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I grew up in Oakland, CA which is right on San Francisco Bay. We used to go to the beach in Alameda, which is an island on the bay. Alameda is about a 5 minute drive from where I grew up. The beach on the southwest end of Alameda is called South Shore. There's always been a shopping center there and when I was a kid there was also an amusement park. Our pediatricians were there, Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Mitchell. Also, the Walgreens lunch counter. We didn't eat out an awful lot when I was a kid, but I remember eating there at least once.
But right after high school we moved a little farther north…first to Rohnert Park, then to Sebastopol. We lived on Adele Avenue in Rohnert Park, which is in the "A" section of town. One time I rode my bike from our house to Bodega Bay, where Hitchcock filmed "The Birds", to get back to the water. I also rode my bike to Dillon Beach to watch the hang gliders. Hang gliding was still pretty new in the early to mid 70's. In fact, I was a member of the Southern California Hang Gliding Association, which went on to become the United States Hang Gliding Association not much after that. There was a hang gliding school at Dillon Beach. We only stayed in Rohnert Park for a few months since we were just renting. Jobs were tough to come by because Sonoma State University was located there, (My son, Nick's, high school graduation ceremony was held there about 4 years ago.) so I ended up enlisting in the Air Force. I had a few months between the time I enlisted until I had to leave for basic training, so I got to live in the house in Sebastopol for a while. I went to basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX and I stayed there for 9 more months for my technical school…this whole time I was far, far away from a beach!
However, while I was at Lackland my parents became the resident managers of some beach homes right on Monterey Bay, called Monterey Dunes Colony! I left Lackland AFB in December of 1975 and I had a month's leave before I had to be at RAF Croughton in England. So, I got to spend an entire month right on the beach. Monterey Bay is not known for warm temperatures, but that December was warm enough to go swimming in the pool. I only spent about year at Croughton (pronounced kraut en, not crouton) and then I went to live with my parents, sister and brother on the beach full time. In case you haven't guessed, I loved it there! I worked for my parents part-time and went to school full time (gotta love the GI Bill!).
However, by 1980 my parents wanted to move on, so they bought a campground in Townsend, TN. At first I planned on going with them, but the thought of leaving California again was very unpleasant, so I got a job with the US Census Bureau and stayed behind with my brother and sister. But after a few months the census was over and I needed to find another job or move to TN. Luckily, the father of one of the guys I worked with worked for AT&T. Brian wasn't interested in working for AT&T but he knew that I had a background in electronics, so on August 10, 1980 I became an AT&T employee. And Brian was also one of the main reasons I started in Redwood City. There was an office in Salinas, where I was now living with my sister. It was only a few minutes from Monterey Bay, but I didn't want to stay there…I wanted to get back to the SF Bay Area. Anyway, back to Brian. Brian wanted to go to work for Marine World/Africa USA, an amusement park that featured lions and tigers and bears (admit it, you said oh my!), and aquatic animals such as dolphins. Marine World was located in Redwood City which is right on SF Bay. Redwood City is on the SF Peninsula and Oakland is in the East Bay, so this was a totally different perspective! After about 3 1/2 years I transferred from the Redwood City office to downtown SF, but I continued living with my friend Tom in Redwood City.
While I was working in SF, I took a job with AT&T in New Jersey where I worked as a course developer and instructor. I spent a total of 9 months in New Jersey. During that time I wrote my course and taught it. I taught the 2 day course 20 times in 16 cities in 12 weeks! And during that time the network that my course taught about was constantly changing, so whenever I got back to NJ, I spent the entire weekend in the office rewriting the course and then printing 20-30 copies to take with me to the 2 classes I was teaching the following week. After 9 months of many long hours at work, I decided it was time to go back to CA…even though NJ is right on the Atlantic it wasn't CA. Although I did go to the Jersey Shore once and to Atlantic City a few times, I was ready to go back. I met my future wife in NJ and when I wanted to move to CA, she wanted to come with me.
We settled in Vacaville…fairly far from the beach. The wife and kids don't like to travel, so we didn't go many places, however we did spend a week in Cancun…right on the beach at the Riu Cancun Hotel. The hotel, an all inclusive resort, had just opened the month before, and since they were still working the kinks out, it was fairly cheap.
In 1997, I started thinking it was time to start planning for retirement so I enlisted in the CA Air National Guard. In January of 1998 I left for 6 months of training at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS. Biloxi is right on the Gulf of Mexico…and they have casinos (another interest of mine). However, the ANG wasn't quite what I expected, so I got out in early 2001, but re-enlisted in early 2002. In 2005, I spent 2 1/2 months deployed to Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean…talk about tropical beaches!
In March of 2012, my wife and I separated; and in May of 2012 I went to Kauai, HI with my sister and her friend Susan. I got to spend my 56th birthday in Hawaii. That was a good year for me…I was born on 5/6/56 and I was 56 years old!
So, back to Beach Money. The book talks about how to earn a residual income in a business that you can run from anywhere, even the beach! I highly recommend it. And if you're still awake, here are the
Interesting days
Today - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/chicken-dance-day/ and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/golf-day/
Tomorrow - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/straw-hat-day/ How do you think I'd look in a straw hat? Since I don't have one, maybe I'll just go to Straw Hat Pizza around the corner. Hmmmm…this is serendipitous...https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/pizza-party-day/. Even though a lot of people ride their bikes along San Pablo Dam Road, it's about a 30 mile ride from here to work. And last, but far, far, far from least it's https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/chocolate-chip-day/
Next Thursday - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/one-day-without-shoes-day/ I'm not much of a barefoot type of person…unless I'm at the beach or pool. It's also https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/i-need-a-patch-for-that-day/ Does anybody ever patch jeans anymore? I remember wearing lots of jeans with patches on the knees
June 14 - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/flag-day/ and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/blood-donor-day/ I had to miss my last blood donor appointment…I had a meeting at Starbucks with a potential customer. But I guess it's time to schedule another appointment. It's also https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/bourbon-day/ See my post yesterday about whiskey and bourbon
