Friday, June 7, 2013

A Little About Writing "The Box."

I remember well thinking about what my greatest fantasy would be if I was 13 years old once again. What would I want to do if the sky was the limit? Well, I was into skateboarding at the time. I built my first board in 1975 with a steel wheeled skate, which I split apart and attached the resulting two pieces to a 1x4. It was really dangerous. If you have kids, and they build something like it you should be worried. A little later that summer I bought my first real board from Kmart. It was a Makaha and it replaced the horrid little thing I had built. 

At the time, skateboarding was just coming into vogue and would have loved having a full backyard skateboard park. It would have been the coolest. I remember seeing one that they did an article of in a magazine with large glossy photos. As I recall, the park was in California. Apparently they had formed the curves with rebar and then shotcreted the whole works.

Now, let’s say I modernized the fantasy for a book. What would it be today? I see kids everywhere with BMX bikes which would have meant that I would have wanted one also. There's quite a few also that have skateboards but not as many. Knowing me, I would have pushed the limits with what I could do with it.

Looking back I had some really great times with both of the skateboards. I also had a lot of skinned knees and elbows. There are good reasons for the elbow and knee pads that are common these days. Regardless, it was great fun.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Finances

I was just looking through my finances today and was remembering the past. It's a dangerous thing remembering the past at times. My circumstances have changed a little bit over the years. I used to take home after taxes $1,000 every two weeks when I worked in the call centers. I still have quite an assortment of check stubs. Even had a good 401k, etc. It could be much, much worse. Half a loaf is better than no loaf at all as the old saying goes.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

30th class reunion

This year is my 30th class reunion. I graduated high school in 1983 from John Marshal High School in Rochester, MN. Where has the time gone to? I already know I'm not going, far too many things to do and I don't have the money anyways. Hope everyone has a great time there.