RD THOUGHTS – December 17, 2006 pt 2
“Where have all the good times gone?” part 2 of 2
Last time around I was looking back at some good things that happened from May of 1988 until September 1990, when at a time when things stopped being fun – for the time being at least; that would eventually change in the summer of ’91 when I began my series of tours to Southern California.
There is an old saying that is still true to this day: good times don’t last very long. And upon the conclusion of this post, you will see that this statement holds very true to this day.
Enter January 1989. It was announced that several people at Budget were departing for further avenues: Mary Beth, Danielle and Bob Sturgeon among others. Bob’s a good guy, was in the military like my dad. However, there was a time that Sturgeon and I didn’t see eye to eye on certain things, and I got fed up with the miscommunication problems over there. So I left for a time, and eventually was asked to return four months later, as Bob was about to leave. Things were patched up, and Bob even sat down with me and told me all kinds of stories about his time in the service and about my dad’s time in the military too.
Danielle’s departure was somewhat sad, in sort of a way; because she wouldn’t be around all the time. At least she was not leaving town like Mary Beth. Danielle reminded me of a young college girl from the east coast with the sweetest and most outgoing personality you will ever see. I don’t recall a time when she ever got upset over anything back then; if she did, she held it in and later talked to someone about it. She in fact is a descendant of one of the Pilgrims who arrived in America on the Mayflower way back in 1620, landing in Cape Cod. So yes, Danielle does have some English blood in her. I liked Danielle very much, truly one of my closest friends at the time, who was there for me on several occasions.
Mary Beth, as I said before, was leaving, but not before Chris, Darrin and I would throw a going-away party for her on the 21st of January. Problem is she had already left and returned to Minnesota. Talk about a MAJOR bummer. Well, we instead changed it and became my 22nd birthday party. However, in came a young, tall and very attractive 18-year-old from northern Utah, whom I thought had the most attractive baby blues of anyone I’ve ever known: Brandi Michelle Glover. She had a face very similar to that of a young Kathy Ireland or a Catherine Mary Stewart.
Brandi lived in the Spring Valley area, and went to Clark High School for a time. I must admit that she was reluctant towards me at times, yet at the same time she was very nice towards me, and we actually dated on several occasions. Brandi’s the kind of girl that was not easy to pursue, let me tell you. And there have been three, if not four different occasions that I did not take full advantage of her and prove to her whom I wanted to be with; and I was really foolish for not realizing that right there and then; yet at the same time I didn’t want to rush into anything right away and allow our courtship to build day by day, unlike what Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee did when they rushed into marriage after a courtship of less than two weeks. In any event, five months later, Brandi began dating who would later be her husband, without me knowing until later. I felt bummed – again! First I lost Mary Beth, then I lose Danielle, and now I lose Brandi! What’s going on???
What’s even worse was I relocated to the Spring Valley area, not far from where she lived.
Believe it or not, I had another chance to win her over. She had broken up with her boyfriend, and was about to move to the Pacific Northwest. Her brother supposedly lives there in Seattle, and she was interested in working for a major company up there. Anyway, I tried many times to talk her out of doing so. She wasn’t sure of what to do. Towards the end of June Brandi traveled up north to Utah to get the car she was supposedly going to drive up to Seattle. About two weeks later I noticed her old car on the street where she lived. And I was thinking, what’s going on? Brandi decided to stay instead, and was hoping to return to Budget. It was unbelievable! I succeeded in keeping her in Vegas. BUT, I did not win her over 100 percent.
This whole thing reminded me a bit of when Brenda Mills left Eldorado High School for a time back in 1983, then out of no man’s land, she came back.
Anyway, Brandi and I still hooked up every now and then. Mary Beth and Danielle returned later on, but both of them were gone again after several months. I was ecstatic when I heard Mary was coming back. So in essence I was pursing Mary Beth, Danielle and Brandi at the same time. Brandi and Bruce were still dating, on and off for the better part of a year. Another one that came in and had an influence on me is Natalie Ocel. I gave Natalie rides to her apartment several times and I liked her too. When Brandi was trying to get back at Budget, believe it or not, Natalie became jealous because I was talking to Brandi. Another hottie that came and went was Laurie Fleming, who originally is from the Portland, Oregon area, and another one from New Jersey who has done quite well for herself: Monique LeFevre. Melinda Nowell, who was there for me during my rough times with Brandi, is still in Vegas and married to a good guy, Gary Victorson.
All of the good times eventually came to an end in 1990. I was forced out of Budget in September 1990, and did not work regularly again until January 1991. But by that time, things were about to change for the better, as I began the first in a series of weekend trips to Southern California, which I would continue to do on and off from June ’91 until my permanent move to SoCal nine years later. The only years that I did not go at all was in 1994 and 1999.
As for Brandi, she married her boyfriend, and the two eventually relocated to the Beehive State. Mary Beth and Danielle had moved on; Chris Sisson returned to SoCal permanently, Darrin is now married to his wife Melanie (another good friend), and within a time span of two years after my return to Budget, the good times were gone, never to be recaptured again. The trips to L.A. and San Diego were really cool, and I had a great time going out there, but in actuality, something was missing in my life. And as I’m writing this, it’s still missing. It’s been that way for more than 17 years now. I’ve tried with others, including one from Florida, believing I found that missing piece of the puzzle, but to no avail. Is that missing piece in Florida, Minnesota, Utah, Vegas or here in SoCal?
Folks, I’m close to 40 now, and I am not going to waste another 18 years. I’ve already wasted six of those years here in L.A. and enough is enough.
