I’m now embarking upon my 16th career demonstrating, I suppose, that I can’t hold a job. This wouldn’t be remarkable if I’d started my first job 15 years ago – after all, a person now expects in the normal course of events to have several careers – but my first job was in May 1956 when I went as a recent Law School graduate to Edmonton to become an oil tycoon. I was shown some maps, given some information and told to colour the maps in accordance with the instructions. After 4 months of hating Edmonton – when we passed Lake Wabamum on the way up on the train the ice was just coming off and it snowed on Labour Day – and not being very good with the crayons I hurried home to Vancouver.

Career #2 started at Canadian White Pine (now no more) as an assistant safety supervisor where I wore metal toes shoes, went around the smoking stations putting up safety pictures and showed safety cartoons at lunch. I lasted until January 1957 when I was fired, evidently for not showing much interest in my Forestry career.

I started immediately on career #3 as a claims adjustor with Allstate Insurance which had a justifiable reputation as a company that canceled you after one accident and was chintzy as well with claims. I lasted until May 1960.

Careers #4 & #5 were as a teaching golf pro at a driving range near the airport (where I gave a lesson to Bob Hope) and an articled law clerk. Articling is indeed a separate thing from practicing law – as a friend who had just been called to the bar advised “buy an umbrella, it’s an outdoors job!”

Career “6 was practicing law both in Vancouver and later in Kamloops.

Career #7 was politics, first as a Kamloops Alderman (as they were then called) then Member of the Legislative Assembly and Cabinet Minister.

From there, and the story is a long one, I moved into career #8, in 1981 in radio. I was in my 50th year.

About the same time I started career #9 as a freelance political commentator on radio and television.

I also started Career #10 as a writer both of columns and 7 books, the eighth being with my publisher and career #11as a professional public speaker.

I was fired from CJOR600 in June of 1984; for Career #12 I was hired by CKNW in November of 1984; I was fired by them in June 2003 and as the dog returns to his vomit I, as career #13 I went back to the new incarnation of CJOR, now 600AM from which I was fired in 2005.

In summary of my radio career I was BC Broadcast Performer of the Year, twice short listed for the highly prestigious Michener Award which I won in 2003, given the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award at the Jack Webster Awards of 2003 and in 2005 voted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame – and was three times fired!

Career #14 started in September 2006 when I became consultant to the BC Chiropractors Association in their quest to obtain a School of Chiropractic at a degree granting university in British Columbia – which I’m still at - and shortly after that started Career #15 as a professional moderator/facilitator both ad hoc and under contract toor the Greater Vancouver Regional District and others holding public meetings.

Now, with considerable anticipation, I start Career #16 as a webcaster on September 4 next on www.rafelive.com

I only know one man who may have had more careers than I – Ben Meisner who runs this wonderful online newspaper. Perhaps having these inabilities to stay too long at one thing in common is why Ben and I have been such good friends for so many years.