Pat Ritter. Books

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Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 43:

When the utility stopped, Bundy sat upright sitting on top of the side of the back area with his back facing the road. Suddenly for no reason he physically fell from the utility landing onto the roadway. He didn’t feel anything and wasn’t hurt. He 'laughed when everyone else 'laughed at what he’d done. He didn’t spill any of his beer from the stubby he was holding.
‘Do that again, Bundy, it was great to see.’ Cried David in a drunken voice as Bundy climbed off the road and swung up onto the back of the utility to regain his old position in the back of the utility.
They continued into town booking into the hotel when they arrived. It was to be the only place they all would be for their Christmas break. Throughout the Christmas break all they did was drink, sleep and eat in that order. Bundy had never, in all his life, experienced such a Christmas.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember much about it. He lost count of how much alcohol he had drunk for the time he was there. It must have been a fair bit because he’d run out of money and couldn’t remember much about anything. Only he was having a great time.
One of the many things worried Bundy while he was drinking beer was, he had to constantly visit the toilet. When he stood on the platform of the urinal pedestal, with his left arm outstretched up above his head, this position was used to balance him from falling into the trough. With his right hand, he unzipped the fly on his trousers to drain the cane to expose his penis to have a pee. He’d paid good money for that pee; it was worth was washed down the drain.

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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 44:
It was time for them to return to the station. Christmas break was over. Everyone talked about how they had enjoyed themselves and how they needed to work for the next couple of months to repay the publican back the money they each owed him.
On the final night at the hotel, Bundy was slowly sobering up. He was sitting at the front of the hotel on the front steps when a local law enforcement officer arrived. ‘Good evening Officer.’ Bundy said.
‘How are you tonight – did you have a good time in town?’ replied the officer.
‘Yes, thank you.’ replied Bundy not quite certain what to say to the officer.
‘When are you leaving?’ asked the officer.
‘Early in the morning.’ Bundy told him. He had never had any problems before with the law, only when he was a young fellow being kicked up the arse a few times for hooning around the streets. They talked about where Bundy had come from and where he was working, which was only small talk. He started to warm to the officer’s presence through talking. He seemed to be an okay bloke, thought Bundy.
‘Ever think about joining the Police Force?’ asked the officer.
‘No.’ Bundy said in a voice of uncertainty and disbelief.

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It’s not a bad job; you make it what you want. It has its moment’s though.’ replied the officer.
Both went on talking about where the officer had been transferred and how he liked it in the country this far out west. By the end of the night they’d shared a stubby of beer together swapping yarns about their own experiences.
Before leaving Bundy said to the officer, ‘Thanks for the night. It’s been interesting. I might give it some thought.’
‘All of the best. I hope you decide to join.’ They parted their ways Bundy returning to the hotel and the officer to the Police Station.
Next day with David and the others, Bundy returned to the station. Repeating, over in his mind, were the words spoken by the officer about joining the Police Force? He imagined himself in a uniform doing what law enforcement officers do.
After another month of working at the property Bundy noticed changes happened at the station, men were being laid off. One morning, he was speaking to the ‘Boss’ about why he was laying off so many men. His ‘Boss’ reassured Bundy his job was safe, but with the rise in costs and drop in wool and cattle prices, something had to happen. Bundy made up his mind to join the Police Force. It wouldn’t be that bad, he told himself.
Next morning Bundy plucked up sufficient courage to tell his ‘Boss’ about his idea of joining the Police Force. His ‘Boss’ said in an overly critical voice, ‘What do you want to join them bastards for?’

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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 46: CHAPTER 3

When he starting thinking about his future, questions such as, what will I be doing when I’m forty years of age? He didn’t want to be working as a grease monkey at that age. He wanted a career and decided it was time to act with his life.
A visit the local Police Station and he would ‘Join up’. To his surprise he noticed a plain-clothes officer he knew from his days of playing football who identified Bundy as he walked into the Station.
‘What do you want, Bundy? I haven’t seen you in ages.’ The Officer said. Bundy remembering his name was Peter. He couldn’t remember his surname.
‘I come to join up.’ He explained.
‘You’re wasting your bloody time. You don’t want this job. Go and get a decent one.’ Peter replied. Another officer was standing nearby and said to Bundy, ‘don’t take any notice of him. He’s having a bad day. I’ll help you with what you want.’ Bundy felt comfortable talking with this officer and explained his wanting to join the Police Force. Bundy listened with interest to the officer’s stories.
By the end of talking with this other officer Bundy decided to make an application to join up. It was only grade 8 standard of education needed. I have that. I passed scholarship, Bundy thought, when handed the application forms.
After submitting the forms, it didn’t take long to receive a reply stating he’d been accepted to attend an entrance examination.

