As of 6:07 this morning I’m officially half way though the warranty on the average twenty first century human; I’m 35 now. I suppose I should go get my tires rotated and my oil changed. 🙂
On my annual ‘trip around the sun’ date I like to look back and see where I’ve been:
Thirty years ago on this day I was five. Those who raised me and I lived in this tiny little trailer in west Longmont Colorado and I went to Lincoln Elementary. I got my first bicycle today, but the mother unit was far too overprotective to let me go anywhere outside the postage stamp yard with it, though I was smart enough to know that I had to stay on the sidewalk as long as I had those goofy training wheels… My favorite toy was what was called a “Zip Racer” which was this plastic dragster with a rip-cord operated gyroscope for a rear wheel… Well, my stretch Hulk was pretty popular too till I cut him open about a week from now to play with the viscous goo they filled him with.
On this day, twenty five years ago I was playing AD&D with my next door neighbor, Philip Pike, in his mom’s basement. Flinthorn was already three years old at this time. Philip was probably the best friend I could have ever asked for as a kid and I spend so much time over there, usually in the hopes that his mom would adopt me, that I was an official part of the family. Ah, the adventures we had in that basement would fill a full length novel… There were periods of days where the walls of the basement weren’t there and all we could see was the vast horizons of our imaginations. The computer of choice was a Sinclair zx80 and later a Commodore VIC20.
Twenty years ago today I got my learner’s permit and six months later I got my driver’s license… This means I’ve gone 20 years with only one accident; a very strange collision with a speeding auto-parts delivery truck while picking up my future ex in New London (some say this was a sign), and only three speeding tickets. Not bad I guess considering how I used to drive… There are a few folks out there who still remember “Highway Moshing” and Doug Aubenque was once in the car with me when I pulled 2 360’s and a quick reverse into a driveway on a busy New London street in Brian Dorricott’s little red Toyota Corolla GT-S. Hehe, how the mighty have mellowed. The computer of choice was an Atari 800xl and my first car was a 1969 Toyota Corona.
Fifteen years ago today I was serving in the US Navy on the USS Pennsylvania (SSBN 735), living in a one bedroom apartment in New London Connecticut, had recently met my future ex-wife, was spending most of my waking moments gaming, and things were looking pretty good for me. My birthday event this day was a lazer-tag battle over at the New London Arboretum with about seven other people. It was a cold, miserable day but we all had a lot of fun… It was a lazer-tag event similar to this one where it was determined that Unicorn’s aren’t really extinct; we just learned to hide in trees. I used a highly modified lazer-tag rifle fitted with an IR intensity strength meter (for detecting near misses), a stereo “bionic ear” system for hearing enemies out in the brush, and a fully custom glass optics system with an insanely powerful IR emitter. My ex was mistress of the lazer-tag pistol and carried two of them in holsters… She was bad news in that game and could eliminate trained green berets in field exercises. The computer of choice was an Amiga 500 and the car was a brand new Chrysler Le Baron.
Ten years ago today I was coming back up from four years of hell. I had been laid off so many times I couldn’t count them all, I had been living on the good graces of friends on and off for a long time. It was just generally a shitty time for everyone involved. Anyways I had recently gotten a maintenance and management position at a big apartment complex on the corner of Federal and Colfax. Those of you familiar with Denver should have just shuddered uncontrollably. I had just separated from my ex about a week earlier and had recently discovered this BBS called “Empire of the Dragon” which was operated by Aryntha (back then it was Icedragon). I’ve known Aryntha now for over ten years. The computer of choice was a home-brew 386dx-33 and that Amiga 500 which was then known as the Franken-Amiga due to all of the mods that had been preformed upon it. The car was a1977 Fiat X-19.
Five years ago today I was living on a 40 acre farm in Rhoadesville Virginia with ZeZe, Neme, their two kids; KKB and Shebub, the great and powerful Pegasus (who lived in the apartment above the horses), the horses; Frencheska, Widgit, Thing, Chinaball, Tuffy and Lana, the dogs; Orpheus, Buddy, and Tatter, two cats, a ferret, and the rooster. The place was immense with a back yard/forest you could get lost in which included a 2 acre lake. I was making ridiculous amounts of money at this time and my life style showed it… I traveled to England several times just to visit a good friend, Findhorn, for a while and I jetted off to Amsterdam for ten days and drove around Western Europe. I had my 28 foot Scarab offshore racer, a hopped up 1967 mustang, a T1 line running directly into my bedroom for my internet connection, and the computer of choice was the absolute latest in technology; a home-brew dual 1.13 Ghz PIII that was just insane for the day.
Today I live in a roughly 8000 square foot mansion near Vail with Larry and Vivian who seem to have adopted me. I’ve known Larry for the better part of eight years and I work with Larry in his various pursuits from the shop over in Eagle-Vail to his consulting firm down in Denver. I’m not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but my income is completely unattached as all of my bills are covered… Basically I get to have all the perks of being a multi-millionaire without the tax issues and my friends can make the drive and enjoy it too. My computer is still a top of the line PC, a 3.2 Ghz P4, and my 1991 Caprice I just gave to some friends who needed it… Much like how they gave me a roof and a bed when I needed it.
All in all, I’ve had a very good life. I can look back at all of the bad times and realize that I’ve learned a lot from them. I’ve fallen in love and been heart broken, I’ve traveled extensively and seen a lot of the world, and I have a lot of really good friends who I can count on and who can count on me. I have no enemies that I know of, except perhaps my ex who admits she has issues with forgiveness of anyone, not just me.
All things happen because it is time for them to happen, and looking back I can see how it all fits together… I’m thankful for all of it, the good and the bad, because it is what makes me uniquely “me”.