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Showing posts from September, 2018

Adjusting to College at Valparaiso

Adjusting to College at Valparaiso Me at my desk with my Remington typewriter and the phonograph to the right that I once thought might be a typewriter (see blog post My Favorite Typewriter posted 5/29/17) - that's laundry drying in the foreground   I had graduated from Walt Whitman High School in June of 1967. At the time it was a highly rated school even if it was a public school. I expected college to be about the same as high school in difficulty. Much to my chagrin, I found that was not the case. College proved to be a bit eye-opening. On the academic side classes were difficult and came with high expectations. On the social front getting a decent date was even more difficult. E nglish was always one of me weaker subjects. Can't spell, not the greatest vocabulary, slow reader, etc. Once I got to Valparaiso I had to pass an English proficiency test; otherwise, I was going to have to take a class entitled Grammar 0. OK, it's bad enough you are

My Sister's Wedding, Connie's Vacation, and The Return to Eugene

My Sister's Wedding, Connie's Vacation, and The Return to Eugene Babs giving the bridesmaid who missed rehearsal some of those 85 instructions 1974 is famous for two events. The Patty Hearst kidnapping that February and Richard Nixon's resignation on August 9th. His resignation was followed about a week later by an important event for our family, my sister's wedding. I was getting set to return to Eugene. I was busy the last couple of weeks visiting and saying goodbye to my friends in the Albany area. I had to be down on Long Island on Saturday in time to make the wedding. Right after the wedding I was going to head back out to Oregon. I stayed up late my last night in Watervliet and with just a few hours sleep drove down to Long Island early the next morning fully packed. Well it was early for me, but not as early as I had originally planned or had told my sister. When I arrived at the family home on Long Island my father and brother were