The Lad!! And do you remember the DP Manager at Atlas?? Cannot remember his name ? but he set up a Software House in competition to us (we were by then Dataskil), and wherever we were competing against them they just used to propose ?10% less than Dataskil?. Who was the American ?Finance Director? At Joy Manufacturing (small bull of a man)?? We had a memorable lunch with him and his boys at some hotel ? I can remember drinking Cointreau all afternoon ? sooooooo sweet, and what a head the next day!
Darrel O'connor I can remember ?just, and memories are ?. Couldn?t trust him ? he had a separate agenda. I?m sure he came into the Commissioner St office and was proposing we get into the Facilities Management Business.
Don?t think I ever knew about the Bantu Admin project, and what a stunner that must have been ? being presented with a newspaper article that completely takes the legs out from under your upcoming meeting. Keith Joseph ? never liked him, on TV or Bovis etc? (I hear he always spoke highly of me though!!)
I remember the ?getting us to move to ICL House? rumpus ? cannot picture the ICL Finance man ? but remember a couple of his underlings ? all very pleasant ? showing us how much we?d save by moving from cheap Commissioner St to expensive Braamfontein!!
Yes, yes ? more stories???. The saga continues?????.
What?s the latest on the ankle?? Last I knew you may have to have it fused ? which was going to put paid to your bed-jumping and international squash careers. Have they fused it ?? You say still limping ? but is that temporary ? or the best it will ever get??
Here is some of Spares? news?.
Girl in US: Susan: Broke up some time late 80's.
What happened to her?: She got married, had two kids, but missed me so much she got divorced and came over to Woking last year...and wanted to come back this year.
Daughter Sharon: Married, had two kids, developed a serious brain tumour. That is when I basically closed Computerline and spent the last year with her.
Peter..what happened: I don't really know...it was illness.
Peter's wife: Jean; Jean used to be our main secretary.
What's happening now: Still programming. VB5 mainly..a bit of Java and ASP for web sites. Hate those bastards Microsoft. Each new version drives me mad and costs mega hours finding the differences. Doing some semi voluntary work (admin wise) for local community hospital when I can.
Playing golf...down to 16 handicap. Dating women like mad. Had lovely 11 months (like you) with a Thai girl (Yao),(married with 2 grown up kids).
She stayed here with me but unfortunately Visa wise had to return to Thailand. I may visit there or she may come back here. All in the air.
Silly Web Site: Started to look but got interrupted. Can't keep the women away. Popped down to local for a Guinness with her. I'll look later. My web site is www.plantrac.com.
Best wishes
Spares
MC
From: Ken Johnston <kjcomcon@KJCOMCON.demon.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 10:08:10 +0100
To: mikecurley@altavista.com
Subject: History - 2
Hi!!
Very sad to hear about Peter Rowe and Wally's daughter. Peter Rowe was an instructor at Bradenham manor in 1962 when I joined ICT (as it was) and was selected to go on a very expensive 4 months intensive course for trainee computer executives as they called us. There were nine of us and it was a fantastic no expense spared course in programming, systems and management sciences It was never repeated as it cost too much and most of us did not stay long with ICL afterwards as we were worth too much money. I think I was one of the few to stay more than two years as most were poached by IBM. Peter was a great guy and taught me all about Programming the 1500, but like almost all the rest of the then boffins he knew nothing about FCP and I eventually was asked to run a course for the instructors on the subject. Goes to show talent will out. I never needed the ALI button on my programs so there you lying bas...d.
I met Wally at the ISIS bureau in Leadenhall market where he was senior operator. After the success of the BIA work on the CDC machine I persuaded them to convert to ICL and move to the ISIS bureau. I seem to recall that was the prime reason for recruiting Basson as I did not have the time to cope with it. Basson had joined me at ICL from Pinchin Ferguson Clarke and it was logical he came to me for a job when he saw that 1900 was going to be a great success. But founder member he never was.
