Jun 12 - Job Day 5 - Chuck becomes foreman**

Monday, June 12, 1972 - Page 164
LOCATION: Newport Beach & Oxnard, California

4:18:33 AM
~~~ BLAH ~~~

(6:30 PM 6/18/1972)
This is going to be a monumental feat of memory. Or else it will be a monumental example of forgetfulness, because I'm writing this almost a week from now -- Sunday, June 18, Father's Day. Monday started out early, as I recall (note BLAH above), and Chunk was late, so I called Winnie to see what was wrong, but at that time he was on his way (Winnie complained yesterday -- Saturday -- about me calling her at 4:30 A.M., cause she was asleep). Chuck eventually showed up --

hole dit! I blew it. Chunk wasn't late this time, and Winnie din't stay home. Atta bout 4:20 A.M. Mon. he and she arrived, we drove to Amerco Industries' yard in Anaheim getting there before 5:00, so we went to Winchell's for a donut, meeting Jerry Buffington -- our boss -- there. Chunk now was the foreman, since John quit for reasons unclear to me, but pro'ly due to the way Jerry was handling things.

So Chunk, as foreman, was making $4 an hour, and "owned" the Ford truck company car. We drove to the yard, Winnie left, we loaded the truck, waited till 5:30 for Rick who didn't show up, drove to get gas, then drove to Oxnard, Chuck & I in the Ford Pickup, Jerry in his Ford Pickup. It was a sunny day. Chunk pulled off an offramp at about 6:15 to sleep, and so we reached Ox nard at 7:30, with Jerry, Fernando, Bob & Frank waiting. So we got to work, digging holes, while Chunk wandered around with Jerry getting instructions. Jerry eventually left, and we were on our own, with me taking a sort of co-foreman position in relation to everything. Strange, how that worked.

[Side note in lefthand margin] Frank and Bob had to leave at 9:30 to go to a funeral. Their neice had died of what sounded to me like osteomalacia. She was less than a year old. They got back at noon.

Jun 11 - A frantic maritime disaster***

Sunday, June 11, 1972 - Page 163
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

11:00 AM (approx)
I got up at 10:30 today. It's a very sunny day. Hold it a sec -- I'm gonna call Tim Hourigan to check something (10:54:15) --

Hi, I'm back (11:02:16). I called Timothy (whom I've been trying to contact for some time), and he does indeed have my Galleon [2013 NOTE: This is the Newport Harbor High School yearbook ~ In 1971, I dropped out of my Senior year of High School, telling my counselor that forcing me to wake up every friggin' day at 7:30 AM was cruel & unusual punishment, and therefore I was protected by the US Constitution. So I simply stopped going. However, the NHHS administration chose to ignore my truancy and graduated me anyway, in absentia. Hence, I was awarded my Senior yearbook, and you can find photos from it in the entry for June 22] -- when I thought I wouldn't be around to get it many months ago, I entrusted him with the responsibility of obtaining it in my absence -- which he did. And since I shall be gone all next week, he offered to get it signed for me by the sleazy crowd around there, which is a very nice thing for him to do.

Let's see, who will sign it? : Tim, James Fish, Shawna certainly Wood, and Mary too (Bavry & Lyons), Meg maybe cause Tim would ask, Bob too, Phil & Pete Shergalis, and maybe three others [In fact, nobody signed my yearbook except Tim]. Hmmm. So I'll pick it up next week. Now I've gotta get the clothes washed.

"Newport Harbor Sailor Band in the 1972 Tournament of Roses"
The Galleon 1972 - Pages 180 & 181

8:30 PM
Jeez! I'm trying to figure out if this day warrants a [sad-face symbol]. I don't think so but it's close -- Some guy on TV said it was the 163rd day of the year, but I make it 162 -- Lemme check that. Hold on --- Christ! I have two 110's [this pagination error has been corrected throughout]. Lemme (Rats! The timer just went off) fix that. Hold it... Sloppy job. Take five; I've gotta eat my TV dinners --

PHEW! I'm back, waiting for my dinners to cool. I've been going a mile a minute all day. I drove over to wash the clothes (My dinners should be cool. I'll be back in a little bit...

9:00 PM
... Okay, I'm through), put them in the machines, then went shopping, came back to put the clothes in the driers, drove home with the food and put a couple of TV dinners in the oven, went back to get the clothes from the dryers, drove home to fold the clothes, and Murray called, so after I ate my dinners, I prepared to depart, but before that, Dad came over, with some of my book bills, so he subtracted that amount from the $65 he owes me, and finally at about one o'clock, I drove speedily to the Sea Scout Base to find Murray. The Base got 6 new kites (dingies [that's dinghys]), and after two days -- Sat. & Sun. -- they all got busted. Murray and I contributed to that record.

