1980s favorite memories

[Terry57]

Mark, I am also sorry for all you have been through.

I loved your motorcycle story!! I can't even imagine!
.
I was a wild child in the '80s. A friend and I rode a Greyhound from WVA to VA to see a boyfriend I had at the time. While there, my friend spent her return bus fare, so the 2 of us decided to use my bus fare for food, and hitchhike home. My boyfriend came along to protect us.
We got a ride from a friend as far as Richmond, and then stood there for several hours til a trucker picked us up and took us about 5 miles to a waffle house. So we are sitting in the waffle house, it's dark outside, and a car pulled into the parking lot with only one headlight.I said, hey, that's lucky! Maybe that guy will give us a ride all the way home!
So the man comes into the diner, and is so drunk he can barely walk. My friend says, hey! You going west? He says where are you going, I will take you! We said WVA and he said SURE!
So he ate, and then decided to let my boyfriend drive since he was so drunk.
We stop and get gas, and head to WVA. Buddy passes out in the back seat, and wakes up when we are about an hour from home. He's like, who are you and where are we??
We get to my friends and the poor guy had to call his wife to wire him money to get home.We gave him what we had left, but he needed more...just another reason you should never drink and drive.

Also remember standing in line for 20 hours to see Journey.
Going to see REO with my friend, who went home after the concert instead of the bar that had concert after parties. REO showed up and used the band's instruments to play some music, and hung out at the bar for several hours. I got to shoot pool with the lead singer and pinball with the bass player.
Loved the look on my friend's face when I woke her up and told her when I got home!

 

[Birdman666]

I HATE TO BREAK THIS TO YOU... BUT JOURNEY IS A BAY AREA BAND...

I SAW THEM THE FIRST TIME, IN A BACK YARD KEGGER PARTY IN ORINDA BEFORE STEVE PERRY JOINED THE BAND... (the guitarist was also the lead singer) the only line was for the keg.

There was this "other group" that used to hang out in Berkeley, and play for free on campus just for the exposure. They were called The Talking Heads.

And of course, the local garage band in Long Beach was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. (Flea also used to surf Newport River Jetties quite often in those days.)

 

[Terry57]

And I stood in line 20 hours to see them.
Lovely. I should have just come out there!

 

[Birdman666]

And I stood in line 20 hours to see them.
Lovely. I should have just come out there!

I wasn't even invited to that party. I was a friend, of a friend, of a friend... (and that friend may have even crashed it.)

 

[Birdman666]

I loved your motorcycle story!! I can't even imagine!

THAT WAS ONE OF THOSE... MISADVENTURE MOMENTS, THAT IF NO ONE GETS SERIOUSLY HURT OR KILLED, YOU LAUGH ABOUT FOR YEARS TO COME...

Didn't see that one coming... everyone else was pretty much, WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN?!

We were VERY lucky. (And VERY stupid!)

 

[Birdman666]

Birdman I just want to give you THE BIGGEST HUG EVER.

I feel the same way about my birds, they saved me, from a lot of pain, heartache and dark times. I don't have (human)kids, unlikely that I ever will, but being surrounded by unconditional love, even if it might come at the cost of a few band-aids and holes in clothes, poop stains, messy floors or chewed blinds, when I get those kisses or snuggles, it's all worth it.

I've said many times over, I'd rather go hungry than ever see my birds do without.

The parrot rescue was my sanity saver. I was in such a dark place at the time, that working with those birds gave me something to focus on that was positive... when there was really very little else that was positive going on in my life. And I was stressed out, and dead broke... it got me out of the house, and away from the ugliness. And I was good at it. It's something that came naturally to me, that also brought a lot of joy back into my life. (At a time when there was very little joy left in it.)

I actually met Rachel through the bird rescue network... We were friends for about four or five years before we were suddenly more than friends.

 

[MyFlock]

I was a single parent even when I was married... BUT I also had to work two jobs. (My ex found working inconvenient once the ring went on her finger. She was a hard worker until then... 180 degree turn. I don't work, I BOSS!)

AND then my ex-spent us into bankruptcy. Try waking up one morning and finding out your dear sweet loving wife has gotten 27 credit cards behind your back while you've been working two jobs just to survive... and has maxed them all out on crap you don't need... (much of it being crap for another man, while you were busy working yourself to death trying to support her!) And then find out she has been leaving the baby alone when you are working, to be with some other guy... (and beating the crap out of her, threatening her with bodily harm if she told Dad.) And now they want to take your house away from you... And you were so busy just trying to keep your head above water, and spend some time with the kid, that you didn't see any of this coming... THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!!

