APRIL 1985
1 April 1985 Monday
I watched Lion In Winter on TV tonight.
It’s one of my all-time favorite movies and not just because I saw it with John
Cunningham but just because it is so well written. I took Sam and Toby for a
walk to get out of the apartment and had chili verde for dinner. My sister
Donna called me about a magazine that her husband Ken Jones wants to start. I
never hear from Donna but she thought I might be the only one in the family who
would care and I really don’t.
2 April 1985
Tuesday
No Entry
I am going to try and write in this journal
every day even if it’s just a line. Fran and I went to the movies tonight and
saw Beverly Hills Cop. It was pretty funny. I’m going to ask Fred Wetzel
for a raise when he gets back from his vacation. I talked to mom today and she
said she has to have x-rays taken of her
kidneys because they have been hurting her to see if she has kidney stones.
Estelle Reilly really surprised me at work today by saying she was thinking
about becoming a Morman. I am so sick of our materialistic society where people
just want to buy more and more
I broke my abstinence from sugar today by
making Easter cupcakes for the people I work with at Ticor. Thank Gid that I
didn’t go crazy and only had one cupcake and some of the batter to see how it
came out. However, I realized that I’m not missing a thing by not eating sugar.
In fact, it made me kind of sick. I even got a headache from it, yuck! I bought
Estele Reilly a Book of Mormon and an Ensign Magazine because she has shown an
interest in the church. I sent off an Easter Card to Grandma Johnson so it will
get there by Sunday. Tonight, I watched Romancing
the Stone on cable TV. It’s one of my favorite movies. At Ticor Craig
Malchow came back to work full time yesterday. Ugh! He’s so negative . It was
so nice without him around.
5 April 1985 Friday
My sister Donna called me to say she was going
to be tested for sugar diabetes. It does run in the Family.
Fran was sick
running a fever today
7 April 1985 Sunday
It’s Easter Sunday and Fran and I spent the
day over at Dale Street having dinner
with Mom and Dad. Fran was still not well but came anyway. Donna’s family, like usual, didn’t come and
James had to work so only my sister Charline, her husband Dennis, and my niece
Denise and nephew Michael came. Also with them was this 15 year old boy named Eric Prathers who also joined us. Charline said he was
Denise’ boyfriend. I think Denise is way
too young to be having a boyfriend as she is only 13 years old but it sounded
like he was a waif without a place to go.
Charline is big hearted about taking in strays. I made some baked beans which had way too
much garlic on it but the fruit salad I made was good. Charline brought a
potato salad and mom cooked a ham and made deviled eggs. We had strawberry
shortcake with whipped cream for dessert.
It was a nice, quiet Easter, but the weather was really crummy. There
were no Easter baskets or eggs this year. Dad rented a video called “the
Natural” about baseball with Robert Redford in it. We watched that and it was just okay. Grandma Johnson
called and sounded strong over the phone
but mom said Grandma sounded depressed because her sister Essie Word is
bedridden with a stroke and her youngest sister Clee Petty has stomach cancer.
8 April 1985 Monday
I haven’t felt well all day. I’m tired and
sleepy. I think I’m coming down what Fran had this weekend. On Saturday and
Sunday, she was so sick and ran a fever. At work today, I really didn’t do much
as I was worn down. Since I had the car today I drove over to Dale Street to pick up some laundry I had left there
yesterday since our apartment’s washing machine is broken. In the mail there,
Weber State sent me some elementary school openings in Logan and Park City. I
think I will pass and wait for something to open closer to Salt Lake City. My
contacts have been bothering me lately because I am getting sick, I think. I’m
really directionless in my life right now. I need to find my Redeemer.
9 April 1985 Tuesday
I didn’t go into work but rather stayed home
all day, not feeling well. I didn’t shower, shave, or anything. It was a blah
day. It’s my last day of being 33 years old.
10 April 1985 Wednesday
Well, today is my 34h birthday. I went back to
work where Estelle Reilly treated me to lunch at the Sizzler’s Steak House and
bought me a slice of Carrot Cake, It was so sweet of her that I had to eat a
bite of it at least rather than offend her. So I went off my abstinence again.
Fred Wetzel had the crew get me an ice
cream cake from Baskin Robbins also, but I didn’t have any of it though. It was
nice of them but it wasn’t anything special.
Mike Hassell was in trouble with Fred today because he wasn’t wearing a
tie so Fred had him back in the stacks posting all day instead of searching.
Estelle said that Mike probably thought Fred could do more for him than I could
but now realizes I could have shown him the ropes about being an effective
searcher. Even more than that I could have given him my friendship. Fran said
at her work at SAGA, that her boss Alberta French told her she wanted her to go
back to full time days but Fran said she doesn’t want to give up her day
classes at Flavio’s Nail Saloon with “Ms. Billie” as the instructor. Fran said
that Ms. Billie is an excellent teacher and is a transvestite. Fran said she
may even quit SAGA so she could stay at
Flavio’s. No great loss I suppose. I’m still feeling worn down. I am not taking
enough vitamins I suppose. I fixed hamburgers for dinner and then we went to
Sears where Fran bought me some
typewriter ribbon for my birthday gift. I was out and I liked having them as much as anything she could have
gotten me, Donna called to wish e happy
birthday and Fran’s mother Lorna Fuchs
eve sent me a birthday card I it that contained $10. Poor Old Lorna. She must be feeling guilty or
trying to make us feel it. I don’t know, poor thing. But it kind of makes me
kind of love her even though I only met her once in 1977. I watched Repo Man
on Cable and it was a hoot!
11 April 1985 Thursday
I am so pissed I don’t know where to begin.
All day at Ticor, the Newport Beach office kept calling me for requests and I
didn’t mind that until Fred Wetzel called me into his office to give me a
verbal warning about my absences. I let him have his say then I hit him up for
a raise since it’s been six months since my last one. Fred said that the
company wouldn’t give me one because business has been so slow. I said you got
to be kidding! I am so swamped out there
working two desks. Then he inferred I wasn’t doing enough work so I got mad,
and at that point I said that I do more searches than anyone else here in your
department and you can see for yourself by checking the production slips. I was
just steaming. The only reason I’m not getting a raise is because he’s heard
I’m leave this summer. Well piss on him. Watch my production drop. You can’t
get anywhere with Fred unless you are a
bastard like he is.
