James James Stepp:
CLASS OF 1973
Elko High SchoolClass of 1973
Elko, NV
James's Story
After High School I bought a place here in Elko,the economy wasn't working in my favor,ended up selling the home. I found out I'm Diabetic. At one job,I ended up with walking pneumonia,lost that job. I moved to Reno,and did a bunch of different kinds of work there,from unloading trucks to managing an RV park. Acquired a common law wife and about half dozen cats;moved back to Elko,bought a 5th wheel RV and a pick up to tow it with and worked doing tires and the parts counter at Western Auto,moved back to Reno,worked for Sears Automotive training installers for 4 years. I sold my Harley to finance a job transfer to Sears Auto,Boise,Idaho but the job fell through. I should have stayed in Reno and kept the Harley. Worked at a variety of jobs in the Boise area,but kept getting sick and losing jobs,and finally figured out my Diabetes was why I was losing jobs,and applied for Disability. About then Dad developed some serious health problems and I split with my now ex,and her cats after 13 years,so I moved back to Elko. Way too soon my parents were both gone,and I bought the family home. My Sister Ann had some hard luck and had to leave her apartment so I let her move in here. Since then I've been diagnosed with BRITTLE Diabetes,Asthma and Emphysema,had a broken ankle and caught pneumonia,again. While in the hospital with pneumonia My Dr. told me I need to "Clean out my house if I want to live there,so,with Ann 's help,(She did all the legwork while I was in the hospital) I re-financed the house,bought $8,000.00 worth of materials and found someone to remodel the house,with a mind towards breathing problems. (I could probably do most of this work myself,but I really want it to look GOOD when it's done.) I also arranged to finally replace my missing Harley I bought a '79 FLH in Midvale,Utah,by phone,from an ad I saw on KSL.com. as soon as I got out of the hospital,my neighbor drove me over to Midvale and we brought my new old bike home. It wasn't until I went to load it onto the trailer,the owner remembered to tell me it's a stroker.instead of an 80 cubic inch engine,its 93. (And I can tell from how it pulls!!) It's needed a lot of small stuff done,(like rebuilding the starter,installing a kick starter,replacing the whole clutch with heavy duty components,rewiring a lot of the accessories and replacing a lot of gaskets and sea...Expand for more
ls.) but it's a good strong bike,I like it more every time I ride it. It's definitely a bargain! Meanwhile,the kid who was remodeling the house got about 20% of it done and quit showing up,so that's been on hold. I have another craftsman lined up to finish the job,on his days off from his mine job. When he can work on it. All in all,I think things are going well now,I'm happy. I'll be even happier when the roads thaw enough for me to get the Harley out to the street so I can ride.
Update from 02-06-2012 Ann passed away from a "subdural hematoma" on this date. It's amazing how much her presence added to the household,and how much she's missed now. It's so quiet around here now. She had a knack for caring for the cats,they're a little lost without her. I guess we all are. But I'm finally getting used to doing the book keeping,I can cook passably,I'm working on getting the house back in order,and the cats are all okay with me now,so we're getting through this. I'm even getting relatively good at the medical stuff they need;one has a sinus/respiratory infection,one has a cat abscess on his head,one has an eye irritation that seems to be getting better on its own.
Ann had a life insurance policy,and had requested that I get a RELIABLE Harley with part of it,so I sold my '79 to my bro Mike Brown's son in law and bought a '98 Heritage Softail Classic. It's a great bike,but it'll take some getting used to. Ann would have liked it.
My dog,Pooh (my ex chose the name),who I've had for 15 years, developed heart trouble and as soon as I had the money I took her to Aspen Veterinary Clinic,but she died on the way out there. That was on April 11th,this year. But at least she wasn't in pain,and she died riding in the truck with me,one of her favorite places to be. I believe Mom,Dad and Ann met her at the Gates. This same day,one of the cats I've had the longest disappeared. He's run off before but always came back after 2 or 3 days. Still no sign of him. Was it just coincidence he left the day Pooh died? I don't think so-they were pretty close-they were even the same colors,and they kind of looked after each other.
This probably hasn't been my best year,but I'll get through it okay.
SO-enough of the boring details. Anyone who remembers me from Elko High probably wouldn't recognize me now. Well-MAYBE Jeff Baker would....
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