My gaming was shit, basic programs on my Texas T199/4A were shit and I knew it. It had been a credible effort on my parents behalf to get me on the computer owning circuit. I realised they were strapped for cash but I was no nearer to being in the fold than before owning this dammed Texas. I could only ogle the 'Home Computer Course' screen shots of 'Flight Simulator' and 'The Hobbit'. "100% machine code, full screen colour graphics", fuck the best this offered was controlling a letter V thru a screen of Ws in an attempt to reach the 'base' i.e. M. Not quite hi-res but that was the best I was gonna get. I felt like the Penny Farthing owner looking in on the kids with their BMX's. Yeah I had a computer but it was rubbish. Every Saturday would entail a dash up to John Menzies, "Can you tell me where your Texas T199/4A games section is please?"......"Oh you mean the Spectrum?"......."No, oh never mind, thanks anyway".

I knew I had to take it into my own hands. My old Fella's best mate's wife was a supervisor in 'Woolco' a huge superstore version of Woolworth. It was great it sold everything from beds to gardening stuff to tellies to clothes oh yeah and it also had a cafe and a dedicated "Electronic Games" section, where Vectrex, Astro Wars and Firefox all showed off.

I was 15 and was turning 16 in the October, several months later. He put a word in and I went up for my 'interview' which basically involved turning up on time and being shown where the compost was stored and what I'd be doing on the Sat. I turned up prompt as a button and was allocated my blue overall which was so long, it almost tripped me up and my badge which proudly displayed ALAN in all its resplendent Dynamo glory.

So off to work, 1st day involved moving bags of compost from here to here; next week I was having a go in the electrical dept. I had to setup a display of light bulbs and can still to this day remember Kate (the aforementioned Supervisor) ask how I was getting on to which I replied "Fine, its light work" *drum roll* *cymbal clash*. I was working for the first time in my life and it was great.

I was restricted to a few hours on the Saturday until I was of 'legal age'. My sixteenth birthday came and with it, my provisional licence to drive my Green Honda C50 moped. Here I was 16 with a wage and wheels, fuckin bring it on!!!

The birthday saw me work on a Thurs, Fri night and all day Saturday and a Sunday at double time if I was lucky. With this, also came my permanent role, 'Trolley Boy'. This basically entailed gathering trolleys and scouting round the car park at night bringing them in. Thursdays were the best - payday - the feeling of signing my name and receiving a little brown envelope which was stuffed with notes and coins.

Suddenly I was in a position to finally get on board the good ship Spectrum. Finishing work one Thurs night, I made my way to the 'Computer Dept' it was jam packed with everything I so wanted, but couldn't have. Phillips 'Videopac', Colecovisons were all there. Yep Spectrums too but one in particualr caught my eye, there it was in all its Brown slab glory this powerful 'business' computer I'd heard about - the Commodore 64. Boasting an elephantine 64k of memory, heck that was 4 times the Spectrum so it *must* be better. Only snag was the fucker was almost 300 quid. Mind you look at all these colourful pie charts and graphs on the box!! A quick gander at the games - Interceptor's Frogger 64 and Crazy Kong 64 was enough to convince me - I had to have it. I went up to the desk and enquired, 'Do you own your house? - No, Have you a driving licence - No, Any utility bills for proof of address - No, Any credit cards - No - Fuck me, I'm 16 for fucks sake. 'Sorry Son you'll need your parents written approval and to act as a guarantors'

A few days later with the credit transaction finalised (I had to pay at least 16 quid a month or more if I desired using a little red 'Winfield Payment book' I was soon clutching the long box and in the car heading home.

Box unpacked, I high jacked the telly upstairs. My Mum was content to sit and knit and occasionally glance at the screen acknowledging how 'great' the graphics were, especially on Frogger 64. Mums are the best, she could be 100% not interested and thoroughly bored with the content but whenever I asked her what she thought, she would show nothing short of undivided attention and enthusiasm at my new toy.

The next day my 64 was put downstairs into my bedroom and connected to the black and white portable. It wasn?t long before my 'Winfield Payment Book' had a Bush colour 14" added on.