12 April 1985 Friday
I cut my production down to five searches
today like everyone else. Fred said that Newport Beach was a “slow desk” so I
will let it be. I took the bus home and Fran forgot that she didn’t have to
pick me up so she drove into Santa Ana
for no reason. She didn’t get home until 6 o’clock. She only works at SAGA half days on Friday so
she can attend her Acrylic Nail classes with Ms. Billie at Flavio’s. In the evening,
she went to her regular Friday night Overeaters Anonymous Meeting and I stayed
home with the critters and typed all
night on my 1971 journal. I’m almost through with it, My old flimsy journals
are falling apart so if I want to read them, now I can without handling them.
13 April 1985 Saturday
Fran went to her nail class all day and I went
grocery shopping and cleaned the apartment some. I made spaghetti for dinner
because Fran said she was bringing home a friend named Patty from Over Eaters
anonymous. As it turned out her friend was allergic to cats so instead they
went out to eat. She gave Fran a zircon ring that is real pretty and it made
Fran really happy. I didn’t go with them
but stayed home and typed, typed, typed.
The weather has been warm and pretty. Tax time is coming around soon . I
still haven’t done ours yet. We will owe
as usual because we don’t have children or any interest payments we can deduct.
We make less than $25,000 between our two incomes. You can’t use the long form
unless you make $35,000 or more
14 April 1985 Sunday
Fran had to attend a beauty show for her Acrylic Nails class so
she went with her Gay friend, Michael aka “Debbie”. When I dropped Fran off at
the school I met him for the first time.
He seems as fun as Fran described him. I then left to attend Sunday School and continued my lesson of New England
genealogy. More people are attending and I had to back track a little again on why the Puritans came to America in
the first place and we spent some time of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale. After
church was out, I came home and finally finished typing up 1971. That was such
a hard year for me. That was a hard year for me when I was 19 and 20 and I made
a lot of mistakes at Cal State Fullerton the last part of the year thinking I
was a homosexual. Anyway, when Fran came
home we watched a little of General
Conference which was broadcast on Cable TV.
I was shocked to see how frail Marion G Romney had gotten. Poor old
President Kimball even looked a little
better than Elder Romney. In the evening, we watched Mr. Mom, which made
Fran laugh.
15 April 1985 Monday
It’s Tax Man Day. When I came into work, Fred
Wetzel nailed me first thing about my “project time” and “CC & R’s” which
counts towards me wages. I said to him “Well take me off Newport Beach I won’t
have so much project time.” He said, “maybe I will. I will switch you and Rey.”
I said I don’t want to work for Laguna Beach! I want off the phones.” He didn’t say anything more and right about
then Vickie Carlson called from Newport Beach asking about a search. It was
perfect timing and I said “See! I thought you was going to take care of that and get them off my back so I can get
more searches out.!” So, Fred called Jack Enda
up and told him to monitor the calls
that Newport beach makes to me. Then I said to Fred, “Fred the reason I
have so much project time is that I’m working a two man desk!” He then had the
nerve to say, “what does that have to do
with it?” I replied, “Rey used to help
me on my desk”. He said, “Rey works Laguna Beach” and I retorted “Not before
February he didn’t.” I caught him in his
bull shit right in front of Rudy Rudisell and
everyone else, so Fred is really pissed at me. So I went to Sally Grant,
supervisor of Customer Service department and asked if she had any openings in her department and she said
she would talk to Fred to see if I could transfer to customer service. I also
called up Jack Enda to tell him what was going on between Fred and me. Then to
make matters even worse, I found out that Jenny Metz is getting a raise and I
work rings around her. At home I stayed up late doing our income taxes and if I
got it right, we only owe $119 all that we did pay and we will even get $59
back from the state. I stayed up until 10:30 then drove to the Post Office to
get my returns in before midnight. I
wasn’t the only one who waited until the last minute to get into the post
office which stayed open to midnight to
accommodate everyone.
16 April 1985 Tuesday
At work it was the same old same old. I
snubbed Fred Wetzel and kept saying the Serenity Prayer “God grant ne the
serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things
I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. The apartment is a wreck and the
washing machine is broken again. Fran has no clean clothes. I ate too much
turkey and dressing tonight and went to
bed at 8:30 after a late night yesterday. Fran said something rather hateful to
me today. She said she would never have married me if she knew how much I loved
John Cuningham. She said not because of the Gay aspect of it but because of the
strength of it. She said she felt she had “Rebecca like qualities” having to live with a ghost. It made me
sad but still there’s nothing I can
do about. I can’t help how I feel.
17 April 1985 Wednesday
It rained last night and around 1 in the
morning Sam and Toby woke me up to let them out side and it was pouring. When they saw hat it was
raining, they ran back into the house and said, “Never mind We don’t have to go
after all.” The little shits. They are so spoiled. They won’t go to the
bathroom in the rain. Fran is mad at the cats because they haven’t been
sleeping with her.
18 April 1985 Thursday
No Entry
19 April 1985 Friday
I was paid today. I grossed $504.16 and
cleared $392.00 after taxes. So far this year, I’ve grossed $4,222.60
20
April 1985 Saturday
I tried to get the Toyota through the smog test so I can register it
but it failed emission. The guy there said I had to pay $200 for it to pass.
Diesel cars are exempt and so are
Mercedes Benzes. They don’t have to be inspected while ordinary people takes it
in the shorts
21 April 1985 Sunday
Fran didn’t attend church and I only went to
Sunday School to teach my class. We finished
up New England research. Poor Sam had to have his hair clipped again because of his rash from flea bites
that have broken out again. I bought some tobacco and am soaking it in order to
a make poultice to put on his skin to
heal the open sores. It seems to help some. Mom called to say Aunt Clee Petty , Grandma Johnson’s
younger sister died. She died at Shamrock, Texas but will be buried at
Childress. She died of cancer of the
liver and was 81 years old. She was the youngest of the remaining children of Rod and Ellen
McLeod. Aunt Essie is the oldest at 95 years
but she down with a stroke and is bedridden. Aunt Berthie is 93 years old and is
alright I guess considering her
age. She lives up in Napa, California, Aunt Ada is about 89 years old and lives at
Sacramento, California. Grandma Johnson
is 85 years old and is doing okay. Her baby brother Aron McLeod is 82 years old
and lives in Shamrock.
