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Having graduated high school with a 2.5 GPA my prospects for going to college was zero to none.  Their was still a draft at the time.  The lottery for my age group, had not yet taken place. Didn’t want to go to Nam’ but still I had to do something. So my big idea was… to apply to the U.S. Coast Guard.  That was the ticket. Learn a skill.  Travel to far away places. Get clothed, fed, medical care, and get paid to boot and stay far away from rice paddies.

Of course the Coast Guard being the smallest branch of the armed forces (all C.G. personal could fit inside Fenway park) they could pick and chose who they wanted to take and there were a lot of fellows like me who had the exact same idea.

But I was accepted. and in late fall I headed to Cape May N.J. . Anyone who has been in the military already knows what it was like. Especially that first day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miY4B4GZ-TM

Of course when I was in technology was primitive compared to today. No cell phones, no internet, no laptop computers.  We also did not train with women, any women.

When I was in boot camp it was 10 weeks. During the months of Nov. and Dec. and into Jan.  Cape May is a resort town and in winter months it was virtually a ghost town. We were given weekend passes on our 5th and seventh weeks (If we earned them) but there was nothing to do except get a motel room and enjoy sleeping late for just one morning.

Daily inspections,  your face had to be as smooth as a baby’s ass with no nicks or cuts. One unfortunate guy in my company was as hairy as a bear. He had to shave after every meal otherwise he had a full beard by evening. The D.I. had to be able to bounce a quarter of the blankets of your bunk.  We cleaned the floor on our hands and knees and buffed the floor by pulling a guy around the barracks on an army blanket.

There were three distinct categories, green belts for those who were keeping with the program, blue belts who needed additional physical training, and red belts, guys who were discipline problems and needed more individual attention.

But we would have time for stupid shit, like igniting  someone’s farts with a Bic lighter. This could be dangerous if the flame ignited the methane inside the colon. Giving new meaning to the term “flaming asshole”.

But I was able to graduate on time. I didn’t have to repeat anything. I went home for a few days to prepare for my next chapter. Electronic technician school on Governors Island N.Y.C. , in the shadow of the twin towers.

One side note, this was a time when a lot guys had very long hair. Everyone knew what was coming, the convict cut.  Some of them would arrive whith hair down to their shoulders or beyond. This seemed to thrill the barbers no end as a saw some of their trophies tied in a knot hanging on their mirrors. All that was missing was the shrunken heads.

It gets better.

 

One thing I can say about my high school years, it was certainly not the high point of my life, and that’s a good thing. For some people I knew it was, and it was all downhill for them from there. After graduation you take off in different directions and all be a few close friends disappear from your life’s radar.  My best friend passed away a few years ago. Other classmates you run into by accident , so you stop and reminisce a few minuets then move on. Occasionally you notice an obituary, then another. Except for my tenth I never went to reunions or alumni parades for personal reasons.

But high school is a big influence (one of many) on your life’s direction. As I’ve mentioned before my teacher’s were a mixture of old and new school. The indoctrination had begun but it hadn’t put down firm roots…yet.

I had this notion like a lot of us that after high school college would follow. What I was going to major in I hadn’t decided. Several factors were going against me though. One, my parents (who were great) were not that well off financially. They simply could not afford to send me to college, (I have to note that I had three younger siblings at the time).  Second, I was NOT an athlete, so and athletic scholarship was out. Third, I was a very average student. In four years I never made the honor role once. Back then only the top 20% of your class made the honor role. Unlike today when it seems like half the class makes it. Of which I suspect grade inflation and a dumbed down curriculum.

So when the day finally came during my senior year for the consultation with the guidance councilor (old school) about my future direction,  I was told in no uncertain terms that college would be a waste of my time, a waste of my parents money (which they didn’t have) and a waste of the college instructors time. It was a different age then.

Socially high school kind of sucked . A couple of things seemed to be required then for an active social life if you were a guy. After earning your drivers license a car and some disposable income was essential if you wanted to ask a girl for a date. Two ways to obtain a car, your parents give you one for your 16th birthday (was not going to happen), or get a part time job and earn the money for a car yourself. But like the chicken and the egg how do you get to a job when you don’t have a car.  Sitting in a classroom seeing girls with skirts nearly up to there hips,  yet seemingly unobtainable. The prophylactic in my wallet would forever go unused. Perhaps it was for the best.  My best friend “Charles” had a car,  a girlfriend, pregnancy, marriage, (or was it the other way around) a second pregnancy, followed by divorce. It all had a relatively happy ending for him. Two wonderful girls that he got custody of, and a new wife.

When talking about girls skirts it’s ironic when I read this story.

The only other out of the ordinary thing that happened was of course May 4th 1970. As we remember the Kent state massacre  took place on April 30th which came after Nixon announced a new bombing campaign in Cambodia. There were mass protests at colleges and high schools all over the country and my school was no exception. Probably about a third of the school walked out and the Student council president led a rally and “discussion” on the lawn of the school. I must confess I wasn’t one of them.

Graduation was coming.  I had turned 18. There would be no college deferment for me. What would my lottery number be? I had no desire to go to Nam’  or Canada. So I made a decision,  and it turned out to be the most fun adventure of my life .

My freshmen trip to our nations capital was fun and educational. After the standard tour of the Capital and other landmarks we were allowed to do something that groups of 14 y/o’s could probably not do today.  We were given a city bus map and turned loose for the rest of the afternoon. Without chaperons.

