In my previous post I made reference to the fact that gasoline in my lifetime, was as low as 17.9 cents a gallon. Look at it now! But sometimes that works in reverse.........
Flashback to 1975. There was no cable TV. There was no such thing as a stereo TV. All watches were either wind up, or self wind. There were no electronic watches......were there?
My buddy Ned, worked at a Chevrolet Plant. His room-mate Scott, worked at his fathers jewelry store. Both of these guys were fraternity brothers of mine from college. They shared a 2 bedroom apt. in a very upscale complex. Every Friday evening, me and about 4-5 other frat brothers, would all meet at Ned and Scotts place for Pizza, beer, cards, and a place to burn a few.
Back in the days before people really learned how to grow their own green, the early 70's was a veritable smorgasboard of world weed delight!
Ya had yer Columbian
Ya had yer Jamaican
Ya had yer Mexican
Ya had yer Oaxachan
Ya had yer African
Ya had yer Vietnamese
Ya had yer Kona
Ya had yer Maui Wowee
Ya had yer Thai Stick
Ya had yer Red Lebanese Hash
Ya had yer Black Afgannie Hash
Ya had yer Nepalese Finger Hash
Ya had yer Honey Oil
Jeez, did I leave anything out?
Anyway, we used to go over to Ned and Scotts place because they also had a 25 inch color TV, and a kick ass stereo system......Every Friday night they used to have on ABC TV, a show called
" In Concert". This was also simulcast in stereo on one of the local FM stations..
Kids of today really don't know how lucky they have it technology wise, So for us this was cutting edge!! We would turn the lights down very low, put a rolled up rug along the bottom of the hallway door so "fumes" wouldn't escape, and pass around a joint made up of Thai stick, crumbled up Red Leb, and the rolling paper was laden with Hash Honey Oil...Listen, after 2 hits apiece, you were looking around at whose hand the roach was in...
So one night after we all were buzzed like a bitch, Scott the jewelers son said, " Hey you wanna see somethin awesome"?...He then turned off the TV, turned off the lights, and dialed TIME..
' at the tone, the time will be...11, 59, and 50 seconds...beeeep. Just then he rolls up his sleeve and he had on the coolest looking watch that I had ever seen, it was called a PULSAR, he said that his dad had just gotten a shipment of these in and that it sold for 299 dollars...in 1975 Money!
The face was all black and blank, and just as the operator said..' at the tone, the time will be, 12, O Clock, Exactly..... when it said Beeeep, he pressed a button on the watch and it lit up... 12:00!!
HOLY SHIT!! Was that ever cool!..The Pulsar was the 1st L.E.D. Watch, and it cost 300 Bucks.
Neds TV was a 25 inch color RCA, and he paid about 600 dollars for it....
Today I was in Wall-Mart, and I saw that they had 27 inch stereo TV's for $189.00,
right next to the TV's, they had a bin of clearance Watches...All Digital LCD watches for $1.99.
Modern Technology...Ya gotta love it!!!..... Peace...... Galen.
OOPs, I forgot Monkey Paw...
Monday, April 16, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Field of Dreams...........
I think most people today drink some sort of "light" beer, if they do drink beer that is. What's so funny about that is, when we were growing up, people used to poke fun of three-two beer!
That is to say, beer with an alcoholic content of 3.2 %. But with the stiffer DUI penalties and all, it has become quite popular. And you know as well as I do, that you can still get pretty hammered on "light" beer.....
Flash back to 1968. The G-Man was a senior in high school. Now this is a true fact....I never once skipped any classes in school. Not Once!..That is until my last Thursday as a high school student.
Even back then, G-man was the great party planner. Our class wanted to go out with a bang, so we decided to have a huge post graduation bash after commencment. We needed a location, and we needed "Party Favors"! This is where my older age finally paid off. You see, I had turned 18 in December of 67, and this was June of 68. You had to be 21 in Michigan, to drink and buy booze of any kind. But in Ohio, you could buy 3.2 beer when you were 18 years old!
So on that Wednesday of graduation week, I hit up all of my classmates for their allowance and lunch money. On Thursday, G was gonna take a little "Road Trip"!!!