Also I was never a salesman with ICL, spivvy or otherwise. I started after Bradenham as a programmer in Finance Region where my first contract was programming and systems for Janeen Services. I then inherited Cornhill Insurance, Nem, Unicorn Securities and it went from there. My major success was to convince, by my sheer brilliance, Zurich Insurance and Clerical & Medical to go ICL after I had developed demo systems of their actual work. For this I was rewarded by promotion to Computer Executive, company car and all, for Finance Region and was ICL's youngest field manager. That met with a lot of opposition from the regional and area managers as I was only 28 and they all maintained I was too young for the job. No one was ever a manager in those days until they were about 40, how things have changed.
All went well at ICL until a certain Colin Southgate (remember) joined the region as manager of Stock markets area and started a ludicrous package called the Stock Brokers package which I could see was doomed to failure and I refused to have anything to do with. At that time I had the Bank of England as a customer as well as the Stock Exchange and things were going really well. I decided that ICL was headed for disaster and not for me so I left to set up 1900. It was through the Bureau in Holborn that I met Holding. I was running a job for an Insurance company that had been programmed in Putney by John Lilley years before using the Data Record File. Remember the Juke box. There was one at Holborn and the only other two were at BMC and ICL Dusseldorf. In the end none of the UK ones would work so I went off to Dusseldorf with the customer and an operator from Putney called Ray Jenkins to run it over there. It worked but we had some adventures in Germany that would make your hair curl. One day I will relate. See 1900eMails - he has already related!!
There you are a bit more realism for your archives.
Cheers
Ken.
--
Ken Johnston
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 11:01:37 +0100
To: mikecurley@altavista.com
Subject: History
Hello!
You are quite right - my first was Jane not Janet how could I forget.
Claire is certainly the fruit of my loins make no mistake about that.
Moor house was where the whole thing started, not the new building which is there now the old one. It was in Moorgate. Maybe I have the name wrong but it was not called Finsbury House of that I am sure. We moved from there to Domlyn House off the Strand. Very Tarty and from there to 1900 House in Euston.
Adrienne Dix was older and somewhat plump but a super lady.
No more time now.
Regards Ken.
--
Ken Johnston
23/08/2001 - Ken,
Silly sod ? Jane/Janet etc.. I?ve found over the years, its best to call them all Bubsy. As to Moor House etc? I think the building was called Finsbury Pavement House, because years later I was working for Philips and Drew, and they had offices in there too.
Domlyn was definitely a step up ? I remember it had a lot of static electricity ? and Chiswell used to insist on opening doors by using his feet, rather than get a shock on his hand ? scuffling/banging at the door ? you knew who was trying to get in!!
MC
Date Thu, 23 Aug 2001 12:26:43 +0100
To mikecurley@altavista.com
Subject History
Were you in SA when Curtis was in charge. I cannot remember. If you were you will recall the day I returned with him after I had got rid of him. I got him into the office and told everyone that he had decided to leave and that pro tem I would be taking over. I then made sure he left. I had already, as soon as we had landed at Joburg phoned the Standard Bank as Curtis had told me that it was pay day the following day and that we had no money in the bank. The payroll was about 4500 rand. I arranged to meet the Bank manager after the bank closed as I could not get there earlier.
I went to meet Mr Woods and told him that Curtis was gone and that I had taken over. I then asked him the state of our account and was horrified to learn that we were over drawn by 6000 rand and that we had no overdraft facility. I told him that I intended writing out cheques for app 6000 rand the following day what would he do about it. He asked me what I thought he should do. I told him that he had better honour the cheques as if he did not I would shut the company immediately and he would not get any money back. But if he honoured the cheques I would ensure that all monies would be paid within three days time and working capital would be injected into the account. He replied that I did not give him much option and so he agreed. I fulfilled my side of the bargain and thereafter we enjoyed a super relationship with the Standard Bank.
After that meeting I went into a tiny coffee shop in Smal Street and had a black coffee with shaking hands.