GET THEE TO BANKRUPTCY COURT.
THEN GET THEE TO DIVORCE COURT.
THEN GO THROUGH FOUR CUSTODY BATTLES


You just keep going no matter what happens. If it gets better, then it does. If it doesn't, you keep going anyway...

I met my dastardly ex in the 80s as well. The result of going to too many parties in my late teens and being three sheets to the wind impairing my judgment. We weren't married long, no kids divorced 20 years ago and I'm still his continuous focus in life even though I've had no contact with him for years ( I hear through other people) time never moves on for him due to chemical use. A true sociopath in every sense of word so I know how that is.

I like your last quote, isn't that the truth!

 

[Birdman666]

Mine wasn't a sociopath.

Just dishonest, and spiraling out of control.

She's actually finally getting her [self] together. She's got a good job now, and is remarried, and stable... Not that I have anything at all to do with her, but my daughter still does. I'm actually glad she's finally got it together, and is in a position to actually act like a mother once in awhile.

We've gotten to the point where we can actually hold a modestly polite conversation (which happens about once a year.) But for obvious reasons, I have ZERO interest in having anything more than the absolute minimum contact. I figure I have to see her once more for Sarah's College graduation. Once for Sarah's wedding at some point. And then, for the birth of any grandkids that happen to come along. Aside from that, as far as I am concerned, she doesn't exist.

I'm happier that way.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

And speaking of absolutely STUPID... the STUPIDEST, and perhaps funniest thing that happened to me in the 80's... On some levels, I wish we had this on video, it would go viral!

I drove an old VW bus. My roommate in College had a motorcycle. Well his motorcycle broke down one day. "Help! I'm stranded! You've got a van, can we fit it in the van and bring it home."

"Sure. Be right there."

So, we make a ramp out of a two by four, and roll the thing inside my VW bus. Tie the thing off real good. We tied the back of it to my rear seat. Closed the door, then tied the forks off to the door handle inside the van. My buddy sat in the back seat, and held it steady, and I drove nice and slow, which is actually the only way you CAN drive a VW bus, because 0-60 in 5.2 - MINUTES!

While we did a really good job of tying off the bike, we did not, however, factor the weight of the bike into the problem solving equation. So, I made a right turn onto Beach Blvd. which is the main drag from inland to the Beach. Yeah, it's an eight lane high speed, very high traffic roadway. And I'm driving a VW bus.

As I made my turn, the weight of the bike was too much for my buddy to handle... and it tipped over and hit the door.

When the bike hit the door, the weight of the bike was too much for the door hinges to handle. And my big sliding door broke off, and now the sliding door is sliding down the roadway in heavy traffic.

The bike, of course, is tied off to the door. And we really did do a good job ot tying the bike off. Because out the door it went, when the door went. And my buddies bike is now sliding off into traffic.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE.... because the bike was also tied off to my back seat... so the next thing that went flying out the door, was my back seat....

My friend was still sitting on my back seat at the time... I'LL NEVER FORGET THE LOOK IN HIS EYES WHEN HE REALIZED THE BACK SEAT WAS GIVING WAY, AND HE WAS GOING OUT THE DOOR TOO! EYES THE SIZE OF SAUCERS!

So, now my door, a motorcycle, my back seat, and my friend are sliding down Beach Blvd., with traffic sliding to a halt, and going every which way trying not to run over anything, or anyone...

Fortunately no one got hit, and it was actually all fairly easily repairable...

There were two guys pumping gas at the gas station on the corner that were peeing themselves with laughter. Said it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen...

We actually couldn't have dreamed this one up or staged it any better.

ANYWAY, THAT WAS MY "LAUREL AND HARDY" 80'S MOMENT...

The first time I read this I was screaming laughing What nice about having macaws they like to join in too. The 2nd time I read this I had to share it with Dave . We are both laughing and crying so hard my chest hurts Im sure you have more adventures [please do share ].

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah...

You guys.

The guys at the gas station.

The insurance adjuster. Yeah. Finally gave him an interesting story...

Our neighbors...

The guy at the bike shop.

The guys at the VW repair shop... both when we dropped the van off, and their buddies when we picked the van up. TELL 'EM... TELL 'EM AGAIN WHAT HAPPENED... YOU GUYS AREN'T GOING TO BELIEVE THIS ONE...

And pretty much everyone else that heard the story.

 

[Birdman666]

Im sure you have more adventures [please do share ].

Well, did I ever tell you about our Friday the 13th "unlucky day" tempt fate and do something especially stupid, skydiving tradition?!

Kind of a little "HASA DIGA EEBOWAI!" kind of thing... give fate the finger!

Well, guess whose stupid idea it was, so guess who fate decided deserved a little payback...

