Memories of 87 years by Bob

 US AIR FORCE I was inducted into the USAF on February 12, 1956 and was flown to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas for boot camp. I flew on a TWA Constellation,; the first time ever flying. In 1956 the Air Force was still using an 11 week bootcamp, so there I was. We were not allowed off base during that time so I had virtually no social life other than drills, class, eating and sleeping (though not too much). Most of my memories are of a rifle range, a bivouac and marching. The Air Force had not learned that we were not part of the army any more! I took a battery of written tests to determine what school I should attend after boot camp. I only had one altercation with another airman. It turned out the taller airmen were selected to be kind of "in charge"(quite a system). On this particular day we had been on a march and were tracking in dirt to the barracks (about 50 people). The "leader" decided I was his prey for the day and "ordered" me to clean the s...

 STETSON UNIVERSITY As I said before, I was offered and accepted a scholarship to Stetson. It was close however. Steson requires a grade point average of 3.8 and I was just below that. I was accepted  so started in September of 1954. To say I made a bad decision would be an understatement!. It turns out that I was the ONLY oboist at Stetson. Stetson is a fine school bur it is safe to say, at least at that time, not a "music" school. The scholarship covered tuition but nothing else (like room and board, books and other supplies. The instrument provided was no where close to what I had in high school plus I was expected to provide my own reeds. It was suggested I make my own but that was a skill I never acquired. (I can't make flies for fishing either!). A requirement of the scholarship was that I play in the orchestra, band and pit orchestra. Thank goodness there was no football team then. I could have used a lot of advice I did not receive. I was taking 18 semester hours ...

 MORE HIGH SCHOOL I keep remembering little tidbits so It's hard for me to finish this segment. I am going to try to wrap up high school today.. Just so you know, I believe some of the most intelligent people I have known graduated in my class. I wish I were more like them! There are a lot of things my classmates and I did but I will list some of them. Oranges and neon signs on 17-92 (Orange BlossomTrail) Bread and the same neon signs Swimming at Sanlando Springs Band trips to all the out of town football games One memory that seems more humorous than others involved Halloween. A group of us decided it would be fun to set off cherry bombs (firecrackers if you didn't know) on people's porches. We proceeded to do so and some narrow minded resident called the police, who arrived rather quickly. Being the speedy one I was, I ran into the orange grove, thus avoiding capture. What happened next is not first hand knowledge but was reiterated to me by one of my classmates. The poli...

 HIGH SCHOOL (Continued) I guess I'll talk a little about academics as it may have shaped some of my other decisions. I think I mentioned before that I was a fairly good student (All As). Well that ceased in the 9th grade. I was told (by someone?) that an academic diploma was the only way to go if one wishes to go to a university. To obtain such a diploma a requirement was 2 years of a foreign language. Of course that was what I should do, right? In my freshman year I signed up for Spanish I as that seemed the most useful to me. That was not a good choice for me as it turned out. I found the class boring, mostly grammar and very little learning of phrases. I did, however, as did most boys in the class, love the teacher. She was young (by teacher standards) and very pretty. With that said I sludged through  Spanish with a C average. My teacher told me she sensed a lack of dedication so maybe I should postpone Spanish II until I felt I was ready. I planned on taking the second c...

 THE REST OF HIGH SCHOOL You know, as we age time is logged differently in our minds. What seems like yesterday is many years ago and what seems like yesterday was an hour ago. So, if I mix up dates a little I am going to chalk it up to old age! I wrote previously about ways I tried to earn money. Well, high school didn't come with fame or fortune so I kept trying to find a way to earn spending money, even with a very busy schedule at school. One job that was a disaster was a night job. Somewhere along the way there opened a drive-in movie theater close enough to our place that I could walk to work. I took a job as a mobile beverage cart operator (not sure that is how management would describe the job but it fits). My job was to go to each car and offer drinks and snacks. Management didn't take into account young bullies that would be there either legally or illegally. One evening after about a week I was attacked and robbed of drinks and what money that could be found (not muc...

 MUSIC and HIGH SCHOOL I have decide to write segments about my high school experience so I begin with my 9th year of school. MUSIC Sometime at the beginning of the school year Edgar Williams (bandmaster) called me aside to talk about my position in the band. The conversation went something like, "Bob, you are never going to be first chair on clarinet. Shirley R*** has that position until you both graduate. But, I could use an oboe player if you are interested". Well, that started a love affair with an instrument for me. I agreed to try to learn and became obsessed with the instrument. I practiced every day at least an hour, sometimes 2 or 3. I was a spoiled brat. How he did it I don't know, but Mr Williams arranged for a purchase of one of the finest oboes on the market and furnished all the reeds I needed. I loved playing and performing and did so at every opportunity. He (Mr Williams) arranged private lessons at Rollins College by the 2nd chair oboist from the New York...

 THIS AND THAT My oldest daughter copied me on a Facebook post which I found interesting. It said that 99% of the people born during my time are now dead. Somedays I feel like I am one of them instead of the 1% still here! Anyway, I thought about my memos and realized it is only a couple more days until I turn 87 so I guess instead of calling it memories of an 87 year old I should say 87+ (Optimistic,huh?) I was 5 years old at the start of WWII, too young to join but old enough to remember certain aspects. It is safe to say that most commodities were rationed, some more noticeable than others. Sugar was a problem, as was rubber and oddly enough aluminum! Saturday matinees were always fun and during rationing entry could be gained by bringing an aluminum pot. By the end of the war my mother had no pots (She never liked cooking anyway!). As far as I know, no automobiles were produced for the private sector so we made do. A sad note there as my dad had to sell his 1940 Lincoln for hea...