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Jim Lindsey
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Occupation: Minister) Marital Status: Single From Jim: I was hoping to hear about a reunion! So I am very pleased to receive your emails. Thanks! After graduation from WVHS I lived with my grandparents in south Naches and enrolled at YVC. Nearly all my time was spent either working or going to school. I moved nearer YVC and lived with my aunt and continued attending classes. After two years I enlisted in the US Army. My two brothers, Howard and Bobby were in Viet Nam at the time so my parents were not happy with my choice. I did not understand very much during those tumultuous times. In the fall of 1969 I reported for duty at Ft. Lewis. From there I went to Ft. Belvoir, VA. I stayed on and attended Officer Candidate School graduating as a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, October 1970. I was stationed at other forts in the US and enjoyed a couple of short trips to Japan. In 1972 I returned to Yakima and joined the local Army Reserve. To my surprise our history teacher, Mr. Levno, was one of my Sergeants! Kerry Tuck and Dan Hull were also in the same Reserve unit! I was back to YVC for a third year. Then I petitioned and was accepted into the Department of Architecture at WSU. Lyle, you were ahead of me as I remember seeing your projects stored in the attic in Carpenter Hall! We would jiggle the lock to the attic door, creep through the attic and get on the building's roof top and sun tan! My life-long dream was fulfilled when I graduated with degrees in Architecture in the spring of 1976. Two years later I entered Christian work as a minister. My first year was spent in Spokane. Hard to believe but it has been nearly 30 years since I began! I have been in and around Washington State the entire time. I have had short term tours in Alaska, Hawaii, B.C., Alberta, Ontario and the Maritimes, and the mid-western and southwestern states. Now for the first time I will be ministering here in Oregon. I am to be in Eugene until next May or sometime later next year. This is a new experience for me. I have chosen to remain single. I am free to go anywhere, at anytime and with anyone. I have let go of my personal ambitions and accepted a stewardship that has richly blessed by life. I am very happy. Looking forward to attending all the events at our 40th Reunion!  Send This Person a Message
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Nancy Stewart (Lutz)
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Occupation: Office Manager) Marital Status: Married No. of Children: 2 From Nancy: Three years ago my husband and I packed up our home of 20 years and moved to “Jubilee”, Lacey, WA., an active 55 an older community. I’m sure some of you have heard those commercials on TV, and yes those are our friends and neighbors. We are having a blast in our semi-retirement.
Jim and I have been married for 38 years now. Jim is retired and can be found most days on the golf courses around this area. I’m still working part-time as an office manager for a family run prosthetic and orthotic company in Olympia. In my spare time I’m either on the golf course, gardening, walking, biking, or running to a grandchild’s activity.
Our son, Brent, wife Joan, and two boys, Reid (10) and Justin (8 ½) live on Snoqualmie Ridge, in Washington, and our daughter Mandie, is single, and living in Bellevue, WA.
Their lives are very active and keep us young.
We spend a couple of weeks a year in Tucson, and Phoenix area playing golf and visiting with friends and family, but we haven’t decided to be complete snow birds, though it is tempting.
It’s hard to believe that it has been 40 years since we graduated. It will be wonderful seeing all of you that can make it to the reunion. Send This Person a Message
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Herb Lynch
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Occupation: Wholesale Beverage) Marital Status: Divorced No. of Children: 2 From Herb: Merry Christmas!! Ho, Ho, Ho........ Send This Person a Message
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Steve Marble
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Marital Status: Married) No. of Children: 2 From Steve: Although I did not graduate from WVHS, after enduring for ten years in the district, I believe I’m qualified to crash the party. Following completion of high school in Spokane, I graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in oceanography. Given the pressures of the draft back then, you could say LBJ was responsible for me receiving a college education. With school behind me, I went to work for NOAA on a hydrographic survey ship charting the waters in SE and South Central Alaska. On one of our stops in Ketchikan, I ran into our former classmate, Anita Watts. Returning to the lower 48, I purchased an old wooden sailboat and spent an enjoyable summer gunk holing around Vancouver Island. Until economics necessitated going back to work, I had a pleasurable retirement in my twenties. The next number of years found me working in the maritime industry in a variety of capacities including delivering sailboats, king crab fishing out of Kodiak, and skippering crew boats to the oilrigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Most of my time at sea, however, was spent on ocean going tug boats