Steve Schachle:  

Moved to Dallas after graduation, in October, 1976 to attend a vocational travel school that was run by Braniff Airlines. Graduated with a certificate, then knocked on a lot of doors and obtained my first travel agency job in Feb, 1977. I worked the next 5 years for several different travel agencies (each time being hired away for more money, so my meager beginning income started to increase thank goodness). My job was planning everyday business travel for different corporate employees and other individuals. After 5 years of doing corporate travel, I ended up at a travel agency that had a group department. So at that time I began planning meetings, conventions and sales incentive reward trips for various companies, to destinations within the US, Canada, Mexico and the rest of the world. I have had the great opportunity to work-in and visit 48 countries on 6 of the 7 continents (haven't made it to Antarctica yet, but I sure would like to ... wouldn't mind having my ashes flown down there to be sprinkled, so that I could keep the penguins company). I have also been on over 30 cruises within the Caribbean, the western coast of Mexico, Alaska, northern Europe, the western Mediterranean, the eastern Mediterranean (Greek Islands/Turkey), the French Riviera and the Italian Riviera. When approaching my 62nd birthday, I decided that if I could afford to live on a smaller monthly amount, that I would take early retirement. Just didn't feel that I had another 4 and-a-half years in me (my full retirement age now being 66 and one-half years). I did a retirement budget, decided I could make it work if I lived conservatively, so November 30, 2019 was my last day of work. I decided that at this stage in my life, and as uncertain as the world is today, time was more important to me than more money. Also by that time I had been working 47 years straight, having started at age 15, working at the new Mr. D's IGA that was out on the bypass near the zoo. I then worked for Boogaarts, then Jerry's Place (the old Taste Freeze franchise on N Washington), a summer as the projectionist at the GB Drive-In and finally my Senior year at Sears, first delivering appliances, and then in the hardware, paint and toy departments (they all fell under the same responsibility of the position). I remember that Pong had just come out and we had a demo TV set up in the toy department and the bloop, bloop, bloop noise drove me crazy, listening to it all day. But we were totally fascinated by it. Imagine, playing a game on your TV lol. When I first moved to Dallas and was going to the vocational travel school, Braniff Education Systems, Inc. (acronym: BESI), I was also working 2 jobs to afford to live in the city and have my own apartment. My primary job was at the huge Sears complex on the southeastern side of downtown Dallas. There was a 2-story retail store, and then the majority of the complex was an enourmous regional catalo...Expand for more