Misc. Remembrance:

In 1982, I asked my classmate Michele if she had any gum in her purse. She said "I don't have gum, but I have Gummy Bears". It was then I had my very first Gummy Bear. I'm still addicted.

And speaking of the Fore 'N Aft Motel ....

... but our maid, who was from Australia, used to wear a green sports bra. Over her blouse. When I asked her why, she said "It makes me look like Madonna". And to clean the mirrors in all the units she'd use Murphy's Oil Soap. And when we told her to stop using Oil Soap on the mirrors she told us basically to "mind our own business"...

Misc. Remembrance:

In the summer of '88 and '89, myself and my buddy were managing the Fore 'N Aft motel in North Truro Massachusetts on Beach Point. The property consisted of 11 motel rooms and 4 beach side cottages. Above is the Joel Meyerowitz photograph entitled "Doorway To The Sea". It was the breezeway between rooms 18 and 17. On the left of the inside of the breezeway was the doorway into the linen closet for the maid which had all the linens, bathroom supplies, etc. In '88, a family had rented cottage 4 (which was right on Cape Cod bay. You couldn't have gotten closer to the water) for a week starting the 4th of July weekend. Everything was booked. The woman arrived around 11 a.m. and looked at the cottage long enough to use the bathroom, and then walked into the office to tell me the accommodations weren't to her liking, and demanded a full refund. I knew I could rent the unit again in 15 minutes (which I did), and I knew that nothing else was available in all of Cape Cod, and I knew that if I tried to convince her to stay she'd just think I was trying to keep her money, so I gave her a full refund and let her leave. Around 6:00 that night, she came back (very haggard looking) and asked if I still had the unit available. I had rented the unit 15 minutes after she left and I told her "I'm sorry but I have nothing else available". As soon as I said that a woman came out of the unit she had booked with a plate of hamburgers, and the family that had rented the unit was sitting down to a barbecue dinner on the beach to watch the sunset. She had to leave and find other accommodations. I really enjoyed that.

Misc. Remembrance:

In 1984, when I was 16, I moved to Destin Florida. I lived there for 2 years until I graduated high school then moved back to Massachusetts. "Panama Jack" was a hugely popular brand in Florida (I don't know if it caught on in Mass.). There was Panama Jack suntan oil, sunscreen, aloe gel, beach towels, T-shirts, sunglasses, hats.... anything they could slap a logo on. The guy was everywhere, you couldn't get away from him...

'80s haute couture:

They all look so happy....

In 1984 I wore this tape out:

Back in the day I had a huge crush on Cyndi Lauper. She was my favorite artist back then. I'd never seen anyone with their hair dyed orange and half their head shaved into a checkerboard design. I thought she was so cool. I'm not sure if she had any hits in the '90s, but in the mid-'80s that girl could do no wrong.

One of the best movies of the decade:

Saw this in '85, twice at the theater. I've seen it a couple of times on TV. I never get tired of this movie. One of my favorite scenes was when he traveled back in time and found himself in the barn, and the farmer thought he was an alien and started shooting at him with a shotgun. I laughed my @$$ off. In the early to mid-'80s, Michael J. Fox could do no wrong. Everything he did was great (well, except for "Teen Wolf". That really sucked).

Stuff I didn't have:

I had tons of stuff, but you can't have everything. One of those things was the hand-held Pac Man game. I asked for it for Christmas (probably '82), but my folks said "no". I was really disappointed, so they decided to make up for it a couple of years later when Pac Man was available for the Atari video game system, so they got me that instead. Boy did I get screwed...

Did you know...

 

... that the Wendy's "Where's The Beef" ad campaign got so popular that they even made a game out of it??? Neither did I...



They played this song at my senior prom, in '86:

It's still one of my faves.

A helpful hint from Joe:

In '82, I discovered the secret to solving the puzzle of the Rubik's Cube: pry all the individual squares off with a screwdriver then pop them back in place, in the right order. Worked every time...