Reader Old Texan sent me an email with this enclosed:
…and purely coincidentally, The Divine Sarah published Long Ago, It Must Be, which starts with the hypothesis (not hers) that time stopped in 1999, and everything that’s happened since then has been just a dream. In that piece, Sarah talks wistfully about how 1999 was a time when some of her friends were still sane, and of other friends since passed away.
Well, 1999 was an okay year for me, I think: living on the lakefront in Chicago with Connie, doing consultant work and traveling to Britishland occasionally:
(that’s the Bath Weir in the background)
It was a good year, no doubt about it. But if I look back to my favorite years pre-2000, I’d have to choose 1981.
Oh man, 1981…. I had a job I loved — imagine that — which also involved travel (only all over South Africa, not the UK) and which earned me a decent salary:
(Cape Town)
(just north of Durban: Umhlanga Rocks, where my Mom lived)
(Port Elizabeth “PE”)
(Kimberly, with its “Big Hole” diamond mine)
In 1981, I was still playing in the Atlantic Show Band — we’d pretty much given up playing clubs and were doing gigs at proms, wedding receptions and office parties etc. — and that, believe me, was a blast. The music we were playing? Bette Davis Eyes, Fire, Angel Of The Morning, Stop Dragging My Heart Around, Another Brick In The Wall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Heartache Tonight, You May Be Right… aaah, kill me now.
I was driving a very nippy little Opel Kadett (company car, ergo free), and I was still single, with a very active Little Black Book.
I was twenty-seven years old, and I ruled my world. If I could choose a year to relive, then 1981 beats all the others, in spades.
Feel free to tell me in Comments which year you’d like to go back to, with reasons. (Email if Comments are still screwed up for you, and I’ll post it.)
1979. I was 9 to 10 years old and we moved to Texas that fall. Knowing what I know now, my life would be very different, and hopefully better.
I’d certainly be more assertive with women, and knowing which stocks were going to do well would mean I could retire very rich, very early!
1971
I was 30, single, in Manhattan (not Kansas, Dorothy), single, making good money, single
Quite honestly with only a single exception I wouldn’t change from RIGHT NOW to any time in the past. We’re retired, financially secure, living in our TinyTown™ in NW Wyoming. My wife has taken up painting again and is taking classes from local professionals, I’ve taken up photography again. We’re surrounded by both natural beauty and people who share most of our values, standards, and ethics.
The ONLY exception is health…almost 70 years of existence on this planet has left both of our bodies starting to slowly deteriorate. I’d trade all of our retirement for our 23-year-old bodies (but still retain our memories) and know darned well I’d do much better a second time around.
But for us right now is the best of times we’ve ever had. Please, Dem-wing, don’t screw up things up so badly that my wife and I have to spend our last years becoming speed bumps on the road to the 2nd American Revolution. We’ve run as far as we’re going to, and we can’t run no mo’, so we’ll just stand, fight and die. Just leave us the heck alone.
Spring and Summer of 1973. Was 14. Had my first girlfriend. Saw the American West for the first time on two epic adventures courtesy of the Boy Scouts.
Spring and Summer of 1976: Had my first REAL girlfriend, if you know what I mean.
Spring and summer of 1980: First year away from home (college), and first long-term relationship.
In 1980 I was 19 and in college. I had a beautiful, bat-shit-crazy girl friend that was a bit of a sex fiend. I was lucky she dumped me to go chase another magical dick.
Cars have never been a major interest but I think the cars of today are much better though too complicated. In the 70’s it seemed that I was regularly under the hood of the car doing something. Music- when I listen to Sirius I tend to go to the 60’s and 70’s stations. And those lovely young hotties, I see them regularly in the seniors RV park in Florida that I winter over in, most of them didnt age well. Comparing the girls of the 60-70’s with the young ladies I worked with and supervised until I retired, give me the ones from the 60-70’s. I was in the Air Force from 68-80 it probably skews my perspective..
Cars may have *looked* better in the past, but they didn’t perform better.
Yeah, much of the music I listen to was written in the late 70s through the mid-90s (or music strongly influenced by it).
But the women? As good today as they ever were.
This from Reader CoffeeMan via email:
If I could have one super power, I would like to be able to time travel.
I often think of the Eddie Money song “I Wanna Go Back”. At the same time, in the past, I did not have the money I have now(not wealthy by any stretch, not even a millionaire, but a thousand-aire, if that is a thing, and enough money where I worry about large bills coming up as they do, but comfortable enough where I can fill my gas tank and grab a full cart of groceries at the local Walmart), Also in the past I did not have the wife I have now, or the cats I have now. So I am mixed.
I am in my early 40’s, as I am an older millennial. If I was born two years earlier I would have been a Gen X. Millennial I am though.
Growing up, I saw vehicles I really liked, that I think are FAR better than the vehicles today, but when I was younger, I could not afford them. Toyota FJ Cruiser, Toyota Tacoma 1st Generation, Honda Ridgeline 1st generation, Honda Element.
I did have a 2004 Chevy Impala (GREAT vehicle, back when GM was good) and a 2002 Honda CRV (Better than today’s Honda products BY FAR). The older vehicles had enough technology to make them easy to use (Fuel injection, heat, AC, comfy seats), but not too much (no BS lane assist, self park etc), so that they were still relevitely affordable to maintain and get fixed at a local mechanic.
