1947 Born Oct. 6 Milwaukee, WI
1951 Family moves to 2 acre country home site in Downers Grove, IL
1959 first real work...mowing local lawns
1963 1st two cars...1950 Plymouth convertible...No rear seat...replaced
with a couple of cases of Huber beer covered by old army blankets. Pull me
another from under your seat please Rick and 57 Ford sedan w/312 police
interceptor... what a sleeper. Work as carhop @ Tops Big Boy OK laugh but
I met a bunch of girls at that job.
1964 2nd Car... shared with older brother... 1956 Cadillac convertible.
Gold w/ Black Leather. Oh those slippery 6 way seats and a downtown girl
from the north side of Chicago! Add also a 56 Chevy pickup for the
big jobs. Kicked out of St. Procopious High..."General Principles"
sez Father Tom to my dejected dad.
1965 Add a 56 Olds sedan and graduate from Downers Grove North High
School
1966 Off to southern Illinois University w Gold Cadillac
1967 Back to SIU w/no car, no $$$, no interest. Selective service tries
and fails to get me 3 times.
1968 Enroll in College of Du Page, Glen Ellen, IL... buy 55 Chevy
Convertible... date Kathy, delectible blond Pom Pon girl. Oh my oh
my. Work as printer for Cities Service Oil Co.
1969 # 88 in first Draft Lottery...Oh Oh Nam beckons. Enlist in Navy
Reserve. Buy 1967 TR-4a w/ OD and Silverstones, $2000.00. Work for
Widecope Personnel and SAVIN Business Machines get disgusted...start
delivering pizzas and drinking beer at night... good gig for student...
$75 to $100 a night. Keeps TR and 1964 Ford on the road
1970 Autumn... Called to active duty...End up on AOE-1 Ammunition Oiler
out of Bremerton Washington...Yeoman in Capt's Office. delectible
blond too horny to wait for absent me...crushed.
1971 April 11...early out from Navy...Nam winding down...best day of life
to date...free at last from draft and military...free at last.
Hitchhike from Seattle to Illinois...
1971 - 1973. Back at college of Du Page still don't have a clue. Crash TR on
trip to SIU... TR stolen from barn where it was stashed. Buy 64
Riviera for $200.00. Work for Bell Labs. Move into
converted barn in farmlands in Aurora, IL. Meet the dangerously beautiful
Helena Lachecki, just back from hitchhiking europe, at party. Next time
meeting at party she's invited out to the farm. Walks in one night
w/ me just about to bed twins...twins warn me to keep away from her. I pay
no heed...two weeks later she moves in starts painting...she had spent 2
yrs at Art Institute of Chicago. Begin working as Surveying chain man.
End up as instrument man doing topos and laying out water, sewer, lot lines
etc for 20 square miles of development. H works as fashion coordinator
for Limited Stores.
1975 August 23...wed Helena al fresco... reception under big marquee in
dads yard...nudism erupts in pool during ensuing revelry. Get Double AA
from COD Bio and Comunications. H gets AA in Psych. Purchase 73
TR-6...from dealer...$4000.
1976 Day after Thnksgiving leave IL for Santa Barbara CA in TR-6 never to
return. Drive bobtail truck up and down Hyw 101, then deliver and install
major appliances for a while.
1977 Spring... enroll in University of CA. Crash TR into 1 ton Ford
pickup at mudslide site. Begin riding bike to school. Begin patching
together TR. Work for U.S Forest Service as surveyor and researcher.
Start sailing on 74 ft. Staysail Schooner Gallant...am first mate by
1984.
1981 H and I graduate from UC. Me Bachelors...Envirnmental
Biology...she...Experimental Psych.
TR on the road and running but far from perfect... 000 dollars left
at graduation
1981 - 1984 Paint houses and do interior design work while looking for "a
real Job". H continues in masters work in Counseling Psych. In
desperation take job as operator trainee at Goleta Sanitary District
Waste Water Treatment Plant.
1984 - 1988 Make Grade III Operator, run process lab, and appointed
Industrial Waste Control Officer. TR shaped up and repainted, engine
rebuilt. Offered job as IW Control Supt. in Santa Rosa and move to SF
North Bay area. Buy first home, PUD in Windsor, CA. Purchase 1985 Jag
XJ-6 from dealer $15,000
1994 Asked to take position as Environmental Compliance Officer for
Utilities Dept. Santa Rosa. Switch from role as regulator to one of
regulatee big time. H alternately painting and selling work,
serving as counselor in various psych capacities.
1999 We hike bike, swim, travel...Lower Caribbean and Carib. Coast of
Mexico favorites. Still w/City of SR. Working out arrangements for
purchase of 1st NEW HOME abutting Windsor Golf Club...I don't even
golf but....location, location, location... arranging financing, choosing
model, and options. Move in date spring next year. TR and XJ still with
us... TR 307,000 mi. XJ 140,000 mi. Both now maintained in like new
condition. Both serve alternately as daily drivers, both depending
on the mood still make long trips...Tahoe, Santa Barbara on a regular
basis. H mostly painting in studio at home nowadays, burned out on the
psych end of things for the moment. Couple of trips to Tahoe in the last
two months in the XJ. Looking forward to 2 weeks on Kaui in February. Life
is good life is sweet and this took much longer than I expected.
Deano
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