Category: Auto-biographical
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Sensual Overload – The Snow Storm
Sensual Overload, Emotional Push Back. The Snow Storm I remember it so well, although it was so many years ago. Falling, falling. Alone. Not caring. Floating. Being buffeted. My jump suit rattling. My eyes drinking it all in. My mind, mesmerized, whispering the one word, over and over: “Wow!” It was in France, at…
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Black Pepper (WIP)
When my sister and I were children, we were absolutely convinced we were being haunted by a ghost. She didn’t even look like a ghost, not when we first met her, but somehow, we just knew. She began as a mere shadow. On the bedroom floor of our vast, two-story New England home, there she…
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Lola
I will never forget my first car. She was a beige VW Rabbit hatchback, short, squat, and remarkably compact. I didn’t think much looking at her the first time we met, but that car and I were made for each other. She was even manufactured the year before I was born, so we were practically…
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A Blip on the Radar (Part 28) “The Immarsat Problem “
A Blip on the Radar Part 28: The Immarsat Problem I worked on different fishing boats, for varying periods of time. The longest straight run was one year, the shortest was a holiday relief for two. Some Fish Masters I really liked, one or two were hard to get along with. The odd one was…
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Ik herinner mij Nederland (1)
IK HERINNER MIJ NEDERLAND De Tekening Ik ben in Schotland geboren, van een Engelse vader en een Ierse moeder. Maar mijn familie verhuisde naar Nederland toen ik erg jong was. Pa werkte bij Philips. De gloeilampen fabriek. Daar leefde ik tot ik zeventien jaar oud was. De hele tijd in hetzelfde huis, op de Pasteurlaan…
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Castles in the Sky – “More HAM than Radio “
(Oh, SH….T!!!) Castles in the Sky “More HAM than Radio” Being by nature and genetic make-up quite happy to exercise my jaw, be it on the telephone or propped against a suitable bar, when it came to learning aircraft R/T procedure, well, the whole process did not fill me with the same stark terror with…
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Donald Duck or Bambi, for dinner?
Donald Duck or Bamby? For Dinner? I must have been about five years old. The maternal side of my family usually gathered at my aunt’s and uncle’s house for Christmas. The party consisted of my aunt and uncle at my mother’s side, my cousin, his grandparents at both maternal and paternal side, my maternal grandparents…
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The Great Sidecar Experiment (Finale)
The Great Sidecar Experiment Part Six: Finale Down the last stretch of road we hurtled, like a cannon ball on steroids, and I could see the large red-and-white imperative STOP sign now coming very quickly into view. I was experiencing a greatly agitating awareness of the extreme Fragility of Man. The crossing car was now…
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The Great Sidecar Experiment (Part Five)
The Great Sidecar Experiment Part Five: Solidarity The horrible realization sank into me, that we were in big trouble. Too late I remembered the rear brake pedal, that we never did get replaced. We had figured that the front brake was providing 70% of the stopping power anyway, and we’d find a replacement rear brake…
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The Great Sidecar Experiment (Part Four)
The Great Sidecar Experiment Part Four: The Master Plan Now the essence of The Master Plan was a two pronged attack on the problem. A mechanical attack, and a psychological attack. Firstly, I felt that we needed to do much more testing, before we launched recklessly off that steep hill. Duh. To this end, I…