1975 ........
I was stationed in Ramstein Germany. An A1C in the USAF and a member of the 86th Munitions Maintenance Squadron. I worked with explosives of all types generally associated with the Air Force. It was like a regular job only wilder. Most every night was a party for this 20 y/o. I lived in an apartment with two other guys. Plenty of beer, wine and imported Turkish products kept us in an altered state of conciousness. Sometimes unconsiousness. Our apartment was right next door to a redneck club that had slot machines, hookers and a wide assortment of unsavory characters that provided just about anything that was saleable. We didn't have a lot of money but we sure had a ton of fun. We traveled around the country enjoying varied musical talents like America, Bachman Turner, Alice Cooper, Tina Turner, Focus, The Who. There were plenty of other guys just like me that lived in nearby villages and we'd jump from place to place, party to party. I was looking for a girl but most of them weren't lookin for me. I also spent time traveling around checking out castles, beautiful cities and rivers etc. Damn if I didn't find a club every place I went. We had limited TV programing. One TV station and one FM radio station that played blocks of different music. Country, Oldies with Wolfman Jack and The Top 40 Countdown with Kasey Kasem. I remember the fresh baked bread, cold cuts, cheese and deserts that were out of this world.
We were taking in left over stores of ammo from VietNam and Thailand as well as getting some of the troops from the front lines resettling in Europe. Now those guys were a truly wild bunch. Took them a little time to get their heads screwed on straight but eventually they did. The more distance in time they had away from the conflict the more they adjusted. It was one of the best times in my life. More like the best of times and the worst of times. The worst of times becuase I didn't have no damned girlfriend.
The year was 1975 ........

I was 8 years old, and recently moved into a different home. 93-34 214th Place, Queens Village New York.
It was a good time. Lots of fishing, bicycle riding, playing in empty refrigerator boxes etc.
Played steam in the schoolyard, and a bit of handball too.

What's steam?

It is a kinda baseball.
You draw a strike zone on a wall with chalk, and make lines on the pavement to represent a single, double, triple and a homer. Only takes 2 to play. A pitcher, and a batter.
Sounds a bit goofy, but we made our own fun.

Did you ever play halfball with a broomstick bat? I did ...

I was born on July 16th in a hospital that no longer exists. We lived on Pacific Coast Hwy in Hermosa Beach, CA, and shortly moved to north Redondo Beach, CA, cuz the Hermosa apt bldg was a non-child bldg. Needless to say, I don't remember this, but I know where the hospital was, and where the Hermosa and N. Redondo places area.

Wow Tommy! That is an amazing summary of 1975! Sounds like fun to me!

I was 11yrs old. I guess I did whatever 11 year olds did back then in a little country town in La. Ride bikes into town...fish...play little league baseball....but I seriously can't remember anything...not one vivid memory comes to mind...

Still waiting for a decade where I was alive.....



Matthew

The real world had taken over. I was 26, 9 mo's married, 2nd. year carpenter apprentice working on what was then going to be the world's tallest reinforced concrete building, and living in a 3rd.fl.1BR.apt. Pretty severe recession as I recall.

I left the USAF as a TSgt in '75, and wish I had stayed in.
That was also the year I joined the over 30 crowd and also the year I got a divorce, sold my business and took a year off from work. I bought a 240Z and beat the crap out of it.
I put 99,000 miles on that car, never tuned it up and might have changed the oil once or twice, then sold it for more than I paid for it. Lot of parties, girls, etc that year.

Am I the only 'old fart' on here??? Hang in there Matt, we will get to your generation sooner or later (so far mostly later).

6 years old...

Don't remember too much. The town I lived in (Sidmen, PA) did not have a Kindergarten, so I was entering first grade. Mrs. Streets was my teacher.

I hated riding the bus to school. The kids were really out of control, and I was quiet and shy.


I hated school for the same reason. That's about all I can recall.