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On the day he went to the examination he was partly excited about his prospects of becoming a law enforcement officer, and nervous about the examination. Unfortunately, he failed the test. He couldn’t spell. Words he had trouble spelling were nuisance; scissors, just to name a couple. From a total of ten, he had three correct. His eyesight wasn’t to the standard required and had six-twelve vision in his left eye.
Throughout his life he always took life in his stride, believing that if things were ‘meant to happen’ than it would happen somehow. Before leaving the examination office a senior officer wanted to speak with him. Bundy was feeling nervous about why this high-ranking officer wanted to speak with him.
He didn’t know at the time, but his name had been cross-indexed through the Police filing system. It happened that Bundy had relatives, in the Police Force, on his mother’s side; he’d never heard or met them before. The high-ranking officer knew of them personally and wanted to speak with Bundy about what he needed to do, to become a Law Enforcement Officer.
This officer strongly suggested he purchase a grade 8 spelling book, memorise the spelling from the book. After three months he could return for another test. He should also visit an eye specialist to have his eye examined. Bundy agreed to these suggestions.
Bundy visited an eye specialist to have his eyes tested. It was because he often welded steel his eyes were slightly affected from the welding. There was no permanent damage. It would repair itself.

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He purchased a grade 8 spelling book, which he always carried with him reciting and memorising each word from the book.
By the time he returned for the second test, he passed it with flying colours. He would be in the next group of intakes to commence his training.
Since leaving the property out west, Bundy had been out of work. He got a job in mid-west with the dam construction industry and worked twelve hours a day, seven days a week. It was a job where he was always on-call, repairing machinery when it broke down or needed repairs.
Being a construction camp of mainly men, time for ‘doing your own thing’ was almost non-existent. Work was paramount and scheduled to meet daily deadlines. Between 4pm and 6pm daily the construction camp opened a wet canteen where they served mainly beer. Bundy couldn’t wait to be their first customer when it opened the door of the canteen and the last customer to leave when it closed.
One afternoon late, almost near to closing time, a Law Enforcement Officer appeared at the door to the canteen, asking to speak with Bundy. The other workers in the bar catcalled to Bundy that he had finally been caught. His application to join the force had been processed requiring him to start his training within three days. He didn’t know what to say to the officer. Had he changed his mind about joining, or was he too pissed to make his final decision?
It was at that moment of time, and the conversation between Bundy and the officer, that persuaded Bundy to join the Police Force. Both Bundy and the officer sat on the front steps of the canteen. The officer explained to Bundy what he was about to get himself into. He was slowly sobering up as the two men spoke of his future. Had it not been because this officer explained about the Police Force, Bundy would have no doubt not joined?

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'Confessions of an alcoholic' -
It was Monday morning when Bundy lined up at the venue to start his training. In four months, time, if he passed all the tests, he would become a sworn in officer of the law. He was amazed to find he was not alone, there were almost more than thirty other applicants doing the same training. It didn’t take long before he befriended the ones who drank alcohol. How strange to be drawn toward people as if they had a magnet to attract one another. Curfew for all new recruits was nine o’clock at night. All trainees had to be into their own bed by that time every night.
During the first part of the training Bundy befriended those trainees who wanted to have a drink at the hotel down the road from the training centre, making certain they were back at the centre before nine o’clock. It became an evening ritual, that soon after finishing their evening meal; they all went to the hotel.
By mid-term it became evident to Bundy, that if he didn’t take the training more seriously, he would not pass his final examination. He had only just scrapped through his mid-term and decided to get serious for the first time in his life.
While some of his mates continued going to the hotel, he stayed behind to study with the more conscientious ones. He passed his final examination with flying colours.
After the final examination, each trainee had to wait before being sworn into the Police Force to see where he or she was going to be posted to work. About a week before the swearing-in ceremony Bundy was requested by a senior officer to appear at his office for an interview. He had no idea why he had to appear before this officer and for what reason. It couldn’t be for his eyesight again, he thought. The last four months had been hell, and if he were being told he couldn’t be sworn in with his group, it would be devastating.
When he arrived at the door of the office, he noticed two gentlemen dressed in suits waiting. There had already been eight trainees from his group who had left, because of the toughness of the course. They introduced themselves as detectives from the Vice Squad. Bundy instantly thought why they would want to talk with me. I haven’t done anything.
After introducing one another, one of the detectives said, ‘Do you know how to place a bet on a racehorse?’
‘Of course, I do. I’ve been betting and going to the races since I can remember.’
‘Do you think you would be able to go into hotels and place bets with people in hotels?’ The other detective asked.
‘You mean with the SP’s at the hotels. Sure, I’ve done it plenty of times.’ exclaimed Bundy still wondering why he was being asked these questions.