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Double Fantasy (1980-84)
While I was working at Bob Saks Oldsmobile in Farmington Hills, MI, my old friend Wayne Welkenback got a job a little further down the road at another dealership, Bob Sellers Pontiac.
Wayne is a huge fan of Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen to this day. Back in the 70s I knew of Bob Seger but wasn't so interested. My deal had always been about The Beatles. When they broke up it was a blow to this 10 year old and I began to withdraw a bit from pop music. By 1974 with my dad being ill I wasn't listening to anything and lost touch with it completely.
When I began to learn to drive a car, however, I rediscovered the radio. Nice thing to have going as you're cruising along and I started getting into some of the latest tunes. I wasn't particularily fond of Seger so much but Wayne was as obsessed with his music as myself with my Beatles. If you were with him Seger was what you listened to. Slowly I began to identify to Seger's music just as Wayne did and it grew on me until I too was rabidly awaiting his next release in 1978.
By 1980 I was ripe to see him on stage and with the times being as they were and a title like "Against the Wind" the experience couldn't fail.
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Shown: Wayne was a difficult subject to photograph but he'd at least let me get a shot of him walking away. He is here somewhere in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
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When Bob Seger opened with about six shows at Cobo Hall in Detroit, we were there for half of them. My first concerts at age 20! Very exciting, and a few songs we experienced live wound up on his next album too.
We were also fans of "The Rockets", a Detroit based rock band with Mitch Ryder and Bob Seger roots and saw them live at Pine Knob in Clarkston, MI. I even ran into the lead singer in the men's room after the show and reveled later at the idea I got to urinate right next to David Gilbert.
But nothing compared to seeing Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band along with The Rockets and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels all performing at the same show in the playground of Bay City High School in Bay City, MI.
This was our Woodstock! It was an all-day event and simply mind-blowing seeing these great entertainers (Seger's album then topping the charts) in a setting that looked just like our elementary school. The stage was in a playground behind the school right in the middle of a neigborhood surrounded by houses with their residents staring from the front porches at the spectacle.
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With all the excitement of the music helping promote the change we felt was in the air, we took our ready made soundtrack on the road ourselves.
I had been warming my mother up for a year now to the idea of me leaving Michigan. I just knew this was something I needed to do, and yet when Wayne came to me with the news he was leaving for California I wasn't ready to go! Being so typical of Wayne, I was informed that he was on his way with or without me, so I knew I'd run out of time and off we went together on our road trip across America.
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Since we were never returning to Michigan again it was decided we'd head out West the long way by first going North (!) through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Then we'd make our first stop at Wayne's sister Patti's home in Minnesota before heading out on Highway 80.
I believe in many ways there was some truth to that.
We didn't stop very much to take photos and in any case I would consider these useless if it wasn't for the fact Bruce Springsteen would release the album "Nebraska" two years later with virtually the same view on the cover.
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When we did arrive in California suddenly everything stopped cold. Nothing happened and we had no plan. Finally, while in Los Angeles I figured we'd better think about getting back to Michigan before we run out of money.
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We weren't getting anywhere fast. The best thing I thought was just to drop this idea now so we can enjoy the ride home and not make it a gloomy experience.
While in California we couldn't resist visiting Disneyland before we headed on home. There we were teased by the offer from a woman that saw we were young kids looking for a start. She said she had a trailer we could live in until we got on our feet and man-oh-man it was tempting!! We were insecure, however. Was she really being legitimate? It was sort of out-of-the-blue. We decided to pass on it.
I would make up for that loss without exception 15 years later.
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It was quite gloomy when we returned to Michigan. We'll never forget as we entered Detroit there it was playing on the radio, Elton John's "Funeral For a Friend".
By no means was this trip a failure, however, because I knew I was bitten by the bug! I had vaguely known a person who was from Texas when I worked at Bob Saks the dealership. For some time he was visiting his uncle and aunt in Michigan. I had asked him if there were jobs in Houston, his home town and he said 'yes'. I bought a few newspapers from that region and noticed page after page of draftsman opportunities and I thought, 'I can do that.'