Jim Holding had left Mckinsey and gone to join Bovis as diversification Director. His first purchase was 1900. You may not know the rest of the saga of Holding. Sometime in 1970s he tried to acquire P & O for Bovis but he had already spent all the cash on a company in Canada so Bovis could not afford it. The end of it was that P & O bought Bovis and Holding got the boot. Nobody knows where he is now. I got that from Peter Sheldon, the Finance director whom I met when I came back to the UK.
The Finance man at CITB I remember well as we used to socialise together. A lovely chap who died shortly after he retired. I met Shoebridge when I returned from SA and he showed me the files on his shelf of the old systems. Shows how good I was and am.
My old banger was a Mark 2 Jaguar that I bought for ?100.00 when I started 1900. It did some miles poor old girl and never let me down.
I remember the finance director at Atlas as I had to meet him and tell him we were not going to finish the contract. He took it surprisingly well. I don't recall the chap at Joy but I remember Sandy Bischoff. Curtis was hoping to sell 1900 to him and get rich very quick. I scotched that little trick for him. Years later I met up with Bischoff and we had one hell of a row over all that. He stood to make a lot of money as 1900 staff were going to be incorporated into CSSL and Anglo American were going to pay Curtis and Bischoff a lot of money for it.
Got to go.
More to follow.
Sir Ken.
24/08/2001 - Ken,
No, I was not in SA under the Curtis regime. I was skiing with Waller in March/April 1970, in his Marcos ? we zoomed to Austria and then back to Geneva ? stayed with Guy de Gonzenbach and his lovely wife completely unaware what was brewing ? got back to London ? and I was in Joburg within a couple of weeks. Jack was still around the office from time to time ? but not really working ? just meetings with you and chats with the boys, I think I got to Joburg May 1970, and he was well and truly gone shortly thereafter. So I missed the Company Meetings and Standard Bank brough-haha ? happily!
See what a mean bastard you were?. Salary cheques totaled 4,500 Rand ? at that time about 2,000 quid ? and that was to pay about 20 people ? 1,000 quid per person ? average 12,000 Pounds per year ? where have you got it all stashed?? I think the Hague Money Laundering Court may need to know about this.
I had an account at the Standard Bank in Smal St ? always good service.
Peter Sheldon ? there?s a name from the past ? I think Bassy was still in touch with him up until a few years ago, nice man. In the Euston Square times ? did he have a cohort, Orthodox Jewish guy?? Also very pleasant.
Didn?t know the CITB Finance guy had died ? shame ? but Billy Shoe pointing out some folders on the bookcase ? this makes you a great guy?? Well ? I can beat that!! In the room where I have my computer there?s a bookcase with titles from John Grisham, Ayne Rand, Jeffrey Archer and Nelson DeMille ? surely more superior than Billy?s 1900 Folders?? (they?re not my books!!).
Yes ? the old Jag ? your chariot to Coventry?? Dunlop??
I didn?t know Bischoff ? and never knew of the underhanded dealing to sell 1900 to CSSL/Anglo.
MC
From: Ken Johnston <kjcomcon@KJCOMCON.demon.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 20:59:12 +0100
To: mikecurley@altavista.com
Subject: History etc
Here are some updates.
The ankle is a mess and will not improve. I was going to go back to the horse doctor and he was going to break it again and take a bit of bone from my thigh and graft it in, but he then informed me there was only a 50/50 chance of any improvement so I decided not to have it done. Hence I will not be playing squash or winning the London marathon again. Mind you I was so good at squash that I could beat you in a wheelchair.
Some people.
John Rozier, Management Controls, went to Univac in London. So did Angela Minchin and I understand they were married now.
So Jim Cummins got married. I remember him on an expedition to Swaziland but that had better be kept under wraps.
I had heard that Sarah Oswald married a doctor ?
Pam Brown, came to a party at my house in Parkwood with a lorry driver type who made it big selling defence sprays to the blacks in Soweto. Rumour has it he was a millionaire after a few months.
I heard she ran off to Rhodesia with him. Any ideas.