I had it all planned out perfectly, I had a 3rd hr study hall, Lunch, I had 5th hr Gym class, but I was also the Varsity wrestling Mgr and if I did all my work, I could dick around all that I wanted to without reporting to anyone. So the way that I figured it, we had about 3hrs and 20 minutes to drive from Flint to Toledo, buy some beer, and drive back before 6th hr...NO PROBLEM!
I picked my partner in crime perfectly...My buddy Jim Sarter. We were good friends, but he also had a 1964 Buick Skylark Convertable, with a 400 Cubic Inch V-8 engine..True it only got about 12 miles to the gallon, but gas was only 21.9 cents a gallon, so big deal!
As soon as the bell rang that ended 2nd hr, we were off.....5 minute drive to the E-Way, 23 south that is, and we was cruisin at about 95 mph!! I had family in Toledo, so I knew my way around pretty well. BOOM! 58 minutes later I was showing my 18 yr old ID to Edna, at Edna's Corner store. Four Cases of Buckeye Beer at 4 bucks a case later, we was headed back to school at a cruisin speed of about 97 MPH. We pulled into the school parking lot just as the 6th hr bell was ringing....
So Fridays Commencment Ceremony went off without a hitch. As was every Saturday night in 1968, we all made up some lame excuse to our parents to get out of the house for a little while.
We were supposed to "meet" at a local pizzeria, but instead of going in to eat pizza, we all hung out in our cars until everyone involved showed up..OMG!! In just 24 short hours, word of mouth spread like wildfire, and about 30 cars full of kids showed up and wanted to party with the G-Man..Well that parking lot certainly was not the spot, just then I got a brain-storm!
I gathered all the drivers together and said' follow me'...One by one we all pulled slowly out of the Pizzeria Parking lot and in a single file procession, we trekked about 5 miles across town to a field that we used to rabbit hunt in. I knew of a tiny dirt one lane that went about 1/4 mile off the main drag of Miller Rd..Man was it bumpy! But because of that fact, we knew that no cops would be back there. I had my bud stop his car, I jumped out and started to direct traffic. In about 10 minutes we had all 30 cars in a perfect circle with all headlights pointed toward the center. I had all the drivers roll their windows down and turn the radios on the same AM station, WTAC 600, The Big Six!! So here we were.... in the middle of a secluded field, a perfect June night, All the radio's blaring out shit like "Groovin" by the Rascals, "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" By the Tempts, "Dancin In The Street" by Martha Reeve and the Vandellas, on and on and on.....100 or so kids, 96 bottles of Ice Cold Buckeye 3.2 beer.... No school on Monday ever again for some..... And a very uncertain future!! It was just like a scene from American Graffitti!!
Only this was no movie, it really happened. Some of those kids are still my friends, some of those kids got killed in Nam, some got married, some got divorced, some have died of cancer, some are Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, and some are even retired now.........
But it was a night to remember. One last glorious going away party to ourselves, before the "Reality of Life" kicked in.
That field is no longer there. It's all built up with buildings, concrete, strip malls, and restaurants. But I think of it often, and I go to that place at least once a week, not to reminisce, but to drink coffee. You see, that field is where Border's is now....Still, my favorite spot!!
Thanks for taking this long ass trip down Memory Lane again...... Peace... Galen
That is to say, beer with an alcoholic content of 3.2 %. But with the stiffer DUI penalties and all, it has become quite popular. And you know as well as I do, that you can still get pretty hammered on "light" beer.....
Flash back to 1968. The G-Man was a senior in high school. Now this is a true fact....I never once skipped any classes in school. Not Once!..That is until my last Thursday as a high school student.
Even back then, G-man was the great party planner. Our class wanted to go out with a bang, so we decided to have a huge post graduation bash after commencment. We needed a location, and we needed "Party Favors"! This is where my older age finally paid off. You see, I had turned 18 in December of 67, and this was June of 68. You had to be 21 in Michigan, to drink and buy booze of any kind. But in Ohio, you could buy 3.2 beer when you were 18 years old!