Myself and two friends waited for a bus to take us to the Smithsonian Museum. The first thing we noticed when we boarded was that all the passengers were black people. And they seemed quite surprised when 3 white boys got on. The bus was full except for…the seats in the back of the bus… which we of course took, smiling and saying hello to the people as we walked to the rear.

We spent most of our time at the museum (a week would not be enough). Later we went to the Washington Monument, and climbed the steps all the way to the top (whew).

That night we were all back at the hotel, going home the next day. Now of course some of the boys (rowdy rough boys,14 and 15 y/o’s who have to shave everyday) decided to make the night memorable. They were able to procure some adult beverages (from the bellhops..I think) and …cigars. Things got rambunctious and I recall a mattress caught on fire but it was extinguished due to the quick thinking and full bladders of people in the room.

We all got back alive and the school got a bill from the Hotel for about $700 in damages. Or maybe closer to $3000 in todays money. Needless to say these two young teachers who promoted this trip were not back the next year.

And time marches on.

When your alone driving in your car do you sometimes have the stereo sound system cranked when a favorite song comes on? Sometimes my wife can hear me coming from 300ft away.  Why do you play it so loud, she asks? Because I’m alone and I can, I reply.

High tech tunes are standard in todays cars. It wasn’t that long ago when an AM radio and one piss-ant speaker was what you got.  Now your car can be one big boom box.

Oh I can remember those under dash mounted 8-track or cassette players. Dolby was a must to stop the tape hiss. Two speakers mounted in the back window. A little later came in dash models. Remove the P.O.S. radio and replace it with am AM-FM cassette with power boost.  Which made the units a little harder to steal. On night in the late seventies in the city of Burlington coming back from a blind date to a parking garage on a cold winter night I saw the drivers side window of my  Rabbit GTI smashed in, broken glass all over the seat, my stereo ripped out of the dash, about half dozen cassette tapes taken from the glove compartment along with a miscellaneous item. Calling the cops, they making a report, too bad, tsk, tsk.  Then driving back Worcester during a raging snowstorm. Fun.

Another time I lost a bunch of tapes went I forgot to lock the car, It was less then 10 minuets.

Then those cassettes would always jam up in the machine. Cassettes tossed out the window was a common sight along the highway, their tapes sparkling in the sun.

A/C is of course standard now. I once own an RX-7 that didn’t have A/C . I have story to tell about that some day.  It also had standard shift, which is an option now because automatic is now standard.

Oh, those were the days.

 

Its been almost five decades since that class trip to Washington D.C.. It was an eye opener for many of us who had never really ventured out of northern New England. My Aunt and Uncle had taken me to Fenway park the year before. That was my first exposer to a really big city, but this was a totally different experience entirely.

During the bus trip down the eastern seaboard it seemed like one big city from New York to Baltimore. When we got into the city limits of Washington we saw for the first time the Washington we never read about in our school books.

Washington D.C. Is a “Black” city. African America people everywhere. Coming from lily white Vermont where seeing a black person was an anomaly the reverse was true for Washington D.C. Then we noticed the litter…everywhere. The businesses all had iron bars across the front of their windows and doors. It seemed that every forth establishment was a liquor store.

We arrived at our hotel. Our tour of the Federal government portion of Washington would start tomorrow. Things would start smoothly and later it would get a little wild.

To be continued.

10 degrees and snowing this morning. This is what happens When you do a tire change over before May day.

Just a very brief post to let everyone know that where I live it’s damn cold for this time of year.

I remember a special day. The 4th of April 92′. On that day the air was warm. the grass was green, the sky was blue, the leaves were out, the birds were singing. It was a life changing event for me and the day was perfect.

24 years later you would think it would be like living in South Carolina by now. Not!

Hope it’s warmer wherever you are.

I started this blog as pretty much a lark. Something intellectually simulating as I get none at my day job. My hope is that the few people who come across it will find it interesting, entertaining, sometimes provocative.
I’m still very much the amateur at this and I’m very fortunate to have an in-house expert to help me with it.
I’ve had the recommended links move to the side for more visibility. I hope that after viewing my efforts you will click to see the blogs I go to. And try to aspire to. More will be added as time goes on.
I have a lot more to say. The number of people who read my words is not the point. The fact that in this country I’m still allowed to say it. For now.
deepred

Do you think He would if he really could?

The pace of change was accelerating.  Our President was assassinated.  The Beatles landed in America.  Vietnam is still on the back burner but the heat was being turned up.

To the horror of barbershops everywhere guys are letting the hair grow long.  Why? To make a statement against the establishment and conformity, and the girls loved it.  But mostly because the girls loved it.

I remember when my Father said one day “well, think it’s time for a haircut?” I replied no. He was ok with it.  It wasn’t a hill he wanted to fight on.

Of course I bought Beatle albums with my allowance.  A birthday or Christmas present ( I don’t remember which) was a new “Stereo record player” to play them on.

One night I was at my friend “B’s” house.  We were listening to “Buffalo Springfield’s first album. He brought out some thick gummy stuff that he said he got from his older brother who had a friend who was in the army ( I think that’s what it was, so long ago).  He produced a pipe with aluminum foil in it,  stuck a few pinholes,  placed the black gummy stuff in, lit it,  inhaled and passed it to me.  My first time I got high.

High school was next.