Jerry Copeland:
CLASS OF 1961
Santa Maria High SchoolClass of 1961
Santa maria, CA
Jerry's Story
Wow. 1961 was so long ago. I am surprised that I am still here. There were a few times where I missed the snag of death but that is another story for another day. After SMJUHS I went over to AHC and got an AA. Transferred down to UCSB. Ran with it for a couple of years. Got started on my 3rd year but forgot to preregister and it all came unglued. So I dropped out. Returned to my parents home, worked for part of a year and transferred to Humboldt State College in Arcata, where I should have gone to begin with!! Made the credits to qualify for graduation and returned to my parents home. My degreee was in the major of Botany. Found a job in Santa Barbara working for a professional orchid grower. Worked 3 years. Was offered a job by my dad who was expecting my brother who was in The Nam as an artillery specialist to get an early out so he could help my dad who had been injured in a head-on auto collision in Colorado, yes I was in the front passenger seat, which resulted in the death of the man who ran into us, Have no idea what the problem was but my brother did not get out as soon as was needed, I guess-I was totally in the dark in this matter. So I got his job instead and began working on an L4000 Burroughs computer. This baby was a desk with a paper punch and a card reader. I even learned machine language and assembler language so I could program it. Worked a lot ofte...Expand for more
n 6-7 days a weeks as was necessary to meet job deadlines. Real drag. Hated it. But my dad was becoming paralyzed and had a tumor on his spine. Even got an operation to remove it up at Stanford by one of the best specialists in the country but the injury to the spine was just too much and he remained paralyzed from the belly button downward for the rest of his life. No way i would walk out on him despite my unhappiness with how things were going and how I felt devalued in the process. Nonetheless I persevered, met some nice and interesting people along the path of my life, discovered cats as source of support and writing as an outlet of creativity. Self published a geek zine for about 3 years or so, at first monthly then quarterly as time and money became less available. Bought my home back in 76 and have survived the work and often rather bizarre events at the hands of others during these past 37 years. But discovered the YouTube community of geeks and have found substenance in the community as I participate.
It has been an interesting trek but I find delight in the oposums and racoons that visit me often nightly as well as in the birds and insects which find shelter and food in my yards, and of course in the cats which I have taken into my home, for their own protection. While I do not like how the city has changed yet it is of no consequence as life must go on.
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