General Motors 75th-1983-Part 2

 I wish that we had taken more photos of the vintage cars that day.

Linden Airport- across the street from the plant. I don't really remember this part of that day. I guess that the planes were a part of this celebration.

The keychain in part 1 was Dad's, this one is mine

General Motors-75th- 1983-Part 1

 

My father's workplace, the GM plant in Linden, NJ, had an open house in 1983, celebrating the company's 75th anniversary

Keychain

Mom, Dad, Mark, and me

Some of My Stuffed Animals-1983

 I recently found negatives for these and other photos that weren't even in my album. I hadn't even remembered taking these. I had them printed out a couple of months ago and was so pleased to see them. I must have liked Journey a lot back then- notice the poster and sign on my bedroom walls.

I wish that I had done a better job of picture taking though- too much ceiling in those basement shots, plus I cut off some of the animals on the bottom row.

I made copies of the bottom 2 and cropped them to get a closer view of the stuffed animals-

June 8, 2015- Pt. 2- Dreamtime-

December 9, 2008- Grade School and Music Stars

I was in my grade school classroom. It was 1983 again and I looked as I did then. I observed my classmates. I heard Jamie saying that she couldn’t wait for Simon to get there. I found out that Simon Le Bon, Paul McCartney, George Michael, and Billy Idol would be doing a Q&A/autograph signing event here. That was pretty bizarre but also fascinating.

   Michelle T. was talking to me for a little while which was nice. We actually were no longer friends by then. The popular clique had turned her against me somehow. I noticed that Jim had the Wham! Make it Big album on his desk. I guess in that it had come out earlier in this reality.

   I saw that Jamie was wearing a jacket that had a lot of music star pins on it including many of Duran Duran. I pointed to one of John Taylor and asked “Who is that?” She thought that I was being serious at first. I told her that I was joking. I knew hardly anything about that group in the 80s. If I had been a fan back then, I wonder if I would have had a crush on him.

   Our two teachers were standing in front of the room. When I saw Sister J, I was thinking about the time that she said that I had a fat head. We were being measured for graduation caps then. Miss A. went over to the door 30 seconds later.

   When she opened it, Simon Le Bon stepped into the room. My classmates were very excited about this. He said that he had a special surprise for us. The door opened again and in walked John Taylor. A couple of the girls let out a scream of delight. Of course, I was happy to see him too but would never be that expressive about my emotions.

   They spent about 30 minutes on the Q&A session. I had noticed that Billy Idol was standing near the blackboard during this. No one was really paying attention to him. He had disappeared before it ended.

   I was too nervous to get on the line for their autographs. Michelle tried convincing me to do so but I just couldn’t. We were pleasantly surprised that they would be staying a little longer afterwards. I guess that they wanted to be there for McCartney who would be there next.

   They sat at desks and let our teachers sit in the more comfortable chairs that they had been in. That was nice of them.

   I didn’t get to see the other stars, however, because the program ended and I was back in my room on Earth. This was kind of disappointing but I was also glad that I had been part of such an unusual experience. As if any music artists would really visit a grade school like these did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music Memories- Part 2

-I still have the 95 top songs of 1983 list from WPLJ. “Hungry Like the Wolf” and” Is There Something I Should Know?” are on it as is “Every Breath You Take” by the Police which is number 1.

-We remember some of tapes that we got from a club in the early 80s.  They were 10 for a penny or a dollar then buy a certain number at regular price. Styx – Kilroy was Here, Toto IV, Asia, Go-Gos – Vacation, David Bowie – Let’s Dance, Kool and the Gang, Def Leppard – Pyromania, Hall and Oates – Voices or H2O, maybe both.

   Mike said that my Duran Duran Rio tape was also from that club but I don’t remember this. I thought that I bought it at a flea market in 1993. It’s strange that my brother would recall this and not me. I must not have listened to it that much in the 80s. Night versions of “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Hold Back the Rain” are on this.

-High School- Jim D was showing some of us his Wham! - Make It Big album before class started one day.

-I still have the Invisible Tour Genesis poster that I got from the picture guys shop at US 1 Flea Market. I had wished that I could go to one of their shows back then

-We listened to a Rick Astley tape for a little while at Cindy’s graduation party in 1988. I think that she said that it was her mom’s. Cindy was into Depeche Mode (and other New wave music that I don’t exactly remember). I didn’t start liking them until the early 1990s.

-In 1989, my roommate and I were singing” Ebony and Ivory” while walking by the river in Pittsburgh. A guy was looking at us as if we were crazy.

-Billy Joel- I listened to his Greatest Hits Vol. 1&2 on my Walkman during the drive to Smithville Village. I think that we stopped there on the way home from a trip to the shore. We listened to some of his 8 tracks at our friends the Prescotts’ house a couple of times.

