Bonnie and I took our box lunches to the cafeteria and sat out on the patio and talked for an hour. She owned two houses, had no kids and as a sideline sewed for other people. Unlike most of the women in the class, she seemed to have her finances well under control. I wasn't going to team up with somebody who needed a cash cow, or rather a cash bull. Bonnie was petite, blond and had pleasant manners.

She didn't like classical music,since she had grown up in the rock' roll generation. She was about twenty years younger than I and unfortunately often wore God-awful T-shirts. I was curious about her and asked her to have dinner with me the next Friday.

A Female Drill Sergeant for a Flight Instructor

My flight school was at Apollo, a fixed base operator (FBO) at the south side of the Santa Barbara Airport. My first instructor was a fat guy whom I instantly disliked. First there isn't much room in the cockpit of a Cessna 152 ,and I generally dislike people who throw their weight around....

I changed to a female flight instructor because I usually get along better with women. On the first flight I discovered that she was as tough as a drill sergeant when it came to instructions and practices. She took all the fun out of flying. There wasn't an airborne moment when I was allowed to enjoy the scenery. It annoyed me a lot, but I wasn't going to change instructors again. . .

Melinda "Propwash" considered flying a job and you do it right every minute, or else. When I questioned her about it, she said,"I have ulterior motives, I want to stay alive."...

The Earth Shaketh

On Sunday, August 13, 1978 as I was walking out into our garden, the earth shook with a tremendous roar. I saw the lemon trees whipping towards and away from each other and the patio roof sounded like it was hit by heavy gravel. I heard the neighbor's swimming pool slosh fiercely, and looking over the fence, saw a big wave splash right through their open living room door. Then came an eerie moment of silence, and sirens went off everywhere.

It was the heaviest earthquake I had experienced in Santa Barbara. We checked for damage in the house, and the water and gas lines. Only a few dishes on the kitchen counter had sailed to the floor and were in pieces. I thought of the company plant, so I raced out to Goleta to see what had happened there. In Goleta I could see buckled sidewalks and uplifted curbstones, but no major structural damages were visible....