Stevo the Devo



 

Someone that introduces themselves as Stevo the Devo cannot be overlooked in the world of plain Jane’s and average Bruce’s. Steve has been our friendly neighbour for some time now, together with his long-suffering, but beautiful wife Ali.

The first thing that strikes you about Stevo is the warm, dulcet Irish/Scottish accent, with occasional Ozzie twang chucked in. You will learn from him that he was born in Scotland and lived for many years in Northern Ireland. His warm, giving personality attracts many people to come and have a chat. I will guarantee you will be entertained by some funny one-liners whilst cracking open a few tinnies of the Vietnamese brew “Hammer and Tongs”.  

Steve likes to express himself in characterful colloquialisms -(language warning applies). To describe a situation of his own bad luck, Steve stated “If I was thrown into a barrel of t*ts, I would come out sucking my thumb.” Another one of Steve's crackers; "If yerr looking for sympathy, look in the dictionary between Sh*t and Syphilis." 



That sentence you hear bandied about “he will do anything for you” definitely applies to Steve. Being a diesel mechanic by trade, he is incredibly handy and highly-skilled at just about anything that needs done. After a hard days work, you will often find him mowing somebody else's lawn, giving a neighbour's car a service or hanging a huge flat screen TV. That sort of community spirit is admirable.


Stevo reckons he doesn’t have any hang-ups about his time serving in the Northern Ireland Police Force (RUC), the only thing he catches himself doing is walking as far away from the gardens, even avoiding the sidewalk. Apparently,  people's front gardens were where the IRA bombs were hidden and Steve, many years later, still has the inclination to walk on the road.




Brother Douglas (left) of the Royal Air Force and Steve

 

The photo underneath is the reinforced front of the Anderson Town police station in West Belfast where Steve used to work. The IRA drove a car full of explosives up to the front door and blasted a big hole in the building.

 

When Steve immigrated to Australia to look for a better life, he held down a variety of odd jobs like driving a concrete truck - he even sold and installed fire systems. With some years to go until he becomes a full-blown grey nomad, would there still be time to chase his ultimate dream? Alice Springs is known to be the epicentre of the land of opportunity. You see, Stevo the Devo is one of the biggest Aerosexuals around. It may sound a bit saucy, but the man simply loves❤airplanes.

All of his life he has been wanting to fly or tinker with planes. Before you have registered that the sound of an engine overhead is an airplane, Steve would have told you the make, engine details and where it is flying to. This is a Cessna 402 or the Royal Flying Doctor etc. He has never-ending conversations with other plane fanatics from model airplane clubs and anyone who will listen.
 

Steve's model airplane

When the mechanical engineer, who lives two doors down, stopped by for a chat he soon was invited to apply for an apprenticeship with Australian Apprenticeships NT and become a mechanical engineer.  At 56 years of age, he is now working his butt off as the oldest apprentice that I have ever come across and living out his lifelong dream of working in the aviation industry.



A photo taken by Steve during the test flight of one of the airplanes he repaired

  

Stevo you are an inspiration to us all. Cheers Mate!!!



Grey Bits

It appears that there are massive opportunities in the Northern Territory for employment, studying and apprenticeships. One of the government agencies is Australian Apprenticeships NT. Find out more details here www.australianapprenticeshipsnt.com.au




The Devo on the job