traveling all over the world. As a single man, this job was a hoot. The highlight was working on a tug/supply vessel for a year in Brazil. When I returned to the USA, the woman I had been dating prior to leaving had relocated to Sequim. We eloped and purchased eleven acres the same week and began building a house. Twenty- five years later and here we are, still on the same property. Going to sea wasn’t quite the same after marriage. The time off, however, did allow me to build our house. When our first daughter was three months old, I took a berth as mate on coastal freighter sailing to Dutch Harbor. When I returned the girl was six months old. “Maybe I’m missing something” was a thought that entered my head and I did an abrupt career change. For the past nineteen years I have been scratching a living from the land selling real estate. In addition to selling, I have developed land, owned a real estate office, and managed rentals on my own account. Also, service related activities have included stints on the Washington Association of Realtors legislative steering and land use committees, and nine years as an elected conservation district supervisor. Our second and youngest daughter recently turned thirteen years old so retirement is a ways away. Some of us started late. However, I try to make my leisure time count. If my wife is to be believed, I have more boats than sense. Of coarse she and the girls would rather be riding their horses. My brother and I jointly own a sailboat that we moor in the San Juan Islands. A runabout rigged with all the modern gadgetry I can hang on it lives on a trailer in my carport. This craft, when not being used to deplete the salmon population, makes a great commuter from Sequim to the sailboat. When I do retire, I hope to follow in Steve Hulls wake and spend some time sailing up the inside passage to Alaska. Send This Person a Message
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Molly Martin
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Occupation: Retired Electrical ) Inspector Marital Status: Married From Molly: It’s been fascinating reading all your stories. Your bios and comments have made me think about our class, our generation and our history. I was especially touched by Hiep’s letters and to learn that the Majnarich family had not heard from her in 30 years. It was another reminder of how the Vietnam war defined and impacted our generation and continues to do so. My story: Studied journalism at WSU, joined the anti-war movement, joined the feminist movement along with my mom, spent a couple of virtually jobless years in rainy Seattle, then moved to San Francisco where I’ve lived ever since. Learned electrician basics at a program in Seattle where I discovered Tom Ewing had also studied (Tom, are you still a sparky?) It turned out to be a great career for me and I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to open up more opportunities for women in construction and nontraditional jobs. That spawned organizations; a book, Hard-Hatted Women; and a magazine, Tradeswomen, which I edited for many years. My most recent journalistic endeavor (with a group of neighbors) is an Arcadia Press book about the history of our neighborhood, San Francisco’s Bernal Heights. That journalism degree may have been useful, if not lucrative. My life partner of nearly ten years, Barb Schultheis, also has made a good career in a nontraditional field. She started as a firefighter and is now the Fire Marshal of San Francisco with a rank of assistant deputy chief. We own and live in a three-unit building which we just spent six years tearing apart and completely rebuilding. I retired at 50 from my job as a city electrical inspector to go back to construction and demolition! But now we can both boast skill in every trade. Thanks to Gay and the committee for all your hard work. I look forward to keeping up with you all via the website. Send This Person a Message
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Carol Bailey (McGinnis)
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Occupation: Retail) Marital Status: Married No. of Children: 2 From Carol: Wow! 40 years! Seems impossible! I still feel like I'm in my thirties until swimsuit season hits (lol)! I've never attended any of our reunions. Seems I'm always too busy to even think about it. I've lived in the San Francisco Bay area since '72. I was about to transfer as a senior Russian major to U.C. Davis when I took a summer job in retail. So I stayed in Sonoma County and quit college 15 units short of my B.A.. I've never looked back. I owned my own haute couture boutique for 18 years and had quite the clientele. I worked in San Francisco, L.A. and Sonoma/Marin Counties. One night on my way home from a hard day looking at exquisite clothing in L.A. I met a young handsome psych grad student. We married 3 years later and had 2 beautiful girls. We moved to gorgeous Healdsburg in the heart of wine country where my husband has a private psychotherapy practice. I still work in retail, but now only do display and merchandising for other stores. We are now empty nesters, as both girls are attending college living away from home. I hated them leaving at first, but found, as I am sure that many of you have, that they keep coming back (Thank GOD!!!!!). Our oldest daughter, Arielle (23) is a senior majoring in astrogeophysics at Sonoma State