My senior year in High School was a blast!

We are past the Autumnal Equinox – balance into coolness. Gateway to the Holiday Season. The sun passed over the equator to spend more time down south. It was the Spring Equinox for countries south of the equator – where storms and drains run counter-clockwise. This shift brought back memories of when I graduated from High School.

I had accumulated enough credits to graduate early, but purposely did not sign up for the required Civics class until the final quarter of my senior year. I was having way too much fun there.

At the time, I had a strong desire to go to Pacific Christian College in Fullerton. This was a total fantasy in my parent’s minds. They saw this as my attempt to stay a “professional student”, so I didn’t have to move out of the house. I was allowed to go to college if I could find a way to pay for it… oh, and by the way, since I was an adult, rent was now part of the deal. It was the way my parents pushed us out of the nest. I knew it was time for me to select a career and move into it, but had few options.

Once I graduated from High School, Shakey’s was more than happy to have me work full time, with overtime. I was making enough to start saving, pay my token rent, and still have fun. It was a good time. I had a great, steady girlfriend. The world was my oyster.

My mother told me I needed to think if I thought Shakey’s Pizza Parlor was going to be my life. (She asked by telling me Shakey’s is not a career choice since it would not pay enough for me to move out of the house.) Both my parents had been encouraging me to start thinking about the future all through my senior year of high school. Well, it was all a bit over whelming to me.

One day, while cutting the lawn, I gave this all a lot of thought. I came up with a stop-gap plan. I finished, put the mower away, and drove over to the Air Force Recruiter.

I signed up right then and there, was sworn in. I had opted for a delay of six months before starting my Air Force Career.