We talked a lot that Sunday, the love of my life and myself.
The point is that anything I said involved convincing myself that I would not just hop from job to job. I had responsibilities. I had a family.
It was my darling who put her finger on it and broke the deadlock.
As she rightly pointed out, I would see the move as running away again, as I had when I joined the Sooty Show. But if I found another job first it would not be running away, but starting afresh.
That is why when I went in to start my noon shift on Monday the first thing I did was to ring a number in Oswestry and ask to speak to Mr Tom Roberts.
Obviously the operator had given him my name because as soon as I was put through he said: “Hello Robin, how are you doing, Enjoying watching all the big movies and getting paid for it?”
We had a bit of general chat about this and that. Being one of the directors of North Wales News he had a lot he could chat about, but then he said: “Well, that’s enough of the news room chat, why have you really called?”
Then I told him I wanted to get back into journalism and I wondered if there was anything going in the company.
He told me there might be something, but he would have to check first. I arranged to call him again at 3pm, thanked him for his time and hung up.
I had plenty of paperwork to keep me busy for the next three hours but it still seemed time passed slowly. Finally three o’clock arrived and once again I dialled the number and asked to speak to Tom Roberts.
He told me there was a vacancy for a reporter on the Chronicle, a weekly newspaper based in Bangor, although the job was based at Holyhead covering a good part of Anglesey.
The editor was Ray Bower and he was prepared to take me on as I came recommended by Peter Leaney and Brian Barratt, two senior editors. The job would come open in two weeks but, as they thought I would need to give four weeks’ notice, the job could be held open for another two weeks.
I told Tom I would have to talk to my wife about it but thought she would be happy with the situation. I said I would confirm the position by ringing him on the Tuesday morning.
I couldn’t help thinking about the situation all day and evening and on the journey home that night. As soon as I got home Marion could hardly wait to hear what had happened.
I told her everything that had passed between Tom and myself and then just said: “The job’s there if I want it. Start in four weeks’ time. Do we want it?”
She threw her arms around my neck and said: “Yes we do.”
The die was cast and from that moment we were on our way home.
Robin's Nest 