22 April 1985 Monday
It was gloomy and overcast for most of the
weekend. Fran was sick and on her period
for most of the time. At work I still have everything in slow gear. I sent $250
in for our car insurance. I was supposed to have paid it last Saturday or at
least $100 of it or we would be cancelled.
I went down to Triple A to pay it
and they were closed on Saturdays.
What a bummer! Well, I decided to just pay the whole amount today and I know they won’t cancel us because
they are greedy and just want the money.
I think we will get rid of most of our furniture when we move back to Utah. Don’t know too
much in the news. Jake Garn is down from his flight in the Space Shuttle. He is
the first senator in space and a Mormon from Utah. I read in today’s Orange County Register’s
obituary column that Elder Bruce R. McConkie
died last Friday in Salt Lake
City. He was one of my least favorite General Authorities but his passing makes
me realize that time is really fleeting. There’s so many changes in the Quorum
of the Twelve since I joined the Church
thirteen years ago. I don’t even know if
I could name all of the apostles now. I think there’s Ezra Taft Benson, Howard
W. Hunter, Thomas Monson, Boyd K Packer, Marvin Ashton, Gordon B Hinckley,
Elder Haight, Thomas Perry, Dallin Oaks
and Howard Neilson. I think that is the name of the man who became an
Apostle at the same time as Oaks. Oh, yes there Elder Neal Maxwell Two of my
favorites were LeGrand Richards and Mark E Peterson both are gone now. There are lots of specials
on Vietnam since it’s the tenth anniversary of the fall of Saigon to the
Communists.
23 April 1985 Tuesday
No Entry
24 April 1985 Wednesday
No Entry
25 April 1985 Thursday
No Entry
26 April 1985 Friday
I saved Fred
Wetzel and Jack Enda’s asses
today at work. I got out a
search that Jack Enda had promised a client immediately, and
Fred had forgotten to get it out. They
gave it to me to crank it, which I did
but according to Fred I am not productive enough to get a raise. No one else could have
gotten it out as fast. I’m still only doing six and seven searches a day
compared to the 10 and 12 I used to do. Fred finally handed out production
slips from last October and I did twice as many orders as any one else.
27 April 1985 Saturday
We had to work overtime at Ticor to do the
work I used to do on my own. Fran went to her Cosmetology class while after I
came home, I cleaned the apartment a little and did some typing. That night, we
went to the Edward’s Westbrook Theater on Brookhurst and Westminster and saw “Girl’s Just Want to Have Fun”
which was a typical teenage fluff film with lots of dancing. Also playing was
the Sure Thing which was a higher
quality film about a college romance
across the United States. The plot
had been done a hundred times
before but the characters were fun
and refreshing.
28 April 1985 Sunday
I went to church and taught my lesson on
genealogical records of the Southern States. John Isey came over to do his home
teaching but Fran was already down for
her nap so it was just me. Daylight Savings Time started today so we lost an
hour of sleep.
29 April 1985 Monday
A notice in the mail said that the IRS accepted
my changes in 1981 tax form so it
brought our taxes down from $1100 for that year to $400. I couldn’t believe it.
I was ready for a big fight and audit but they didn’t.
30 April 1985 Tuesday
Today was a hazy and smoggy day and the last
of month of April. Fran and I went over to Mom’s to pick up our mail and then
we went to the movies at the Edward’s Cinema West in Westminster where on
Tuesday nights it’s only a buck to get in.
We saw “Mask” with Cher and Eric Stolz. It was excellent even
though it was kind of long. Cher should get an Oscar nomination for playing the
mother of a boy with a physical deformity. It was a real tear jerker.
MAY 1985
I hate Daylight
Savings Time. We went on it last Sunday and I’m still not used to it. At
working this morning, I was angry because Fred Wetzel made me get out all the
searches to look for starters and after I had all the searches ready to begin
chaining them, Fred came by with Mike Hassell, his pet, and said for me to give some of the searches I had done to Mike. I said to Mike “where were you this
morning when I had all these searches
that needed starters?” I was so mad. I
told Mike that I was working on them by
myself and wouldn’t give them up and so
Fred took Jenny’s Metz’s which were
almost completed and gave them to Mike just so Mike’s production sheet wouldn’t be
so low. I think that really stinks and shows what a weasel both of them are.
Where am I in my life right now? I am kind of in between situations. I’m still
at Tico and while not terribly unhappy I am just disappointed that I can’t get an incentive raise from Fred
when I produce more than anyone else in the department. I suppose around August
1st Fran and I will be
leaving for Utah and Fran is really
balking at the idea. She wants to stay
in California and do her acrylic nail thing. She’s thinks she can get
rich here but what I fear is that living in California will suck any money she makes all away because it’s so expensive to live
here. But she doesn’t want to move back among Utah Mormons either. What a
dilemma because she wants to stay and I want to go to Salt Lake to be near the
genealogy library and to teach school and I only have a Utah certificate not a
California one. I don’t know what will happen. I know I shouldn’t be
tearing Fran away again from her friends
that she has made but making friends is
so easy for her. Well, I guess I better go back to work since my lunch break is
over. I couldn’t believe this day. I
came back from lunch and found that Fred had given away my searchers that I had
almost completed to Mike Hassell and Larry Cable. I was really pissed and then Larry came to me and asked me to
help him figure out the starter I had ordered for one of my searches. I was on
a slow burn by then so I told Larry to go have Fred help him. “Piss Off” is
what I wanted to say. Then when some more searches came in that needed starter
located, I gave them all to Larry and Mike. If they can do searches that are
almost completed, then they can also do them from scratch. Later I told Larry
that I wasn’t mad personally at him but at Fred
for pulling this shit. Then as I was ordering a starter, Mike came up to
me, the weasel, and said “I don’t understand why you are so hostile about Fred
taking searches because they have to get
out.” I told him I was mad because Fred
pushes us to be productive and then
takes away my production. He won’t let me use it project time on my production
sheet either. Then Mike said while talking condescendingly, “Well after all Fred is the boss and you
should support him.” I retorted now
really pissed off, “Just wait until he starts taking your searches and giving
them to someone else.” Then I walked off. What a fucker. That psychological
test was right on. He is a predator.
