Cliff and Carla threw a great Halloween party. I wrote a long tacky letter to the management of the "mascot" agency, complaining about the lack of care being given for the equipment I had to work with. Pat Kempf wrote me back asking to meet with me on Friday November 22. (The anniversary of Kennedy's assassination.)  The meeting ended up getting moved to the 27th, a few weeks away. The word was out within the "mascot gig" circles that I was available to do more appearances, so the work poured in more than ever before. The radio controlled robot was also very popular at the time, and I was able to make extra money from doing those shows too. But losing the band had cut my income almost in half. It was going to be a struggle. I was crossing my fingers in hopes things would work out at UTA. I felt that going to college was the best thing I could do with my life at the time. 

Dad built a giant dog house out in their back yard for Brandy (the brown German Sheppard.) The house part looked great, but for some strange reason he put the shingles on upside down. It was one of the first signs we had that he was getting absent-minded, and doing odd things. We were just happy to still have him around after all the health problems he'd been through. His doctors had told him he was fighting a serious battle with the prostate cancer, and told us that his strange behavior was due to a preoccupation with his mortality. The way it was explained to us, Dad was coming to terms with the fact that his years on earth were going to be limited by his illness. So he kept busy trying to block out those thoughts. We all did.

I was skitzing too. One night I stayed up all night re-arranging the living room furniture, only to realize I liked it better the way it was to start with. I bought a stereo receiver and a tape deck with DBX. That was the hottest new thing at the time. On Thanksgiving, Rhonda and I spent the first part of the day with her family at her grandparent's house in Crowley. The second half was with my family on Lincoln Street in Ft. Worth. It was a great day. I was still waiting to hear from UTA. My meeting with Pat Kempf went well. He seemed to listen to my concerns which was all I asked.

In December, a last minute ski trip came up. Some old ski buddies, and some new ones, asked if I wanted to go. I couldn't pass up the chance. I knew it might be a long time before I ever went skiing again. The group consisted of Rick Miller, Rick's brother-in-law Carlton, Wayne Addington, Lindy (ex bartender from Savvy's), and I. We stayed at the Tamarron 

 We stayed at a lodge in Tamarron, Colorado and did our skiing on Purgatory Mountain. Carlton was playing in a band at the time and played some great original music for me. It inspired me to try to remember to write more when I got home. I met a guy named Bob from Ft. Worth while out on the slopes. He talked my ear off, but it was a good time. One night, after a long day of skiing, we were watching a movie on TV. Just for fun, I turned the sound off and we were doing our own soundtrack for the movie as we watched it. Basically, we were redubbing the flick. Carlton had a great line that would be the catch phrase for the rest of the trip; "Come out with your hands up and give up the girl!" Later during the trip I met Dudley, Laurie, Mike, and Katie. All were really nice people. But soon enough it was time to go back to the real world.

I returned from Colorado with $10 in my pocket. That's all I had to my name. Realizing how much parking was going to cost to get out of DFW airport, I pulled the old "lost ticket" scam which ended up costing me $9 instead of $30. (Trust me. Since those days, DFW airport has gotten plenty of my money! I don't feel bad for scamming them once.) When I got home, I discovered that Ryan Brennan didn't want to work as backup on the Robot gigs anymore. I was going to have to train Jim Wise. Rhonda went with me to a parade gig in Bryan, Texas. On the way down, she left her purse at a restaurant in Itasca. We were able to get the purse back on the way home, but $65 had been stolen out of it. 

After applying for school, life had gone on as I waited to hear if I'd be accepted. Finally I was! The day came when I had to sign up for classes. There were lines all the way around the campus, and I was way back in the end of one of them. I waited in that line all day, knowing I didn't have a clue what to expect when I finally made it inside. Somehow I managed to get signed up for some decent classes and made my way over to buy the most expensive books known to man. I couldn't imagine how the campus book store could charge so much for old, worn out used books. 

