Accomplishments

by Badger_29

Background
Chapters 1 - 2, childhood, 3-7, recovery and life in Sacramento, CA, 8 a testimony of faith, 9-11, my family tree, and a tribute to my father.

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I attended elementary school in Concord, California from 1969-1974. Kindergarten included Cambridge and Ayers Elementary schools. At this age, I remember that we were ALL friends, and Holidays like Valentine's day brought a lot of joy and excitement, as we carefully signed Valentine cards for all of our classmates.

My 1st grade teacher was Mrs. Hull; 2nd, Mrs . Hedges, 3rd, Mrs. Fenty, 4th, Mrs Munger, who played the piano very well while we sang such songs as "Oh, Susanna", and "On Top of Spaghetti", which is a very humerous version sung to the tune of
"on Top of Old Smoky".
One day in her class, some nice Japanese ladies came and told us about their culture. We learned to say hello in their language, which was pronounced like: "ohio".
This would be at El Monte Elementary school. In 5th grade I had Mrs Stanton, and sixth grade introduced me to my first male teacher, Mr. Milam. He was very straightforward, and as I recall, a very good teacher and mentor who put a lot of emphasis on enthusiasm.

I took an immediate love and aptitude to reading and I devoured books. Some of my first and most memorable ones included an Illustrated Children's bible, "James and the Giant Peach", by Roald Dahl, and a children's collection of Aesop's Fables and classic fairy-tales and other popular stories, like "The Ugly Duckling".

In the bible, I fell in love with the story of Joseph, Israel's eleventh son, his coat of many colors, and his success in Egypt, after being sold into slavery by his brothers.
I was captivated reading about how he, through The Lord, interpreted the baker, cup bearer, and Pharoh's dreams.

I attended the seventh grade at Loma Vista Junior High, in Concord, CA. One of my favorite memories is of my science teacher, Mr. Johnson. He did very interesting things, and was really good at sparking our interest in the sciences. For our final project, we combined sulfur, carbon, and saltpeter (potassium nitrate) to make gunpowder. Then we made "bombs" of folded paper triangles, and water-proof fuses. It was great fun to see whose was the loudest.

In 1976 we moved to Wyoming, and I attended eighth grade in Green River at Monroe Middle School. There I enjoyed joining in track and swimming. I also started attending Tae Kwon Do classes, which I enjoyed for three and a half years.
At one point in time I attended a tournament, where I Placed second place in the Kata and sparring events.

As I entered High School, I was noticing that we broke into sub-groups, or "cliques". There were the Jocks, the Nerds, the Cowboys, and the Stoners. Ironically enough, some of these "karasses" (see "Cat's Cradle", by Curt Vonnegut) overlapped, and a few individuals actually fit into all four.

In high school, I studied English, math; up to algebra II, history, and computer programming. We utilized Apple II E and II C computers with color graphics. They were new, then!
I learned how to write programs with BASIC, or Beginners's All purpose Symbolic Instructional Code. I wrote a really neat program that drew symmetrical designs in the four quadrants of the screen, utilizing a random mode for direction, length, and color.

In addition to swimming and track, I was very athletic, and enjoyed many other forms of fun exercise. These included hacky-sack, frisbee, disc golf, and bicycling.
I swam a 200 meter freestyle exhibitional exhibit, and ran the 200 yard dash.

At the age of seventeen I was still quite short of required credits to graduate, so I decided to take the "General Education Diploma" test, and passed with flying colors. I scored 98% in the science section, missing only two of one-hundred questions.

Then I went back to continuation school, and earned my High School Diploma at the age of twenty-two.

In all of this, I began to develop, learn, and cultivate an idea of how "all of this" fits together. I wondered, what motivates people to do the things that they do? Why do some kids become "stoners", while another very similar individual maintains a 4.0 grade point average?

I noticed at an early age that my friends would take me aside and talk about problems that they were having. I guess they intuitively "knew" that I am a healer, and that I would not only be a good listener, but would usually have good constructive, positive advice to offer.

My first job was at a land-fill in Carson City, Nevada in 1978. I was fifteen, and we recycled, cleaned discarded brick, and other things. I was very happy to be working, and getting paid cash money, "under the table". I lived in Wyoming at the time, but had gone to Nevada to visit my aunt and uncle. This was my second summer there, the previous was the best summer of my child-hood. I helped my uncle George Thompson at Diamond Valley Ranch. I learned how to ride horses, with and without a saddle.

My next job was a Village Inn Pancake House, in Rock Springs, Wyoming. There, I learned how to hustle on a busy breakfast wheel, to pan-flip eggs, and to separate them to make the best pancake batter. My boss, Dennis, gave me some great advice. He told me that it was a good idea to maintain an attitude of professionalism on the job, but included that it is a good policy to adopt to life, in general. That advice was invaluable, and I adopt it to this day.

I had a lot of jobs after that, which included: Cooking doughnuts (it took me years before I could enjoy them again!), pouring and finishing cement, roofing, landscaping, and painting. At one point I was an electrician's apprentice for the School District. I have canvassed for the National Toxics Campaign (a scam!), and most previously, I helped open the IHOP in Yuba City, California. This would have been around 1998.

In addition, I have played professional music since the age of sixteen, and still practice every day. When I perform in Sacramento, I usually make ten to twenty dollars an hour. The most I ever made was playing on Amtrak, and around the bars, when smoking was no longer allowed.

I also do beadwork; I make, sell, and give gifts of my bead projects. I have learned to utilize stones, gems, and minerals into my work. One of my trademarks is a braided design, with three stones in the middle of the braids.

I currently work for an independent polling firm, conducting public opinion surveys. I love learning how to maintain a professional attitude on the phone, and I have gotten very good. My percentage of quota went from 87% to 110% to over 140%. It fluctuates, but is currently at 113%. It is neccessary to pay attention to detail, to read verbatim, and remain up-beat and cheerful, no matter what!

My greatest achievement of this period in my life was overcoming a twenty-four year addiction to methamphetamine. I learned a lot, and I am able to utilize my message of strength and hope with other suffering addicts. My message is loud, clear, and quite genuine, as I talk from a postion of knowledge. I have been clean since February 4th, 2016.

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Edited and added this last chapter on June 2, 2017.

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Education, jobs, and greatest accomplishments

A chapter in the book Lamentations of a Lost Laddy

Accomplishments

by Badger_29

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