Fred Wetzel
chewed me out on how I count documents for my production sheet. I told him to
count them all as basics instead of what
they are as I don’t care. I brought Bran muffins in for everyone in our
department including Mike Hassell and
Fred. I also paid Fred $5 for the March of Dime Walk-a-Thon . That did take
some of the wind out of his sails. I am trying to keep in mind when delaing
with obnoxious people, “How would Christ Act?” That keeps me from going
completely crazy and perhaps some forgiveness for my sins. Speaking of crazy, Fran asked me if a Gay
friend of Michaels from Flavio could stay with us for the weekend. I
said no. I said I don’t want to entertain anymore people I don’t know for the weekend, Gay or
Straight unless they were desperate and
I am sure this guy must have other friends or relatives of his own.
3 May 1985 Friday
At work I gave
Larry Cable some searches to do because yesterday Fred put him on my Newport
Beach desk as a helper, but he said he couldn’t help out because he had too many
starters request. He only had five and it wouldn’t have taken him 15
minutes to do all of them. I was really
upset with him because he constantly
come over and asks me for help and I
have never refused him or Mike Hassell either for that matter. From now on they
can just whistle Dixie before I ever help them again. I’ve gotten the biggest pimple on my neck the size of a boil and it’s so
sore. Also I think I might have some
sort of gum infection because right over
my eye tooth is so sore. When I put peroxide on it, the gum foams like crazy
like I must have some sort of infection.
I need to see a dentist I suppose.
4 May 1985 Saturday
This is the 15th anniversary of the Kent State Massacre. Can it really be that long ago that I was working at Taco Bell with John Cunningham and he came running so frantic saying that they were shooting students at Kent State. Fran was gone all day at her cosmetology class and I tried to pick up a little around the apartment. I didn’t get to the kitchen or go grocery shopping although I did defrost the ice box before going out and hanging out at Santiago Park to read and get out of the house. I’ve been really tired lately. I wonder if it’s from the infection in my gum and has anything to do with feeling this way. Ronald Reagan is over in Germany trying to keep the West Germans and American Jews happy over his visit to a World War II German war cemetery but he’s not doing that great of a job at either. The Contras in Nicaragua are still in the news. As we get more involved down there perhaps I will learn to spell the country properly. Great News, Fran and I received a Bank of America Master Card yesterday in the mail with a credit limit of $800. We are thrilled about that so no more borrowing money from Mom and Dad for temporary emergencies. Mom called this afternoon just wanting to visit because dad had to work today. We didn’t really say that much as we just talked about our moving back to Utah. After picking Fran up from Flavio we went to a laundromat and did almost two weeks’ worth of wash. With us both doing the laundry it didn’t take all that long. After coming home and putting the laundry away, Fran went to her bed and I stayed downstairs and watched Cinemax cable TV. I saw “Tender Mercies” again which I really liked Robert Duvall in it. I really need to go do some grocery shopping especially for cat and dog food. I am thinking about growing a beard again. It’s so hard for me to get materialistic like so many around me, knowing I’m going to leave it all behind someday. If Fran and I don’t make it to the Celestial Kingdom, I still hope the Lord will allow us to be together with our animals in some kingdom. I mean I want John Cunningham there with me also, to talk with, but it’s Fran I want to spend eternity with. She’s upstairs right now yelling at Toby and she hurt my feelings earlier at the laundromat by criticizing my attempts at trying to keep up the house but still, I’d rather be with her than anyone else. Mortality is looming above me with my gums rotting away and there’s a knot on my throat that feels like a boil instead of a pimple. Only if I can keep my wits about do I mind growing older. Once my brain begins to go, I pray the Lord releases me from this vehicle he has allowed my spirit to drive when the brakes and clutch go out. Then it will be time to bail out. I worry about this AIDS disease that is fatal that is spreading around the United States among homosexuals. It’s 10:30 now and I’m ready for bed myself although I would like to type some more from my early journals. I think I have always been different from the so-called norm, Not just because of my secret bi-nature but because I’ve always had one eye on this world and one yes on eternity. It’s hard for me to take joy in the beauty of this world because it’s all vanity. “Change and decay in all the world I see. Oh, thou who changes not abide with me.”
5 May 1985 Sunday
I went to
Church however only to Sunday school where I taught a lesson on Southern
research. Only the dies hards, were in
class today. I never go to Priesthood anymore as I just don’t feel any
comradery there. I take sacrament during Sunday school so I don’t see any need
to attend sacrament. Afterwards I
visited with June Roberts for while about some of her family research. She is
such a sweet heart and seems really like a soul mate. She took me home to the
apartment as Fran wanted to use the car
to attend a wedding reception and afterwards
go to an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. She brought home her O.A. friend
Dave after her meeting and visited for a while.
Dave tries desperately to be liked but he’s so brash that it turns me
right off. Brideshead Revisited is back on P.B.S again although late at
10 o’clock. The first episode is two hours long so we fell asleep before it was over. Seeing Charles Ryder and
Lord Sebastian Flyte again was fun. They are almost like old friends to Fran
and me. Poor Charles.
6 May 1985 Monday
Today was a
real drag because Fran and I were both tired from staying up so late watching
the tube. There’s really nothing going on, just the same old same old. Fred
Wetzel is a weasel as always.
7 May 1985 Tuesday
My beard has a
4 day growth and is already pretty well filled in and covers my face more than
just a stubble. The weather has been
cool and gloomy. It’s good for the animals and actually good for us as we don’t
have to run the air conditioning as much.
Today was just another boring day at work People are make snide remarks about my beard.
I am in a corporate jungle. Yikes!
8 May 1985 Wednesday
No Entry
9 May 1985 Thursday
No Entry
10 May 1985 Friday
I opened a
checking and savings account at First Interstate Bank so when we go to Utah we
can use a branch up there.