So on that Wednesday of graduation week, I hit up all of my classmates for their allowance and lunch money. On Thursday, G was gonna take a little "Road Trip"!!!
I had it all planned out perfectly, I had a 3rd hr study hall, Lunch, I had 5th hr Gym class, but I was also the Varsity wrestling Mgr and if I did all my work, I could dick around all that I wanted to without reporting to anyone. So the way that I figured it, we had about 3hrs and 20 minutes to drive from Flint to Toledo, buy some beer, and drive back before 6th hr...NO PROBLEM!
I picked my partner in crime perfectly...My buddy Jim Sarter. We were good friends, but he also had a 1964 Buick Skylark Convertable, with a 400 Cubic Inch V-8 engine..True it only got about 12 miles to the gallon, but gas was only 21.9 cents a gallon, so big deal!
As soon as the bell rang that ended 2nd hr, we were off.....5 minute drive to the E-Way, 23 south that is, and we was cruisin at about 95 mph!! I had family in Toledo, so I knew my way around pretty well. BOOM! 58 minutes later I was showing my 18 yr old ID to Edna, at Edna's Corner store. Four Cases of Buckeye Beer at 4 bucks a case later, we was headed back to school at a cruisin speed of about 97 MPH. We pulled into the school parking lot just as the 6th hr bell was ringing....
So Fridays Commencment Ceremony went off without a hitch. As was every Saturday night in 1968, we all made up some lame excuse to our parents to get out of the house for a little while.
We were supposed to "meet" at a local pizzeria, but instead of going in to eat pizza, we all hung out in our cars until everyone involved showed up..OMG!! In just 24 short hours, word of mouth spread like wildfire, and about 30 cars full of kids showed up and wanted to party with the G-Man..Well that parking lot certainly was not the spot, just then I got a brain-storm!
I gathered all the drivers together and said' follow me'...One by one we all pulled slowly out of the Pizzeria Parking lot and in a single file procession, we trekked about 5 miles across town to a field that we used to rabbit hunt in. I knew of a tiny dirt one lane that went about 1/4 mile off the main drag of Miller Rd..Man was it bumpy! But because of that fact, we knew that no cops would be back there. I had my bud stop his car, I jumped out and started to direct traffic. In about 10 minutes we had all 30 cars in a perfect circle with all headlights pointed toward the center. I had all the drivers roll their windows down and turn the radios on the same AM station, WTAC 600, The Big Six!! So here we were.... in the middle of a secluded field, a perfect June night, All the radio's blaring out shit like "Groovin" by the Rascals, "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" By the Tempts, "Dancin In The Street" by Martha Reeve and the Vandellas, on and on and on.....100 or so kids, 96 bottles of Ice Cold Buckeye 3.2 beer.... No school on Monday ever again for some..... And a very uncertain future!! It was just like a scene from American Graffitti!!
Only this was no movie, it really happened. Some of those kids are still my friends, some of those kids got killed in Nam, some got married, some got divorced, some have died of cancer, some are Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, and some are even retired now.........
But it was a night to remember. One last glorious going away party to ourselves, before the "Reality of Life" kicked in.
That field is no longer there. It's all built up with buildings, concrete, strip malls, and restaurants. But I think of it often, and I go to that place at least once a week, not to reminisce, but to drink coffee. You see, that field is where Border's is now....Still, my favorite spot!!
Thanks for taking this long ass trip down Memory Lane again...... Peace... Galen
Saturday, April 14, 2007
The Importance of Being...........
You know, some folks are just way ahead of their time. Does the music of The Doors,"Light My Fire", sound like the bubble gum drivel of "Yummy Yummy Yummy, I've Got Love In My Tummy"? Well those 2 pieces of music were popular at the same time!
Jimi Hendrix sounds just as modern now, even after he's been dead for 37 years. The same can be said of authors and poets. I have always admired Oscar Wilde. During his hey-day in Victorian England, he was the most famous celebrity of his era. He was an awesome wit, and a very free thinker. Heres an example of some of his wisdom, tell me if it doesn't still hold true..
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
The only way to get rid of temptation, is to yeild to it.
