Starting Out

My surname “Ford” makes the job of finding a related domain name difficult. Even in setting up this blog, my natural username, TonyFord, has already been taken. In my local newspaper some years ago, the sports page had a headline Tony Ford Is Unique — except his name was and is not. He was a local soccer hero; I will never be. Why the title A Journeyman’s Log? Because I travel a lot for my job. My home is in southern England; I am typing this first blog entry while in Johannesburg on my way back home from Maputo in Mozambique. I feel uniquely privileged in having been able to travel to Asia, Africa, various parts of Europe and a few destinations in the USA, but that’s not unique either. A journeyman was one who had a trade, having fulfilled an apprenticeship to an older, skilled man, who passed on his skills to the next generation. The journeyman was taken on by the day, not for him the luxury of a long-term contract, employment rights and some stability–benefits I have had with my employer for 30+ years. In countries I visit, many are like the old journeyman, like the line of men opposite my company’s office in Maputo waiting for a day’s work helping lay the permanent road surface atop the current red dirt. Literally my work life is a series of journeys. On this blog I’ll share some of my experiences, as well as some relating to my home town and my journey through life.