11 May 1985 Saturday
It took the
Toyota in to have the car tuned up and
get the smog emissions test passed off. That cost $76 right there
12 May 1985 Sunday
Time just flies
by and it’s Mother’s Day already. We didn’t go to church today because they
make such a big deal over women who are mothers so we just went over to mom’s
for dinner. We brought her a bottle of champagne and rose colored stem glasses.
Mom fixed a roast beef along with corn of the cob , mashed potatoes and gravy,
glazed carrots, zucchini with tomatoes and Strawberry short cake for desert. We
spent much the rest of the time looking through some old photographs. Charline,
Dennis and their kids Denise & Michael came but James didn’t. I guess he
got laid off at Taco Bell and I don’t know what he’s doing now except hanging
out with his girlfriend. It hard for me to think of James out on his own
without any supervision or parental guidance. I can’t dwell on it or I’d get
sick from worrying about it. Mom was upset
over Donna, because when she called to wish Mom a happy mother’s day,
Mom could tell Donna was upset about something by the sound of her voice. I
doubt whether Ken or her kids did anything for her today. Mom talked to Grandma Johnson and Mom said
she sounded good. She also said that one
of Mom’s cousins wants a copy of the McLeod-Fenter family history. I’ve been rather
tired all day because I broke my abstinence by eating some sugar. I need to get
going back to attending Over Eaters Anonymous again. We didn’t get to watch
Brideshead revisited tonight because we didn’t think it would be on. Darn it!
It’s the episode where Charles and
Sebastian go to Venice. Oh Well. We did watch Elizabeth Taylor and Jane
Alexander in a made for TV movie called “Malice in Wonderland” about
Hollywood’s Gossip Columnists, Hedda Hopper
and Luella Parsons. The story was only fair but the acting was first
rate.
13 May 1985 Monday
Today was a fun
day at work because Rey Rubio and I ditched work and went to the movies during
our lunch break. We went to the City Theater in Orange and saw “Desperately
Seeking Susan” with Roseanne Arquette and Rock Star Madona who was pretty
good, in it. I really liked the movie and we didn’t go back to Ticor until way
after out lunch hour. I really liked the
movie so in the evening Fran and I went
the old Brookhurst Theater in
Anaheim and saw the same movie but also
playing with The Breakfast Club as a double feature. Fran said the Breakfast
Club was one of her top ten movies.
14 May 1985 Tuesday
Fran and I have
been going to the movies lately. The films we hae seen are Woody Allen’s “The
Purple Rose of Cairo”, Albert Brook’s “Lost in America,” The
Breakfast Club”, and “Desperately Seeking Susan.” We have been
trying to build our credit back up and we
have credit cards now for
Montgomery Wards, Master Card and we have applied at the Broadway, JC Penny’s, Shell Gas, America Express, and Visa. It
feels so good to have credit again for life’s
little emergencies. Fred Wetzel is being a jerk once more at work. I’m
glad because it makes me realize that moving back to Utah is a right thing to
do. At the Holiday Health Spa tonight it was men’s night and there I saw Mr.
O’Brien I used to have for an introduction to art class at Cypress College. He
was one of the few Mormon teachers there and now I am convinced that all the
Mormon instructors I had at Cypress are
Gay. At the Spa, the “girls” were all
out in full force in the jacuzzi and steam room. It was interesting to watch
their body language. It seems they truly have a Peter Pan complex. Lots of
narcissistic young and even older men who don’t want to grow up. They think
they don’t need women except for the Wendys who will mother them. Seems that
immaturity is the key word here. The
clutch is going out in the Toyota but it will have to wait until this Saturday.
15 May 1985 Wednesday
No Entry
16 May 1985 Thursday
No Entry
17 May 1985 Friday
No Entry
18 May 1985 Saturday
No Entry
19 May 1985 Sunday
We had Sister
Roberts over for Sunday dinner after church. I fixed teriyaki chicken, curry Rice, chop Suey vegetables and
these rice noodles that puff up when you drop them in hot oil. It was a good
dinner but a little too greasy as much of it was fried food. I went over to Mom’s on Dale Street
afterwards to visit. She gave me some old letters and things that once belonged
to Grandma Williams. I need to get a trunk to put all these things in, instead of them being scattered in boxes.
I have been typing up my 1972 journal and
I am in May already when I joined the Church on May 20th 13
years ago. What a paradoxical and
contradictory time 1972 was for me. One
minute I am marching and demonstrating
against the Vietnam War and being to the far left politically then almost at
the same time taking missionary lessons and preparing to join the Mormon
Church. Some would consider the Church
as part of the far right. John Cunningham left me adrift in life after
he left me with no chartered course. I was ship wrecked, alone, and
“desperately seeking” for something that
would fill the void, the gaping hole left by John’s absence. 1972 was a
troubled time for America and a troubled time for me. Some would say that the
times were exciting to be a college student but without John, life was
pedantic, colorless, and I became censorious of my life in California. If I did
not truly believe that God was calling me onward, life at this time for me would have had totally no meaning. As it was, college life
was in fact totally burdensome and any
academic pursuit was nonexistent. I was just putting minimal amount of effort
into life. I kind of feel the same way
now at times.
20 May 1985 Monday
I had to get
the car fixed today so I was late to work because I had to take the bus across
town. It took me nearly two hours to get from Beach Boulevard and Garden Grove Boulevard to Main Street and Fifth in Santa Ana. After
finally getting to work, Rey Rubio told me about another connection which would
have taken me directly from Beach via
Garden Grove Boulevard without having to
transfer. However, I didn’t know I could get to Santa Ana on Garden Grove
Boulevard so I walked down to Chapman
and kept walking until a bus came at Magnolia. While waiting for the
bus, I walked around my old Junior High School, Marie L. Hare. It will be 20
years this June since I graduated from the 8th Grade and Grandma and
Grandpa Johnson came out from Texas for
the ceremony. At work a lot of people were out today. Fred Wetzel even
let Mike Hassell have the day off to play tennis with him at some tournament.
