Posted on December 12, 2008 by Trip to the Outhouse
My mother passed away the day before Barack Obama was elected to be the next President and gay marriage lost in California. Three days ago was her birthday.
My mother had lived a good, long life, so because of her age and recent deterioration of health, her passing was not unexpected. Even so, because of losing [...]
Filed under: It's What I Like, Politics and Gay Topics, The VW Bug Chronicles | Tagged: Air Force, Death, Emotions, Family, feelings, gay, GLBT, long-distance boyfriend, military, Mom, Mother, Obama, parents and feelings, Proposition 8, Remembering Mom | 1 Comment »
Posted on December 9, 2008 by Trip to the Outhouse
Sometime during my junior year in college (69-70), many of us guys sat nervously around the radio, waiting to hear what our draft number would be. I’m not sure how the Selective Service had determined the order of eligible young men to be called up for military service prior to that time, but at the [...]
Filed under: Cars and More, Geography, The VW Bug Chronicles | Tagged: gay, cheney, National Guard, VW Bug, GLBT, VW beetle, Volkswagen, Vietnam War, Fort Hays State, Hays Kansas, college life, George W Bush, Great Bend, the 60s, Selective Service, the Draft, Draft Lottery, Draft Deferment, Student Teaching, Army Reserves, Iraq War, Uncle Sam, pre-induction physical, draft board, the 70s | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 5, 2008 by Trip to the Outhouse
I went to college in the middle of the Vietnam War years. Though I’d had my VW painted purple and maybe even had a peace sticker on the back window, I was hardly a hippie or a protester. Right at the time I started college, my brother had just come back from Vietnam and gotten [...]
Filed under: Cars and More, Maps, Geography, and Places, Politics and Gay Topics, The VW Bug Chronicles | Tagged: dorrance, gay, VW Bug, GLBT, VW beetle, Vietnam War, blizzard, Wilson Kansas, Fort Hays State, buffalo, dorm life, Hays Kansas, marijuana, Nicodemus Kansas, head shop, Baptist, Methodist church, college life, Great Plains, M.R.S. degree, Ulysses Kansas, exodusters, roommates | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 28, 2008 by Trip to the Outhouse
This week really felt good–getting back to a normal schedule, after being at loose ends without electricity and not working. I feel so fortunate to have pretty much everything back to normal, when there are so many who don’t, from those still without electricity here around town, to those down on the coast and other [...]
Filed under: Annie and Dog Talk, It's What I Like, Maps, Geography, and Places, Talking About Food, The VW Bug Chronicles | Tagged: dorrance, National Guard, Houston, bierochs, Kansas, Hurricane Ike, Buns, Rolls, blizzard, no electricity, snow plows, power lines, propane, milk cows, locker plant, Klema's IGA, angel food cake, homemade noodles, Wilson Kansas, German Russian immigrants, cabbage, ground beef, Kansas history, Kansas foods, bieroch recipe | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 20, 2008 by Trip to the Outhouse
When I was working at the depots at Sylvan Grove, Luray, and Natoma, I drove back and forth every day to the folks’ farm, where I was staying for the summer, so I had no rent to pay. With only to supply my own lunches, I didn’t have much to pay out of pocket [...]
Filed under: Cars and More, Maps, Geography, and Places, The VW Bug Chronicles | Tagged: beer, dorrance, dragging main, farm boy, Luray Kansas, Natoma Kansas, Russell, Saturday night, small town, summer job, Sylvan Grove, U.S. Highway 40, Volkswagen, VW beetle, VW Bug, Wilson | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 16, 2008 by Trip to the Outhouse
In “VW Bug and a Summer Job”, I was telling about how I got my first car and about working at the Sylvan Grove Union Pacific depot for two months each summer before my junior and senior years of college. Actually, during those summers, I was on the “extra board”. I don’t know [...]
Filed under: Cars and More, It's What I Like, Maps, Geography, and Places, The VW Bug Chronicles | Tagged: Abilene depot, Abilene Kansas, depot, dorrance, Eisenhower, Eisenhower Center, extra board, Ft. Riley Kansas, Greyhound Hall of Fame, Lincoln Branch League, Lincoln Branch Line, Luray Kansas, Natoma Kansas, Old Abilene Town, outhouse, summer job, Sylvan Grove, train orders, trainmaster, Union Pacific Railroad, unions, Volkswagen, VW beetle, VW Bug, wheat elevator | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 30, 2008 by Trip to the Outhouse
I think most guys will remember each and every car that they have owned. I know I do. My first five cars were VW Beetles. I’m not quite sure why I got a VW Bug for my first car; maybe it was because it was during the 60s, and they were a [...]
Filed under: Cars and More, The VW Bug Chronicles | Tagged: VW Bug, Beetle, Sylvan Grove, Lincoln Branch Line, depot, Union Pacific, sectionmen, trainmen, summer job, Kansas, Wilson Lake, Volkswagen, Fort Hays State, Great Bend, Plainville, Salina, Marmie Motors, hippies, the 60s, Sylvan Grove depot, depot agent, Lincoln Kansas, grain elevator, Vesper Kansas, Denmark Kansas, Hunter Kansas, railroad | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 25, 2008 by Trip to the Outhouse
After I graduated from college back in the the very early 70s, I went into the Air Force. I spent almost 11 months, starting in September of 1973, in Washington, D.C. at the Defense Language Institute (Anacostia Annex) studying Arabic and Middle Eastern culture. I also had a lot of other special training before I [...]
Filed under: It's What I Like, Maps, Geography, and Places, The VW Bug Chronicles | Tagged: 6916th, 6916th Security Squadron, Air Force Security Service, Astir Beach, Athenai AF Base, Athens Greece, Cypress, Defense Language Institute, dictator, Don't Ask Don't Tell, draft, Glyfada, Iraq, Mykonos, National Guard, nude beach, Papadopolous, RC-130, RC-135, recce, Turks | 1 Comment »
http://jointheimpact.com
