The year was 1975 and I was still in Burma but had already been hired by the management consulting firm W.D. Scott to look after the finances and businesses of a certain PNG politician.
A week with him and I knew I had to get away! The manager of the consulting firm, David Plomley, got me another position with the National Housing Commission which was no better. It took me a year to get my career back on track again (of course, in hindsight, I should never have left Burma in the first place, but that's hindsight for you!)
With the name David Plomley forever engraved on my mind for having got me the two worst jobs in my long and varied career, I was a little surprised to read about a Mr Plomley who entered the crossword trade as a young University of Sydney chemical engineering student in 1961. "I used to do crosswords on the ferry in the late '50s when I was a student living in Mosman," Mr Plomley said. "So I thought I'd give it a go."
Then, like in any good crossword puzzle, came the clue, "Mr Plomley, now a 75-year-old retired management consultant, has been at it pretty much ever since, compiling more than 2500 puzzles." A 75-year-old retired management consultant! Of course, that's "my" David Plomley!
The newspaper I found this article in was a 2013 Sydney Morning Herald which makes him 83 years old today. Just enough time left to give him a blast from the past before it falls on deaf (or should it be 'dead'?) ears.
He replied to my email almost immediately, "Hello Peter! What a long time ago! Yes, I'm still in the crossword business - see any Wednesday's Sydney Morning Herald. Otherwise I am long retired. My last consulting assignment was with AusAID in Papua New Guinea from 2000 to 2003."
From management consultant to cruciverbalist: not much of a stretch as both diddle with words, and you've always had a way with them, David!
