that was not a random choice of area , about a year ago i had read in a novel ( it was in black and white so it must be true ) that retired sas soldiers either went off to fight someone elses war , got themselves a pub , or went into close personal protection , body guarding for the uninitiated , and after a couple of false starts ( they must have thought i was a right lunatic , and wondered which tree i had just fallen out of ) i finally got my spiel off pat and spoke to a rather brash sounding gentleman .