That really burns me because last year Fred wouldn’t give me a lieu day because
I was short two weeks from being there a whole year at Ticor, and here Mike isn’t even off
probation and he’s getting a lieu day. So anyway, Shelly Viall was at a Dog
Show, and Rey came in late like me. In fact, I only worked 3 hours today so I
could leave to go pick up the car on
time. Even then I was able to get 8 searches completed in that amount of time
and that’s more than the others would do
all day. Fran and I received our Visa Card through the Bank of America in the
mail today. Fran is all charged up about having credit again. I am trying to
monitor her carefully. I keep telling her that we don’t have any more money
than we did before just credit for emergencies.
What’s in the news? Several
television character actors died recently
including Selma Diamond of Night Court, Kurt Sweeney of “Give
Me a Break” and Nicholas Colasanto who played Coach on Cheers but he
died last February. Margaret Hamilton
who played the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz
died on the 16th of this month.
21 May 1985 Tuesday
Fred Wetzel had
the nerve to ask me to lower my production sheet for March because it was too
high and made the others look bad. I was so upset but I just smiled and said
fine and I changed all my searches to basics
which meant I only received 1 point for my searches rather than 2 or 3
that I deserved.
22 May 1985 Wednesday
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23 May 1985 Thursday
No Entry
24 May 1985 Friday
I took Estelle
Reilly and Shelly Viall out to lunch at
the Tulsa Rib Company in Costa Mesa. It was Estelle’ birthday. Harriett Royer
is really pissed because I didn’t ask
her to come along but Shelly didn’t want her to come so we could talk without Harriett
disapproving comments. Lunch was really good but Fran and I have decided that
after the first of June we are giving up red meat for the summer and will eat
very little fish and poultry.
25 May 1985 Saturday
I drove down to
Vista to find out where John Cunningham
lives. Apartment number is 138 but he wasn’t home. I took the Golden State
Freeway for most of the way and a little bit of the Pacific Coast Highway. I
stopped outside of San Onofre and picked up a hitchhiker who rode with me a
little bit on the way back.
26 May 1985 Sunday
No Entry
27 May 1985 Monday
It is Memorial
day so Ticor was closed and Fran and I spent the day over at Mom and also
shopping at Thrift Stores. I bought some nice sweaters for Utah. At Mom’s, Dad barbecued hamburgers and my nephew James was there with his girlfriend, Lisa. My niece Denise had her boyfriend Eric over also.
We had strawberry short cake for dessert. I ate way too much for
sure. We went to the video rental store
and rented Karate Kid and La
Cage Aux Folles parts 1 and II which
were excellent. I just love La Cage.
I can’t believe how there is no parental
figure Charline and Dennis’ family as no
one takes responsibility or acts like a parent by setting boundaries for their
kids. Oh Well. I really got sunburned
today at moms.
28 May 1985 Tuesday
No entry
29 May 1985 Wednesday
This month is
fast coming to a close. I have felt so run down lately and don’t know why either. I haven’t really been up late but
I haven’t been exercising either. In the evening Fran and I went to South Coast
Plaza and was able to get a Nordstrom Credit Card. Then we went to Mervyns and
picked up a Mervyn’s card. In the news Reagan
proposed his tax plan today. I may be a fool but it does
sound good and even the Democrats are in favor of it. The Frustaci Septuplets are still making news although only five have survived. They were
the first septuplets born in the United States.
30 May 1985 Thursday
No Entry
31 May 1985 Friday
No Entry
JUNE 1985
1 June 1985 Saturday
Fran went to her nails class all day so I went
to the Holiday Health Spa and worked out some this morning before coming back to the apartment to clean
the place and do some grocery shopping. Starting today we aren’t eating anymore
red meat for the summer so I bought some chicken, fish, and veggies. Fruit is
coming into season right now so I’ve been eating apricots, peaches, and
cherries. In the mail our J C Penny’s
credit card came. I changed the front room around some so it won’t look
so cluttered. I watched Sixteen Candles on Cinemax. It’s a cute show.
I paid rent today because I forgot to do so
yesterday. I just wrote a check and threw it through the office’s mail slot. I
went to church and taught a genealogy lesson on Pennsylvania. After church was
over, I went to Mom’s in Garden Grove to give her a
quiche pie I made for her birthday and a
birthday card but Mom and Dad weren’t home so I left the pie there and went
back to our apartment. Later I had a
phone call from the bishopric asking me to give a talk on genealogy on the 23rd.
I am reading Helter Skelter right
now in paperback. It sure brings back memories of August 1969 to me.
3 June 1985 Monday
It’s mom’s 56th birthday. The
purple Jacaranda trees are in full bloom
all over Santa Ana and they are so beautiful. Renie Whitney came over this
evening for Fran to work on her nails. I
went to bed early.
4 June 1985 Tuesday
No Entry
5 June 1985 Wednesday
No Entry
6 June 1985 Thursday
No Entry
At work Fred
Wetzel conned Jack Enda to taking our
Newport desk which consists of Larry Cable and me along with Jeff Murdock out
to lunch. We went to the Gulliver’s in Newport and the place was all atmosphere
with the food just adequate. Back at Ticor Fred said that he was going to put
me in for an increase. I’m sure its because I told him and Jack that I “may” be
leaving in August to move back to Utah.
8 June 1985 Saturday
Let’s Do the Time Warp again. Time is
fleeting.. So, what is new in my life? Today was Fran’s last Saturday at
Flavio’s. She will graduate this coming Thursday. It’s been a long hard pull
for her but she’s made it. I went to the Holiday Health Spa this morning and
did my work out there. Then I deposited Fran’s SAGA paycheck at First
Interstate and Bank of America. I put $230 in the Bank of America and $270 in 1st Interstate. It was so hot
today and smoggy. It was in in the
mid-90s today and I sweated bullets all
day. I am sure glad I bought some box fans last month as we sure need them
now. I went grocery shopping and bought mainly vegetables and fruit. I haven’t
eaten any red meat since May and am going to try and cut down on chicken also.