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I let Wayne know that I was ready for a trip to Texas. I thought if I could just make it to Houston, get a job and be settled, then he could come down and take whatever time needed to get on his own feet.
Meanwhile Wayne had found his singular way to cheer us up. He had been telling me that if I thought Bob Seger was great in concert, I should see Bruce Springsteen. A tough proposition for Bruce was one that I figured was not for me. Like Seger, however, his music and his words became a soundtrack for what we were going through.
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Bruce Springsteen had been another singer who was long overdue for his next album, and his next album was going to be four sides! Wayne got us tickets to see him at the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, MI.
The only problem: This would have been our first opportunity to enjoy his music live together, but the concert was almost a complete promotion for his new album "The River" and the show took place before its release! So there we were finally both seeing Bruce live together and neither of us knew any of the songs.
I'd finally planned my trip to Texas and I admit I was scared. That was probably the one reason I needed to do it. Not to mention the job situation in Michigan was really bad, so thankfully I had an official reason to leave as well.
It was November and my reluctant mother had to agree that I either go now before the winter sets in or forget about it. It was the most grey of days weather wise and figuratively. It was wet and rainy all the way down there. I was a bit sick to my stomach with gloom but I knew I had to do this.
Along the way John & Yoko's album was released. Because of my current activities I wouldn't be buying a copy for a while but it was a boost to my spirits to know he was out there and playing on the radio.
When I arrived I called that kid I vaguely knew from working at the dealership. (You might be able to tell by my narrative we weren't really close people.)
It just so happened that two other friends of mine, Tom & Gordie, had by total coincidence arrived not only at the same time but were on the other line calling this same person at the moment I was! We'd had no discussion about any mutual plans to drive to Houston and I found the coincidence very startling.
I stayed with them I don't think more than four days and never saw 'that kid' again. Personality wise we weren't a match but it did beat staying at a motel.
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During those four days I'd gone to secure a place for myself and the manager of this apartment building gave me 72 hours to find a job. I went to an agency and wound up interviewing at several places, all which were promising.
At the end of that 72 hour period I went back to the office to let them know that out of three interviews I'd been accepted at two of the locations but the one I really wanted I hadn't heard from yet. They chuckled and said I could have a little more time.
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The place I wanted to be working eventually did call and they hired me! It was an oil rig equipment company called NL Rig Equipment, later to become NL Shaffer (prounounced like William Shatner). The NL stands for "National Lead" and I started my new job as a draftsman. It was wonderful.
One Monday evening I came home and sat in my apartment feeling a little blue, however, and turned on the radio. John Lennon was singing and it seemed they kept playing song after song by him. I remember thinking, "what a great guy" because his music was once more uplifting me. Then I learned why they were playing the music and I didn't sleep that night...
Wayne was very sympathetic to my feelings about the murder of John Lennon. I'd called him to let him know I was settled and he could come on down any time and not have to worry about the pressures of getting a job immediately. He planned his exodus and the evening before he was to leave Michigan was the night it happened. I'll never forget him telling me his dad caught him off guard saying, "Hey the Beatles have been shot!"
In a way he was right because as George Harrison would say later, "The Beatles will never get together again as long as John Lennon remains dead."
Wayne couldn't believe what had happened and without many words packed and left the next day with his dad telling him, "You'll be back!"
It was time for the big OTC (Ocean Technology Conference) at the Houston Astrodome.
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It wasn't too far into 1981 when NL Shaffer began to acquire some computers from a company called Computervision to do mechanical design work.
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When I learned of the company beginning to employ the use of Computer Aided Design, I thought it a good opportunity to begin learning it and would arrive about two hours before we started the working day to try and teach myself how to use it.
I worked on motion compensators, that unit on an oil rig that compensated for the up-and-down movement of the ocean.