University, after attending CSU,LA for her previous three years, transferring back to Northern California ("See", my husband says, 'they DO come back!"). Chandra, my 21 year old baby, is a senior at U.C.Davis in the pre-med program. She will do a quarter abroad in South Africa this winter. We are very excited for her, although she is somewhat less excited right now, recovering from her yellow-fever vaccinations! So, after work I love to: * invest in the stock market * garden and landscape * play with my 2 labradors and our chihuahua in the swimming pool * stay as militant as I can for P.E.T.A. and H.S.U.S. (fighting hard for animal rights, especially in China). We also love to take a calm kayak ride down the Russian River through the fabulous vineyards (this time of year the vineyards smell like cabernet.....Mmmmmm!) I have loved reading all of your bios. Thank-you Gay for being persistant enough with me to get my email, etc. And thanks to Mary Z for giving her my phone number. Horizon Air flies into Sonoma County now from Seattle daily...If anyone decides to come to Sonoma County to taste the wine and see the sights, call me! Send This Person a Message
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Dennis Mullins
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Occupation: Child Psychologist
Marital Status: Married From Dennis: It's good to hear about all of you and your life journies over time. After West Valley I went to YVCC for one year, then transfered to Western Washiington University and graduated in psychology, got drafted for Viet Nam but flunked my military physical because of a knee injury playing football for the West Valley Rams, went on to complete a masters degree and became a school psychologist. I worked in the Renton school district for one year, got married in 1972 (35th anniversary this December!) to Jackie, a teacher, and we decided to have an adventure and move to Alaska to live and work at the university of Alaska. Some friends from Canada sponsered us to work for a year in Prince George (a town in northern to central BC). We liked the people and jobs so much five years later we were still there. I completed my graduate training at Simon Frasier Universsity in BC and became a registered child psychologist doing private practice for a law firm and school boards. We then moved to beautiful Vancouver Island in 1979 to work, live and play. Jackie finished her masters degree in remedial reading and works in high schools helping struggling students. We both love to hike, camp, travel and be with our family and friends. I do a lot of fishing, hunting, 4x4ing and some traveling while Jackie has traveled more extensively around the world with friends and retired teacher groups. We are lucky to have a house overlooking the inside passage and are able to see and toast the Alaska cruise ships as they sail back and forth in the spring, summer and fall. Send This Person a Message
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Jacqueline Kleckner (Munroe)
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From Jacqueline:) Hi Classmates, I am very late sending my bio, but here it is: After high school I moved to San Diego to live with my grandmother and Great Uncle. My first job was in the bookkeeping department for a chain of dress stores. Then the owner decided that I should be modeling, so I became a model for their clothing line. I did this until I went on vacation to Hawaii and decided to stay. I had planned to take a month to relax but instead I took the first position I applied for with Dr. Edmund Wong who was an Orthodontist on Oahu. I got married in Hawaii. After 2 years we were thinking about moving back to the mainland. We were considering Seattle, San Diego or Glen Ellyn Illinois where my husband was from or not moving at all. Can you believe I chose Illinois. I didn't know what cold was until my first winter. I stayed in Illinois for 10 year. While I was there I worked for an Orthodontist in St Charles Illinois. It was the nicest working environment one could have. We work out of a beautiful little house and he treated his employees like family. My husband and I divorced after eight years, but I stayed in Illinois for some time after and then decided to move back to California to be by my sister in Orange County. That was in 1982. I have a home in Laguna hills. It is an area that is zoned for horses. I am working for a nationwide company. My position is training the staff, mostly with the new offices that have just been opened. Of course for Orthodontists. The reunion was so fun. Thanks to all that made it possible. Hope to see you all in 5 years. Send This Person a Message
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Chris Newbill
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Occupation: Scientist) Marital Status: Single From Chris: Number of Children: As a single guy, how many do you think? 30? That’s a close guess if you’re thinking in astronomical terms.
I graduated from WV, got a B.S. in math from the UW, became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, went to New York City, decided that wasn’t for me, left the “Church”, returned to the NW, got a job at Hanford working for Battelle, and have pretty much been there ever since. End of story. QED.
Oh, you want more? That wasn’t bad enough? OK, read as much as you want, but don’t kill yourself, this is pretty bad.