The other management controls chap, name I forget, big fella, Mike??? I met him in London when I came back after the move to ICL. He had bought a big pink DB Aston Martin which once belonged to Kim Novac. Even with that he could not get a girl.
Another Controls was Ashley Cooper, the one with the flat in Hampstead with a mirror over the bed. Someone once told me of Ashley and John Polatch holding a lively discussion in the Inferno about a mark on the hand which indicated a particular type of weird taste in ladies or methods. Was that not you who told me.
I remember Wallers kit Marcos. I went to meet him in Geneva stayed in the Beau Rivage. Pleasant weekend and he was bemoaning the fact that his car was falling apart on the Swiss cobbles.
I am fairly sure that the CITB was well under way before Basson or you joined 1900. It started with the Grant and Levy system and I think you came in at the time it was extended but maybe my memory is somewhat dim after all these years. Had Coventry started before you joined I think maybe it had. I am also fairly sure that it was about the same time that I persuaded the BIA to convert to the ISIS bureau from the CDC bureau and we got the job of converting the programs. I know I was rushed off my feet hence the rapid expansion.
We had offices in London and Manchester.
We also had Dataspecialisten In Sweden.
I did some work for the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders. It lasted about two weeks and I looked into the prospect of opening up there but the climate was not suitable at the time and ICL were in such a muddle I did not see much prospect of getting work out of them.
Waller was in Geneva and I was pursuing ICL and UNESCO in Paris. Cape Town and Durban did not start until I took over from Jack Curtis.
Fieldhouse went to Durban with Solomon??? Remember him. Dave Burchell was his real name. He had a lovely wife.
What about Dave ???? Lewis just remembered. Was our salesman. He joined Tiger Oats. Married the Jenny Morkel girl and broke up about six months later. He ended up with a packed up liver after a boozy weekend in Durban and was not expected to live. Remember.
Then there was Becky baby. Richard who came and joined me at Datamation. He went hunting with me once and it was then I discovered he was nearly blind and could not hit a barn door at ten paces. Some years later I met up with him again and he had formed a safari company. He had organised a hunt in Rhodesia for big game for a bunch of Americans and asked me to come along as second hunter. I pointed out that he would not be able to hit a standing elephant at ten paces and that he was putting his clients at risk if he was after anything likely to hit back. Buffalo was on the agenda would you believe, the most dangerous animal in the veldt. He then suggested that if I went there would not be a problem. I said what would he do if I did not go, but he was determined to go anyway. That's the last I heard of him. He was probably trampled to death along with his little gang of unfortunates.
The ICL Finance Director was Bob Aldrige. It went pear shaped the first month when he phoned up and demanded to know where his figures for Dataskil were. I asked him whose figures and he eventually admitted they were my figures. I then suggested that if they were his figures it would be a case of the tale wagging the dog. I also proposed the notion that a company run by a bean counter would be constipated by all the beans. We never got along.
Then there was John Powell. He took over from me. When Dataskil arrived on the scene he was running the user programming services and thought that he should be made MD of Dataskil. When I got the job he was furious and he conspired with the Manager of the bureau to ensure that as little work as possible would come our way. The rows we had were endless.
You may also recall the quote for an insurance company where ICL had proposed back to back system 4 computers. We were asked to quote and I think our figure for the programming was in excess of 250000 rand and that was just a guess, to which I was not prepared to go firm. Hartrick, advised by Powell, suggested that 50000 rand was acceptable and I told him to piss off. I also insisted that two of my staff went to Australia to study a system down there which used a similar configuration to get experience as we had no one who knew anything about the System 4.
The response was amazing. I was told by Hartrick that Dataskil was there to assist sales of computers and we would have to quote a price in line with getting the order for the kit. I told him that I would do that, provided the Sales dept carried the excess above the quote they gave to the customer. I also pointed out that we were a separate profit centre with a minority shareholder, me, whose interests had to be protected. He was apoplectic. After that things came quickly to a head and I pulled out.
I led a fairly lively life at that time.
