Dec 19 - The new maid, Mimi (or Enid)

Tuesday, December 19, 1972 - Page 354
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

APOLLO 17 LANDED TODAY AS PLANNED

11:00 PM
I got to sleep last night finally around 3:30. Good ole insomnia. Got the 8:00 A.M. bus just barely (had to skip brushing my teeth), and the driver gave me an envelope containing the new bus schedules that are coming into effect in January. I quickly fell asleep on the bus, stretching out in the rearmost seat (my usual location) and awaking only seldom to notice we were passing thru thick fog. I woke up in time to get off (that's one of the mysteries of the brain, how it always signals a sleeping bus rider when the trip is over -- I've never seen it fail) and loped groggily to the RTD terminal. It was less foggy there in Santa Ana and it burned off quickly, resolving into a warm day. I wandered to the terminal's facilities (I didn't have time to attend to that at home) and wandered back to the lobby.

I read "Catch-22" and was at work by 9:40. Worked on painting 114, taking an apalling amount of time and taking breaks incessantly. I'm learning. The new maid I noticed a few days ago was back today -- a beautiful girl wearing low-ride levis and a yellow body shirt that revealed her admirable contours -- unfortunately she was wearing a brassiere. She ignored me very well, I thought, and I assumed she was one of those girls who were so cold a little light comes on every time they open their mouths. But when a leaky faucet broke in room 118, I couldn't avoid her (she was working on 118 & 119) and discovered she had a husky feminine voice, a nice smile and quick wit. She's pro'ly married. If not, I'll hijack her to be my model. Her name is either Enid or Mimi, I'll find out for sure later. I hope she doesn't quit the job like Laura & Laura did before her. Angela, though cute and deliberately charming, is 16 and goes to school and is still hesitant with life -- Mimi (or Enid) appears to be mature and intelligent. I hope, I hope. I hope.

Anyway, I quit working at 5:15 again, and passed up the 6:00 Laguna bus for Dave's 6:30 Balboa. Neither John, Lois, nor the coffee girl were featured on this trip. Dave sold his car to one of his fellow drivers (he showed me the check for $150) but my suspicion against his congenial sincerity was warded off by a congenially sincere promise that he'd be looking for a car for me and let me know if he found one.

A woman got on at South Coast Plaza -- she wanted the Laguna Beach bus, but Dave informed her the last one left a half hour earlier. He took her on, and dropped she & me off at the bridge on Coast Hwy & Newport, and I escorted her to the Greyhound station.

She was from Berkeley, just graduated college, & had been a Junior High & High School English & Music teacher & was going to Laguna Beach for a rest at a friend's hotel where she was staying for free. I carried her heavy suitcase. The Greyhound station was closed, and I tried to call the Greyhound station on a payphone, trying various numbers which were either busy or din't answer. Luckily a bus pulled in -- heading South. She got in, I handed her the suitcase, and she went away to Laguna.

I walked home, stopping to buy new pants at Mister Britches. Got home at 8:00, ate a T.V. dinner & watched T.V. Mom got home around nine after shopping. I took a bath and tried the new hair styler-drier that she bought. So I'm beautiful now. I'm on page 314.

TOMORROW: Laramée & Mike's Anniversary

Dec 14 - My new work ethic: Creative procrastination

Thursday, December 14, 1972 - Page 349
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

"Here man completed his first explorations of the moon"

9:00 PM
I got the 7:00 A.M. bus by the narrowest possible margin, waking up at 6:50, giving me barely enough time to get dressed, brush my teeth, comb my hair, stuff my pockets, and get to the bus stop. I bought a new 10-ride ticket at the terminal -- mom cashed my check yesterday. Got to work at 8:45, and today I really procrastinated. Currently I'm on page 121 in [Catch] "22" and the book must be corrupting me -- for an hour or two I read -- the rest of the day I put things off. All I did was stain the doors and clean the walls of 110, 11, & 12. It consumed my 8 and a half hours somehow.

Angela was there today, as usual between 3:30 & 5:30. She's sixteen and has to go to high school. She tried to open 101, and couldn't. Mike & I finally managed to unlock it & I spent 10 or 15 minutes fixing the door. Quit work at 5:15, got the 5:30 RTD, and the 6:00 OCTD. Dave drives the 6:30 line to Balboa -- the one I prefer to ride is the Laguna Beach line (stops right at the corner), and the new guy, I know his name not, and I conversed. He's 26 -- we talked about truck & bus driving, automobiles, anthropology, the condition of the world, and psychic phenomena (he's psychic -- has premonitions), among other things.