As mentioned, I’ve been working at Hanford or a related occupation for thirty years, saving you guys (and gals, must be PC you know!) from the “most contaminated place on Earth” according to Diane Sawyer on 60 Minutes. Uh-huh. Honey, if this is really the “most contaminated place on Earth” you wouldn’t be standing on it! In case you’ve forgotten (or ever cared!) Hanford is a former plutonium production site for the nation’s nuclear weapons program. It’s now a government CERCLA cleanup site. And, yes, radionuclides and various chemicals have been spilled, leaked, and otherwise found their way into the subsurface beneath Hanford over forty years of operation. But, the reality is they pose minimal health risk. Contaminant plumes have been entering the Columbia River for sixty years, but their flow rates relative to the river are so slow that the Columbia dilutes them to harmless levels. Numerous risk assessments have been done indicating that the “maximally exposed individual” residing near Hanford is radiologically exposed to about as much risk as eating two teaspoons of peanut butter (which has trace amounts of carcinogenic aflotoxin).
But this doesn’t stop people like Diane Sawyer from trying to gain fame by alarming everyone about Hanford. Even our illustrious self-appointed governor excitedly blurted, “We have this huge contaminant plume heading straight for the Columbia, and when it reaches the river, it’ll be a catastrophe!” Uh-huh. Wake me up when it gets there and we can discuss it. I don’t know which plume she was talking about -- probably the carbon tetrachloride plume. But a larger tritium plume has already flowed into the Columbia at ten times the EPA drinking water standard and nobody cared because it was diluted to harmless levels.
There is a substance at Hanford, however, that really is dangerous. It is so toxic that if ingested will kill you, even prolonged skin contact or inhalation are considered harmful, and it’s highly flammable and explosive. Yep, it’s the gasoline you put in your gas tank! It’s the most dangerous substance at Hanford. Uranium, plutonium, strontium-90, hex chrome, carbon tet – none of them come close to the danger or toxicity of gasoline. How many people are getting sick or are dying from exposure to hazardous chemicals or radionuclides at Hanford? The best scientific estimate is none. How many people die on our nation’s highways annually? The last number I read was about forty thousand. The most dangerous activity at Hanford is driving to and from work.
Hanford workers used to have a “can do” attitude and were proud of doing something important for the country. Now, bureaucratic caution and fear of litigation paralyze progress. A recent example is the planned demolition of three small buildings previously used for plutonium soil remediation. The buildings are now clean, so no decontamination is necessary. It should be a one or two day job. It will take six months just to write the work plan to destroy the buildings! We need a Work Plan to destroy small buildings? Don’t we already know how to DO this? Let’s just DO IT! Workers built Hanford and put into operation the first plutonium production reactor in eighteen months, something no one had ever done before. Now, it takes one-third that long just to plan to demolish three small buildings -- something we’ve done, let’s see … once or twice before?
I can think of only two rational reasons for Hanford paralysis. One is contained in this tidbit a friend recently sent me: “If Jello-O is hooked up to an EEG, it registers movements virtually identical to the brain waves of a healthy adult.” Ah hah! That’s what’s directing Hanford – Jello! It’s all very clear, now.
The other explanation for the sad state of non-progress here may actually be quite rational, but in my estimation, is still a sad commentary on the state of our country. The leadership of the country may be waiting until the country is ready for the true solution to Hanford cleanup – the construction of fast neutron breeder reactors. The high-level waste can be used as fuel in such reactors, producing energy from the waste and reducing the waste volume to 1% of its present volume. The 1% of high-level waste left over consists primarily of strontium-90 and cesium-137, both with half-lives of thirty years. Store them at Hanford for 300 years and they’re essentially gone. Present subsurface contamination poses no foreseeable significant health risk. Leave it where it is. We reduce the volume of high-level waste and the time needed to store it, and get huge amounts of energy from it. It’s a win-win situation. But the Department of Energy would get sued by the State of Washington if it even thought about building a reactor here. It’s irrational and sad.
But, enough of Hanford, let’s move on to more enjoyable topics. I bought a Hummer in 1997. I said a HUMMER, not one of those Chevy Tahoe based H- whatevers! Actually, we (real Hummer owners) are supposed to be accepting of the H2’s and H3’s, but I still don’t like them (my apologies to any H2 and H3 owners out there!). I drove an H2 at the Seattle dealership, but didn’t care for it – just a big SUV. I’ve not driven an H2 or H3 off-road, but we consistantly have more trouble with H2’s and H3’s on the trails at Moab during the Hummer Club event there. It took us an hour to get an H3 up “The Gates of Hell”. For us that day, it was appropriately named. We still had to winch it twice. I drove up the obstacle in about two minutes.