-We listened to Mark’s Styx Kilroy Was Here tape during the drive home from the shore (AC?) Dad didn’t really care for that.

-I listened to Mellencamp’s Scarecrow on my Walkman during the drive to Saratoga Springs, N.Y. for cousin Kevin’s wedding in 1988.

-Kathy, Mike and I listened to Prince and Hall and Oates records at her house once. Her taste in music change a lot when she started dating her future husband Jeff in the late 1980s. She then liked Aerosmith, Motley Crue and other stuff that he and their college friends were into.

-Dad had an album of wrestling stars performing songs like” Don’t Go Messin’ with a Country Boy” by Hillbilly Jim.

-The first CD that I ever bought was The Unforgettable Nat King Cole in 1994.

 

 

 

Note- The Wrestling album is an internet photo.

Brace Face

I'm suprised that I actually smiled for my class photos when I had my braces. I had them for nearly 3 years and they were taken off during the summer before I started high school in 1983. I can't believe that I actually kept these reminders of my brace face days - the case for my headgear, a totebag, my super smile certificate and the pin - smiling faces wear braces. I vividly remember the pain of having them but in the end it was all worth it. I had to wear a night retainer for some time too - maybe a year. My brother had braces also but he had a regular retainer afterwards.

My Two Grandmas - 1983

The top photo is of my father's mother , our grandma next door. Mom married the boy next door. They moved into my mom's mother's apartment and she moved onto the farm with her brothers. We got to see Grandma Wancea practically everyday. That's our cousin Sal in back of my brother. He's the son of Aunt Dorothy, my dad's sister who recently passed away. We did not get to see our grandma at the farm that much, just 3 - 5 times a year. It's not like she lived that far, just about an hour away. Dad didn't seem to like going there which isn't fair. Cousin Mary is in the picture with Mark, Grandma Wrunski and I. This must've been about the time of our return trip from Florida. We always though of her as grandma at the farm even when she moved to a house closer to Aunt Al. She died in 1986 a few months after her 80th birthday.

8th Grade Dance - 1983

The theme for our 8th grade dance at St. John's in 1983 was the television show M*A*S*H. I can't remember what month this took place in but I'm pretty sure it was after the big series finale episode of that programme. I was into M*A*S*H back then but really don't care for it anymore. My brother does though - he has the DVDs of all the seasons. All of our parents did a very good job of decorating the gym/auditorium for this dance. My main memory of it is not a nice one. A boy did ask me to dance but that was only because his friends dared him to. I overheard this and told that boy no. I am glad that my mom did take pictures of this event despite that upsetting memory.

My Screw-ups 1

I bought this souvenier book at Disney World in 1983 and recently took it out of my keepsake tote to both look through it and photograph it for my blog. I hadn't seen it since the early 1990s so it was fun doing this. I thought that I had been very careful when putting it away only the next time that I went into that tote for something else I discovered something very upsetting - when I had put my scrapbook binder back in there the cover and first few pages of this book had fallen down and gotten ruined by that binder. I had this for all these years and it was in perfect condition and now it looks pretty bad as you can probably tell by the top photo. Originally I had scanned it for here. I know that I shouldn't beat myself up about this screw up but it's very hard not to because it seems like I am always doing something stupid even when I am trying to be so careful. It's like my brain is incapable of learning from my mistakes which is very frustrating.

General Motors

My father worked at the General Motors plant in Linden, N.J. for about 23 years. At first he was on the line putting tires on the cars then he was a forklift driver. We toured the plant during the 75th anniversary of the company in 1983. They had vintage cars in the parking lot that were cool. They gave out nice keychains as souveniers. I'll be posting a picture of that once I've put the many photos that I've been taking lately into the computer. Dad could have retired with full pension in only 7 years but he took the buyout in 1986 or 1987 then went to work at Newark airport. I feel bad about thinking that this was pretty foolish of him. I wonder if he regrets what he did. I wouldn't feel right asking him about this. I used to be so proud to say that my dad worked at GM when people would ask what job he has.

Florida 1983 - part 2

My mom put some of the sand from Panama City Beach in a glass Durkee spice jar so this and the postcard are our souveniers from there. I'm pretty sure that the alligators postcard is from Gatorland Zoo or maybe I got it elsewhere in Florida. We also visited my mom's Aunt Fran. I'll have to ask her if she's on her mom or dad's side of the family. My dad took a picture of a gator that was in their back yard that didn't come out that great. I probably should've posted it anyway. I don't remember if this was also in Panama City or in a town nearby. I cut out a small picture of the glass bottom boat at Silver Springs from a magazine - I wish that I had bought a postcard there too. I should have turned it around so it faces the same way as the postcards.