Meet Dave

So Dave, where did you grow up?

Dad grew up in the bush, but then decided to head for the city. I grew up in Balmain, Sydney. Dad used to own and run the local deli on Darling Street across from the Police Station. Now I think it is some fancy restaurant, how times change. Mum used to help out at the deli most days, but she mostly just looked after my brother Tom, sister Susie and me. Growing up in the Inner West of Sydney really was tops, it was a lot quieter than it is now, although my brother Tom and I used to make quite a racket.

Where do you live now?

After I married my wife Trish, we rented for a while in Five Dock because I was finishing my apprenticeship with one of the local carpenters Joe Spiteri and he used to pick me up in the mornings. But once the first little one came along, Scotty, we decided to buy out at North Ryde. The place we bought was a true “renovators dream”, or whatever term the real estate guys say, but it had a big backyard that we thought the kids would like. Both Scotty and our little girl Jessica love the backyard, I built them a tree house. Jessica still plays in it, but I think Scotty’s now more interested in playing Cricket with the boys in the backyard.

Where did you meet your wife?

Trish and I met in high school. I thought she was a bit of a “Princess” at first, but she was won over by my charm… I used to walk past the salon she was doing her apprenticeship at, singing songs to her. I think she finally went out with me because her boss said I was scaring away their customers. The rest they say is history.

When did you finish your apprenticeship?

Well, I think it was around 1986. I remember it was before the ’88 Bicentenary celebrations, because I was doing loads of work in the lead up and finally getting paid a decent wage. Trish convinced me to do a TAFE course in Building Management in the early 90’s, which was good. Trish still does the books though, I am still in the era of just using the back of my sandwich bag to calculate how much timber I need for a job. Luckily Trish knows her way around all those fancy computer programs.

What do you and the family get up to on weekend?

Trish and I usually split up on Saturdays. I take Scotty to soccer on Saturday mornings. He plays for the Under 12 Ryde Rovers. I am the “Team Manager” which really means I bring the oranges for half time. They have had a tough season and are not doing overly well. Trish usually takes Jess to the salon in the mornings and then Jazz Ballet in the afternoon. Scotty and I usually do “blokes” stuff in the afternoons, he is pretty good on the tools, but I tell ya he hasn’t learnt to put my tools back in my toolbox. The other day I drove out past Parramatta to find out the little rascal didn’t return my drill. It is bloody tough to build a deck without a drill.

Most Saturday afternoons we do stuff around the house, Trish can always find something that needs fixing. At the moment she wants me to re-paint the spare room as her folks are coming down from Queensland for Christmas and she thinks the room needs to be “freshened up”. I swear that woman reads way too many home decorating books, her salon is loaded with them. On Sundays we generally take the kids somewhere, just to spend some time outside in the fresh air.

Where do you and the family go on holidays?

Most holidays all of us pile into the Holden Crewman SS, ah she’s a great car only got it this year. Anyway, we usually head up the North Coast to somewhere like Forster or Seal Rocks. The kids love to get out on their boogie boards, and the caravan parks are really good nowadays and the local RSL at Tuncurry has a great Chinese restaurant. I don’t mind a bit of Chow Mein. My dream is to get a fishing boat & retire up the North Coast. I keep buying fishing mags and leaving them around the house, but Trish just ignores them.

One year we did a holiday to see all the Aussie Big Icons, like the Big Banana, Pineapple, Oyster and Prawn. I reckon I’ll drag the photos out at the kids 18th birthday parties.