We never had a project at Bantu Admin, I was discussing a turn key operation with Fouche as he was keen to contract out IT services to a software house. I had already disposed of CSL we were the only one left in the running. It involved about 15 staff permanently assigned to the contract for a period of about 2 years initially. My last meeting was to agree a time scale and a cost per man on a time and materials basis. I am quite sure we would have had agreement on it had everything else been equal.
I remember Alastair Donald well. I visited him at Ind Coope in Daventry where he was seconded for several months. He originally went in for about a months work but when I contacted the MD he asked me to come and see him as he would like to extend the contract. When I got there we had a meeting and I said I would have to discuss the matter with Alastair.
He personally took me along to Alastairs place of work. He looked like a badly dressed hippy, there was paper all over the floor and a half empty crate of beer bottles. There was also a secretary to do some of his paper work. When I went in I was greeted with the usual Donald greeting of Waenf. Anyway the contract just kept on going. What a boy.
I also recall arriving at 1900 house about two in the morning and going down in the lift to get a coffee. As the lift doors opened they were grasped by boney hands with naked legs and male parts behind them. The lights were out and when I demanded who was there a voice replied WAENF Johnston, so I knew.
Enough for now.
Regs - Ken
Kneth!!
Poor old sod ? but I agree with the decision not to let the blood-sucking medicos break and re-set/graft the ankle. They?re no better than your local car mechanic, tells you it?s the carburetor that?s wrong ? and it turns out to be the rear axle!!
As for ?The people? ? we?ve done most of them before ? but comments are as follows:
John Rozier and Angela Minchin ? agreed?.
Jim Cummins ? agreed?
Sarah Oswald ? isn?t it ironic, that she may have married one of the bastards (maybe even THE one) who wants to cut your leg off, just so you cannot complain about your ankle!!
Pam Brown ? didn?t know about the lorry driver type ? however?. From dim distant memories? I can remember meeting a lady from 1900 Programming at the ICL office in Salisbury, Rhodesia ? when I and Herman the German (spit) were up there and in Mozambique ? on a camping holiday. She was there, doing a project for us and I?d arranged with her that we?d meet ? but was that Pam Brown ? or Linda Baddeley,
Surely the other management controls chap, was Mike Gale, and I remember Bassy telling a story about the pink DB ? apparently Mike had just picked the car up and was jammed in Park Lane, traffic all around, but he was Joe Cool, and he saw a nice looking lady in the car next to him looking adoringly at the big thrusting bonnet and the smooth lines of the body work, and then at the handsome driver ? so he decided to be Mr Ultimate Cool and ? turn on the radio ? this of course started the electric Arial?. Extending?? and he saw her watching each thrust that it made, mouth open in wonderment? except that the aerial hadn?t been secured at the base, and it just extended, and extended until it popped out of the base and just fell diagonally across the bonnet. She watched all that, then looked straight into his horrified eyes and gave him one of those ?nice try ? but failed? sort of looks. He had to jump out ? retrieve the aerial etc?.
Ashley Cooper ? well done ? been trying to remember his name ? yes I remember the stories about mirror over the bed etc? and yes I think I told you about Polatch/Ashley confessing to each other their various conquests ? each trying to outdo the other, and it ended with Ashley saying his ultimate fantasy would be to have 13 or 14 year old twin sister/virgins ? and Potlatch just replied ? ?done that?.
Waller agreed?.
As for CITB being well underway before I joined, you had probably put in the odd appearance down there ? but I seem to remember it only getting going when I arrived ? BIA and Coventry were going strong when I joined, with you batting up to Coventry for the daytime and back to ISIS for the evenings. I remember doing a lot of testing at ISIS, but cannot remember why ? why test programs that you know are going to work??
I got up to the Manchester Office once I think, never had much to do with Dataspecialisten, but met up with Korge Holmberg and his lady and daughter? at Bassy?s place a number of times during the 80?s.