Chuck Lyda and Murray Lewis at Kern River in 1974

In an extremely abbreviated version: We sailed for a few hours, then a rudder pin broke, leaving one to hold it on -- as we limped into the base, it broke off completely during a monumental problem with the sail. I jumped off to get the rudder immediately losing my glasses, while the boat sailed into the dock, to be flipped by Murray, with me swimming in with the rudder, which we took, along with the sail, back to Base, returning to paddle the boat to the right dock, then driving in Murray's car to his house to get scuba diving gear [to hunt for my glasses]. We were about to return to the base when we discovered his car didn't work, so I called Winnie, but her car was broken and she was late for work, so I called Dad who was asleep. He drove over to take us to the Base. Dad left, Murray got his gear, I got a canoe and paddled out to assist, and he dove, but the sediment was a foot deep, the current was strong, the water murky, and the Argus [the Sea Scout's giant vintage sailing ship] was going to be coming in. So we gave up on that. Murray went to get his gear cleaned, and I found a car on the hose so I couldn't rinse the canoe, and had to put it back unwashed. Bob Kirkeby showed up and he, Murray, Brian, etc. talked till a quarter to seven then I drove Murray home (without glasses or license), then I drove me home -- More occurred, but this is all I have room for. And I wanted to get rested before work tomorrow!

Jun 10 - Black Hills flood kills 238**

Saturday, June 10, 1972 - Page 162
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

12:00 PM
I got up today at 10:44 after getting to sleep at around 11:00 P.M. My feet still hurt, especially the right one which I must've sprained. I'm using Vitamin-E [lotion] on my sores to get them fixed before next Monday. I read the Other again today -- am now on 271.

(10:30 AM 6/11/1972)
Mom & I went to the Lincoln drive-in today to see "Play It Again Sam," and "The Honkers." We left at five thirty so I read the rest of "The Other," so now all I have left to read is "The Probability Man," and "Man's Rise To Civilization, etc." --

Today or late yesterday Rapid City and surrounding areas got clobbered with heavy rains, a busted dam, and flashfloods. Last I heard, 155 people had died and $100,000 damage had been estimated, but both figures should rise considerably. It's a Federal Disaster Area. I knew a few people in Rapid City, and Spearfish. Fr. Gil must be pretty busy, with all those dead folks around. [See Father Gilbert's report on the flood in the entry for June 27, 1972]

From Wikipedia: During the night of June 9, the Canyon Lake Dam became clogged with debris and failed, resulting in 238 deaths and 3,057 injuries. Several bodies were never found. There were over 1,335 homes and 5,000 automobiles destroyed. The value of the damaged property was over US$160 million in 1972 dollars.

Today, by the way, a sculpture came of a ballerina [purchased by Mom]. It's fairly good. That was the mail for today. And I first noticed that Liz the lizard is gone. The elements have been pushing her farther and further away, until she is now out of site. She should turn up some day, if I look for her.

Jun 09 - Job Day 4 - Digging holes, planting plants

Friday, June 9, 1972 - Page 161
LOCATION: Oxnard & Anaheim & Newport Beach, California

(12:00 PM Saturday 6/10/1972)
Woke up with the ringing of the phone -- again, I only allowed it one ring, but I wasn't conscious enough to recall what the guy said. I was last to get up, as usual -- the pecking order seems to have been tentatively established from oldest to youngest. Et breakfast, talked, limped and ached and got to work at 7:00, running into Fernando driving his car into the parking lot.

Chunk & I got saw dust and I wheelbarrowed it to him, and he scattered it in the pool area. Me, Chunk, John, Frank, Bob (or Rego), Fernando, and, at 11:00, Rick showed up -- and we all worked, digging holes and planting plants. The food truck was an hour late for the first break, coming at 10:15 instead of 9:15. At lunch, Frank and I played a game of chess with a chess set he'd brought. He's a lousy player, but he beat me. I can't adapt to new chess sets very easily. Any way, now we're even. Next week we'll have a tie-breaker.

The day finally ended at 2:30, and we all were gone by three o'clock, and back home (or rather back at the yard) by 4:45. A note on the door sent us looking at a nearby shopping center for his [John's] wife, who had the money. We couldn't find her, so we came back to the yard and found her waiting for us. She had arrived at 5:00, and we had gone out to find her at 5:00, so we narrowly missed each other. She's a pretty humorous gal who doesn't wear a bra (Rah!).

