It's all about ME!!!!!
It all started on the night of December 18, 1966. My parents had just returned home from a neighbors Christmas party, a little tipsy and a little frisky. Then BAM!!! Nine months later on September 11, 1967 I arrived. Yes folks, I know the date of my conception. Leave it to my mother to know that, she's incredible with loopy dates. ANYWAY I was basically a big ole surprise because my mom was 43 and my dad 45 when I was born, so they pretty much had the idea they were retired from the baby making business. Then I show up and become my mothers menopause and my fathers mid-life crisis. I was born into a strict Catholic family in the heart of the San Fernando Valley , with a brother who is 18 years older than me and a sister who is 12 years older. So pretty much I was an only child as my brother was gone to college, then got married and my sister was home until she got married when I was 8. School for me wasn't something I really enjoyed. I was a major mommas boy so it was pretty much a struggle to get me to school up until like 3rd grade. I went to Catholic school from 1st until 12th grade, so that really sheltered me from a lot of the realities in life, like smoking, drinking and drug use, divorce in families, gang bangers, the whole 9 yards. I wasn't really exposed to that until freshman year of high school, and even then it was very limited. I wasn't a great student either, just basically breezed through school with C's and some B's. I just didn't want to be there, unless something fun was scheduled. And homework, forget it. I was so bad at having the discipline to DO the homework at home. I can still hear my dad asking me nightly "So do you have any homework tonight?" "No dad, did it at school." Yea right. The year 1985 brought my high school graduation. I knew deep down I had to go to college and get a degree, not only to prove I could do it for me and to have something on my resume, but I wanted to get a degree also for my dad. He was such a "mans man" if you will, showed very little emotion, was big on all sports etc. We all knew he loved us but it was never blatantly shown to us. I was a small kid (still not that big, 5'7", 145 lbs) and was VERY sports retarded. I tried them all and just was BAD. The only thing I was good at was running, and I probably would have been good at track but that would have meant I would have been in a locker room situation with other guys and then my true lifestyle would be exposed. More on that later. Anyway my other siblings never either finished or went to college, so I wanted to do that not only for me, but for my dad. I first went to a local 2 year college, Pierce College. Three years later I transferred to Cal State University Northridge. I graduated with a degree in Liberal Studies in December '91 (ceremonies weren't until May '92 though), which is the same as Liberal Arts. I liked the program because it gave me a broad range of learning and overall my college experience was positive. I was sorta mis-guided when I graduated because I thought, I have a degree, I'll be able to get a job anywhere. And anywhere to me was Walt Disney Imagineering in their creative development department. YEA RIGHT!!! Like that was gonna happen. Two months after graduation my dad had a massive heart attack, was in the hospital basically a vegetable and unable to do anything on his own before he died a month later. This was a major turning point in my life lemme tell you. I had to tie up many loose ends with that whole mess along with the rest of my family. My dad along with my brother owned a video store which ended up closing in August of 1993 (which is where I worked). With no job, no "life" per-se, I got really depressed. Forward to January 1994 when at 4:31am we were hit with a huge earthquake. I was still at home with mom and we were 5 miles from the epicenter. I have never been so scared in my life. Luckily we only had about $10,000 in damage, nothing compared to a lot of people. In a sick sorta way I am glad the quake happened as it directed me towards my current work situation. My brother-in-law and his family had a general contacting company, and had so much work they needed help, so that spring I started working for them, basically as a project manager assistant, did a little drafting as well. It was a lot of fun and I learned quite a bit. Things slowed down and in August 1995 I was laid off. Then my current boss heard of my situation (he was a client of my former employer) and offered me a job with him, and that is where I currently am still working. It's a property management company where we own 22 commercial properties with about 45 tenants. We all do many things, deal with tenants, some accounting, but my main job is the computer drafting and I absolutely love it. Get to wear whatever I want, come and go as I please, it's very kick back. Good benefits and we are like a little family here. And I get to use my creativity often so that's a plus. To continue, click on the Page 2 link below. Or don't, whatever!! :-)
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