Got home at 7:00. Ants attacked a cake in the cabinet & mom declared war on them again. I got a new volume in "The Emergence of Man: The Missing Link." It's good. I heard that Chunk was going skydiving on Jan 6 & 7 so I invited myself along. I've wondered if I'd have the guts to jump out of a plane, so I'm going to find out [To read about the time in 1973 when Chuck & I made three jumps, go here: Skydiving].

The guys lifted off from the moon today afternoon, and are now orbiting Luna, having docked. Tha's enough for today. Chunk & Joe came by minutes ago and they are paddling now. It's 9:30 now.

TOMORROW: Bus driver Dave

Nov 25 - Holiday Aftermath: Big motel cleanup

Saturday, November 25, 1972 - Page 330
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Anaheim

5:00 PM
Last night I got to sleep at 7:00 P.M., and woke up this morning at 8:00 A.M. Left here at 9:00 with mom driving me to work by 9:30. The Chowchillas weren't there, having left early and I helped the maids, Mary, Angela, & Laura, with the rooms. I stripped the beds & rollaways, gathered up the trash & towels, and carried the used linen & trash to their respective destinies.

This is one of the Chowchilla High School (website)
mimeographed news publications left in the guest's rooms

There were lots of renters besides the big high school group, but the band member's rooms took all the time. The girl's rooms were on the right side (as you enter) & the boy's were on the left -- all very civil. I can't decide which were worse -- the girl's with their cluttered bathrooms, stained sheets and old stockings, or the boys with their incense, ashes, broken ashtrays and Mad magazines.

I got away with 41 cents, mostly pennies, tho I refrained from the fortunes of pants pockets. It was an educational experience I could've done without. Yesterday they all went to Disneyland and the rooms were thick with souvenirs and bags, and A, B, C, D, & E tickets which I was tempted to borrow permanently. But I remained trustworthy (except for that 41¢) and was thru by 2:00 P.M. Mom picked me up, and here I am. Again. I won't get much money for last week cause I didn't work as many hours -- pro'ly just 20 or 25 instead of the required 32.

Mike's parents and a few relatives (a sister & brother-in-law & assorted nephews y nieces) came [to the Ivanhoe] yesterday and left today. Mr. Sarason fixed the broken Coke machine and therefore the rented rooms were graced by tons of cans. It is now 5:02:10, and that's all.

TOMORROW: Nothing much going on

Nov 21 - Perils of hypothermia**

Tuesday, November 21, 1972 - Page 326
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

The Ivanhoe's swimming pool

11:00 PM
Left at 7:00 -- back to the early riser routine. There wasn't much work to be done on the next three rooms -- I'm just about finished. Just have to stain the doors. A big group's coming in Thursday, and the weather's been good, so the pool has to be ready for their use. But the heater isn't heating and the recent rains washed alot of gravel into the pool from the roofs. And the gravel just won't vacuum up normally. So great heroic me, manned with a face mask, ventured into the pool's depths. Any colder and the water would've been ice. It was a clear and beauteous day but the air temperature was only around 70°.

For a half hour I vacuumed up gravel (without the attachment the hose was able to suck it up), from the shallow end, and the ear-busting deep end. It was slow work, having to come up for air that often -- every 22 seconds or so. I know the water in S.D. [South Dakota] I dipped in, and the Kern River water I dunked in must've been colder but it's hard to believe. When I got out it felt like my body had fallen asleep. I was so numb I could barely walk, and when I did it was paraplegically. I could barely talk too.

So I took my lunch break ('twas about 2:00) and went up to one of the rooms I was working on that had a good heater and tried to warm up. It was more than a half hour before I warmed up -- till then I felt like I was packed in ice. Cancerians are susceptible to chills and I was living up to the theory. I stayed under blankets for an hour, warming them with my breath. I barely survived, but nobody but me noticed how close I was to passing out. I've been cold before, but that was the first time I've ever felt how agonizing it could be, and how it's possible to die from it.

Anyway, I quit early at Mike's suggestion, leaving at 3:30, just when Angela got there. I got home at 6:00. Watched "Brian's Song," an award winning tear jerker about a football player who died from cancer, and then the last hour of "West Side Story." Two movies like that, one after another, can be harmful to your health.

TV Guide ad for 1971 ABC Movie of the Week

1961 Theatrical Poster

TOMORROW: 9th anniversary of Kennedy's murder

Oct 13 - 1st Black President: James Earl Jones***

Friday, October 13, 1972 - Page 287
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

FRIDAY the 13th
12:00 AM
I just removed the gold foil from the Star Trek insignia on my red shorts. It was peeling off because it wanted to be dry-cleaned. Underneath it was white leather. It looks better now, methinks.