Now ? Upper Clyde Shipbuilders?.. I remember having the punchy Lotus Elan, Bass had the ?B', and he and I went to stay with Anne and her parents for a weekend in Huddersfield and Scarborough. On the Sunday afternoon ? we set off, up the (is it the A8 or A71??) across Northumberland to Newcastle and Edinburgh then across to Glasgow ? stayed in the Airport Hotel. What a great road ? blind brows, single lane in each direction ? we had a fantastic burn-up! We gave a week or two week Cobol Course, and that is where we met up with John ??? think he was their Chief Programmer, and he later joined 1900 then he joined ICL at Putney ? what was his name ? very nice guy, used to flip his biro between his fingers whilst talking ? I was very impressed with that!! What do you think of the audacity though?.?? Smoothing in from the airport hotel each day ? and parking a brilliant yellow Elan down in the grey, dismal docks area of Glasgow?? Never got broken into though!! And don?t say ? no-one would want to!!
I stayed with Waller in his flat in Geneva ? just 1 night on holiday with little Aileen ? remember her??
And yes ? Dave Burchell and his wife ? visited them quite a lot ? they lived in Leeds on returning from SA ? lost touch now though?. Roger Fieldhouse I?m still in regular contact with. I remember going with Fred Boulton, Sue Oldrieve and Laura to Durban View Hotel and seeing the Fieldhouse ship arrive from the UK. I still write to Felicity (Fizz) ? she?s now divorced from Roger and living in Perth, Western Australia. Rog is married to his school girl-friend Elaine and living in Doncaster ? they have a Post Office ? I?ve been there about 3 or 4 times ? even helped serve customers.
Yes ? remember Dave Lewis well?. Shared an office with him most of the time we were in Commissioner St ? surely he went to a Sugar Company, but yes ? Jenny Morkel ? the funny yellow car ? and poor old Lewis? liver
Cannot picture the ICL Finance Man ? Aldridge ? probably just as well.
John Powell ? well done ? had forgotten him!! He, Brain Stoate, Robin Dunlop and I shared an office at Braamfontein. Dunflop went to Seattle ? wife was Jenny ? met up with them years later when they were on holiday in London, heard they then split up and he went to Hawaii.
The Manager of the Bureau was Richard ??? ? nice guy, English ? spent a lot of time with he and his wife. And he had Dennis Mahoney working for him ? I got on well with Dennis and met up with he and his various ladies/wives in the UK. He got to be MD of Univac in SA, then transferred over to the UK and ended up Man Dir of one of the Lottery Companies that bid for the UK Lottery. He got fired about a year ago from there and last I knew he was ?waiting for something to turn up?.
Cannot recall the System 4 debacle ? but sounds about right ? I can remember Powell forever trying to pare down the estimates, and always being anti-whatever he proposed.
Good old Alistair!! Did some work with him at Pru-Bache in the city about 1993, his wife was living in Manchester or thereabouts (after the Midland Bank had moved them up there) and he in London. During 1900 days - he did a contract for some ??Brokers?? in the City and the Client side Manager he liased with was ?. Bernie Ould?. Who was there at Pru-Bache, had employed Alistair, and the partnership continued?. Until this day I believe. I can remember Alistair shagging some lady in the basement of Euston Sq ? and the next morning he told us that the delightful darling told him afterwards, that she could handle thick/wide plonkers quite well, but she really couldn?t handle the long ones !! Just the sort of lady to take home to mother!!
I?ll get this off to you know ? I?m sure you?ve been impatiently waiting? but don?t reply too quickly cos ? 2 days from now my PC gets packed ? and the earliest I?ll be back on line will be about 20th October. We?re packing this weekend and Monday/Tuesday next week ? then into a hotel here in HK for a week, then down to Singapore, where hopefully the flat we want will have been signed up and we can move in ? provided ship and container have arrived safely. Can you believe how crap the Singapore Immigration is?? They will view each Video Tape, VCD and DVD ? and will charge 10 quid for each one viewed. We have no porn ? but will smuggle our VCD?s etc in our hand baggage over the next few months ? just to avoid paying hundreds of pounds for the privilege of having our own films. They are also strong on pirated software, lewd books magazines etc?. crappy place!!