I have only played about 2 new video games in the last 10 years, but when I was younger I really enjoyed the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Playstation 1 and Sega Genesis and Dreamcast. Those older games may not have the graphics of today, but you bought a cartridge or CD, you had something tangible, and you went home, spun it up and started playing. Not like today where you buy something, you may or may not get physical media, and you may or may not have to pay a yearly fee or get ads in game for DLC (Downloadable content, credit card required). The games back then were simple, fun, and reliable. There are still used N64 and SNES for sale today at game stores, and people pay big money for them. Simple and reliable, even 30 years later. I should have never sold my old stuff, it is costly to buy that stuff again. I have a few these days (Nintendo Wii and an XBOX 360) but not nearly all I had growing up.
Guns don’t change much internally, but externally what in the actual fuck is with this red dot on this, laser site on this, optic on this. On HANDGUNS no less. WTF. Anyone who says they use this for target use, OK, but if you say this is helpful 3 feet or less in a self defense situation, I say you must be smokin dat good shit. I want a simple gun, no technology that needs batteries attached. I want a basic gun that I can count on to go BLAM BLAM if the trigger is pulled.
I like my iPhone (alleged “Smart” phone) and use it all the time, however, something to be said about the very simple Motorola flip phone I had many years ago. It was simple. It worked. It was more durable than phones today. Sure, I could not surf the web on it, but it made phone calls and sent and received text messages. What more does one NEED (not want).
Getting work done on your car or home was always expensive relative to the salary of the time, however these days, the 2020’s, finding people is hard, as there is a shortage in the trades. And of the people in the trades, finding good people who do quality work they stand behind is even harder. I’ve dealt with a few complete incompetent asshole contractors who get angry with me when I bring up the fucked up unacceptable work they charged me for and did. (Between contractors, auto dealers and the people you work with (among others) in your career these days, there are too many mighty STUPID, LAZY, ENTITLED and INCOMPETENT fuck heads that I swear must have been dropped on their head when they were kids, either that or their momma was on drugs when they were in utero).
The politicians, ESPECIALLY the Democrats and Rino’s, were fucked up back 20 years ago, much like today, but things did not seem anywhere near as fucked up as today. These lunatics running (RUINING) the political offices today and the followers who protest (RIOT) are way more fucked up assholes than even the assholes 20 years ago could imagine or dream of.
There were always assholes in the world, but it seems today, especially since Covid, (the China Virus), people drive like assholes on the road, act like assholes in stores, cutting in lanes, cutting in lines, mouthing off all kinds of stupid shit, acting entitled and like they can do whatever the fuck they want. And if you call them out, they just spout off even more stupid shit from the verbal diarrhea creation center (their mouth). There are WAY to many self entitled pricks with huge ego’s running around, and years ago it never seemed like there were this many absolute fuck-tards in the world.
I wish I could go back with the money and knowledge and resources I have today, but live in simpler times. I would purchase a few older vehicles from that era (I like the late 90’s and early 2000’s the best), pick up the older simpler video games, and live in a simpler era.
It would also be nice from time to time to be able to take a vacation and visit simpler times via time travel.
To paraphrase Jack Nicholson from the 1989 Batman movie, THIS COUNTRY NEEDS AN ENEMA (He said the TOWN needs one, I say the entire COUNTRY needs one). Perhaps even the whole world needs an Enema these days.
YMMV
Kim, you need — or rather I need for you to do so — to republish that image of you at center stage with that beautiful red Rickenbacker bass which I believe last appeared on the old NOR pages. I think you told us that Son&Heir glommed onto that one.
Mark B.
The summer of 1977 was the Summer of My Life. I had just gotten a transfer from Great Lakes (North Chicago to Key West), was still 19, had a ’73 Dodge Charger SE and had just ordered a 1978 Honda CX500 to be delivered in Key West. I had a great job in the Navy as a SAR corpsman, got a part-time job at The Esquire Lounge (Key West’s Finest Topless Entertainment) and rented a beach house from a Navy Captain doctor. I was also 6’3″, 190 lbs and had a 31″ waist and a 44″ chest and after a few weeks down there, I had the tan of a Cuban pool boy. I’m now barely 6’1″, but I still have a 31″ waist, it’s just covered with 7 inches of fat. I lived there for 3 years and had more fun in those 3 years than I’ve had in the rest of my life combined. No ragrets.
Sadly, I never bothered to digitize the 3K+ Polaroids from that time in my life and they’ve all but turned to dust. I still remember though…
OK. I’ll play. 1985. I was 31 and Otto was beginning to take the hell off. Toni and I were living in the penthouse of the nicest apartment complex in the university district. As I said, working at Otto. (We were still in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine at the time. Didn’t move over the River to KY for another 3 years.) I was essentially Otto’s Production Manager at the time and still the only employee dedicated solely to Entertainment Print. (Backstage passes, posters, tickets, etc.)
That year, we worked on tours by Rush, REO Speedwagon, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney, The Moody Blues, ZZ Top, AC/DC, U2, Julian Lennon, Genesis, and (as Bill Graham’s right-hand man put it: “Everybody).
It couldn’t get any better.