Got on the 9:00 A.M. bus and got into the Ivanhoe at 10:45. Painted 'till 6:00 and then mom got me. Linda started today, learning her duties from Mary. She worked till 1:00. Angela came in the afternoon around 3:30. Mark came about 2:00. I got the first two rooms finished painted, and the first one was put back together. The schedule for next week will be different and the task of painting shouldn't be so time consuming.

Original 1972 Theatrical Poster
1st Black President

[Rod Serling wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Irving Wallace. Four days before Barack Obama was inaugurated, the LA Times asked James Earl Jones about his 1972 movie. He said, "It was done as a TV special. Had we known it was to be released as a motion picture, we would have asked for more time and more production money. I regret that." -- wikipedia info]

After work, Mom & I drove to the Paulo to see The Man (Excellent movie about the first Black Pres of the U.S.) and Hannie Caulder (in which Raquel Welch gets tough as a gun fighter) -- they were both worth looking at.

Original 1971 Theatrical Poster
1st Lady Gunslinger

Believe it or not, this movie was really pretty good. After 40-odd years, I still remember the deadly contest between the gunfighter (Culp) and the knife-thrower (Borgnine). You can see part of it in this trailer, which tells the whole plot with one spoiler after another.

I'm on page 18 in Ray's book. Same old stuff. It's truly amazing how that man can write so much with so little -- he has only one theme for all his stories, just one lousy theme. In copious doses I guess unoriginality can pay off.

HISTORICAL NOTES: A Troubling Year for Sexists & Racists
January 25, 1972 -- The 1st African American Congressperson, Shirley Chisholm, announces her candidacy for President of the United States.
March 22, 1972 -- The U.S. Congress votes to send the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification. However, this constitutional amendment for women's equality failed to receive approval of the required 38 states by the June 30, 1982 deadline so it was not adopted.  
October 25, 1972 -- The first female agents are hired by the FBI.

>>> UPDATE FROM THE FUTURE  [ 7/19/2015 ] : Both of these movies are now available for free on YouTube. Here ya go...

TOMORROW: Drive-in double feature: Me, Zhivago

Oct 12 - Something Wicked Comes This Way

Thursday, October 12, 1972 - Page 286
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

COLUMBUS DAY

11:42:24 PM
Spent the entire day (9:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M.) painting rooms. Am now working on 201, 202, & 203. We've gotta have 'em finished by Friday to stay on schedule so it's up to me to have them painted. Nobody was there but me, him, her and (from 4 to 5:30) Angela. Was the maid's day off. Linda starts tomorrow or Monday or something.

I got mom to pick me up at 7:30. Watched T.V. and took a bath (I was bespeckled with paint). Finished reading all the stories in Star Trek 7 (I've been reading it in transit and during lunch break -- by the way, didn't bother to take the break today. I never eat anyway).

Gotta find another book -- only one I could dig up was a Bradbury (Something Wicked This Way Comes). I hope it's not his typical lousy writing. That's all for now.

Dust-jacket art by Gray Foy from 1962 first edition

Bradbury wrote the screenplay for the 1983 movie
Theatrical release poster by David Grove (wikipedia info)

TOMORROW: 1st Black President: James Earl Jones

Oct 06 - The guy I'm replacing confronts Mike

Friday, October 6, 1972 - Page 280
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

11:11 PM
Got to work at 9:40, getting the 8:00 A.M. bus from here. Mike was still asleep when I got there. I did my routine work (cleaned the pool, tested the chlorine & acid -- added about a gallon of acid -- checked the heater rooms, etc.) then Mike and I moved some furniture from the storage room in back to room 109 to be sold later ('Twas left over from the previous management). Mike went to change into a T-shirt, and I moved five air-conditioners into the storage room (they were HEAVY -- must've been more than 80 pounds). I was duly exhausted.

The day was quite hot -- was sposed to be 94 according to the radio. Nice fall weather. Worked till 2:45  (I work from 10 to 2, Mon & Fri, 8:30 to 4:30 Tues, Weds & Thurs, I think). Tom went to talk with Mike, and came out later, said "So long" to me and drove away. Mike was going to fire him, but he quit before he got the chance. He was whistling when he left. He was a good fellow. The job's officially mine now.

I made about 43 dollars this week (check comes Tuesdays). The cast of characters there is currently L&M, the maids -- Mary, a chubby good natured young woman with an Irish accent (she works from 9 to 5 I think) and Angela, a young pretty little girl who works from 3 to 5, I think, and lastly, Mark, who works Mons & Tuesdays & Sat, I think. Mom picked me up, I killed (KILLED THAT PEN, TOO.  IT WAS THE BETHLEHEM PEN I WAS USING LATELY. NOW I'M WRITING WITH THE ONE FROM THE DISNEYLAND HOTEL I STOLE)  CONT'D [This entry is finished on the next page: October 7]

TOMORROW: GALLERY: Photos of Chicago