John is burned up about Jerry. We got paid and Mom arrived. I saw Part II [of Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man], and John called, saying he'd underpaid me one dollar an hour. I got $32, was supposed to get $48. Jordan came by at 10:00. FOR THE LAST TIME, IT TURNED OUT.

Jun 08 - Job Day 3 - LA Dodgers win

Thursday, June 8, 1972 - Page 160
LOCATION: Oxnard, California

Vagabond Motor Hotel matchbook

(2:30 PM Saturday 6/10/1972)
The phone rang. I answered it with a "Thank you," and hung up. Everyone got up, John first, Chunk next and me last. We ate breakfast and John went back to the Motel to call Jerry while Chunk got the car started. He spent quite a while with the answering service but failed to contact him, so he told him to return the call at 5:30. Jerry never did -- that, and other factors (part of which was several further attempts to contact him Friday, and the fact that Jerry never called Rick to tell him what to do, so Rick had to drive down -- or up -- to Oxnard to work half a day yet get full day pay).

This led to quite a bit of anger focussed toward Jerry by John (reaching their peak on Friday), the resolution of which will become apparent on Monday, maybe. Two Chicanos showed up on Thursday. They all are in the Union -- Bob & Frank don't mind working though, but Fernando -- the mongolian -- is dedicated to Time & a half, and all other Union benefits. Chunk, me, and John had to pretend to be Union members to keep legal with Fern.

Anyway, we worked on the front lawns, getting them raked, seeded, etc. The architect was supposed to show up early Thurs. morn to verify the position of the trees -- he never showed up at all, so we went ahead & planted the trees around the pool Fri anyway. Had dinner, then Frank & his brother showed up to take John to the Dodger's game in L.A. They bought beer, and an enthusiasm for chess, so I played Frank & beat him. They left.

Chunk and I played chess and watched T.V. I won two games, he won six. We watched the six-thirty movie: "Hemingway's 'Adventures of a Young Man' " Part I. Also watched "Alias Smith & Jones," and another movie: "Double Trouble" with Danny Kaye. Chunk took a shower and went to sleep. Then I took a shower. John got back at 12:00. The game was 1 to 2, Dodger's won. They drank alot, celebrating something.

Original Theatrical Poster, 1962

Jun 07 - Job Day 2 - Led by Capt Kirk look-alike**

Wednesday, June 7, 1972 - Page 159
LOCATION: Newport Beach & Oxnard, California

4:10:45 AM
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

3:00 PM
Chunk drove, me & Winnie rode to the yard, and Chunk & Me & John rode to Oxnard, 2 hours, 100 miles away, north of LA. John stopped once for coffee. We got to the place at 7:00 and walked around looking the place over, and John was displeased with the maintenance of the areas that they'd already landscaped.

Luxurious Vagabond in beautiful downtown Ox. Nard.

That day was spent mostly spotting plants and trees. Jerry, the boss, showed up to give suggestions and look at the work. A new maintenance man was hired. Jerry left late in the day. Only we three -- John, Chunk, me -- worked that day, and I developed most of my pains then. The day ended at 4, though we quit at around 3:30 to straighten things out. Took showers, ate dinner at the Colony Kitchen, next door to our Motel, the Vagabond -- John wasn't too happy to learn we couldn't charge the meals. Jerry would hear about that. We had to use John's master charge for food.

I remembered that a few weeks ago Chunk had mentioned that his boss looked like William Shatner -- I didn't notice the resemblance until John had done hard work, with his hair uncombed and a serious look on his face. He does look a lot like Shatner, and his profile looks exactly like him, though he is shorter and stockier. It's interesting, being led by the Commander of the Starship Enterprise. John Bodkins is an amiable expert of human nature, and a good guy to work for.

Got to bed at 8:00, but I read "The Other" until 11:00. The weather was usually cloudy, and it sprinkled occasionally. 

Jun 06 - Job Day 1 - CA Presidential Primary

Tuesday, June 6, 1972 - Page 158
LOCATION: Newport Beach & Anaheim, California

8:30 PM
Got up at 6 A.M., though I didn't get more than an hour's worth of vague sleep. Chunk and Winnie came to pick me up at 6:20 A.M., and we got to the landscape place [Amerco Industries in Anaheim] at 7:00 (Winnie drove away on failing brakes), where I met the fore man -- John Somebody; and another worker, a Chicano, 18 years old, named Rick Somebodyelse.