It is better to have a permanent income, than to be fascinating.
The soul is born old, but grows young.That is the comedy of life.
The body is born young and grows old. That is life's tragedy.
Seriousness, is the only refuge of the shallow.
There is no sin......except stupidity.
All women become like their mothers, that is their tragedy.
No man does. Thats his.
Society always forgives the criminal; it never forgives the dreamer.
It is better to be beautiful than to be good,
but it is better to be good, than to be ugly.
Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man....or a nation.
The well- bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves.
One should always play fairly, when one has the winning hand.
130 years later, this stuff is dead on..... Peace to all.
And always remember....It's Just Blogging!!....Galen
Jimi Hendrix sounds just as modern now, even after he's been dead for 37 years. The same can be said of authors and poets. I have always admired Oscar Wilde. During his hey-day in Victorian England, he was the most famous celebrity of his era. He was an awesome wit, and a very free thinker. Heres an example of some of his wisdom, tell me if it doesn't still hold true..
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
The only way to get rid of temptation, is to yeild to it.
It is better to have a permanent income, than to be fascinating.
The soul is born old, but grows young.That is the comedy of life.
The body is born young and grows old. That is life's tragedy.
Seriousness, is the only refuge of the shallow.
There is no sin......except stupidity.
All women become like their mothers, that is their tragedy.
No man does. Thats his.
Society always forgives the criminal; it never forgives the dreamer.
It is better to be beautiful than to be good,
but it is better to be good, than to be ugly.
Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man....or a nation.
The well- bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves.
One should always play fairly, when one has the winning hand.
130 years later, this stuff is dead on..... Peace to all.
And always remember....It's Just Blogging!!....Galen
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Friday 55........For Chandra!
I didn't know she was a squirter!
That took me TOTALLY by surprise the last time we dated.
It was one year ago tonight when she unleashed
that torrent of streaming wetness over my head!
Some trickled down my face....
But no big deal.
Tonight, I'm prepared!
"Two tickets please...
for Rocky Horror Picture Show"!!!
That took me TOTALLY by surprise the last time we dated.
It was one year ago tonight when she unleashed
that torrent of streaming wetness over my head!
Some trickled down my face....
But no big deal.
Tonight, I'm prepared!
"Two tickets please...
for Rocky Horror Picture Show"!!!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Can I See Your ID Please?.....
My favorite TV show of all time was probably Dallas. I started watching it about 1980 when I would go visit my Grandmother, and she would fill me in on all of the charactors..After she died in 1981, I was still hooked on the show. Of course my favorite was J.R. EWING. What a cad!
Over the years, he bedded a bevy of women, but my favorite mistress of his was a hot chick named Mandy Winger!
Speed foreward to Friday April 11, 1986, a cold snowy evening, the maternity ward of Flint Osteopathic Hospital. My wife had just given birth to our first child, a 7# 8oz. baby girl!
At first we wanted to name her Ariel, a Sprite from the Shakespeare play The Tempest. But my sister-in-law made a crack about the name, and after that my wife was ambivilant about any name, so she gave me the honor of naming our daughter...Hahahaha No brainer! Mandy!!
Amanda Marie Haynes....Thats how she got her name! She was named after J.R. Ewing's Mistress!
She was always a brave little girl. When the day came for her to start Kindergarten, both me and my wife worked for the State at the time, and we could not get off of work. The lady at the day care where Mandy was at said that she stood in the rain all by herself waiting for the bus to come. That night she came home all by herself, without a hitch. When she was 8 she wanted her ears pierced , so I took her to Clairs in the Mall, and she got both pierced without even wincing! When she was a senior in High School, she graduated 4th out of 780 kids. She had already got accepted to Michigan State University, and I thought that was where she was going.
OK,......STOP....... to anyone that does not really know me well. Both Me and my wife are U/M graduates! I've had season football tickets to U/M since 1976...I Bleed Blue!!! And my daughter is accepted to our In-State Rival? Hey, whats the big deal right? It's a great school. It's close to home(40 miles). And she picked it!
