I shared random events, moments, accomplishments, mistakes, successes, and failures in my life during President Ronald Regan’s term on Sunday June 5, 2011. I continue sharing my life during President George H.W. Bush.
President George H.W. Bush (1989-1993): Still Too Conservative
“Read my lips, no new taxes.” --President George H.W. Bush
The George H.W. Bush administration had no affect on me personally. I still had Ronald Regan in me. I continued to behave like a goody two-shoes. I concentrated most of my time on school work and tests. I had a few high school moments. Regardless, I failed to spend more time being a teenager. I failed to act, behave, and think like a teenager. I failed to make mistakes—good mistakes to learn life lessons. My sophomore year was the most active for better or for worse.
*If my high school offered comeback student of the year awards, I won the award. I had a bad academic year in my sophomore year. I received four A’s and two B’s in my junior year spring semester. What a turnaround. In all honestly, I didn’t deserve the high grades because the teachers were easy going by giving big grading curves. Blackford was closing due to the recession. The district gave the students bonus three day weekends. The teachers scrambled their lesson plans to make sure the required material was taught.
*I cheated on my first essay exam in high school. I told my English I instructor I was sick yesterday and I missed the review for To Kill A Mockingbird. I asked him to take the exam another day. He accepted. I managed to get a copy of the questions. I studied the questions the night before the make up exam. I scored an A.
*My first semester at San Jose State was too easy. It gave me a false sense college was easy—easier than some of my high school classes. I remember my brother stayed up late night finishing his homework while I slept.
*I wore stonewash black and white jeans, Nike basketball white and gray high top shoes, and a short-sleeve white button down shirt with black rectangle shapes on my first day of my freshmen year.
*My first girlfriend and my first kiss took place in my freshmen year. She was in eighth grade.
*The PE teacher put me at lead off when we played softball because of my fast speed to outrun ground balls for infield hits. I had a slump I failed to reach base for days. One day, the instructor said if I didn’t get a hit, I had to run a mile the next day. I got a hit. What a relief.
*My family and I watched our first San Francisco Giants baseball game. The opponent was the Philadelphia Phillies. Will Clark hit his first career grand slam. The Phillies’ manager and starting pitcher were ejected. The “big daddy” Rich Reuschel was the winning pitcher.
*One flag football game the instructor randomly picked teams. My team and the opponent’s team were unbalanced. We were the underdogs as if we played in the NFL. The game was close most of the time because I scored all the touchdowns. The opponent double covered me and eventually we lost the game by a landslide.
*I scored an 86 the first time on my driving test.
*I played role playing games for the first time: Shadowrun in my sophomore year and Robotech in my senior year.
*The PE locker rooms offered limited 16oz sodas for $.50. One of my friends had PE before lunch hour. I told him to get me a soda for lunch because the days were hot.
*Operation Desert Storm took place when I was a junior. I heard about it watching the news. I called a friend to tell him we attacked Iraq. He said a passerby in the park told him.
My history instructor played taped NBC nightly newscasts to teach us the Iraq War.
*Entertainment time. TV shows worth mentioning: The Simpsons and Married With Children. Movies I watched on opening night: Batman and Ghostbusters II. I watched a live performance of Madonna on cable in my uncle’s house. The live audio broadcast on radio bleeped out the profanity and the live cable didn’t.
*Every two weeks I skipped a class to attend a group meeting with my fellow classmates discussing how to prevent teenage drinking with a counselor. The meeting took place for six weeks during my sophomore year. The group got along really well. There was a connection, a chemistry as if we could have been friends if we stayed together.
The group meeting ended because there was confusion. The counselor ran the meetings as if we were alcoholics. The meetings were actually AA meetings to help us stop drinking. We were not alcoholics.
*My family went to Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios. We saw the Phantom Of The Opera.
*The Loma Preta earthquake took place on October 17, 1989. I was a sophomore studying Algebra I in my room. I ran under my door frame for cover.
*I was a freshmen when Pan America Flight 103 from London to New York crashed in Lockerbie. A bomb in the forward cargo-hold blew up the front section. I never realized I experienced terrorism at such a young age.
*I parked at the San Jose State park & ride shuttle in my first semester. I parked at the seventh street parking garage Tuesday afternoons and Fridays.
*I never went to my junior and senior proms. I don’t regret missing the proms.
