Geezer

There are 384 posts filed in Geezer (this is page 36 of 39).

Where I’ve worked: Dart Drug

One of my many nametags

I was mistaken in saying the nameless computer store was my first job in Virginia. That honor actually goes to Dart Drug Corp. Dart Drug was a chain of D.C.-area drug stores similar to CVS only dirtier and much less professional. Dart was the creation of Herbert Haft and his big-haired, feuding family. But well before the Haft family turned on each other the company was going through troubled times. The management of the chain had just bought the company and the business always seemed to be on the brink of collapse.

I had been talked into working there by my friend Evan MacKenzie. It was a job, and even at a pay rate of $3.66 per hour it was better than nothing (or McDonald’s, I figured at the time). I never considered it a long-term employer but it suited my needs for a time. If there’s one good thing about a skimpy paycheck it’s that it’s less likely to bounce. So in September of 1986 I applied for a job and soon pinned on my name badge at the Dart Drug store in the Sugarland Plaza shopping center, 247 Harry Flood Byrd Highway in Sterling, VA.
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Fallen friend

Marty Glendening

I’ve been spending a little time here and there sorting through the hundreds of videotapes I’ve created over the years. I watched one tonight from my Navy days, featuring a tour of my ship. One of my shipmates walks up and says hello: a guy named Marty Glendening. He was soft-spoken but a heck of a guy.

After watching the tape I popped his name into The Google to see if I could find him. That’s when I got the sad news that he is no longer with us. He died at the young age of 31. I found his obituary on this site:

Martin Glendening

STANTON – Martin Alan “Marty” Glendening, 31, of San Diego died Thursday, May 29, 1997, in San Diego. Graveside service will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Evergreen Cemetery. Arrangements are by Gilbreath Funeral Home.

He was born Aug. 16. 1965, in Las Vegas. He served in the Navy for 12 years. Survivors include his wife, Deborah Glendening, and two daughters, Michelle Glendening and Chelsie Glendening, all of San Diego; his parents, Jeff and Michaeleen Glendening of Tarzan; four sisters, Debbie Smith of Stanton, Tracy Paulk of Lamesa, Jill Allred of Mesquite and Elizabeth Washburn of College Station; his grandmother, Virginia Glendening of Midland; and numerous uncles, aunts and cousins.

Learning that one of my friends died makes me feel old.

One year later

It was one year ago today that I lost my job at AddressDoctor. While at times I wished that job might have lived up to its potential, I certainly don’t miss the headaches involved with the way I was managed. It’s in the past now and as always I landed on my feet. Should I ever again interview for a position I will insist on having only one boss to whom I’m responsible. Anything else is a recipe for disaster.

I don’t even need clearly defined responsibilities, though that certainly does help. I am flexible to change along with my job. In fact, I excel at entering new situations and figuring out my way around. When it comes to setting my priorities I need to hear from one person only.

Tuesday was also the one year anniversary of my totaling the minivan and barely avoiding causing serious injury to Travis. I’m so lucky things weren’t worse.

Yes, in one week alone I crashed our car and lost my job. Things have gotten considerably better since then!

Where I’ve worked: Sing-A-Song Recording Studios

The year was 1985. I had worked at my very first job for only weeks and already I was angling for the next one (sound familiar?). One day during my off time at Carowinds I wandered into one of its arcades to play video games (Commando, Paperboy, and Karate Champ were favorites). There was a new store at the end of this barn-like arcade building, full of bright spotlights, new carpeting, and three glass booths that resembled changing rooms. Curious and out of quarters for the moment, I wandered over and struck up a conversation with the owner.
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Right Here, Right Now

I’ll always associate this song with the Revolutions of the late 1980s.

Right Here, Right Now [YouTube]
Jesus Jones

A woman on the radio talked about revolution
when it’s already passed her by
Bob Dylan didn’t have this to sing about you
you know it feels good to be alive

I was alive and I waited, waited
I was alive and I waited for this
Right here, right now
there is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
watching the world wake up from history
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How I made time stand still

This month I will have gone without wearing a watch for one whole year. While that may sound like some sort of personal goal it was really an act of laziness.

It began when my watch band broke while biking to work. I managed to scoop up all the parts but have not gotten around to getting a new pin put in my watch band. In the ensuing time I found that I really didn’t need a watch.

I suppose I’ll take it in sometime this week, if only to have some nice jewelry to wear every now and then.

Operation Downfall

300px-Operation_Downfall_-_Map

Today is the anniversary of the deadliest, bloodiest, most devastating military invasion that never happened. It is the day during World War II that Allied forces were to invade Kyushu in the start of a full-scale invasion of Japan – an invasion that would have cost untold millions of lives on both sides.

Fortunately, it never took place.

Yet another GPS talk at Conn

Friday afternoon I did my latest talk about GPS to Mrs. Jarrett’s 5th-grade module at Conn Elementary. It rocked! The kids were so engaged I talked long after the end-of-class bell had sounded. I think it was my best talk yet!

This time I spoke with not just Mrs. Jarrett’s class but another one, too! It was so much fun to see the wheels turning in the kids’ heads as I would pose a question and wait for them to figure it out. Half the kids’ hands would shoot up every time I did that. This time around there were several kids who obviously knew their stuff which made it easier for me to make my points.

What a thrill it is to get kids engaged in learning. Makes me think that I may have made a good teacher if I only I had the patience to be a good student first!