I often sit at the desk and just let the mind wander.

Sometimes I come up with a brilliant line for a poem and sometimes I might have an idea for a column. But, more than likely, l will just doze off.

The other day I was just thinking, as I often do, about Strand Street, and the way things were in the old days.

I started work in the Street in January 1962, 57 years ago. I was 22, and I’m now 79. Where have those years gone?

I had been working in the office of the Lake Road abattoir for a weekly wage of £8, and I would now be earning £8/10s, or in today’s money, £8.50p.

Not a big deal, but in those days a pint of beer would have set me back 1/3d, so my extra 50p would have bought me eight pints.

As you might say, not to be sniffed at.

The shop opening hours were nine to six, and we closed for lunch between one and two.

Thursday was early closing day, and we would finish at one o’clock. Happy days.

Time moved on and so did most of our customers. Someone had invented the wide-bodied jet, and someone else had invented Benidorm.

Things had indeed changed. On the island, the first of many trading developments had opened at the Cooil Road on the outskirts of Douglas.

I can clearly remember that one of the planning conditions stated that any sales outlets were to be for wholesale only. You can see what everyone thought of that idea.

My career in retail began in 1962 and ended in 1995 when we closed our doors for the last time.

The days of the small independent shopkeeper were numbered. We were just another statistic.

Our one time biggest customer, the visitor, had left.

The Isle of Man had the TT and the horse trams. The rest of the world had sunshine and cheap booze. What chance did we have?

In a very short time, we had lost most of our income. But the answer to our prayers was patiently waiting in the wings to be invited in. The saviour to be was the finance industry, with all its benefits and attractions.

Our island was, some folk said, a tax haven, but we insisted that we were not a tax haven, but a Crown Dependency which operated a low tax regime.

This proved to be the way forward, and the business grew and prospered. But there were still many who disagreed with us and the way that we did business, and wanted to bring us into line.

The Isle of Man is not a tax haven, it is, without doubt, a Crown Dependency. But it isone that is just a short hop, skip and jump from the UK.

And it is a Crown Dependency whose residents do not pay capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation tax, and they do not pay stamp duty.

Our income tax starts at 0 percent for the first £13,250, or £26,500 for couples.

It rises to 10 percent, and then 20 percent, but is then capped at a maximum level of £150,000.

One slight drawback however, is that VAT and NI is the same as the UK, so that proves that the Isle of Man is not a tax haven. Official.

No, I’m not joking, it’s true. Honestly.

So because we are not a tax haven, but just a low tax regime, a whole new industry moved in to take advantage of our rules.

Offshore banking, insurance, and online gaming are just a few. The service industries fiduciary, legal, and accountancy, grew and prospered, and our economy continued to expand.

But, in all aspects of life, things go round and round. The genie in the bottle who gave us the big jets and the Benidorms, has popped up again and given us Brexit.

To quote from a favourite poem of mine, entitled ’Has anyone seen the Paracetamol’, The last line simply says: ’And you think you’ve got ****ing problems’.

A decade ago Pullyman - aka Michael Cowin - was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, a condition that affects people in different ways. Michael discovered writing and Island Life is featuring some of his musings. Sometimes topical, sometimes nostalgic, read about life as seen through the eyes of Pullyman