Always Innovating and Changing Innovating Common Knowledge
Showing posts with label Life By Presidents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life By Presidents. Show all posts
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
My Life Separated By The Presidents Of The United States Of America
I thought about this blog idea on my bed being lazy. I share random events, moments, accomplishments, mistakes, successes, and failures in my life divided by US Presidents. There are no restrictions—anything goes. I choose to write the blog in bullet format. I start with President Ronald Regan.
President Ronald Regan (1981-1989): Too Conservative
From the movie “Back To The Future”:
Dr. Emmett Brown: Then tell me, "Future Boy", who's President in the United States in 1985?
Marty McFly: Ronald Reagan.
Dr. Emmett Brown: Ronald Reagan? The actor?
Ronald Regan defined my childhood for the most part. He was a conservative Republican. I was too conservative. I was afraid to talk to people, afraid to try new foods, and had no friends. I never took risks. I lived my life playing alone except with my brother. I avoided trouble and conflicts. I was too well behaved. My parents had little involvement in my childhood life.
* Some people say my parents did a decent job raising me. They never abused me. They didn’t divorce. I was well fed, clothed, and lived in a house. On the other hand, we never talked about drugs, sex, money, the f-word, and the common sense lessons in life. If something wasn’t broken, it wasn’t fixed. All was quiet and calm in the house, and my parents never changed how they raised me.
* I went to a private school from kindergarten through third grade between 1980-1983. My first exposure in public school was in fourth grade starting. It was also the first time I heard the f-word. And it was the first time I had to sell something for school fund raising.
* My first girlfriend was in 1988. We meet at the Christmas dance. I was in eighth grade and she was in seventh grade.
* A fellow classmate gave me the nickname “rapid” when I played lunch hour football in eighth grade. I scored many touchdowns.
* I never had any friends visit my house throughout my days in elementary school and junior high. My parents failed to teach me friends are important. That explains why my parents have very little friends and nobody visits our house.
* My brother and I played GI Joe, Transformers, and MASK. Those three TV series and toys were our “triple play.” We took turns playing the good guys and the bad guys. I thank my cousin who introduced us to GI Joe that lead my brother and I to Transformers and MASK.
* The first family boardgame was Monopoly. We played it wrong. My mom was too lazy to read the rules. I was embarrassed playing Monopoly incorrectly at a neighborhood kid’s birthday party.
* I got the chicken pox in second grade in 1982. On a rainy afternoon, there was a stray dog that jumped the side fence and stayed in the backyard. My parents called animal control. An officer came by and caught the dog.
* There were many new changes in my junior high school when I started sixth grade in the 1985-1986 school year. The sixth graders had a separate line for food in the cafeteria. Sixth graders were prohibited using lockers. My sixth grade started a ban on students taking showers after PE. And it was the last year the school awarded ice cream parties to the grade that sold the most fund raising magazines.
* There were times in elementary and junior high I was picked and teased. Obviously it wasn’t my fault. Thinking back I could have prevented it by wearing better clothes, acted and behaved a normal kid, and be more sociable. I’m glad I never told my parents because they most likely give me bad advice on how to deal and solve my bad treatment.
* The first video game consoles were pong my dad made from scratch, Atari 2600, the Coleco Telstar Arcade, and the original Nintendo Entertainment System. We played pong and the Atari 2600 on a black and white television. WTH?!?
* The first movies I watched showing nudity were Smoky and the Bandit Part II, Private School, and Revenge Of The Nerds. The first published media I saw showing nudity was a Hawaiian calendar that showed topless women.
* I almost repeated fourth grade. My studying skills and basic skills were at border line failing. I had to take a special reading class in second, fifth, and sixth grades. I have been a slow reader. How did I graduate high school and college? I must have done some big improvement I never realized.
Written report cards were given to students to give to their parents. The parents received the copied version and the teachers retained the original version. I remember the distinct report card smell. My junior high report cards were printed from a computer.
* I ran a mile every Wednesday in third grade. I participated in the weekly running program at the end of my second grade and throughout my third grade. My fast running helped me win third place in my fifth grade elementary school Olympics. My elementary school had an Olympics day were each grade competed with each other in Olympics events such as running.
