That last paragraph has lead me straight back down a bloody rabbit hole, what a country! the state educated these buggers at the tax payers expense (Mainly the poor bastards on paye) to become professionals, who then set themselves up in business's of all sorts and rip off the same poor . astards on paye for their services. Next, they buy these bloody lifestyle blocks which can only run at a loss, to save paying tax on the profit from their business. Then they have the bloody impudence to talk about and point the finger at some poor sod on the dole) I know that's a pretty simplistic view but it is the guts of how it worked then, and from the amount of 10 acre blocks around there must still be some sort of tax advantage in being a queen st farmer.
In this section I have endeavoured to write a synopsis for this book, (BOB BK03) I have tried to be honest , but truthfully writing about something you have written yourself is rather difficult. Always in the back of your mind is the knowledge or the fact, that if it's under done the book will not sell, but if it is over rated and the buyer is disappointed it won't be long before they will justifiably claim to have been RIPPED OFF and I certainly don't want that to happen. Previously when I was randomly selecting a page or two for the excerpts I could pick out the pages that I felt would better clinch the deal, however now by taking them in sequence while I feel it's more honest it probably is not such a good idea when trying to convince somebody to buy it.
C robbertee bobs books
We get over to EDGECUMBE and soon sorted the joint out but I think the boss thought before my extra curriculum activities (ECA) a couple of trucks picking up hay and silage got me in the poo we were transferred to Waiotapu Block to tidy that one up. In 1980 I was approached by a big bush contractor to help set up and run his properties at Rerewhaakitu, which I did until 1985 by which time I had become far to big for by boots. ESA again this time trucks & livestock, some might say we were pushed out, and some might say we jumped out into the world of self employed but that is for the three chapters in BOB BOOK 04. Then if the worst did happen and you had to go out in the rain, there was always the LAND ROVER, or a LAND CRUISER, and some poor sod to open the gates, be it a shepherd or one of your kids. Previously when some manager was telling me all his troubles and raving on about having the worst job on the place I never used to believe the poor bastards.
 
These legal tax evaders remind me of the old saying " but for the grace of God there go l" This book BOB BOOK 03; ISBN 9780473170974; contains 104,700 words and numerous illustrations is written on 210, A5 pages covering the years 1973 - 1985, it is written, edited, published, and completely produced my myself (Bob Simmonds.) It is not a glossy, flashed up publication pretending to be something it is not, but a honest account about the trials and tribulations of coping with a family, staff, office based bosses that now held the stick of authority over me, and the demands of thousands of head of livestock, while being able to accept the challenges of life in general. It was indeed a marvelous period of our lives 1973 to 1985, and strangely enough the only two private farms I worked on were the first and last. The others were all Government farms belonging to the LANDS & SURVEY and the MAORI AFFAIRS Departments of the day. Strangely enough and over the years I have often pondered on why I never applied for a transfer to one of the central North Island prison farms when a situation for a stockman was advertised. In BOB BK03 you can see the same patten emerge just as in BK02, again I took the managing jobs as far as I could then it's bugger that mate, been there and done that, move on to a another stage with new challenges, create something out of bugger all ( A small trucking business and a farm both a joke to many people but they kept butter on our bread and bread on the table.) In addition unbeknown to me at the time it created and stored away more and new material for BK04. Some times biggish sheep farms are refereed to as stations, when I was a kid a station was where trains stopped, farms, were where most people knew their meat and milk came from, today it appears most kids probably are of the opinion that farms are the only cause of New Zealand's hyped up environmental issues, and their meat and milk comes from the supermarket or Kentucky Chicken. ranches, are from America where cowboys and Indians came from, although in New Zealand it used to be a property where the management could be improved on. This book covers my time spent lugging around the bloody stick and all the disadvantages, all the responsibilities, all the paper work, taking the rap for other joker's fuck -ups, and all the other things until you are the boss you don't know about. However on the other hand there are a few perks and privileges as will, just knowing that the other joker at the end of the day knew it was you who had the stick, being able to have a bit of a fuck-up and blame some other bugger, on a wet day being able to do paper work, waiting for a phone call from the office, watching the America's cup or watching the All Blacks on the television.