Bill Whittaker:
CLASS OF 1973
El Dorado High SchoolClass of 1973
Placentia, CA
Bill's Story
My Fellow Classmates & Community,
Here's a slice of what my life looks like today: The majority of my adult life, I have been (past tense) a hands on licensed general contractor doing design/build/remodeling. Very gratifying, and it gave me the opportunities to use my creativity, and actually get paid! (instead of being a starving musician/starving artist as I had considered in high school) Then, after I got burned out on sub-contractors while working in Vancouver, Wa '95, I became a residential realtor for many years... It also allowed my to play with houses, and put my home design/build experience to work in helping people either find the right place, or accentuate the qualities that help it sell. I loved it too, and may get back into it should the market situation change, or building if an interesting project present itself??? .
Forgive me for jumping round a bit....
Because of my love for all things home, I've always lived in very cool places. IE:
Gorgeous Log Cabin/ex trappers lodge in mountains of Big Bear, CA summer '73
Farmhouse on 365 acres in Texas Panhandle w/nearest neighbors 1 mile away. No phone/TV by choice, just sky, earth, wind, and some incredibly quiet, peaceful best times of my life. '75-'77
Came back from Texas, and was married w/i 1 year. (dumb ass move) LOL
She and I fixed up our first house in Chino Hills, sold it 1 1/2 yr later, and moved north to the Sierra Foothill community of Paradise, CA. Fixed up an English Country Cottage style home on ½ ac. W/stream straight out of a Kinkade painting. It rocked! '81-'83
I designed and built our Victorian style farmhouse on a view parcel totaling 10 ac down in a little valley. '83-'88
D I V O R C E D in '88 whew...
More recently, I owned a home wrapped on two sides by a beautiful park/greenbelt in Sacramento area. I designed, and installed my music studio, 5 home theater systems, and my outdoor kitchen. Remodeled the regular kitchen too. It already had pool/spa and acres of trees/grass around for play/privacy. IT WAS WAY FUN, but... Market went to hell/mortgage became double the homes value. (where have you heard this story before?) nuf said eh? '02-'08
I moved to the family's place in So. Cal (Canyon Lake) to lick my financial wounds, help my 77 Y.O. Ma, and figure out what's the next phase???
End of '09 I ended up traveling. I went to Vicksburg, MS for 3 months to hang out w/a buddy I met via ebay of all places...Expand for more
. (go figure) It's absolutely beautiful there w/nice friendly southern folks. We prepped his home in the woods for sale. It was TOTALLY thrashed, and now it looks great again! Got an acceptable offer on it w/i 2 weeks of placing it in a local realtor's hands, so I accomplished my goal. While there, I saw some Civil War sites, loved me some local architecture, and experienced the local culture & foods.
NEXT!
Finally, as of the typing of this on 2/7/10, I'm now holed up (grin) in yet another beautiful spot.
(and I do mean BEAUTIFUL)
It's in "the Hill Country" outside Austin, TX.
(yep, I'm back in Texas y'all!)
A really unique, totally custom apartment type thing above a large garage/workshop. (in pics) I call it The Treehouse, cause it's situated where three sides are literally surrounded by them, and at treetop height. I can see forever from here. I'm now the part-time caretaker/handyman/painter/etc for this 33 acres perched on a plateau/cliff above the Pedernales River, and the cool custom home/apartment that sit on the grounds here. The owner/full time artist has a wonderful collection, plus is of course creating more pieces all the time. Loy's of eclectic music floating around most times, plus total peace & quiet. If I continue to like where I am/what I'm doing, and she likes me, I'll stay a spell... A lot depends on if I find my niche, and some dang friends to play music with etc. I had researched Austin for several years, and wanted to explore it, but this is my first stab at living here. So far, I Love It! One reason for being in Austin is that I¿ve been goin crazy with playing music as of late. Unfortunately, I badly injured my left hand/cut parts of my fingers off in `85 while building my own kitchen cabinets. (ouch) I didn't play guitar again until '04, when I discovered I could still play bass w/the three fingers my XLNT surgeon had put back on. YIPPEE I never knew drums/percussion were one of my skills, to whatever degree they are, but they¿re now an indelible part of my life as well. (assuming the photo¿s weren¿t a dead giveaway for that.) Glad to be "back in the musical saddle" so to speak, and I hope I can find some local homies to jam with here in Music City/the other Nashville! (grin)
OK folks, that's a synopsis of my life since high school for any who may (or more likely may not) be interested... :-)
I hope your life is full of goodness.
Will (Bill) W Whittaker
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