I walked the route to my classes, making sure I knew where everything was. It was exciting! I was thirty years old and had long hair. Those two features were enough to make me the class eccentric, but everyone was very nice. I was surprised to see how exciting learning could be. By applying myself completely, I was able to do quite well in my classes. Many younger students asked for my help when they had difficulties with one thing or another, and I was glad to oblige.

Rhonda was sick with stomach pains on December 9th. It was her birthday. Her dad stopped by for a visit. Jim Wise's dad was in town visiting from Gulfport, Mississippi. He was a very intelligent, gentle man. He'd lost his job and his wife had left him. He was having some tough times. He cooked up some chicken and dumplings. I ended up getting a stomach virus. I don't think it had anything to do with the chicken and dumplings.

It was December, and the holiday spirit was in the air. I paid a visit to my old high school drama teacher, Judith Bogan. I called Cliff and Carla, and Jimmy and Chetta, to wish them all a Merry Christmas. On New Year's Eve, Savvy played a reunion at the club. I have a video tape of that show. The video camera was near a table of people who played kazoos all night long. It's funny to hear them playing along with the flute part on "Stairway to Heaven." Cliff and Carla showed up, along with friend Mikey. Rhonda looked great. It was a fun gig, and seemed a cool way to end a sad year. But then the grim news reports started coming in.  Apparently, while we were partying at Savvy's on New Year's Eve, Rick Nelson had died in a plane crash on the way to a gig -- and a friend of mine from high school had shot and killed himself. 

On January 14th of '86 we took dad to the Keg for his birthday. I got accepted to UTA and started classes on January 20th. My classes were Math, English, History, Political Science, and Psychology. A lady from the old neighborhood, Gladys Snipes, and movie start Donna Reed, both died. It was a coincidence. And then, on January 28th, the space shuttle Columbia blew up killing all 7 crew members on board! I was glued to the television all day long watching the news coverage. I'd not seen anything like it since the killing of JFK. On the heels of the shuttle disaster came two more deaths. Kent Calhoun's aunt Stella, and my great aunt Frankie both died. I'd never seen so many people close to me die in such a short time. It was eerie. 

Rhonda wanted to move in with me. I asked Jim and Rich, and they were cool with it. She was scheduled to move in on March 1. I was doing very well in school. Almost all my grades were 100's. My birthday came and went with minimal fanfare. After school, a friend named Mike from one of my classes went with me to Blossom's in Arlington and we got drunk. The restaurant owner said he remembered me from Savvy. 

On February 23, Rhonda talked me into going to the televised local wrestling matches being held at Will Rogers Auditorium. She'd been a big fan of wrestling for a long time, but I was slow to warm up to it. But it was something to do, and we actually ended up having a great time. Rhonda looked great, and every time they cut away to a commercial, they'd do a closeup of Rhonda. I have a video tape of that day, recorded from TV. She's waving and smiling, while I'm sinking down in my chair trying to hide my face from being seen!  That night we saw Brian Adidas, The Grappler, John Tatum, Missie Hyatt, The Missing Link, Sunshine, Lance Von Erich, Rick Rude, Percy Pringle, and Michael Hayes from the Freebirds. 

My grades at school were great. I took the Robot over to Jimmy and Chetta's house in Lake Worth to show their kids. Jimmy acted cold. Chetta was great. The kids loved the robot. In world news, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos cheated on election day. The main cabin of the space shuttle, including the crew, was recovered from the ocean. Rhonda moved in and Rich moved out. I sold him one of my coffee tables for $50. Jim did a Robot show for me and the robot came loose in the trailer causing minor damage. I went to another night of wrestling with Rhonda. 

Halley's Comet, which visits our solar system every 76 years, was a disappointment. Some years are simply much better for viewing than other. This time it was very hard to see with the naked eye. But one thing was easy to see. Come April 15th, I was going to owe the IRS a lot of money! My friends over at H & R Block were telling me I was going to owe close to $2,000 to Uncle Sam. I had no idea where I was going to come up with that kind of money.  

CHAPTER  5

AFTER SAVVY MENU

BACK TO JONESLAND

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