The Way I See It

The microwave just had an accident in my bowl

July 12, 1986:
To the left - just a funny picture of Mom's brownies. She's discovered the microwave oven but still had a few things to learn about using it. Maybe we were doing a home version of "Fear Factor", or, as I like to call it - "Eat this Crap".

I went berzerk with the bicycle. I was up to 40 miles a day, and some weeks would do 300 miles. On one ride I covered 121 miles in nine hours. I was so tired. My clothing choice was running shorts, a T-shirt, and sneakers. I had a bicycle which was just below high-end, and I wore the same clothing I wore for gym class in high school. The only sunglasses I had were a pair which were thrown at me from a car on Interstate 29. I picked them up...they fit...they were mine! But I was hard-core and I'd ride whenever I could with absolutely no knowledge of nutrition or hydration. Sometimes at work, I'd lean on a desk and my leg would give out. I loved it! The bicycle was my life until I discovered Karen.

I'd worked with her for over a year, but we never talked. She seemed a little rough, and was nearly five years older. Then on June 23rd, after General Welch's ceremony, we ended up alone at work, and we started talking. We talked for hours, just the two of us, and after that, we became friends, and I looked at her much differently. She was sweet... and I was falling for her.

July 16, 1986:
So!!! I flew to Indiana! Robert and his father took Darrel and I water skiing on the Ohio River.

July 19:
I was beginning to be comfortable with living away from home. Unlike the other visits I'd had, I wanted to be alone and tried to get away from Mom and Dad often. My mind was on Nebraska, my bicycle, and Karen. I'd finally planted seeds of life outside of Evansville.

July was a big month for the hillbillies in Evansville. Every year it hosted "Thunder on the Ohio" unlimited hydroplane races on the Ohio River. It's a huge event - sometimes crowds near 100,000. We hosted the Gold Cup in 1982 and received national television coverage for it. These were the fastest boats in the world, hydroplaning across the water at speeds in excess of 200 miles an hour. Below is a photo Darrel
shot of me, on the water at zero miles an hour.