My Hummer looks much like a military Humvee, having come down the same assembly line. Slight modifications were necessary to make the civilian versions street-legal (the military gets a waiver to convoy on the highways). One important modification is that the civilian versions have much more comfortable seats! Those made my recent nearly 1,000 mile drive to the Hummer Club event at Moab, Utah more endurable. Actually, I enjoy driving the truck. Thanks go to Arnold (Schwarzeneggar) for getting AM General to build the civilian version of the Humvee.
Speaking of Arnold, I stood about fifteen feet away from Ahnuld at Hummer Homecoming in South Bend, Indiana (where Hummer/Humvees are manufactured) in 2002. He flew in for about two hours for a photo-op, said a few words, cut his 55-th birthday cake, was awarded a new H2 from the factory, and flew out again. He’s not 6’ 2’’, more like 5’ 10’’, but was still in pretty good shape five years ago. Actually, remembering what Mr. McRaid told us in the eighth grade, “Believe nothing of what you read and only half of what you see”, Ahnuld must be only about 2’ 11”! Poor guy! I’m not sure what the California governatorship has done to his health since I saw him, but I heard he sold most of his Hummers. The guy’s a weeny -- Hummerless and only 2’ 11” – what a wimp!
I had the honor of meeting a guy who’s not a wimp, though. His is Ang Dorgee (pronounced Ung Derzhee), a Sherpa who has summitted Mount Everest eleven times, twice without oxygen. He currently lives in Richland with his wife, a PNNL researcher, whom he met in Nepal when she was researching the effects of high altitude on climbers. I met him during trail construction on local Badger Mountain. He did about twice the work of anyone else. He’s pretty quiet, although he speaks English quite well (based on taped interviews with him). I tried to instigate a little conversation with him by panting and saying that the altitude was getting to me, but he just smiled and went back to work. We were at about 800 feet elevation and he’s used to 8,000 meters!
I have some appreciation for Ang’s accomplishments because I’ve summitted Rainier six times, and been ON McKinley. I got sick on McKinley after about a week and descended to reduce liability on the rest of the team. Climbing is very much a team effort – you monitor the health of your companions while simultaneously being realistic about your own condition. If your condition is deteriorating it’s better to descend – better for your health and that of the team. It can be a tough decision, but one that has to be made -- correctly.
One interesting fact I learned from Phil Erschler (two Everest summits, numerous Himalayan ascents) is that at altitude not only are you cold outside, but you’re cold inside as well. With reduced atmospheric oxygen, your body can’t get enough oxygen to fully metabolize the food you eat. So, it’s difficult to stay warm, regardless of the outside temperature (which of course is well below zero!). He said when he started “sucking the O’s” (breathing oxygen) above high camp on Everest, he could feel the warmth flow into his body.
So, I’ve climbed with Mount Everest summitters and built trail with a famous Sherpa. This summer, I also got to check the oil and wipe the dust off Bud Granley’s Russian-built Yak-55 aerobatic plane! A fellow worker and I volunteered to help at the local airport supporting the airshow which was being held in conjunction with the Hydroplane races. Skip the boat races! Hanging out with the pilots is a lot more fun!
If you’ve been to a Northwest airshow, you’ve probably seen Bud tumble his red aerobatic plane through the air. No, his Yak-55 is a single-seat plane, so he didn’t take me up to do a lomcovak! Good thing, too, since I would probably have done an up-chuck all over his plane! His son, Ross, took Miss Tri-Cities up for a ride in his Yak-18T – did a couple of rolls – she was pretty green when she got down! She walked straight into Bergstrom’s Flying Service and lay down!
I did a loop and a spin with Kent Pietsch in his Interstate Cadet (basically a Piper Cub) last year. That was a bit stressful for me. I’m just not accustomed to flying along at 100 knots and suddenly pulling straight up and over, or whipping into a vertical spin! I did spins years ago with Charlie McAllister just prior to soloing. I didn’t get a license but I did spins. I did some after I soloed, too. I wasn’t supposed to without an instructor (which I didn’t know until afterwards), but I did them. I survived, too!
I also had the privilege of meeting Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders at the airshow. Apollo 8 was the first manned lunar orbital mission. Bill is a quiet guy and it’s hard to get him to say much. But he did say that the military crashes some months ago (the Blue Angel that dropped out of formation, and the National Guard F/A-18 that crashed 60 miles off the Oregon coast) were due to pilot error. Crashes like that are typical of inexperienced and insufficiently conditioned pilots. They fall out of formation, then crash trying to get back into formation when they can’t see. The F/A-18 pilot lost surface reference (probably due to partial consciousness from a stressful maneuver) and flew into the ocean.
