{"id":3559,"date":"2023-02-19T07:36:29","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T12:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/?page_id=3559"},"modified":"2026-05-10T01:04:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T05:04:40","slug":"west-coast-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/west-coast-2\/","title":{"rendered":"West Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eruption of Mount Saint Helens viewed from my home near Seattle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

California<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I left Florida in late spring and moved to Santa Maria, California, where I lived in the unfinished attic in Holly\u2019s parents\u2019 house for a while. The first thing that happened was I got sick \u2013 to be later diagnosed with hay fever. This condition plagued me for the next 10 \u2013 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Diving in Morrow Bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I immediately hooked up with the local dive shop and started diving with the guys that worked there. After getting a custom wetsuit made, I spent that Summer diving and getting to know California. I did find California fascinating after living in Florida my whole life. They only had coastlines in common, but that was about it.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cal Poly Seal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I traveled to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo shortly after arriving. In the building I found myself in, there was a rack of pamphlets on the wall describing the degree programs they offered. I took a bunch that looked interesting, sat down, and started to read them. I will never forget when I started reading the Mechanical Engineering pamphlet. It described what MEs did in industry \u2013 design and build stuff. The immediate connection was made to all those years of working with my Dad on building and repairing stuff. That was all that it took. Later in the year, I got accepted to start in January 1976. I was set. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I figured out later my luck – I applied as an out-of-state student in the winter quarter. They kept a certain number of slots open for non-residents, and my grades were good enough to get accepted. Dad wasn’t happy about paying the tuition for two quarters, but I was sure to establish residency by applying for a driver\u2019s license soon after arriving.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Eddie & Holly in Seattle, Summer 1975<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I went with Holly to Seattle in August to attend her cousin’s wedding. I was fascinated by Seattle and thought it might be an interesting place to live after college.<\/p>\n\n\n

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We were diving at 8,000 ft altitude and 36 degrees F in Crater Lake. The water was so clear that you could see for a hundred feet or more.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On the first part of this trip, we traveled with the guys who ran the dive store and dove in Crater Lake in Oregon. Crater Lake is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a nearly 2,148-foot-deep caldera formed around 7,700 years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. Very few divers had gone before us. The one-mile hike in and out of the lake with a tank, wetsuit, and 40 pounds of lead weight was particularly memorable.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A shot of the team my Dad worked with as the first Shuttle was being built in Palmdale. It was likely in 1978 before he returned to Florida.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A few months after I moved, my Dad, Mom, and younger brother Dave moved to the Los Angeles area\u2014south in Orange County in Irvine. They were there the whole time I lived in California\u2014first in Irvine, and then later, they moved to Lancaster in the high desert northeast of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n

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My friend Laura visited me in the Fall of 1975. We visited my parents at their rental house in Irvine. I started school right after that, and right after that, Holly dumped me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Rockwell (in Los Angeles) designed and built the Space Shuttle, and they constructed the prototype (The Enterprise) in a hanger at the United States Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. I visited on all the major holidays and breaks at school.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Worst fucking job in my life. I was paid $1.70 an hour but got a free burger for lunch!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The fall before I started college, Holly’s parents kicked me out. I rented a tiny studio apartment in Santa Maria. For two weeks, I worked the fucking worst job in my life at McDonald’s. Luckily, K-Mart sought people to help stock the shelves for the winter holidays. I worked with this guy who literally stank – it would give me a headache if I stood next to him for too long!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I discovered much later in life that I also suffered from acute anxiety attacks in the months leading up to my departure from Florida and the first six months in California. I can only attribute this to the magnitude of the changes I underwent. Eventually, it was not a factor anymore, but it was pretty scary when it happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could not get into the dorms on campus, so I found an apartment near the campus in town. I promised Dad I would find a roommate, but initially I was alone. Holly used to come up a couple of times a week – she wasn’t accepted to start until the spring quarter. She informed me she would not be moving in with me, though! When she did finally start, the first thing she did was give me the boot. I was all by myself. All I had to do now was study!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I lived in that apartment for the next year and a half while completing six semesters in a row at Cal Poly.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Texas Instrument SR-56 Programmable Calculator. I would spend hours writing programs using the cumbersome interface. I was intrigued by computing, and it would set the path for my career.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A remarkable thing happened when I started with my courses \u2013 I totally and thoroughly enjoyed learning and would spend hours \u2013 sometimes until 3 in the morning \u2013 studying and doing homework. I was obsessed. I was meticulous about my homework, using rulers and scale to draw things out and a TI SR-56 programmable calculator. I also started taking computer classes, first with punch cards on the IBM Mainframe and then more interactive stuff on a DEC VAX. I would spend hours tweaking my programs and totally dug going to the computer building at 3 AM to run one last time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One ring to rule them all…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

But that was not all! In my childhood, I had always enjoyed reading but was never a ‘recreational’ reader per se. I enjoyed the few classics I did read but did not seek out to spend my free time. I remember that Tolkien was big at that point as an underground (as opposed to mainstream) read. Led Zepplin had even woven it into their early songs about Mordor and the Evil One. So I picked up book one of Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring. I was dumb-struck and in awe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quickly, I became a huge SciFi and Fantasy fan. Throughout college, I read the best-known books, such as Dune and the Foundation series by Asimov. Later, I branched and sought out the avant-garde like Kurt Vonnegut. I was hooked for life then and have read constantly, if not consistently, throughout my life.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sunbeam Alpine 1725, like the one I owned with stock wheels.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A significant event occurred shortly after breaking up with Holly. I needed to buy a car. We purchased a Datsun station wagon with both of our money. I took my part of the money and bought a 1966 Sunbeam Alpine. My first \u2013 but not last \u2013 sports car, my last British sports car! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I loved the car, but buying a rare car that had not been well kept up was a grave mistake. I did a poor job of painting it blue and drove it until I worked in the oil field in the summer of 1977. I dumped it when it started having electrical problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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John Kaylen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Eddie & Jane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I also got to know the next-door neighbors \u2013 a couple around my age, Jane and John (seriously). I would play cribbage with them \u2013 especially John \u2013 for hours on end, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer when I could afford it. He got certified, and we did some diving later \u2013 especially a memorable trip to Monterrey. I got a roommate about halfway through my stay there. His name was Randy; he was a bit older \u2013 perpetual college student type \u2013 and dug electric guitars \u2013 especially Fender Stratocasters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was doing so well at school that I earned the President’s Honor Role in June of 1977, with my grades in the top 15% of my school.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Five times on the Dean’s List and once on the President’s Honor List. I could successfully learn and regurgitate engineering information with excellent proficiency \ud83e\udd23.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I attended school through the summer of 1976, and in the fall, I was invited to join Tau Beta Phi, an Engineering Honor Society.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Tau Beta Pi – National Engineering H0nor Society. I had to build a Bent (right) and get Alumni and Students to sign it. I made it in Dad’s garage in Lancaster using the same table saw I grew up with. I am amazed at how well it has held together over the years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Mechanical Engineering building on campus was where fledgling MEs would hang out between classes. The front of the building had some open spaces where some students worked on the Baja Dune Buggy, which would compete against other ME departments in the state and region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n