I bought the doggies some chew bones for $6, but they are worth it . The
apartment is a wreck so I spent most of the evening cleaning the kitchen. All these little chores are what life is all
about, cooking, washing, picking up. They may be mundane but are so important
for a good quality of life. Mom and Dad went to Dad’s company picnic
today. Tomorrow I will go over to pick up our mail. During the day I went to
the Thrift Store and bought three shirts, a beautiful pull over sweater, and
some tennis shoes, all for $18. The sweater was like brand new and I would have
paid at least $18 for it alone. Our Nordstrom credit card came today. We are
still waiting on the Mervyns, Sears, and Shell cards. I want a collection of
gas station credit cards then I’d fee really secure. I am feeling rather
apprehensive now about moving from California
but I am sure it’s the right thing to do to avoid temptations. It’s just that we are getting so comfortable here
and it’s going to be the pits to uproot
and start all over again. It seems that its all we ever do. The longest we have
ever stayed in one place is two years since we have been married. I’ve decided
to let go up my resentment of Fred Wetzel. He probably is a good man in his own
peculiar way. I was telling Fran that our compulsive overeating is a cunning and baffling disease
because while I am thinner than I was last year, I feel like a fat bloat. My
beard is looking good. I’ve been reading
Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter and it sure brings back 1969 in so many ways. In the
news, three of the septuplets have died
now and another is really critical and is not expected to make it. I loved Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom Couty comic
strip. Michael Binkley and Opus the Penguin are having a conversation about the
transitory nature of life. Binkley says, “It’s all very disturbing…Remember
Opie on the Andy Griffith show? Cute little innocent Opie. Know what he’s doing
now? He’s directing Hollywood movies
about naked mermaids. That’s what he’s doing…Imagine! It’s so depressing!
Nothing stays the same… everything changes.” Then Opus says, Don’t say that!
Look! The meadow hasn’t changed. The grass… the Dandelions… Always the same.
And me! I’m still the same old silly Moi! See !? You! Hoo! Hoo! And you! You’ll
never change! You’ll always be the ten
year old and romping among the daisies!” Binkley asks, “Do you really think so
Do you really think I can look forward
to any reasonable amount of consistency in the world?” Opus says “Oh I do! I
certain do.” Binkley then says Then there’s
hope for us all!” Looking at a can of coke he’s holding, Opus says, “Yech-o. This coke tastes’
different! Hahahaha! New Coke doesn’t
taste the same as what I grew up with.
For future generations the punch line is based on the fact that Coca
Cola just recently changed its formula
after some 80 years. Change and decay in all the world I see. I’m pretty sleepy now and my contacts
have been bothering me lately but I just love these extended wear ones but I
know I should get some regular glasses
also. Maybe I will take a nap. Better
yet I should go to bed. Everyone is asleep but me
9 June 1985 Sunday
10 June 1985 Monday
No Entry
11 June 1985 Tuesday
No Entry
12 June 1985 Wednesday
No Entry
13 June 1985 Thursday
No Entry
14 June 1985 Friday
After work Fran and I went shopping for shoes
and Fran saw some loafers at Mervyns she
liked. We then went to the Buena Park Mall and I bought some work shirts on
sale at J C Penny’s and some deck shoes at Hardy.
15 June 1985 Saturday
Fran graduated from Flavio’s Beauty School and
she came home with two flower bouquets and a nice house plant. Fran stuck it
out without any encouragement from me so
she can be proud of herself although I know she will miss the friend she made
there and the structure that going to school gave to her life for these past 6
months. We went to Earls Restaurant for dinner to celebrate and she encountered there a person from
Flavio. They bitched and snitted and said how they felt they really didn’t get
the training they should have because of
the loose attitude prevalent there. It was funny listening to their “war stories’.
16 June 1985 Sunday
Today is Father’s Day and Grandma Johnson’s 86th
birthday Oh Grandma, you old shit Happy
Birthday. I really do love you. I went over to Mom and Dad’s after church and I
brought two quiches, vegetable and salmon, over for them. I was surprised to
find my sister Donna and her kids there. It was good to see her again. She said
that Fran had really lost some weight. Kenny and Kevin are growing like weeds.
My sister Charline’s kids didn’t come over at all. Charline came over so Fran could put some acrylic nails on
her. It took about 3 ½ hours and after she was done, Charline didn’t even thank
her. I watched a movie on Mom and Dad’s VCR called Places In the Heart
with Sally Fields in it. I thought it was really good and the ending with
everyone attending church really touched
my heart. Dad was still rather weak from his stay in the hospital. Mom said his heart beat was so low that she felt like she’s lose him this time.
I didn’t know it was so serious. If dad lives to his retirement, I’ll be
grateful. Mom said that her plant is
closing down in three months and she will be laid off then. If she gets job offer with Apple she said that she and
dad may move to San Jose. If not they
might move to Downey to be closer to dad’s work. We will see. We sent Fran’s
folks a card and $20 each for father’s Day and Lorna Fuchs’s belated birthday.
All in all, it was a nice day.
17 June 1985 Monday
Can it be already the middle of June? So, it
is. During my lunch break at Ticor I went to Montgomery Wards and bought a
$349.99 microwave that was on sale for $199.99. I saved nearly $150 so I also
bought a microwave cart that was on sale for $99.99 that was before the sale sold for $150. So, I
still saved about $100. I had to assemble the cart but it wasn’t hard at all.
I’m really proud of it. I didn’t get
much done at work today Oh Well. Larry
Cable was taken off of Newport Beach but no big loss since he didn’t help much anyway. Fran is
coming down with a cold. I hope I don’t get it. In the news more horrible news
abroad. A plane was hijacked by Shiite Muslims again and an America Service man
was brutally murdered. That has really upset me. Americans are being held
hostage again, this time in Lebanon. There’s nothing but evil in the news. A
mass murderer named Charles Ng on the loose after his cohort Leonard Lake took
a suicide pill after being picked up by the police. They are believed to have
tortured and murdered 25 people or more in Northern California and the authorities believe they have found
the grave in Brazil of the Nazi mass murdered Josef Mengele. What an evil
world we live in. What would we be
without the Gospel. I want to develop the inner strength of Christ’s
philosophy of resisting not evil. It’s
so true that what you resist persists.