I like Ray Anthony’s music, especially his “Dream Dancing” series. When I ordered a CD from Ray’s Big Band CD Store I got a call that the CD was out of stock. The gentleman with whom I spoke tried to convince me to change my order saying “it’s not very good.” When I asked, “It’s not very good?” he said, “No, I’m Ray Anthony and I have better recordings.” When I called a couple days later and spoke to a younger person, I asked if that was really “Ray Anthony” with whom I had spoken and he said, “Yep, that’s Ray. He’ll be 85 next January.” Ray was first chair trumpet in Glenn Miller’s Orchestra at the age of 19; recorded the TV Theme songs for Dragnet, The Man with the Golden Arm, and Peter Gunn; and had a TV show. He still records music and plays his trumpet for celebrity events.
I started running road races while in New York in 1976. Over two decades I ran 28 marathons plus many shorter distances. I won four races, including two Big Onion Marathons in Walla Walla. In fact, I’m the one-and-only two-time Big Onion Marathon champion. Wow. They only ran the race four years, and I won it the last two. I wasn’t great, just nobody better showed up. My best 10K was 33:20, my best marathon 2:36:36. Since 1980 I’ve battled Achilles tendonitis and bursitis. I still try to “run” as much as I can, but now I’m reduced to walking and running. Even at that pathetic level of effort, I still managed to develop plantar fasciitis in my left foot. Oh, well, we continue on as best we can with what we are, which in my case isn’t much. In fact, it’s practically nothing!
The Richland Police Department recently had the honor of having one of its Resource Officers (Police Officer assigned to a school) named the Resource Officer of the Year for the state of Washington. I mention this because I was pulled over last spring by that officer for allegedly running a stop sign. When she saw the pot pipe I had in the ash tray, she asked me out of the car. When I drew down on her with my pistol she yelled “Gun!” into her dispatch mike, took evasive action, drew her weapon, and began firing. She blasted me. She was good. And, yes, this was police training in “routine” traffic stops. And, yes, we were using airsoft pistols, not real ones. Airsoft pistols fire plastic pellets which sting and can draw blood at 20 feet (I grazed an officer’s forehead at about that distance, drawing blood and bruising him, for which I felt bad, and so did he), but are not lethal. Good thing for me. Yes, we all wore eye protection. And yes, it was a real pot pipe -- not mine, but from the police archives of confiscated paraphernalia. I had never seen a pot pipe before. And I got shot over one. And it wasn’t even mine.
This training was in conjunction with VIPS, Volunteers In Police Service, a volunteer citizen’s group I joined which aids the police department in routine code enforcement not requiring a trained police officer. We do tasks such as delivering mail to the justice center (case information), vacation house checks, handicapped parking violations, ammunition inventory, and volunteering as role-players for police training. It’s quite rewarding, but at times stressful.
Helping with police training in “routine” traffic stops was stressful for me. The officers take their training very seriously. Even though the weapons may be airsoft pistols, the officers act as if they are real, because in the real world, they are real. So, we’re training the officers to save their lives. The training is so realistic that all weapons are removed from the officers’ cars (they use their assigned police cars for training) so that no serious accidents occur. Even flashlights are removed because they can be used as clubs. It’s stressful to be pulled over by an officer – even more stressful to try to pull a gun on an officer. They fight back. And they’re good.
One officer was a defensive tactics instructor (hand-to-hand combat), so he stood close to the door when he asked me out of the car. I thought this might get a little physical, but I wanted to challenge the officer. If I left the gun in the car, it would be too easy for him. So, I sneaked the gun out as I exited the car. I was looking at his stomach about a foot away and thinking “I don’t want to shoot this guy” when wham! I hit the car door, my helmet went flying, my glasses went flying, I hit the pavement, my finger hurt, the gun was gone – all in about half a second! The evaluator immediately interceded, asked if I was alright, and got me out of there.
That was more physical than we wanted to get, especially on pavement in close proximity to metal doors, etc, but I wanted to challenge the officer, and I did. He said I almost got him. I didn’t want to. And I got hurt a little bit. Bad guys get hurt. Don’t be a bad guy. Besides other bruises and abrasions, I sustained a little nerve bruise in my trigger finger, but the numbness dissipated after about three weeks. Brad Weller, I could have used you, buddy! I needed a martial arts stunt double!
