Michael Griffin:
CLASS OF 1964
Radford High SchoolClass of 1964
Honolulu, HI
Sonoma State UniversityClass of 1978
Rohnert park, CA
Victor Valley High SchoolClass of 1964
Victorville, CA
Victor Valley High SchoolClass of 1964
Victorville, CA
Aliamanu Intermediate SchoolClass of 1960
Honolulu, HI
Michael's Story
Aloha,
I only attended Radford for my Freshman and Sophmore years, but remember it sort of fondly (I was young, a moderately good surfer, poor student enroute to a life of adventure, so all was pretty good.) I was an Air Force brat, another haole kid from Hickam.
My Dad got transfered to Victorville in the Mojave Desert in mid-1962. Since I couldn't surf there I invented the skateboard and started the craze (but of course I wasn't smart enough to cash in on it). Got into a rock-and-roll surf band, and played in the Desert and occasionally Las Vegas for a couple years while I finished high school and a couple of rather inebriated years of community college (Math major) before I let myself get back to Hawaii to surf, and try my luck at making a living working for Aloha Airlines. 1966, and the draft was hot on my heels, so I enlisted for 4 years in the Army Security Agency (electronic intelligence), and yep, had to serve a year in Viet Nam after going to Military Language School (French) in Monterey CA, and advanced training at Ft. Devens MA. While at Devens I met and married a lovely 17 year-old red-haired gal from the Pocono Mountains in PA. While I was in "the Nam" we had a baby boy, Mike Jr. born at Tripler Army hospital in Honolulu.
Coming back from war I was sent to work at the NSA in Maryland to finish out my time in the Army. While there I read "Walden Two" a transcendent book by B.F. Skinner which sort of made me flip to the other side and I became a Socialist and something of a hippie. We had our second son, Bill, while I was still in the Army.
After my discharge we went back to Hawaii where we seperated, mostly due to my new Socialist/Utopist leanings which my wife could not relate to. My wife went back to PA, I stayed in Hawaii working as a carpenter and going to school nights at U of H (Psychology). I started a commune, then went on my 6-month "hippie-trip" all across the US, a bit of Quebec and back to Hawaii where I decided to become a playboy while living at the foot of Diamond Head on the water. Eventually I fell in love with a rather crazy woman from the Napa Valley and moved there to be close to her. While living in Calistoga I started a food co-op, then moved over the mountain to Santa Rosa.
I finished my BA in Humanistic Psychology, then studied Organizational Development (whatever that is) for 2 years while I tried my hand at being General Building contractor. No luck there so I then moved around California working as a construction supervisor for a couple of years before going back to Hawaii to help with the recovery from Hurricane Ewa on Kauai for several months. After that I worked at Pearl Harbor for a year as a carpenter until one morning I looked in the mirror and decided that I could not steal the tax-payers money any longer. I sold my house in Haleiwa and moved to Nevada City Ca.
I bought an old house in the best part of the historic old Gold-rush town and spent a year trying to re-build it (I couldn't finish it because of some bogus Federal tax-lien that kept me from getting a loan to finish the work). I sold that house and flew to England to explore a possible future with an English woman who live in Nottingham. Seeing that as a dead-end I the went to Germany, bought a nice VW camper and toured Western Europe for 6 months before selling the car and taking a train to Greece, tramp-steamer to Haifa Israel, and then spent a little time on a resort Kibbutz (one night, actually, but that is another story). Four amazing weeks in Israel then flew down to Brisbane Australia through Singapore....Expand for more
I spent 6 months in Eastern Australia including 2 months working as a "consultant" in Sydney where I fell in love with a rather wonderful American woman, Janell Ahlers from Cincinnati. Torrid affair, bouncy car, lots of beer, and fun until my visa and money ran out. Off to New Zealand for 2 weeks, then Fiji for 2 more weeks and an extra day because of a military coup there (the 1st of several since). Back in Hawaii seeing family and getting a job renovating a big house a couple of doors down from Tom Selleck at Black Point. Job finished, no other enticing work available I went back to Southern California where I managed a youth hostel in San Clemente before getting a good job (for 4 years at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego); (and getting back together with Janelle).
During the last 2 years of the good job I bought a 30 foot sloop, fixed it up a bit and moved onto it when my relationship with Janell went on the rocks. When Desert Storm came along most of the Marines left town and my job ended in 1991. I then got my Coast Guard captain's license, got a larger sloop (36 ft.) and started a small charter-sailing business, living aboard and running it as a nickel and dime operation for 4 years supplemented by driving a Super Shuttle in winters. While in San Diego I got into Country & Western dancing, and bought my 3rd sloop (36 ft.)
In 1996 I decided to go work on crewboats and tugboats for Tidewater Marine out of New Orleans, partially to keep from going broke, and partially to meet my younger son, Bill, who was living there. We met, became sort of amigos, and did Mardi Gras together during my leaves from working out in the Gulf of Mexico on tugs in the oil-service business. During the Summer I took a leave from the tug-work and drove a "DUCK" (WWII landing craft) in Hot Springs, Arkansas...beautiful place. I also got to explore the South and a bit of the Caribbean during my time off from the tugs. After Hot Springs, I worked awhile longer in the tugs then headed back to San Diego where I became a certified Building Inspector and worked around California until Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai.
I flew back to Hawaii and got a job as an estimator for a Honolulu construction company that did very poor work. I lasted 2 months then had to quit through conscience. Back in Honolulu I bought my 4th sloop (39 ft.) and lived on it and fixed it up for a year while waiting for good possible jog on Oahu, I finally hung up my surfboard, sold my boat and took a good offer from a construction services agency to work in West Sacramento CA.
In 2002 I returned to Southern California and took a job as a Code Enforcement Officer for San Diego County. That job lasted a year until I wrote a 10 page program to stream-line/improve the Code Enforcement process, and the (woman) director of the department did not appreciate my concern. Since then I've worked a building inspector for several agencies in California, Norfolk Va, (2005 to 2006), and Hawaii (2006 to 2013 during which I boat an older 35 ft. sloop and refurbished it and sailed it almost every weekend with a great bunch of folks). I recently (6/2013) moved to the Long Beach area of CA working as a contract building inspector for the City of Bellflower, awaiting my next sailboat and life-direction. Since 2002 I've been playing and writing Irish/Celtic music in pubs and with friends and hope to continue that, motorcycling and sailing for another 50 years. I'm also writing a book, "Let's stop being Stupid", (and looking for contributors).
So far it's been at least interesting...
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