Eventually we even went camping with some of the members. Wayne is seen here with co-bowler Jim (who was from New York, like a lot of folks we met) at a place called Canyon Lake somewhere between Austin and San Antonio, TX.
We noticed that there seemed to be mostly man-made lakes near Houston and I think this is taken after some flooding.
Whenever it rained in Houston it flooded! Even going to work I had to drive through a flood basin. One morning on my way I had slept through a heavy rain the night before. As I went up over the barrier hill I could see nothing but water at the bottom and a car with flashing lights that hadn't stopped in time. Another time I flew up over that hill and almost hit a dead cow laying in the road at the bottom.
When Ray Harryhausen's "Clash of the Titans" was released in 1981, I jumped at the chance to see him making an appearance at Rice University in Houston.
I was too shy to say much to him but when I did meet Ray Harryhausen again at the "Son of FM" Convention in Hollywood years later, I got to tell him I'd seen him before. His reply, "My God that was 14 years ago!"
I understand Ray just turned 90 years young on June 29th!
(Forry Ackerman friend and Author Bill Warren recently supplied this link to Ray's 90th Birthday Celebration: http://tinyurl.com/2bg9zgk)
This was taken at a company picnic we had that summer.
Linda's cousin Kim had also come to Houston and staying behind with me we got to know each other and she took these photos.
I began to search around on my own for a companion but it seemed everytime I'd find a girl I liked she had a child! Not that I'm against instant family it's just I was barely 21 years old and thought I deserved a little more time.
Once I saw a pretty girl at a record shop and asked her if she'd like to go have coffee somewhere. She was so young Iooking I just knew she couldn't have a kid yet and when I found out she was 19 I just knew I was safe. She agreed to it but asked if I didn't mind going with her to pick up her little boy from school first!
My boss tried setting me up with someone he knew. I've always hated being 'set-up'. The idea would put so much pressure on me I felt the whole thing doomed to failure. I do not like meeting people this way and never have. Well, the two of us went out on this date and had a good time at a Drive-In. While getting quite sociable she whispered in my ear, "There's something I have to tell you." "You've got a kid," I replied. "How did you know?!!"
This photo is of Valerie Renee' Schroeder - age 19. I worked with her brother and he pressured me to meet her and she didn't have children. I liked her well enough but the situation was still strange to me. We spent one evening back at my place and there was a lot of chatter but not much listening going on. Nothing lasting ever came from the situation.
This was a company event that invited our business partners to socialize at a party held right outside our work place.
They were boiled in huge kettles and dumped out on tables. You either ripped their bodies open for the meat or bite their heads off and suck the innards out.
(This is taken right on our company lot with the Toshiba company building shown across the street behind these people.)
One co-worker with his wife. Can't remember his last name but I'd written on the back of the photo his first name as "Nick". I do remember he was a nice guy.
He was a good cook too. Many times he would either take me to his home at lunch hour for something home-cooked to eat or bring leftovers to work.
Our work relationship became quite intertwined during our time at NL Shaffer together. I did keep in touch with him on-and-off through the years.
This is an example of what the finished item looked like with myself and Kim shown on the left. (Kim was a cousin of Linda's, the lady Wayne and I had became friends with through our bowling league.)
I moved to a brand-new apartment on the northwest side of the city and became the first occupant of my new place. Houston was different than most big cities at the time. I lived right on the edge of it going into what we would call suburbia, but there was really was no suburbia here, the city just stopped at its edge and one had the sense of living way out away from it all. Our previous apartment had been pretty much inside the hussle and bussle of the city.
Not long after I'd moved in I met a new friend Mike LaDeau through another mutual friend on another bowling league I had joined.
Those things on the table and floor are his and he said he never minded sleeping on the couch.
The bike was mine, however. "Hey!... there's not much room in here to ride!!!"
I would say this was my best location when I lived in Houston.
