Steve Noyes:
CLASS OF 1972
Los Alamos High SchoolClass of 1972
Los alamos, NM
Steve's Story
So I'm looking at the Story thing and it says says "Who are you really, Steve?" And it has this "Story Wizard." (Earlier visitors may remember my thoughts about that.)
But still... What the heck do I say to all of you? Gad. I hadn't thought about that. So... From the "Story Wizard":
"How do you hope old friends remember you?" I'll be surprised if very many remember me at all.
"I always wanted to be..." Well, I did NOT want to be a computer programmer, that's for certain. No WAY! So of course that's what I am... 27 years in IT and counting... ;-P *** Finally retired at 60! ***
"How you blow off steam": Easy enough. The guitar or car still rule. Woodwork if I've got more time and am more patient. Really bad days, late at night, it's still the Moody Blues.
"Heros:" I really have to hand it to teachers. That's a job I just can't do. I know because I teach computers & systems sometimes, and after a week I'm bonkers! It takes SO much patience! Gad! Not for me... Sorry.
"Who I'd most like to see:" Oh come on, anybody could guess that one.
"Obsessions:" Hmmm... I've grown into an obsession about seeing to it that things I care about are done properly, I'll admit that. I'm anal in the worst degree. The good news is that (pick your order) there aren't very many things I care strongly about; and Valerie cares about the same ones I do.
"If I could improve my home" (and do what I really want to) I'd move it out of Nevada! This state is WEIRD!
"Parent?" Yes. "Learned?" What my Dad was trying to do way back when. He didn't pull it off, but at least I know what he was trying to do. Poor Horace. Seriously. He never had a chance. It's like us parents today, trying to really grasp the fullness of social networking and the online gaming thing. We try... But c'mon... are you there? Kids can circle us at warp speed - at 10 years old. Sheesh!
"Teacher I'd love to see again:"
Mr Nelson. 6th grade - Pajarito Elementary School. (Surprised?) Tough as NAILS, but probably taught me more than any other single teacher. Sure as hell woke me up. (Not an easy thing to do.) After that? Mr. Meaders - Math - LAHS. Remember him? He managed to get it all to make sense, somehow.
"If I won $100Mil?" My wife would buy 1/2 a state somewhere, and we'd setup an animal rescue center much like Best Friends (see the .com). After that...? I'd have to ponder a while.
"Greek?" (Frat) Nope. Not into joining things. Too much of a loner. Well. No. That's not it. I don't trust people. That's what makes me a loner, and why I'd never go greek or anything else.
"To be truly happy, you would be where, doing what, with whom?" This is a good one. (I'd like to read replies to this one from lots of people.) [And some time later, now, I might add that I haven't yet read a reply to this. C'mon!] My reply: This house, with my wife, in New Zealand. And some horses, to ride out and check on the critters we're watching over. (Ok - I'm a Hobbit with a critter garden. Sue me. :-D) I'd LOVE it. (I'd also take Colorado, if I could afford it. [How many people put Colorado Rockies as a 2nd choice?!?])
"Working hard?" Hmmm... Like a lot of people, I bust my butt. I don't think there are too many (less than middle 6-figure) jobs that are coasters anymore. But I'll admit, I'm surprised at how hard it is to work in the justice system. So yeah, I earn my keep.
"What happened to my first crush?" She's teaching at Ole Miss! She doesn't know it, but I'm way proud of her. Admirable lady.
"Best friends." Oh here's a tough one.
I'm afraid I haven't been such a good friend thru the years. I owe lots of people apologies. But I've also found that often, when I mention something, and try to explain, it turns out they had completely forgotten it, and all I did was remind them of something better left alone. (Let sleeping dogs lie. If you try to step over one, he may wake up and bite you in the ...) But yeah - I have regrets.
In general, if you're in here? And I owe you? You know who you are. And I'm sorry, you know? Going further into it probably isn't worth the cost to either of us. (If you disagree, send me a message...)
"Dress / Style": I like this one. It took me a LONG time to grow up. It took me a long time to learn who I am, and even longer still to live with it. But once I did? Things got easier.
I'm certainly not the 3-piece suit kinda guy. Trying to fit into that world was all kinds of ugly... So - dress the same? Yeah, pretty much. I'm a cowboy. Don't have the horses (:-() but can't ignore the attitude. So here we go: I have 6 shirts, 4 pants, 1 pair boots, and 1 pair sneakers. That's my wardrobe, and I'm Ok with it. (And I won't mention that my wife is Ok with it as well - having the other 89% of the closet... Nope - never said that. Bless her heart, I don't mind. And that's the truth. No, really. I wouldn't use it if I was alone. How many guys can say their wife has an acre of shoes - and they really don't need the space anyway? Well, yeah, most of us, if we got honest I suppose...) I digress...
Weirdest job? Oh that's easy. Roustabout in oil field country. That means you show up at ~ 3am to see if you get picked to work that day, and then you bust ass for ~ 18 hours. During that time people tell you to "get that thang," which turns out to be a wellhead "cap" that weighs a little more than Mom's car... (and I couldn't BUDGE it...) and then this guy shakes his head as he's walking over, disgusted... and picks it up WITH ONE HAND... and tosses it into the back of the truck. Oh yeah... learning experience. (Note to self... Sheeesh! Out of my league...)