The week of Graduation she comes home and tells me that..." Oh daddy, I got accepted to U/M in Ann Arbor". And walks away without a word......Ann Arbor? I didn't even know that she had applied there. You know how hard it is to get in there? You can have a 4.00 and not get in.
But she perservered and finally got accepted. Although she would never ever say it, I know in my heart that she went there for me. This year is her junior year. Last year she got accepted to a foreign studies program, and she picked Prague Czech Republic. Prague? Why in the Deuce would she pick Prague? Well come to find out, they are not on the Euro Dollar, and their money goes about 3 times farther than anywhere else in Europe. Thats my girl! Smart AND cheap!!
She has had the chance of a lifetime, and has taken full advantage of it..On her own, she has gone to London, Helsinki, Berlin, Paris, Edinborough, and Athens....
Still the brave little girl waiting at the bus stop!
But today, she is no longer my little girl. I always wanted to buy her a beer for her 21st birthday, but she is in a foreign country. She is closer to Iraq, than Flint Michigan!
I miss her terribly.She is a smart, funny, talented, and resourceful girl. I haven't seen her since I took her to the airport in August, she hugged me good bye and said, " Don't worry Daddy, I'll be OK".....She may be 21, but she'll always be my little girl......I love you Mandy..
Happy Birthday!!!
Over the years, he bedded a bevy of women, but my favorite mistress of his was a hot chick named Mandy Winger!
Speed foreward to Friday April 11, 1986, a cold snowy evening, the maternity ward of Flint Osteopathic Hospital. My wife had just given birth to our first child, a 7# 8oz. baby girl!
At first we wanted to name her Ariel, a Sprite from the Shakespeare play The Tempest. But my sister-in-law made a crack about the name, and after that my wife was ambivilant about any name, so she gave me the honor of naming our daughter...Hahahaha No brainer! Mandy!!
Amanda Marie Haynes....Thats how she got her name! She was named after J.R. Ewing's Mistress!
She was always a brave little girl. When the day came for her to start Kindergarten, both me and my wife worked for the State at the time, and we could not get off of work. The lady at the day care where Mandy was at said that she stood in the rain all by herself waiting for the bus to come. That night she came home all by herself, without a hitch. When she was 8 she wanted her ears pierced , so I took her to Clairs in the Mall, and she got both pierced without even wincing! When she was a senior in High School, she graduated 4th out of 780 kids. She had already got accepted to Michigan State University, and I thought that was where she was going.
OK,......STOP....... to anyone that does not really know me well. Both Me and my wife are U/M graduates! I've had season football tickets to U/M since 1976...I Bleed Blue!!! And my daughter is accepted to our In-State Rival? Hey, whats the big deal right? It's a great school. It's close to home(40 miles). And she picked it!
The week of Graduation she comes home and tells me that..." Oh daddy, I got accepted to U/M in Ann Arbor". And walks away without a word......Ann Arbor? I didn't even know that she had applied there. You know how hard it is to get in there? You can have a 4.00 and not get in.
But she perservered and finally got accepted. Although she would never ever say it, I know in my heart that she went there for me. This year is her junior year. Last year she got accepted to a foreign studies program, and she picked Prague Czech Republic. Prague? Why in the Deuce would she pick Prague? Well come to find out, they are not on the Euro Dollar, and their money goes about 3 times farther than anywhere else in Europe. Thats my girl! Smart AND cheap!!
She has had the chance of a lifetime, and has taken full advantage of it..On her own, she has gone to London, Helsinki, Berlin, Paris, Edinborough, and Athens....
Still the brave little girl waiting at the bus stop!
But today, she is no longer my little girl. I always wanted to buy her a beer for her 21st birthday, but she is in a foreign country. She is closer to Iraq, than Flint Michigan!
I miss her terribly.She is a smart, funny, talented, and resourceful girl. I haven't seen her since I took her to the airport in August, she hugged me good bye and said, " Don't worry Daddy, I'll be OK".....She may be 21, but she'll always be my little girl......I love you Mandy..
Happy Birthday!!!
Lost in Translation.......
