Chapter 21 Synopsis
Spring 1980 to Summer 1984 - Neptune Beach, Jax Beach, Palm Valley, FL
I drove my 4WD Ford truck back from Sacramento with Ninja in April 1980. I tried to get back together with Karen McAlear, but that didn't work out. We did have a short relationship in the winter of 1980 (David and Karen #3). I stayed with Mother and Dad on Oleander Street in April and May (and longer?). In June 1981, I moved in with an old lifeguard buddy and Fletcher classmate, Ray Young. I left many of my wordly goods and the 1965 Ford van I used to haul them in from Florida in a storage facility in Sacramento.
I had been living with Ray on 11th Avenue South in 1981, and was looking for a place of my own. George Ballas told me about a trailer he had lived in in Palm Valley at 266 South Roscoe Boulevard. Rent was only $100 a month for half of a single wide. I called the landlady, Helen Tolerico, and found out it was available. Valerie, who managed the convenience store at Canal Boulevard and Roscoe Boulevard, previously lived there. A lot of people came and went in the other half as long as I lived there. Neighbors included the separated and divorced, and those recently down on their luck. There was a St. Johns County detective (Frank?), separated from his wife, Paul and Barbara McIntire in 1980 and 1981, Rosemary and Anna, in 1982(?)/1983, and Gus and Melanie in 1984. Rusty Johnston, Travis Gainey, and Billy Richardson also lived there at some point. Billy was the last. I gave my old travel trailer to Billy sometime in the mid 1990s. Valerie had gotten one of the electric utility workers to put up a street light on a palm tree in the front yard. Not only that, it was supplied with county electricity. They caught on at some point and switched it to my meter. The trailer was small and run down, and for most people, it was just a place to stay until they could do better. I fixed up my half and put up sheds, and kept the yard clean. It was cheap and I didn't have a lot of money. I was supporting myself by operating David's Tree Service and working the door at Pete's Bar. It had plenty of room for my truck and trailer and dog pens. The Tolericos let me do whatever I wanted with the property, and I made most of the repairs and maintenance myself. There was a stable two doors north and it was fun to feed the horses carrots. There were 800 acres behind the stables to run and hike in. I also did some gentleman farming back there.
I wanted to get into the security business as a bodyguard and started Stone Security Services. That never really worked out although I did some vacation housewatching and watched the door at Pete's Bar in Neptune Beach. In June, 1984, I moved out and headed to Los Angeles for the Summer Olympics. I took a 5 day VIP protection class at Texas A & M from June 18 to June 22, on the way out. I moved all my worldly goods, including my 4 wheel drive truck and 1979 Firebird that Mother and Dad had given me to North Carolina. Rosemary was living on some property we called "The Farm" near Mother and Dad in Horseshoe. There were some sheds there and I parked the truck up a hill next to an old barn. I towed the truck up behind a U-Haul truck. I must have brought the Firebird up on a separate occasion. I figured that I would get a job working security at the Olympics and that would punch my ticket in the security business. I did work for a guard dog company, but my security career never took off. I took security guard classes from FCCJ in 1982 and started Stone Security Services in 1983. I had started martial arts classes with Kirk Farber, practicing Cuong Nhu style in the Fall of 1981.
I was dating Mary Hess when I moved out from Ray's in September, 1981. We broke up sometime in 1982. We had some good parties and some good times in Palm Valley. My dog, Ninja, got hit by a truck driven by Charlie Leeper, in front of our property on George's birthday, June 6, 1983 and died. I was depressed for a while and I still miss her. She was a special creature, spiritual, actually. Randy Ellison gave her to me as a 4 week old puppy. Her Mother was Randy's dog, Tidda (sister in Hawaiian), and her Father was Steve Robertson's dog, Shadowfax. They were very special dogs too. Ninja mated with Boss Daddy, a dog Frank Celler found wandering in the Pepsi yard in town, in 1981. Boss Daddy was a flop eared Doberman, with absolutely no tail. I used to have a picture of him standing with his head in the bushes, something he liked to do. Actually the picture is of George and me on our knees with our heads in the bushes too. Boss Daddy looked at each of us in turn, and resumed looking ahead. We thought he thought that we finally figured it out. One of my later dogs, Blackie was Ninja's grandson. Sandra, from my Cuong Nhu karate class, gave me a young female Doberman, named Madam, just before Ninja died. Sandra wasn't able to take care of her and she knew I had dogs. I actually had some puppies about Madam's age and originally intended to sell Madam with the other puppies. I kept Madam for over a dozen years and she was a very special creature herself. Madam was devoted to me, and I loved her greatly too.
In October of 1980, I flew back to Sacramento and sold the 8 door cargo van that Randy Ellison gave me and I used to haul most of my wordly possessions to Sacramento, intending to stay for good. I had left it in the storage yard where I also had a storage unit. It was a 1965 Ford Econoline with cargo doors on both sides. Randy called it a dog trot van, since if both sides were open, dogs could run right through. I sold it to Donald Larry Lankford for $100, on October 10, 1980. I have a copy of the bill of sale. He was going to use it for work. I stayed with Pat Hodel and installed a new garbage disposal in her sink for her.
I dated Janis Woods in 1982 and into 1983, I believe. She was a waitress at Ellen's Kitchen and quite lovely. Chip McClurg had dated Janis previously. I had a brief fling with Shelly Moore after that, which included fun in a hot tub. I dated Linda Gay in 1983 and 1984. I met Linda while trimming trees at her house. She lived with her Mother, Alma, and daughter, Ashley, at the end of Canal Road on the intracoastal in an area known locally (I'm not making this up) as Nut Island (Don't ask, I don't know why, ask a Mickler or Ostereicher). We had some good times too. Linda threw a going away party for me in the summer of 1984, complete with a belly dancer and Gene Nordan playing a piano he brought on a trailer. I have pictures.
Rosemary and Anna lived in the other half of the trailer in 1983. Anna was a year old. Rosemary was driving a Pinto and drove it into a ditch one night on Roscoe Boulevard when Anna was crying and distracted her. I gave Rosemary one of Ninja's puppies, Giblet. Rosemary gave her back when she moved out and she got hit by a car and killed in the middle of September, 1983. Giblet also had a litter of bulldog mix puppies on July 29, 1983, one of which was my dog, Blackie. I delivered Blackie and his littermates. I gave some away, but three as I remember, died of hookworms. I took them to the vet after they were born and regularly, but they weren't diagnosed. One of them died in my arms. It was very sad and I cried. It still makes me sad to think about it. Giblet got hit once before and Greg Barker got up in the middle of the night to meet me at his office, Shoreline Veterinarian. He set her back leg and took her home to his garage on Lighty Lane, in Neptune Beach, so he could watch her over night. He took her to his office the next day and kept her for a couple of days. Greg and Susie Barker, his wife, are two very nice people.I trimmed all their trees for them one year at their house on two lots. It took four of us a week. I charged him $1,000.
2/2/2010
