Jeff Lester:  

After too many years and losing touch with too many friends in too many places, I decided to reconnect with the folks I knew in my pre-career years. I guess the event that started me feeling this way was a reunion with a college buddy of mine last summer. Scott is, and was, a great friend. We only spent an afternoon and evening reminiscing, but we shared a bunch of laughs about some of the silly and stupid stuff that happened to us in college. What was really nice was to be reminded of some stuff I had long forgotten. Scott, thanks for reminding me of Scotty K. and his crazy ways. I'm hoping the high school and college friends I find on Classmates.com will be as helpful in jump-starting my memory banks. Some memories from those formative years that stick in my mind are: 1. High school. The last day of HS. My car wouldn't start before we left after lunch. But while visiting Ms. Turner, she loaned me her MG, so I could run and collect the tools necessary to get my car running again. She was always a super lady. 2. High school. I don't remember which summer it occurred, but Driver's Ed in the HS gravel parking lot was a hoot. The Chevy Monte Carlos had brake pedals on the passenger side... two students per car. The Driver's Ed instructor stood in the parking lot like a traffic controller. I remember stepping on the passenger brake a few inopportune times (on purpose of course... hahahaha), which made the student driver appear spastic. Looking back I'm sure the instructor knew EXACTLY who the spastic one was :) 3. High school. That same Driver's Ed course had the instructor in the front passenger seat. The second student was in the back seat. The drill was called (as I remember) "controlled skidding". We were instructed to accelerate to about 50 mph on the paved road adjacent to the HS football field visitor stands. When the instructor signalled, the student driver was to lock the brakes and come to a stop. Everything went well until I was going home that day. I had a friend in the car on a dirt road a short distance from the house. I learned about the effects of road crown on the trajectory of a skidding vehicle that day... into the ditch I went. I can't remember if he ever road with me again... 4. High school. Something we don't see today... hunter safety being taught in HS. Coach ??? gave us a life lesson in loaded firearms. His young son and he were in his truck. His son reached for the gun in the rifle rack, and to his surprise, found out what happens when you pull the trigger on a loaded gun. Coach said he coul...Expand for more