--COMING UP. . . the early trips to Southern California—
Last time around I was looking back at some good things that happened from May of 1988 until September 1990, when at a time when things stopped being fun – for the time being at least; that would eventually change in the summer of ’91 when I began my series of tours to Southern California.
There is an old saying that is still true to this day: good times don’t last very long. And upon the conclusion of this post, you will see that this statement holds very true to this day.
Enter January 1989. It was announced that several people at Budget were departing for further avenues: Mary Beth, Danielle and Bob Sturgeon among others. Bob’s a good guy, was in the military like my dad. However, there was a time that Sturgeon and I didn’t see eye to eye on certain things, and I got fed up with the miscommunication problems over there. So I left for a time, and eventually was asked to return four months later, as Bob was about to leave. Things were patched up, and Bob even sat down with me and told me all kinds of stories about his time in the service and about my dad’s time in the military too.
Danielle’s departure was somewhat sad, in sort of a way; because she wouldn’t be around all the time. At least she was not leaving town like Mary Beth. Danielle reminded me of a young college girl from the east coast with the sweetest and most outgoing personality you will ever see. I don’t recall a time when she ever got upset over anything back then; if she did, she held it in and later talked to someone about it. She in fact is a descendant of one of the Pilgrims who arrived in America on the Mayflower way back in 1620, landing in Cape Cod. So yes, Danielle does have some English blood in her. I liked Danielle very much, truly one of my closest friends at the time, who was there for me on several occasions.
Mary Beth, as I said before, was leaving, but not before Chris, Darrin and I would throw a going-away party for her on the 21st of January. Problem is she had already left and returned to Minnesota. Talk about a MAJOR bummer. Well, we instead changed it and became my 22nd birthday party. However, in came a young, tall and very attractive 18-year-old from northern Utah, whom I thought had the most attractive baby blues of anyone I’ve ever known: Brandi Michelle Glover. She had a face very similar to that of a young Kathy Ireland or a Catherine Mary Stewart.
Brandi lived in the Spring Valley area, and went to Clark High School for a time. I must admit that she was reluctant towards me at times, yet at the same time she was very nice towards me, and we actually dated on several occasions. Brandi’s the kind of girl that was not easy to pursue, let me tell you. And there have been three, if not four different occasions that I did not take full advantage of her and prove to her whom I wanted to be with; and I was really foolish for not realizing that right there and then; yet at the same time I didn’t want to rush into anything right away and allow our courtship to build day by day, unlike what Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee did when they rushed into marriage after a courtship of less than two weeks. In any event, five months later, Brandi began dating who would later be her husband, without me knowing until later. I felt bummed – again! First I lost Mary Beth, then I lose Danielle, and now I lose Brandi! What’s going on???
What’s even worse was I relocated to the Spring Valley area, not far from where she lived.
Believe it or not, I had another chance to win her over. She had broken up with her boyfriend, and was about to move to the Pacific Northwest. Her brother supposedly lives there in Seattle, and she was interested in working for a major company up there. Anyway, I tried many times to talk her out of doing so. She wasn’t sure of what to do. Towards the end of June Brandi traveled up north to Utah to get the car she was supposedly going to drive up to Seattle. About two weeks later I noticed her old car on the street where she lived. And I was thinking, what’s going on? Brandi decided to stay instead, and was hoping to return to Budget. It was unbelievable! I succeeded in keeping her in Vegas. BUT, I did not win her over 100 percent.
This whole thing reminded me a bit of when Brenda Mills left Eldorado High School for a time back in 1983, then out of no man’s land, she came back.
Anyway, Brandi and I still hooked up every now and then. Mary Beth and Danielle returned later on, but both of them were gone again after several months. I was ecstatic when I heard Mary was coming back. So in essence I was pursing Mary Beth, Danielle and Brandi at the same time. Brandi and Bruce were still dating, on and off for the better part of a year. Another one that came in and had an influence on me is Natalie Ocel. I gave Natalie rides to her apartment several times and I liked her too. When Brandi was trying to get back at Budget, believe it or not, Natalie became jealous because I was talking to Brandi. Another hottie that came and went was Laurie Fleming, who originally is from the Portland, Oregon area, and another one from New Jersey who has done quite well for herself: Monique LeFevre. Melinda Nowell, who was there for me during my rough times with Brandi, is still in Vegas and married to a good guy, Gary Victorson.
All of the good times eventually came to an end in 1990. I was forced out of Budget in September 1990, and did not work regularly again until January 1991. But by that time, things were about to change for the better, as I began the first in a series of weekend trips to Southern California, which I would continue to do on and off from June ’91 until my permanent move to SoCal nine years later. The only years that I did not go at all was in 1994 and 1999.
As for Brandi, she married her boyfriend, and the two eventually relocated to the Beehive State. Mary Beth and Danielle had moved on; Chris Sisson returned to SoCal permanently, Darrin is now married to his wife Melanie (another good friend), and within a time span of two years after my return to Budget, the good times were gone, never to be recaptured again. The trips to L.A. and San Diego were really cool, and I had a great time going out there, but in actuality, something was missing in my life. And as I’m writing this, it’s still missing. It’s been that way for more than 17 years now. I’ve tried with others, including one from Florida, believing I found that missing piece of the puzzle, but to no avail. Is that missing piece in Florida, Minnesota, Utah, Vegas or here in SoCal?
Folks, I’m close to 40 now, and I am not going to waste another 18 years. I’ve already wasted six of those years here in L.A. and enough is enough.
--COMING UP. . . the early trips to Southern California—
posted by Robert @ 12:29 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home