Our stupid, is significantly more stupid than most people's stupid...

We were REALLY good at it!

 

[Allee]

Just catching up with this thread.

If I had to pick a favorite decade it would be the eighties. My sons were born in 1979 and 1981. Watching them grow was the best of the best. I bought my first new car, a chrysler mini van, we bought our first home. Endless school events, baseball, soccer games, careers, hard work, lots of laughter and tears.

Mark, I am so sorry about your struggle raising your beautiful little girl mostly alone. Conflict and hard times create an unbreakable bond, your daughter will reward you for being an outstanding dad for the rest of her life. My heart breaks for you, I'm sorry you and Rachel's beautiful journey ended far too soon.

I am green with envy that you MET The Red Hot Chili Peppers! I love that band.

Hehe, this is a little tough to admit. I adored Rod Stewart, I wanted to go to a concert in Dallas to see him. My husband and I mostly like the same music, Rod was kind of an exception. On the day of the concert, my husband had two tickets sent to my office by courier, they were for me and a girlfriend, he said it was worth the cost not to go. It was a great concert.
Oh well, all in, I went to a Michael Jackson Victory Tour concert in the early eighties, again my husband didn't accompany me.

 

[Birdman666]

I am green with envy that you MET The Red Hot Chili Peppers! I love that band.

Well, Flea was an Ozzie Surfer dude, so he was less obnoxious than the other guys, and we surfed River Jetties all the time, so if you wanted any waves, you couldn't be a complete dick to us... we OWNED the lineup out there.

But they were all pretty obnoxious... and heavy substance abusers, even then. Maybe not heroine yet, but it wouldn't surprise me... BIG DRUGGIE SCENE... and by then, I was a health nut. My druggie days were past tense.

And frankly, there was no flirting at those parties... no one cared who you were. They had GROUPIES... BIG TIME... every party.

So, uh, yeah... it got old.

 

[Allee]

Haha! Better to hear Californication from a distance!

 

[RavensGryf]

Mark, envisioning your unfortunate mishap in the VW bus was made even funnier due to the fact that I know Beach Blvd. I drive on that street frequently lol.

Dani California running through my head.. my favorite Chili Peppers song!

 

[Birdman666]

Haha! Better to hear Californication from a distance!

This was in their garage band days. They hadn't written that one yet.

 

[Birdman666]

Mark, envisioning your unfortunate mishap in the VW bus was made even funnier due to the fact that I know Beach Blvd. I drive on that street frequently lol.

Dani California running through my head.. my favorite Chili Peppers song!

Happened at the corner of Beach and Adams if you know where that is... (YEAH, NOTHING AT ALL BUSY ABOUT THAT INTERSECTION, EH?!)

We lived at Beach and Indianapolis, right behind Hilltop Liquor, and Larry's Dead Birds, and next door to Beach Surf Center...

(Larry's dead birds is actually a fried chicken joint.)

 

[Birdman666]

Im sure you have more adventures [please do share ].

Well, did I ever tell you about our Friday the 13th "unlucky day" tempt fate and do something especially stupid, skydiving tradition?!

Kind of a little "HASA DIGA EEBOWAI!" kind of thing... give fate the finger!

Well, guess whose stupid idea it was, so guess who fate decided deserved a little payback...

Our stupid, is significantly more stupid than most people's stupid...

We were REALLY good at it!

Okay... So here's the story. It's Friday the 13th... GASP! The unlukiest day of the year... COWER! Better not even get out of bed today. Bad things happen...

So, actually, that's the perfect day to go skydiving... and do the radical stuff.

And I get the idea to do a "Tempt Fate" jump.

(Disclaimer: If anyone here is associated with the FAA - Please stop reading now! Oh, and nobody got it on video, so it didn't happen. And it was logged as a normal every day Hop and Pop. So you can't prove a thing. And I'm not naming the drop zone...)

So the big plane is reserved for high altitude jumps... and we reserve the Cessna Cardinal, and persuade another pilot to take us up for some "stupid fun."

There were six jumpers. IN A FOUR SEAT PLANE... Tempt fate No. 1 - technically we overloaded the aircraft. (We actually did some base weight and balance calcuations. Theoretically, we would burn enough fuel on take off to just barely get off the ground. So, yeah, were good. Everyone lean forward toward the center of the aircraft on take off, so the tai doesn't hit the end of the runway.... (those were the acutual instructions from the pilot as we began our take off roll!)

Tempt fate number two: This was a low altitude hop and pop.... not much higher than a base jump. I'll explain it this way. Altitude is your friend. Up high, there's nothing to hit. Low to the ground... THAT is where you start to get into trouble... Malfunctions are a bad thing at low altitude. A very bad thing...