Work was great, sometimes we would be told to go to the cafe and take down all the cakes from the day that hadn't been bought to the compressor, for disposal. Bollocks to that, we'd go down in the lift and pull open the lift door which brought the lift to a standstill midfloors, where we'd devour all the fancies.

Lee was probably 18-19 and was my hero, I idolised him and wanted to be him. He was a hippy with long, poker straight blonde hair and I was so chuffed that he ever spoke to me. He was in charge of the loading bay where all the lorries came in to offload. Sometimes he'd let us ride the new consignment of 'Tommas' Mopeds that'd just arrived in for Christmas.

I'd exhausted Frogger, Crazy Kong was shit, unplayable and looked crap. It wasn't long before I established a few 'contacts' which built up my collection tenfold. Up till that point my computer hobby was something that I did for half and hour a day, nothing more. That was all to change when I left John Menzies with the latest ish of C&VG. Their star game was a football simulation for the 64 called 'International Soccer?; it was unique cos it came on a cartridge and sold for a staggering 9.99!!

Every Saturday I would go in during lunch to see if it was in, eventually I got it. A long narrow box, silver in colour if I'm not mistaken.

Hurriedly I made my way down the road on my moped. Slotting it in, to the back of the 64 I switched it on..............**International Soccer*** by Andrew Spencer it announced. Then I was met with a screen allowing me to personalise my strip colour. I always went for Yellow. It wasn't long before I was beating the computer on level 9 and able to pull of the heading trick, run one direction then as you press the fire button jerk the joystick in the opposite direction and your player would run along with the ball bouncing on his head.

No day was complete without a marathon session at 'IS', I would sit and play until all hours - 1, 2am and still made school in the morning.

My Dad would scoff 'You should be outside getting a girlfriend instead of sitting playing on that stupid computer'

It was only a few years ago - 18 years later, that I discovered that back then my father was worried that 'I might be gay' such was my addiction to the computer and apparent non interest in the opposite sex!

Davidson, a loner from school, befriended me. He was a loner because he wasn't a very nice person. He was into ACDC and always wore spandex trousers and a red leather jacket............and he also smoked. He was described by many as 'sleazy' and was someone my Mum never took to, feeling uneasy when he was around. He also had a stutter to end all stutters.

He would turn up at the door and as I was too dammed nice to tell him to fuck off, he invariably came in, despite my begging my mum to say I wasnt in. "You can do our own dirty work my lad" she would say.

The strange thing was, although I really didn't like this bloke, he loved my c64, especially 'International Soccer'and that created a bond between us. Away from the computer I couldn't stand him but around the 64, we had an understanding if you will. I was probably better at it than him and he was a terrible loser.

2 further games dominated our lives in the early days, 'Sooper Froot' by Commodore I think and 'Hustler' by Bubble Bus.

Davidson loved 'Sooper Froot', he was 17 and was over 6ft (something of a rarity in 1983) and went to pubs. He was obsessed with fruit machines indeed I believe that he is now a fruit machine installer so I guess he found his niche in life. 'Sooper Froot' was something he could relate to and there was many a night when he'd turn up and I'd load up 'SF' and leave him to it, sometime disappearing with my other mate for a run and would return, finding him still glued to the screen.

'Hustler' was a very simple 'top down' pool game. It only featured 6 balls (same colour) plus the white. It had a few games including one involving potting the balls in order of number and a solo game. Davidson and I played the 'solo' game but had added our own rules, with the winner being the the one to pot the last ball. It wasnt uncommon for us to be sitting till the early hours, 'Spanish Train' on the stereo, playing games of first to 50 frames. This was our world. School by day, Woolco in evening and seedy pool 'Hustler's by night. This game led to the start of dogging school for me although being in 5th year it was easier to swing it.

The year is now 2003, I haven't seen Davidson in over 8/9 years, the last I saw him, he was trying to 'hit' on a girlfriend of mine at the time, unsuccessfully I may add.

He even 'stole' my 'Crazy Kong' and 'Frogger 64' and 'Cavelon' tapes, taking them back to Woolco and exchanging them for money. That was the end of our relationship.

I've no idea where he is and I don't really care. If you should ever see a gangly rock god throwback slouching over a puggy, give hima wink and say "Yer still shite at Hustler"

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