Hi everybody, thank you from the bottom of my heart, for all your kind words. You people are very comforting indeed. I think it's time for some gradual therapy for the G-man...
For the last several posts, we have had some fun with the translated word, thanks mostly to the beautiful and talented Mona. But not all translated words and phrases come out like they should..Here are a few, that came out a little askew....
I China, KFC's slogan " Finger Licking Good", was translated as "Eat Your Fingers Off"!!
And the phonetic adaptation of Coca-Cola was "Bite The Wax Tadpole"...
( I think thats my new catch phrase..Bite the Wax Tadpole..Chode face! )
In Taiwan, Pepsi's " Come Alive With Pepsi" came out as "Pepsi Will Bring Your Ancestors Back From The Dead"...
Japans 2nd largest tourist agency, had to change it's name because it was attracting very strange callers, it's name was...Kinki Nippon Tourism.
When Pope John Paul II visited Miami, the Spanish section of town had T-Shirts printed up for his arrival. They were supposed to say, "I saw the Pope". Instead they all read "I saw the Potato"...
Braniff Airlines once wanted to promote the fact that they had comfortable leather seats.
But when the ad campain for Hispanic speaking people, used a slang term for leather...It also meant a persons hide as well, it came out as.."Fly Braniff in the Nude"..
A frozen food Mfr. used the word Barruda to describe it's burrito line. They didn't realize that it was a slang term for ' Huge Mistake '!
In one of it's shoe commercials, Nike showed a Kenyan Runner looking into the camera and speaking in his native language of Maa, he was supposed to have said" Just Do It" .
But what he really said was, "I Don't Want These, Give Me Bigger Ones"..
The Swedish Company that makes Electrolux Vaccuum Cleaners, once tried to market them in Europe by saying..."Nothing Sucks Like an Electrolux"...That never hit the airwaves!!
And Finally, what macho Brazilian male would have driven a Ford Pinto? That happens to be a Portuguese slang term for" small male genitals". In Brazil, Ford changed the name to "Corcel", which means horse!
I'm so glad we don't have that problem here in Blogland, aren't you? Enjoy this beautiful day everyone..... Peace......... Galen.
For the last several posts, we have had some fun with the translated word, thanks mostly to the beautiful and talented Mona. But not all translated words and phrases come out like they should..Here are a few, that came out a little askew....
I China, KFC's slogan " Finger Licking Good", was translated as "Eat Your Fingers Off"!!
And the phonetic adaptation of Coca-Cola was "Bite The Wax Tadpole"...
( I think thats my new catch phrase..Bite the Wax Tadpole..Chode face! )
In Taiwan, Pepsi's " Come Alive With Pepsi" came out as "Pepsi Will Bring Your Ancestors Back From The Dead"...
Japans 2nd largest tourist agency, had to change it's name because it was attracting very strange callers, it's name was...Kinki Nippon Tourism.
When Pope John Paul II visited Miami, the Spanish section of town had T-Shirts printed up for his arrival. They were supposed to say, "I saw the Pope". Instead they all read "I saw the Potato"...
Braniff Airlines once wanted to promote the fact that they had comfortable leather seats.
But when the ad campain for Hispanic speaking people, used a slang term for leather...It also meant a persons hide as well, it came out as.."Fly Braniff in the Nude"..
A frozen food Mfr. used the word Barruda to describe it's burrito line. They didn't realize that it was a slang term for ' Huge Mistake '!
In one of it's shoe commercials, Nike showed a Kenyan Runner looking into the camera and speaking in his native language of Maa, he was supposed to have said" Just Do It" .
But what he really said was, "I Don't Want These, Give Me Bigger Ones"..
The Swedish Company that makes Electrolux Vaccuum Cleaners, once tried to market them in Europe by saying..."Nothing Sucks Like an Electrolux"...That never hit the airwaves!!
And Finally, what macho Brazilian male would have driven a Ford Pinto? That happens to be a Portuguese slang term for" small male genitals". In Brazil, Ford changed the name to "Corcel", which means horse!
I'm so glad we don't have that problem here in Blogland, aren't you? Enjoy this beautiful day everyone..... Peace......... Galen.
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