The Old Dayz

When I was a young lad, growing up in Southern California; I was weird! I was born at 6 months of gestation and was allergic to everything when I came into the world. I couldn’t eat all of the things normal people ate; peaches, nectarines, apricots, oranges all sorts of nuts. I could eat sunflower seeds though! That’s a good thing.  Hence, I became a VERY picky eater. When I was little; I was a skinny little thing. I never drank milk or dairy products (except ice cream!), I hated cheese. I never ate fish sticks, or pork chops or anything like that. Mom is a phenomenal cook and makes incredible food, Mexican, Italian, or whatever. I am like her; I’m a great cook as well. I think individuals who are daring are great cooks and chefs.

My mom tells me stories of when I was young; I’d lock her out of the house and eat the summer fruits that were in the fruit bowl on the table. I’d get so sick, my grandfather and uncle would have to come and get into the house then rush me to the hospital. This apparently happened a few times and my mom got into the habit of pinning a door key to her blouse whenever she went outside. The kicker was we had all of these fruit trees in the backyard; all of the forbidden fruits, literally in the back yard. I guess I finally decided to stop eating these fruits, even after I outgrew most of the allergies. I still can’t eat apricots; those things land me in the hospital every time. It’s okay; I guess I really am not missing anything.

I am a great baseball enthusiast; I love the sport. Living in Southern California; I spent most of my time at Dodger Stadium; 2 or 3 times a week. I had tickets for one game for each team of each homestand. I loved sitting in the bleachers; eating Dodger Dogs, drinking my COKE and having my chips and salsa. My friend Jim Overall always had his Dodger Dogs and his big pretzel with mustard. I thoroughly enjoyed the times I spent at the game with Jim. He was a great friend. In fact, I think all of the individuals whom I had in my life during what I’ll call the “Northpoint Years”, were pretty awesome.

I’ll go more into the “Northpoint Years” at a later time; just let me say that these are the years most of the changes came into my life. I became who I am, in a way. I made some wonderful friends during this time and I miss them all terribly.

There was time at the Lakers games and Might Ducks of Anaheim, Kings, Clippers; I really enjoyed the Dodger Games best though. I guess getting back to my point; I am extremely happy that I outgrew most of these food allergies; there is nothing better than sitting at the game, peanuts in hand, being chased down by an icy cold Coca-Cola.

The first time I had that combination was a memorable one. The story goes(as reported to me by my father), dad had taken me to Hansen Dam Park in Lake View Terrace, California. That is where I grew up. On the weekends, they had pony rides, a train that went around the park, stage coach rides and a big lake for fishing and stuff. I guess one Sunday afternoon, dad took me to the park and got me a coke and some peanuts, when all of a sudden I got really sick; scary sick. I ended up in the hospital, yet again and they found that I had peanut allergies. From that moment forward, they scrutinized everything that went into my mouth. It wasn’t a fun time growing up when it came to eating.

Somewhere around my 17th birthday, my little Japanese doctor, Dr. Tong, was giving me a physical and after many tests told me that I’d outgrown most of my allergies. This was great news to me, because I was getting out and about more on my own. I didn’t need mom and dad to clear everything I ate.

So, getting back to Dodger Stadium and peanuts; it was great to finally be able to enjoy these sporting event staples together. I have to say that still at times, I’d forego the peanuts and have a bag of sunflower seeds stashed in my pocket and by the time we left the game, it looked like there had been a party of parrots sitting in my seat. This was too funny. I felt bad for the ushers who had to clean up after me.

It’s interesting to think back on one’s life and to analyze how one’s life has evolved.
In a previous posting, I stated that after I started driving, I no longer rode my bike, or roller skated or rode on my skateboard(which, admittedly I was never good at anyway), I did pick up biking again about 15 years ago. I picked up an awesome Schwinn Sidewinder mountain bike (which is still in my garage, needing some TLC), and began taking small rides around the area. The first 2 miles were killers, but within a couple of months, I was up to 12 miles, 3 times a week! I started riding for fun and would ride over to Super Crown Book Store in Granada Hills. I’d ride over to Blockbuster Video, to pick up my movies on Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday nights were my video night. I’d rent a few movies, get some take-out and sit in my man cave and watch movies until bed time.
This was the life. I had this awesome super bean bag chair that I loved sitting in. I almost never came out of my room on these days.

I remember this afternoon, I was riding somewhere in the vicinity of Devonshire and Sepulveda Blvd’s., when a car full of teen age girls shouted out at me, “Get a Car!” I laughed and retorted, “I have a car…” Actually, I had a couple of cars. This was humorous and I often wondered why we push aside all the things we enjoy in our youth, when we grow a bit older? Could it be that society deems bikes, skates and skateboards for only the children? What about being a child at heart? Granted, the only place I ride a bicycle now is at work, backstage when the opportunity presents itself. I don’t roller skate anymore, but I’d like to live somewhere that I could once again do that. I do have this awesome kick scooter; it’s a XOOTR Ultra Cruz that I picked up in New York on a trip there. I really like it and I XOOTR all over the place out here.

There are days that I will XOOTR over to Posner Park, just across the street; hang out at BAM (Books A Million) and then XOOTR home. The downhill areas are the most fun, because that scooter can fly. It isn’t like the razor scooters they sell. It is really high quality with Swiss designed wheels and frame. The deck is made of layers of birch topped with a great anti-slip layer. The XOOTR folds up really easily and has a strap to hang it over your shoulder.
If I lived closer to work and could take a bus or something, I’d XOOTR to work or ride my Schwinn, which I do plan on having serviced fairly soon. I think that this would help relieve stress some and just give me an opportunity to be out and about under the sunshine!

For now, I enjoy riding Marisol (my Ninja ZX9R) to work; or even Roy’s V-Star to work. I get to park really close to Cast services and it sure beats walking clear across the parking lot at the end of a long day on your feet. Well; that’s all for now; I have some laundry to do and all that unexciting stuff that comes on your day off!
Later!