"Share my home:" with Val and 4 dogs. Used to be 6 dogs, and the runt cat Tiger. Poor Bonnie had a stroke before we even got to know her. (She was a rescue ~ 12+ yrs old. We only had her ~ 6 months.) And I...Expand for more
miss Maxx. (He's asleep. See the pictures) But I love Coco, a new rescue. Have to find a photo of him... (Update: Found a photo - is in the photo album.) Anyway... We have this cat... She's a runt. "Tiger" is her name, of course. 15 years old May 2009. She weighs maybe 6 lbs, no kidding. Has all the dogs cowed. I could tell you stories of how she traveled across the country from PA to NV... Ha! But she is SUCH a pain! Deaf as a stump. Fearless. OWNS the house. She'll outlive us all - we're sure of it. Even Coco won't touch her...
Update: 1/28/2010: Tiger has passed, as has Pepper. Lady is not doing well, (kidneys), but we have a new guy named Julio (16+) who's doing GREAT! It's a real mix-up, but that's us...
Update: 12/5/10: Lady passed, as has Julio. (See CAPS.ORG) Coco's kidney's failed suddenly, and he passed suddenly. Then Tasha; kidneys as well. (Kidneys are common for "senior" dogs.) Then we got a pair that needed a home: Clayton and Snoop. Clayton passed 5 months later - colon cancer. Snoop is only 4, and was mourning so much we got another: Woofie. She's a Belgian Shepard cross and just beautiful. And we just learned she has lymphoma and maybe a month to go. Damn... But at least she got to have a home before the end. I guess that's what we're all about.
Update: 7/7/2011: Woofie passed just over a month later. Only a few days after that we were contacted about an elderly couple who had to do something with their dogs, so we welcomed Pete & Princess. Then, a few weeks ago, our tenants found a lost pup we've decided to call Rocky (after the movies) because he's such a tussling kinda guy... And so it goes...
"Trophies?" Nope. Have the family crest. First son Christopher has, on his own, gotten interested in geneology. Taught me some things. Proud to pass on to him. He's a good guy. And "little brother" Ryan as well. (He's 6'8". And he'll never understand it, but I couldn't be prouder of him too.) Good guys, both of them. And step daughter Shanna specializes in elderly care; and step son Matt sells real estate and makes more than Val & I together. (Gad.) Very proud "Pops," if you follow... Certain it happened in spite of me. Even better, the world will be a better place because of them - I'm certain of that. They have - a personal integrity. You know? They'll see to it - all of them. Very proud of them all.
"One do-over?" A Mulligan? (Golf term) One? Talk about a Geenie in a bottle. If it were true I'd have to really think about it. Not much I would change really. Lots of pain along the way - but things have turned out better than I could have hoped in almost all cases. Even the most painful things have had their up-side. Not sure I'd be willing to mess with that. Only one thing I truly regret out of everything in my life, and that one I can't fix.
"In 10 years I hope to be?" Alive. Never thought I'd make 30. Now I'd like to make 60 - then 65. I promised Valerie more than that... Hope I can deliver.
"Oldest friend?" Can't recall. There's a lot I don't remember. (The 70's cost me a lot...) There are some very dear friends that I remember fondly. I'm almost afraid to talk to them though. Been so long... So much dirty water under the bridge... Don't know where to start. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" has a special meaning for me in this regard. Should they come in here and read this? I miss you. Wish I could make it right.
"My first job was..." Oh hell - do you think I know? No way. But I do remember working LA County Roads & Streets with several other guys from the Basketball team during the summer of '71 (?) [It was a conspiracy, I'm certain of it. The parents, coach, and whoever - all got together. Too many of us together in one place, having to depend on each other. C'mon - you know it's true.] It was - educational. I learned a lot - about them, and me, and asphalt, and cement, and the freaking SUN and HEAT and being TIRED and how no one cared because not only us but the guys who worked there everyday - we ALL had to get to the END of the damn bit of road we were paving, or the sidewalk we were replacing... And none of it had to do with basketball... or horses... or cars... or anything I cared about. But it was "real life" in a way that was impossible to ignore. In all, looking back, I'm very thankful for the experience.
That summer hit my mind hard - which might explain my attitude during my senior year... And... Yeah. I think of those lessons often, even now. How scary is that? (Hey - Nevada paves a LOT of highway every year, and we drive 130 miles a day, to work and back - no groceries, gas, nothing - so it's like 32K miles a year. Yeah, I have reason to think about the highway, or "Roads & Streets.") So, yeah, I think of you, many of you, more than you might expect.
Last question: "A childhood memory I'll never forget?" Oh my. This is not an easy one. There are several memories I'll never forget. But "Collecting for the New Mexican," is what I said when she opened the door. I was pretty new to Pajarito Acres, and the new "paperboy" (back when they still had those). Well... that was the first time I knew for certain where she lived. (She answered the door.) That's a realization - and excitement - I'll never forget. Not for as long as I live.
You know? The things I remember... are all about people who mean so much to me, and have had such a huge impact in my life. You still do. All of you. HUGE impact in my life - even though you probably don't know it. Maybe that's why I'm here now, I don't know. But I do know I owe a lot of people Kudos for their impact in my life. Especially a certain tenor sax player who has probably forgotten I even knew that.
So Ok.
You know I'm not good at this - and certainly not graceful...
But... Thank you.
Really.
I wouldn't be me without you.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos
Register for Free to view all photos!