All the breast,
MC
_____________________________________
From: Ken Johnston <kjcomcon@KJCOMCON.demon.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 10:20:13 +0100
To: mikecurley@altavista.com
Subject: Bullshit
Dear God!!!!!
What a lot of bullshit you do write Curley. Now I suppose diplomatic relations with Singapore will totally break down and we will have to send our roving peacemaker Blair to sort it all out. As if there were not enough troubles in the world already. Hey ho, here we go again.
I will please you with more later.
Regards Ken
Johnston!!
You're still alive!!
Now, now - you're elevating me to a position which I may be unable to fill - Total Wanker of the World!! But I'll try!!
You never did have any relations with Singapore - so what have you got to worry about - also you probably voted for Mr Blair - so you deserve everything you get.
Watch out - I'm viewing my emails constantly between about 09:00AM and 19:00 Sing time - am just off for dinner with 3 lovely ladies - why do I have to pay??
Have a nice day!!
MC
To KPJ ? 24/10/2001??????
Kneth!!
So much water under the bridge over the last few months - I need to recap.....
You (I think):
- are still hobbling about (but not with a stick or zimmer frame??) because of buggered ankle - and there's not much more that can be done on that front?
- are still doing the "Landlord" bit in deepest Suffolk - but plans for renovating and extending (car park etc) - are stalled because of local building regs etc..?
- have probably just completed a hectic summer and are now hunkering down to an Autumn/Winter of peace and emailing with me?
And I:
- Am now well settled in Singapore, except for Long Term Visitor's Visa;
- Will get started on walks around the area (have done a few already), and when those are exhausted will buy a bicycle and explore the island;
- Have now got Broadband working here - its not the super dooo 3 Megabit stuff (that I could have got - it was even cheaper than what I have), but involved trunking/cabling and the landlord didn't want it done - so I've gone for the .5 Megabit - which it 10 times faster than 56K dial-up and is fine/good, and unlimited usage - I'm happy.
- Recently heard from Brian Lewis, he even sent a picture - its on my web-site (see below) - aparently he was working for a company that has gone bust (following Sept 11th), but he's been able to join a competitor, but now has the unenviable task of convincing prospective clients that everything he said before, about the old and new companies, was untrue - serves him right!!
MC
To Ken Johnston,
Date 14 December, 2001
Subject: OBL
Kneth!!
There I was, watching TV last night - and the translation of the film/tape they were showing of Osama bin Laden talking with his mates kept identifying the guy who was speaking - most often (of course) as .........OBL - which can only stand for "Our Beloved Leader" - which in our misguided way is what we used to call......YOU!!
Is that why the Americans are finding it almost impossible to find him/you - because they're looking in caves in Afghanistan, and they should be looking in deepest Suffolk??
Your secret is safe with me... on receipt of more than I'd get from the reward the Americans are offering..... OK?
MC
From: Ken Johnston <kjcomcon@KJCOMCON.demon.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 11:26:35 +0000
To: mikecurley@altavista.com
Subject: Good Cheer
Hi!!
One of the attachments came from a reliable source and should be OK so see what Happens. The Other is your Christmas Card and well deserved.
Thank you for the OBL comments. You should well know that after my UK and South African Empires I went on to bigger and better things. I then became known as OBWL (Our Beloved World Leader) so the little rat in Afghanistan is definitely not one and the same as my Honourable Self.
Just remember that.
I may deign to write again before Christmas, if not, have a great time and don't eat too much turkey in the sunshine as it is very indigestible.
Cheers
K (OBWL) Johnston (Bart)
3 May, 2002 ? Cage rattling time
Johnston!!
News please..?? What?s been happening in deepest Suffolk.. enough of that? on to the real reason I?ve decided to bestow a mail on you?..