18 June 1985 Tuesday
No Entry
19 June 1985 Wednesday
No entry
20 June 1985 Thursday
No Entry
21 June 1985 Friday
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22 June 1985 Saturday
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23 June 1985 Sunday
At church I had to give a talk in Sacrament on
genealogy. I suppose it was a good talk because a lot of people came up to me
afterwards and said how much they enjoyed it, but people say that even when
they don’t mean it. I taught a genealogy lesson also in Sunday School on the value of keeping a diary and tried to
impress
on them the importance of one. Even if I don’t keep mine own up on a
regular basis. Fran made a scene in Sacrament but only the Bishop’s wife
Sister Morris saw it. Fran was under the mistaken impression that I had been
slighted when announcements were made but I hadn’t been. When we came home from
church an Overeaters Anonymous friend of
Fran’s came over. She was going to do her nails but then Fran felt that she
didn’t have the right brushes so instead
they went out to dinner. I didn’t want to go along. Jean Horan called
later in the evening and invited Fran and me over to dinner tomorrow, which we
will go. Jean had some real estate
questions. In the news a plane from Inda
was blown up over the Irish Sea by terrorists with 350 people killed.
Terrorists are everywhere
24 June 1985 Monday
At work today Fred Wetzel told Estelle Reilly
to tell me to quit talking so much! Ha!
Fred also said he wants me to work
over time tomorrow. Yuck! Today I
sent away for Dad’s birth certificate as mom wanted it. We went over to see Tom
and Jean Horan at 12802 on Fairhaven Ext in North Tustin. I went over to help
them sort out some real estate issues and had dinner with them. Tom Horan is
being harassed by issues of another Thomas P Horan and their property is being
attached so I said I would find out what I could to distinguish the two. I guess Fran is going to ask her boss Alberta
French at SAGA if she can stay until the
first of September. I will quit sometime around August 15th to go up
to Utah and find a place then come back down
and help Fran move up on the 1st. Oh today our Union 76 Gas
station card came in the mail. So far we now have nine credit cards, Shell Gas
station, Union 76 gas station, Nordstrom, Bradway, Montgomery Wards, J C
Penny’s Mervyns, Mastercard, and Visa.
In the news Brazilian authorities have
determined that the Nazi War Criminal Josef Mengele is indeed dead. Also, about
40 Americans are still held hostage in Lebanon. Oh yes Rock Star Madonna is marrying the actor Sean Penn and Bruce
Springsteen, the Boss, also got married
25 June 1985 Tuesday
No Entry
26 June 1985 Wednesday
No Entry
Joseph Smith was murdered 141 years ago today.
I haven’t felt well all day. Sam woke me up last night to be let out. He woke
me out of a sound sleep by licking me on the lips. Anyway, at noon when I came
home for lunch, a certified letter came in the mail stating that 1st
Interstate lost a deposit that I had
made on the 10th of this month. My stomach was in knots all day
after that worried about the implications. . This evening Fran had Nancy, her
Overeaters Anonymous friend, over to do her nails. Fran stayed up until 2:30 in
the morning. She shouldn’t be doing this in a week night. While Fran was
working on Nancy’s nails, I called Mike Allred in Ogden, Utah. He’s working at
Dee Hospital there. I hadn’t talked to him in so long, in almost two years. He was surprised to hear from me. I was
surprised to hear that he had a baby girl born just last Wednesday on the 19th.
He named her Sherry Allred. I think, no
I know, that Mike will be a good father. He said last year he had a little boy who died of an infection
right after being born. I was sorry to hear
that. He also said that Mardene Francis
had just come by recently to see him a couple of days ago. She didn’t
know he was married. She still isn’t. I told him about Piper and Richard
Holmes breaking up. We talked for about
one and half hours about the kids we knew at BYU when we were roommates.
28 June 1985 Friday
No Entry
29 June 1985 Saturday
Fran wrote this entry in my journal, “ Hi, I’m
a visiting ‘journalist’. Have something, I don’t want to forget. Yesterday I met Joe Cobagas and we started visiting about the etymology
of his name. He is Cuban born. When the Bay of Pigs invasion happened , he was a 19 year old boy
on his way to work at a pharmaceutical
company when a contingent of the Cuban military stopped him and ordered him
into the jeep. From this point he was taken to a large compound where a military company was being formed. Rank was
being delegated according to education
levels. Joe was a high school graduate and was made a sergeant, given a machine
gun, 500 rounds of ammunition and taken to the place where the invasion was
taking place. Joe said there were about
100 young men his own age at that place with many dead. He further stated that the CIA backed Cubans
nationals, approximately 1,000 of them,
had appeared to have chosen a poor piece of property to invade in as
much as it ws mostly swampy land. An American backed government was waiting for
the invasion to succeed, with a president, Vice president and someone
else, then the USA would recognize the new government
and militarily support the invasion. The
invading Cuban nationals were not successful in holding the swamp land. They
said because they didn’t receive the back up from the U.S. that they were
promised. The US later said they didn’t get to the back up because the
nationals didn’t complete what was they
were to do- Get the new government on the island. US Navy ships were there but
not used. We did give World War II bombardiers or Catch 22 type planes for air support. But there was a
problem with that, because the USA
didn’t want to appear to be breaking any international law. The planes had only
38 minutes of fighting time. Not 1 second more because they had a flight of 2 ½ hours to Guatemala.
Joe said he later met some of these very pilots
and that they stated that sometimes they made it back to their airship
in Guatemala by the skin of their teeth.
Even if they were winning in air strikes, they had to leave after the 38
minutes. Castro’s government sent his not quite completed Russian trained
troops to the fighting because they felt that surely the invasion
couldn’t be happening there. That’s where the 18, 19 year old boys were
sent. It was only a diversionary
tactic. Oh, last night I read the Book
of Abraham. There is power in the scriptures Funny how easily I can forget
that. Instantly I have lost the desire to break the Word of Wisdom. I’m just
grateful for that. Sorry for taking so much your space darlin’ But here I am in
downstairs bathroom with your journal.
Thanks bye”
I recorded my weight loss from 10 October 1981
to 29 June 1985. My waist went from 46 inches to 38 inches, my hips from 49
inches to 44 inches. My chest went for 46 inches to 42 inches and my deltoids
remained at 15 inches. My wrist went from 8 inches to 7 inches and my neck from
19 inches to 17 inches, My thighs went from 27 inches to 25 inches. Fran went
from a 42 inch waist to 35 inches with hips from 49 ½ to 46 inches.
30 June 1985 Sunday
No Entry
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