They would move a few miles west from Detroit to the Township of Redford and on a return trip to visit them this was my first look at their new home.
This is their driveway and on my visit I got to see Rick Spadafore when he stopped by to say 'hello'.
(I can't remember how I got this photo of the event but I found I could get much more detail from it by boosting the contrast and making it black and white.)
1982 - Dad & Mom at their new home in Redford Township, MI
I know they did a heck of a lot of work putting this new home together.
1982 - Then total happiness in a burst of color!
One thing we liked to do was go to 'fun-runs' and take photos of the participants as they crossed the finish line. (A 'fun run' is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition.)
We'd get in touch with the organizers ahead of time to make sure we had access to the runner's home addresses where Mike would send a tiny proof of their photo with his address so they could order an enlargment if they liked.
I don't believe we really made money but we didn't lose any either and it was a lot of fun.
Of all these people I do remember faces but only the names of my boss, Mike Scalf, behind me (kneeling front row left side) and next to him Ron Wood.
The young boy is Ron's son.
I'd mentioned earlier that Ron and I shared a lot while working at NL Shaffer.
First, I'd like to say it was a great place to work at. NL offered a folder full of company sponsored programs like: Life insurance, programs for matching gifts to educational institutions, a salary continuation plan, vacations & holidays, an educational assistance program, business travel accident insurance, a medical plan, long term disability, dental, personal accident insurance and a savings plan. I had never seen anything like it!
I had begun there as a draftsman and Ron worked in a department called Techincal Services, a part of engineering that held documentation part numbers, raw material and manufactured item part numbers, catalogs to major and minor suppliers; all the basic information. If engineering wanted to find information on a product or item we sold this is where to find it. It was the technical library of NL Shaffer.
What I found was that between changes in personnel and management policies no one had been able to get a handle on what was going on in Technical Services for quite some time. There were some 30 volumes of looseleaf notebooks filled with countless typewritten seven-digit numbers and descriptions!
Ron was ready to move on from that and begin a new position working in the Pricing Department.
I'd found a challenge and wanted to take it on and I was so fortunate that Ron recommended me to take his place. Mike Scalf didn't wish me to go but never held a grudge and was encouraging when I made the decision to take the new position.
What I found was the only way to begin getting things organized was to start page-by-page and part-by-part, re-cataloguing the information along the way. This was all done by hand, we didn't have a computer system that was functional company-wide. That was the far-off dream.
In the end I did create a complete index of all our information and one could find what he needed in a flash without having to slog through that mountain of books.
Richard was originally from California and again, unfortunately I can't remember his last name.
1982 - Here I am grabbing some coffee. Glad I don't have the need for too much of that anymore.
I was reminded recently of all the work that went into manuscripts and illustrations for technical manuals and such back in those days. It was so very 'hands on'. A true art form.
One memory was of a day when snow fell in Houston. It had been seven years since the last snowfall and this one would last no more than four hours and it was all gone.
Still NL Shaffer shut down that day as many places did. Power lines were down, cars were all over the road. Myself and this gentleman went to his home and played pool until his wife arrived from her work.
1983 - There was no question my job was a challenge I looked forward to and I think I overcame that challenge. Still, tides can appear that sweep it all away with a force one just can't fight.
Coming from Michigan, I had learned no place was recession proof and Houston was no exception. What began as a long, long slide into oblivion started when we began experiencing lay-off after lay-off. It was at first happening every few months, then every month, then twice a month, then every week, then every several days, then every day. NL Shaffer was a large company and the pain was felt for a very long time and it was drawn out.
To illustrate the environment, this is the 'neighborhood' where I lived. Here there were brand new buildings being built that would not be occupied!
Coming from Michigan, I had learned no place was recession proof and Houston was no exception. What began as a long, long slide into oblivion started when we began experiencing lay-off after lay-off. It was at first happening every few months, then every month, then twice a month, then every week, then every several days, then every day. NL Shaffer was a large company and the pain was felt for a very long time and it was drawn out.