Tempt fate number three: Now, Cramming six people into a four seater aircraft with no seats is a lot like playing twister... And figuring out how to exit the aircraft with right hand blue, and left hand yellow, while keeping the weight forward, so you don't stall the aircraft...

First guy out wasn't even able to climb out... He just rolled his upper torso out the door, and when the guy sitting half on top of him moved, he just fell out of the plane. Which was actually really funny stuff, and was the effect we were going for. Chute opens, next guy goes...

Same deal. Crawl half way out the door, and then we move around, and eventually he falls out. Chute opens. Now we have a little more room.

Next guy up, we grab by the feet and dangle head down out the door, and then just drop him. He clears chute opens. That looks like fun. Do me next... fourth chute opens.

Now there's just two of us... and we have room to climb out onto the wing strut and move. So, I hang by my knees from the wing strut... like you would as a kid hanging upside down from the monkey bars, and then let go... exiting in a butt first angle of attack, and I do a quick spin-o-rama planning to flip over on my belly and open...

EXCEPT... THAT'S WHEN FATE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS...

My pilot chute was loose from the game of aircraft twister, and the butt spin developed enough wind force to inflate the pilot chute... which exited the parachute pouch RIGHT BETWEEN MY LEGS... (It's called a premature deployment.) The pilot chute is attached to a line, that is attached to your main... and of course, the next thing that passed between my legs was my main parachute... followed by my main parachute lines... which just happened to grab my feet and tangle up with them as the lines came out...

NOW ALL THIS IS HAPPENING AT CLOSE TO "LAST CHANCE TO OPEN" ALTITUDE... it's an FAA Minimum low altltitude hop and pop...

Oddly enough, other than the fact that my feet were tangled up in my steering lines, the parachute opened just fine, and I was flying straight and level... albeit upside down, with my feet in my steering lines.

So, I carefully removed my feet making sure I untangled my lines as I go, figuring that this ought to do it...

BUT I FIGURED WRONG!

Because it had deployed through my legs, my risers (the four thick straps that attach the chute to the backpack) were crossed and twisted and were 180 degrees, and tangled, which made steering and flairing problematic... I essentially had to do a summersault while still in my harness to free them up. AND IT WORKED... BUT... Once they broke free it was like, if you've ever laid down on a swing as a kid, and had someone twist the swing, and then spin you in the opposite direction... Round and round we go...

When my front riser broke free, it quite literally SLAPPED ME right across the face... THIS WOULD BE "FATE" SLAPPING ME UPSIDE THE HEAD, SAYING "DON'T MESS WITH ME BOY... I KNOW THIS WAS YOUR IDEA." AND FOR ABOUT A WEEK AFTERWORD I HAD A STRAP SHAPED BRUISE ACROSS THE SIDE OF MY FACE... THAT TOOK SOME 'ESPLANIN'...

I actually got a really good spot on my exit and by the time I cleared everything I was down to about 200 feet or so. I was able to just do a straight in approach, and made a nice little tip toe landing... (like nothing happened.) WHAT?! HEY, IT'S FRIDAY THE 13TH, I PLANNED THAT! YOU'VE NEVER HUNG BY YOUR FEET IN THE HARNESS BEFORE?!

The owner of the DZ laughed. Then he fined me a case of beer, and told me NEVER TO DO THAT AGAIN...

Right! Got it. The Beer is on me tonight!

 

[dhraiden]

The 80's has my favorite cartoons and music. I was born then! But I'd've loved to go back and relive the entire decade as a young adult. Probably would've been a bit harder to get by. America was a less progressive place. Also bad for foodies: hardly nobody had brought delicious, delicious Thai food to our shores back then.

 

[Scott]

Im sure you have more adventures [please do share ].

Well, did I ever tell you about our Friday the 13th "unlucky day" tempt fate and do something especially stupid, skydiving tradition?! :Okay... So here's the story. It's Friday the 13th... GASP! The unlukiest day of the year... COWER! Better not even get out of bed today. Bad things happen...

(Disclaimer: If anyone here is associated with the FAA - Please stop reading now! Oh, and nobody got it on video, so it didn't happen. And it was logged as a normal every day Hop and Pop. So you can't prove a thing. And I'm not naming the drop zone...)

So the big plane is reserved for high altitude jumps... and we reserve the Cessna Cardinal, and persuade another pilot to take us up for some "stupid fun.

"Hi, I'm from the FAA and here to help you!" Worst aviation pun, and I'd never seek a job with them!

Ugh, a Cardinal is probably the least forgiving of the high-wing Cessnas! You could stuff almost anything in a C-182 and it would fly.

Like I said said on the other decade thread, you are a survivor!!