* One of my favorite activities I played alone was operating a cash register in a pretend store. I used a broken old calculator I put on top of a small file cabinet which was the till. I used play money I placed inside the small file cabinet. I used colored blocks for the display so the customer knew the price. And I drew the price scanner on a piece of paper and taped it on the table.
Always Innovating and Changing Innovating Common Knowledge
President Ronald Regan (1981-1989): Too Conservative
From the movie “Back To The Future”:
Dr. Emmett Brown: Then tell me, "Future Boy", who's President in the United States in 1985?
Marty McFly: Ronald Reagan.
Dr. Emmett Brown: Ronald Reagan? The actor?
Ronald Regan defined my childhood for the most part. He was a conservative Republican. I was too conservative. I was afraid to talk to people, afraid to try new foods, and had no friends. I never took risks. I lived my life playing alone except with my brother. I avoided trouble and conflicts. I was too well behaved. My parents had little involvement in my childhood life.
* Some people say my parents did a decent job raising me. They never abused me. They didn’t divorce. I was well fed, clothed, and lived in a house. On the other hand, we never talked about drugs, sex, money, the f-word, and the common sense lessons in life. If something wasn’t broken, it wasn’t fixed. All was quiet and calm in the house, and my parents never changed how they raised me.
* I went to a private school from kindergarten through third grade between 1980-1983. My first exposure in public school was in fourth grade starting. It was also the first time I heard the f-word. And it was the first time I had to sell something for school fund raising.
* My first girlfriend was in 1988. We meet at the Christmas dance. I was in eighth grade and she was in seventh grade.
* A fellow classmate gave me the nickname “rapid” when I played lunch hour football in eighth grade. I scored many touchdowns.
* I never had any friends visit my house throughout my days in elementary school and junior high. My parents failed to teach me friends are important. That explains why my parents have very little friends and nobody visits our house.
* My brother and I played GI Joe, Transformers, and MASK. Those three TV series and toys were our “triple play.” We took turns playing the good guys and the bad guys. I thank my cousin who introduced us to GI Joe that lead my brother and I to Transformers and MASK.
* The first family boardgame was Monopoly. We played it wrong. My mom was too lazy to read the rules. I was embarrassed playing Monopoly incorrectly at a neighborhood kid’s birthday party.
* I got the chicken pox in second grade in 1982. On a rainy afternoon, there was a stray dog that jumped the side fence and stayed in the backyard. My parents called animal control. An officer came by and caught the dog.
* There were many new changes in my junior high school when I started sixth grade in the 1985-1986 school year. The sixth graders had a separate line for food in the cafeteria. Sixth graders were prohibited using lockers. My sixth grade started a ban on students taking showers after PE. And it was the last year the school awarded ice cream parties to the grade that sold the most fund raising magazines.
* There were times in elementary and junior high I was picked and teased. Obviously it wasn’t my fault. Thinking back I could have prevented it by wearing better clothes, acted and behaved a normal kid, and be more sociable. I’m glad I never told my parents because they most likely give me bad advice on how to deal and solve my bad treatment.
* The first video game consoles were pong my dad made from scratch, Atari 2600, the Coleco Telstar Arcade, and the original Nintendo Entertainment System. We played pong and the Atari 2600 on a black and white television. WTH?!?
* The first movies I watched showing nudity were Smoky and the Bandit Part II, Private School, and Revenge Of The Nerds. The first published media I saw showing nudity was a Hawaiian calendar that showed topless women.
* I almost repeated fourth grade. My studying skills and basic skills were at border line failing. I had to take a special reading class in second, fifth, and sixth grades. I have been a slow reader. How did I graduate high school and college? I must have done some big improvement I never realized.
Written report cards were given to students to give to their parents. The parents received the copied version and the teachers retained the original version. I remember the distinct report card smell. My junior high report cards were printed from a computer.
* I ran a mile every Wednesday in third grade. I participated in the weekly running program at the end of my second grade and throughout my third grade. My fast running helped me win third place in my fifth grade elementary school Olympics. My elementary school had an Olympics day were each grade competed with each other in Olympics events such as running.
* One of my favorite activities I played alone was operating a cash register in a pretend store. I used a broken old calculator I put on top of a small file cabinet which was the till. I used play money I placed inside the small file cabinet. I used colored blocks for the display so the customer knew the price. And I drew the price scanner on a piece of paper and taped it on the table.
Always Innovating and Changing Innovating Common Knowledge
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