To illustrate the environment, this is the 'neighborhood' where I lived. Here there were brand new buildings being built that would not be occupied!
We would spend many days speculating who was going to 'get it' next at NL Shaffer. There was what was called 'the list' that had names on it and the names would usually be leaked before the official dismissals.
Ron Wood lost his job in the Pricing Department and to save him he was re-located back to his old job with me. I figured that it would be me who'd get it next. Our secretary felt it would be her. Ron figured they'd saved him once and wouldn't do it again so he'd be next. When the day finally came we all got it at the same time! The entire department wiped out!
There would be more after us and all those photographs you saw of my co-workers, each and every one of them did not survive it.
Wayne had moved to Denver, Colorado and now was my chance to follow him.
Before leaving Houston I took the time to stop and smell the flowers, pause for a bit, and then move on.
Hope blooms in nature.
The first stop was in Austin.
(I can't say I remember President John F. Kennedy, although his spectre haunted us all throughout the sixties. I can tell you where I was when Kennedy was shot, however, because my mom knows. I was with her at the grocery store and we were walking in the parking lot when they announced it on the loudspeakers. Those I remember.)
Here I veered off the main road somewhere on my way to White Sands, New Mexico and had to make a stop.
I was camera ready but darn if they couldn't follow through because of bad weather and eventually we were allowed to continue on. Still, I was very pleased to record the event
such as it was.
I was completely awed by the sight. I overlayed a second photograph including my car for scale.
No doubt I really enjoy the great state of Colorado. It is a place which constantly reasserts itself into my life.
I think everyone should feel that our entire country is our home. It's not just about 'where you are from'. With the moving around I had done and would continue to do, I've learned to feel 'back at home' in many places.
In many ways I should have stayed in Colorado, but I was kind of battered and tired and lonely from the long adventure in Texas. I'd found I'd made a lot of acquaintences, but for the most part I was always reminded I wasn't Texan and therefore not 'one of them'.
So many other friends had significant others in their lives, something that would elude me. I guess I've always known what was best for me but had yet to find a way to sustain a life with a higher connection beyond the mortal. I needed a retreat and eventually packed the car once more and returned to Michigan.
After returning to Michigan I had to figure out, "What next?" I still had left over business in Houston that needed attention. Then I found a way of traveling cheaply back and forth by delivering vehicles. There were companies that gave you a brand new car filled with a tank of gas and so many miles and so much time to deliver that car to its owner out-of-state. I'd call a place in Michigan and see what they had available going to Houston, pick up the car and off I'd go, only having to pay for the fuel on the way down.
Once back in Houston, however, I couldn't find a direct route returning to Detroit so I delivered a car to Boston and flew back to Michigan from there. I don't think I saved any money that time but sure enjoyed the trip.
First stop on my way back to Michigan via Boston was Louisiana. I do believe this is in New Orleans.
While walking up the steps I couldn't help but notice the inscriptions.
I didn't have much time and couldn't stray too far from an almost direct course from Houston to Boston so I had to keep moving.
Leaving New Orleans I drove without stopping to Washington DC, something I would never do again or recommend anyone ever doing!
I remember laying back in my seat when I felt a bump. Someone had parked next to me and in getting out of their car they bumped my door.
I starting thinking, "I'll never get any rest." Then I felt instantly cold. I looked up and something was different. I noticed where before the sun was going down now it was coming up.
Something like eight hours had passed without any notion of it and what was once evening was now daybreak!
I still pray it isn't lost.
1983 - The White House
Not certain if we can get this close to The White House today.
In a whirlwind day I saw so much I was surprised I could fit it all in, but it was time to move on.
The car was parked somewhere along Time Square and I managed to get one picture of the building itself before making the ascent.
Still, one can't ignore the World Trade Center. I would have liked to have gone up that building as well but time was getting short. I did walk up to it and touch it. Given what was to happen years later I suppose I'll never forget that.