It took me about three days to emotionally unwind after that first day of “routine” traffic stop training. I had bruises and abrasions on my legs and arms from chasing police around the cars, sliding in the gravel, falling down, and being cuffed. A woman who volunteered for SWAT practice where they use simunition showed us her arms, still pellet-bruised three weeks after the practice. Being a bad guy is brutal. But, as she said, “If this saves one officer’s life, it’s worth it.” It is?
I also volunteered for Hostage Negotiation Training. The scenario was not really a hostage situation but a distressed Iraq War returnee who was basically throwing a tantrum over financial problems, PTSD, suspicion of his wife having an affair during his tour, etc. I played the son. The negotiators called us from elsewhere in the police station, and we answered on one of the officers’ phones. We were told to be realistic and get into the parts. The man playing “Dad” was a Viet Nam War vet, so he associated with the role. “Mom” had already called the police to complain about “Dad”, so when the negotiations began, the negotiators were outside the “house” with the SWAT team.
When the negotiators called, “Mom” did a great job of sobbing on the phone, I defended “Dad” and told her to hang up the phone and get rid of those guys, and “Dad” finally got irate and told her to “Get rid of those *** *** guys and hang up the *** *** phone!” A sergeant, unaware of what we were doing, overheard the conversation and came storming in saying, “This kind of behavior is not going to be tolerated in this station!” Fortunately, the officer conducting the training was there to intercede and calm him down. Even at that, it took a minute or two for him to settle down and decide maybe this was alright, under the circumstances. But, I don’t think he really liked it. So, we almost got thrown out of the police station!
The negotiators would call us, we’d talk to them, they would try to convince us to come out of the “house”, then we’d come up with an excuse to hang up on them. They would strategize and then call us, again. After about an hour and a half of this, “Dad” finally told them that this was enough, that he was tired of them calling him, he didn’t want to speak with them further, and that he just wanted them to go away and leave him alone. The phone was silent, and then clicked off. We all looked at each other with that “Uh-oh” look. About twenty seconds later the phone rang again. A lady’s voice on the other end asked, “Is Officer Bricker there? This is his wife. Who am I talking to?” We had just told Officer Bricker’s wife that we were tired of her calling us, we didn’t want to be bothered by her any more, and that we just wanted her to go away and leave us alone! We had forgotten that the phone had an outside connection and anyone could be calling on it.
That’s a glimpse of some of my life. It’s been fun and continues to be so. I’m not ready to retire, yet. Besides, I’m in a race with a friend of mine – you know, “the guy that has the most when he dies wins”. So, I can’t retire, I have to keep working on my net worth! Toward that goal investing has been an enjoyable and profitable pursuit. The last five years have been good ones and I’ve made significantly more in my investments than in my job. So, can I retire? Probably. Do I want to? No.
About the 30 children mentioned above, consider:
Let x = 1
Then x2 = 1
x2 – 1 = 0
(x+1) (x-1) = 0 (factor the left side)
(x+1) = 0 (divide both sides by (x-1)
1+1 = 0 (substitution, x = 1 by assumption)
2 = 0
30 = 2 x 15 = 0 x 15 = 0
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Gary Paine
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Occupation: Database Stuff) Marital Status: Married No. of Children: 2 From Gary: Thank you for letting me take part in your reunion parties, and letting me be an honorary West Valley alum. Special thanks to Gay and Rick and Doug. I promised Gay I would add my bio, so here it is. If you go to the Eisenhower reunion web-site, Revised Reveille, page 6, there is a picture of my family. (http://ikeclassof67.myevent.com/) Paine Family Update (Phinney Ridge – Seattle) Gary (Same age as all you guys) - I still dabble in computers - I had a stroke eight years ago (one week after my 50th birthday), which turned my life upside down. Everything came back except balance, so I walk with a cane and tip over easily. - I sing songs at several kindergartens and pre-schools, and lead singalongs here and there. (google paine singalong) Chardell (age 56) - is the events coordinator at our neighborhood center. (Phinney Neighborhood Center). - has gotten into yoga big time Emily (age 22) - graduated in May from UPS (Tacoma) in math - lives at home this summer and is working at Seattle’s underground tour - plans to go to graduate school in philosophy. Alyson (age 20) - will be a junior at USF (San Francisco) next fall - stayed in San Francisco this summer and is working in an office down there - has been visited by her parents who love being tourists in San Francisco
I look forward to seeing everyone. Send This Person a Message
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