In '75, I had just moved from Colorado back to the east coast (mistake).
I I got my first post college job desihning construction equipment for Ingersoll Rand.
Instead of drag racing, I was racing motorcycles which I did all thru college.

I was 17, and just graduated from High School. I was working at a gas station, and attending the University of Akron. I was driving my 72 Camaro, not really a hot rod, but it had a 307, headers, glass packs, advance kit, Cragars, air shocks, a spoiler and a motion stripe. It was a fun car.
I was working 35-40 hours a week and going to school, that didn't work out too well. Not to mention, spending more than a few hours in Kent at the bars there. I managed to see Led Zepplin at the Coliseum, (too far away from the stage, lousy sound, and I was lit up), and Lynrd Skynrd at KSU.
Fun times.

1975... quite the year.

I turned 10 in October, I was in 4th and then 5th grades.

In April of that year, my dad had a heart attack (he died 32 years ago yesterday). That summer, I went to FL with my brother, his wife and their daughter (my niece). They drove up and visited for a week or so, and then I rode down with them. I stayed for about 2 weeks and flew home. It was cool. It started my life long love of Central Florida. Paul had his print shop in downtown Lake Placid at the time (along with the companion office supply). He had only bought the place a year earlier. As an aside, he still has the print shop, sold the office supply back in 86 or so.

I was living in the big town of Wyoming, DE. It still isn't very big.

My school was Nellie Hughes Stokes elementary. That building is long gone, but the name lives on in a new building on the otherside of town.

I really hated school... I never quite fit in. As I look back at it, I was at a place intellectually where I didn't know where I was and the school system didn't know where I was. If I didn't know, how could they?

4th grade was rough... 5th was generally better.

Oh, well. Off to work!

Inside someone's nuts.

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Swimming lessons?

He was just a sperm then, but now he's a dick!

No, Andy you're not the only "old fart" here!
I had been out of the Army for 3 years, and working for Western Electric as a welder/repairman. Fair money for a single guy. Had a new Grand Prix, which at the time was a pretty nice car. Also had a 55 Chevy 210 Post for the Sat nite cruise, and still had a Triumph Daytona bike.
Things changed soon after, the next year, when I got married.

The one bad memory of this time era was that I sold a 67 big block 4-speed Vette to buy the GP. Not the smartest move, but at the time it seemed good.

Joel

I was in the first grade, getting to know my new home state of Arkansas, making new friends, discovering bicycles without training wheels, ramps to jump, frogs to catch and this cool band called Kiss that I discovered I liked. And, traded a hot wheels car for one of their cassettes.....

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Well you're 3 days older than me.

1975, hummmm, well I graduated Community College and had decided not to go on. I was working in our little town and was planning on getting married to my high school sweet heart. I was driving my 1964 Corvette coupe, not a show piece, but it was mine. August 9th I did tie the knot and 34 years, three daughters and 8 grandkids later we are still happily married. Shortly after we married I was approached to go to work for a family whom I worked for through high school, as a grease monkey, to run their station and be a dispatcher for their other business (oil field service). It soon became apparent that a Corvette was not going to be practical, so early in 1976 we sold it and I vowed to again someday own another one. Life went on.

I remember being terrified that Rollerball was for real and that the USA and USSR were gonna start lobbing nukes at each other any minute. I was 11 years old and obviously reading too many graphic novels of war and mayhem. I spent a whole month home sick with pneumonia and started building model cars. The first one - a'72 Corvette Stingray. That's where I first got the bug.

I was born in 76 , So you could say I was swinging

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Dude..... You and I have the same birthday.

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I have a college friend who was born the same day. I think I'm older by an hour or so.

Congrats, Tom! I hadn't tied the knot yet by then, but had proposed. It'll be 34 years in April.

Brad, thanks we are out in Colorado right now relaxing before school starts next week.

Excellent! We really enjoyed it out there, but I don't think I've drunk so much water in my life (which in turn resulted in more trips to the little boys' room than I can count). It is sweltering here at home now. Hope you have a great trip!