A Personal Note: 40 Years Ago Today.

Not to get all Sgt. Pepper's X 2 on you, but 40 years ago today I left the Pacific Northwest for the first time, after processing through Ft. Lewis on my way out of the service, after finishing a year and a half of service in Vietnam.

I was just a month shy of enrolling in college for the first time and also my 21st birthday. (The pic on the left is my Northwest Orient ticket holder for my flight home from Seattle --notice that as a parting shot the military provided only a standby ticket for those leaving the service. I found the ticket in my Army uniform jacket pocket where it has been for all of these years).

I really remember just two things about being in the Northwest for the first time. First, it took two days to get through all the paperwork to get out of the service (that should have reminded me of the slowness of government). Second, it was gloomy as hell and rained almost constantly for the the two days I was in Ft. Lewis. Even going back home to the snow in Detroit (of all places) I wondered "Who in the hell would want to live here?".

Well, 40 years (and unfortunately 40 lbs) later, there are two decisions I made that I never regretted.

1. Talking my first job offer from HUD a few years later.
2. Coming west to Portland in 1980.