I?ve been a busy little beaver ? and have found/made contact with:
Fred Boulton (spoken on the dog and bone to him twice in the last week ? shame ? he hasn?t got the hang of time-zones yet ? and phones at midnight or later, when I?m fast asleep) ? still in Jo?burg;
Dave Burchell ? although he?s too busy to reply more than ?Bugger me ? is that you?? ? in the UK somewhere
And??????.. you won?t be happy?.
Jack Curtis ? who still operates a Software House in SA using Cobol as its revolutionary, cutting edge ? instrument of torture.
Fred was most impressed with Claire? he knew of Mango Groove and Claire Johnston ? but didn?t connect the 2 to you, until I emailed him and told him of the success of your genes. He reckons she?s the biggest music star to have come out of South Africa for the last 20/30 years, so you must have done something right!!
Fred reckons: Chiswell is perhaps in Canada somewhere, and Dave Lewis was lost-sight-of after a lunch about 10 years ago. Do you remember Fred was married to Jean (red haired tall thin lady from ICL) ? they had a daughter Samantha, who apparently now is a Bluebelle Girl type dancer all over the world, Jean is a director of an Advertising Agency in Jo?burg. Fred married Erika (Who I met in London 20 years ago) had 2 sons ? now 16 and 18 ? and they?re living in Randburg.
And news from here??? I hear you ask?.. well:
Settled in Singapore OK now ? every day is the same (Weatherwise) ? 32 degrees and sunny ? cannot complain ? I go off cycling a lot all along the East Coast beach/park. Janet is currently in the USA for 4 weeks ? attending a family wedding in Texas with her daughter, then holidaying in New Orleans, San Fran and Los Angeles. Stoatey came though here on his way to/from New Zealand a couple of weeks ago ? good to see him ? his second daughter is getting married one month from now? My second daughter Inga has been here for a few weeks on her way back from Oz/NZ ? and is now back-packing through Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos ? returning here in 2 weeks, before onwarding to London.
That?ll do for now ? all the best,
MC
From : Ken Johnston <kjcomcon@KJCOMCON.demon.co.uk>
To : mikecurley@bigfoot.com
Subject : Re: Cage rattling time........
Date : Fri, 3 May 2002 16:18:00 +0100
Hi!!
I thought you were dead.
Of course my daughter is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Look at the father and it is easy to understand how that came about.
Boulton still alive, amazing. Dave Lewis you may recall nearly died when his liver packed up after a heavy session in Mozambique, or was it Durban. Was Dave Burchell the guy I used to call Solomon B Hodd? Scruffy bugger with a beard. I think he was.
Sod Curtis. I had hoped he had rotted in hell. The Mutti man let me down. He promised me he would drown in the Vaal.
Chiswell married Caroline, name forgotten. Still going??
I am too busy right now to spend much time on the keyboard but will get back properly when time permits. I am having trouble with the tenants in our house, not paying rent, and have put in the bailiffs. No peace for the weary. Hey Ho!!!
Regards- King Ken
King Ken!!
No, not dead? just enjoying the sight of only 2 mails sitting in my Inbox ? one from you? the other from Curtis!! Ha-ha ? so near ? but so far!
Anyway ? I?m going to outlive you!
I?ve downloaded some Claire songs ? only found 5 so far ? a couple were instrumental (Mango Groove) ? none of the little cherub?s warblings ? seen her album up on cddb.com ? clever girl!!
Yes ? Fred is still alive ? but apparently his Doc has told him to reduce the ciggies, whisky and stress (stress ? Boulton??) ? otherwise he?s only got 2 years.
Between Curtis and Boulton I?ve deduced that Dave Lewis (he of the dickie liver) is missing ? no-one knows his whereabouts ? however ? Chiswells (both Caroline & Peter) are still in Jo?burg and it looks like Graeme Wallace is in California ? I have both email addresses and will annoy them soon??..
Yes ? Burchell is indeed Solomon B Hodd ? no doubt you?ll remember Angie his wife more easily?? Still no news from him ? too busy to reply to my mails ? I may take them elsewhere!!
Yes ? put the bailiffs in ? tenants are all bastards ? except me and Janet.
More soon,
MC