I was up all night. Coming down from the clouds I did a lot of walking. Of course I went to the Dakota Apartments where John Lennon had lived. (I understand Boris Karloff did too at one time.)
During my walk I ran into a New Yorker and wound up having a conversation. It was quite a connection we made that night.
I drove all over the place trying to find the closest I could get to it from across the Hudson River. I must have been crazy because I finally found a place to put my camera at the end of a long dark road and at close to 5AM I got the shot.
What is wonderful about the tools I have now is that the original print didn't capture what I felt I saw, but through today's technology I can bring those details out. This is how I remember it.
What a year it had been and what a year it was going to be.
Returning to Michigan by plane, I finally began to settle into 1984. The first thought was to get back to work but where to start? The last time I was in Michigan it had been beaten up pretty badly by the economy.
I learned it wasn't that difficult to find work and I got a job as a draftsman right away. It was either only part time or didn't pay as well (I can't remember now) but I soon left there for another job again as a draftsman at Livernois Engineering in Dearborn, MI.
After so much adventure I wondered, what is it that I haven't done that I should try to be a success at? The answer was going back to college. So I chose University of Michigan - Dearborn Campus (being close to work) and this time I was going to obtain a degree in Computer Science.
It was obvious I couldn't handle full time work & school so I tried cutting back the hours at Livernois to make time for it. The problem I soon found out was that there was no room for advancement as a part-timer.
I had some knowledge of Computer Aided Design, and Livernois had two CAD systems in house they were using. One was Ford Motor Company's internally developed PDGS (Product Design Graphics System) and the other was the Tektronix Anvil 4000 system.
The Ford system already had an 'elite' group of people working on it. It had a light pen that you touched the screen used to design parts where the Anvil system relied more on key-board input. That was something!
Nonetheless the people at Livernois were willing to allow me to get on the Anvil system providing I could teach myself how to use it.
Being there were no College classes for CAD/CAM users and the best U of M-Dearborn could offer was a system still based on punch-cards I found myself in a strange position that no one outside of me would understand.
I opted to go back to work full time to learn the trade from inside the house. When I did that my college work suffered and eventually I had to drop out again.
You may remember that when I was going to Cody High School I mentioned "There were a collection of kids (that) were the high achievers and even though I wouldn't become friends with them they were friendly, and helped get me through it all from afar."
One such person was Ron Rydzewski. I really wanted to be his friend at Cody but knew I'd have to settle for simply sharing a few classes with him. It was people like Ron who, as I said 'from afar', helped get me through that place. I didn't feel alone.
While attending U of M, I happened to see him there. I wasn't going to let a chance to really get to know him slip by again so I introduced myself and afterwards we began to build a friendship.
He got this idea of us and a collection of his friends to spend a week up at a place in Pentwater, Michigan right off of Lake Michigan. It really was a dream come true for me as these folks provided a lot of comraderie.
There would be other things we did together but nothing would burn in the memory better than this time together.
This lady's first name, however, is Ticia yet I can only hope I've spelled it correctly.
In between my beach fun I got a few shots of the folks having fun of their own playing volleyball, tennis, cards.....
Photo by Ron Rydzewski.
Photo by Ron Rydzewski.
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The way things had turned out it was already impossible to feel I had come home from Texas a failure.
Updated March 6, 2014
For more from this period please select this link: http://tinyurl.com/oht8qme
The title "Double Fantasy" taken from the John Lennon & Yoko Ono Album (1980)
"Last Good Time In Town" (Walsh-Souther)
Lately I've been stayin' at home
(Stayin' at home, stayin' at home)
Workin' the crosswords, turn off the phone
(Turn off the phone, turn off the phone)
And I dream I'm on vacation
'Cause I like the way that sounds
It's a perfect occupation
For me
I don't mind being by myself
If there's no one else around
It's the last good time in town
Originally published July 10, 2010 on my Facebook account
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