We all drove up to the place where we were supposed to do landscaping. We dug holes, filled them with water, cut cans trees were in, planted the trees, layed sod for the front lawn of a house, planted plants, flowers, and shrubs, and went home at 4:00, or rather went back to the landscaping place to wait for 5:30 when mom finally arrived (she had to drop the Imperial off to get it fixed). I have five and a half blisters on my left hand, and 8 1/2 on my right.

Mom, me & Chunk stopped at Carl's Jr. to take advantage of a coupla free hamburger coupons, and we ate alot. I took a bath. The Presidential Primary for California is today -- Chunk's voting for McGovern, John (a 29 year old Rep.) is voting for Ashburn (or whatevertheguy'snameiswho'srunningagainstNixon), and Mom, of course, voted for Nix.

I've gotta be at the Landscaping place tomorrow at five, and me & Chunk are going to work in Oxnard for 3 days, sleeping in a Vagabond Motel with a pool. It rained some today. Confirmation has come from Gil, and I'll be flying over [to Rapid City] whenever I want. Dad called, got me an interview for Aero[nutronic], but I declined, since I've got an income now.

O.S.B. means Order of Saint Benedict

Jun 05 - The Probability Man

Monday, June 5, 1972 - Page 157
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

3:06:35 PM
This is Monday. I got up at 11:30, took a bath (during which Mom called to tell me to get the steak out of the freezer), and played chess with myself. I lost. Mayor Sam [Yorty] got out of the California primary, so he's not gonna run for Pres after all. Poor guy. It was a bright sunny day, but it is now hot and over cast. Tis now 3:10:05 P.M. That's all for now.

4:30 PM
A few drops have begun to precipitate at this moment. I am now on page 145 of Man's Rise To Civilization As Shown By The Indians Of North America From Primeval Times To The Coming Of The Industrial State, and I'm still on page 140 of "The Other," and I've begun to read one of the six paperbacks Dad gave me Friday -- The Probability Man, which I am now on page 37 in. It is sprinkling mildly outside now, and it is doubtful whether it will really rain. We shall see. --

In this Frank Kelly Freas painting, the Devil looks a lot like my father...

Here's dad who I sometimes called "Lucifer," a dumb nickname based on his name "Lu"

6:30 PM
The rain hasn't materialized and it prob'ly won't. Mom got home a quarter to five and made dinner which I've just finished and left at 6:15 [She played Bridge every Monday]. Chunk just called and asked if I wanted to work, so tomorrow he's coming to pick me up at a quarter after six. He and me will be working at landscaping. Ohhh, groan. Pshaw. Ugh. I don' wanna work. Ohhh. $2.50 an hour. Hmmm. [U.S. minimum wage was $1.60 from 1968 until 1973]

(2:16:16 AM 6/6/1972)
I went to sleep at 8:00 and woke up at about 1:00 A.M. when mom got home. In "The Probability Man" by Brian N. Ball ('In a thousand worlds and a myriad of epochs, he always remained... the probability man') I'm on page 42. In "The Other" by Thomas Tryon ('You have never read a novel like this one -- Six months on the New York Times Best Seller List) I'm on page 155. In "Man's Rise To Civilization As Shown By The Indians Of North America From Primeval Times To The Coming Of The Industrial State" by Peter Farb ('An adventure in ideas - Probably the best single book on the American Indian ever written') I'm on page 169. The first book has 175 pages, second has 288, and "Man's Rise To Civilization, Etc." (That's the title on the spine) has 350 pages. Tis now 2:27:27. I have to make lunch for me tomorrow ---

Jun 04 - Doldrums: Catalina Race, Day 2**

Sunday, June 4, 1972 - Page 156
LOCATION: Catalina & Newport Beach, California

(2:52:15 PM Monday 6/5/1972)
This was Sunday. The race was going to start at 11:00, and we got up at 9:30 (later than anyone else). As we were coming into Catalina, the clouds were parting and the sun was beginning to set. In the morning of Sunday, there were low clouds that obscured the top of Catalina (we were around Indian Rock, I think).

There was no wind, and the start of the race wasn't too inspiring. Boats inched along in the doldrums for hours, staying pretty close together. We, alternately, were at second place, catching first, then at second to last place, with last catching us. For a couple hours the sky cleared and we caught some rays (that means -- oh, never mind, you know what it means). But the clouds moved in thickly again, and remained the rest of the day. Murray was usually at the helm, Chunk was up front operating the Chute, and I was sitting on the slide most of the time.

Here is a modern photo of the kind of boat we "raced" to Catalina: A Cal 22 (meaning 22 feet long) Fractional Sloop

I made baloney sandwiches and we ate them and various other stuff on the way. Unlike coming to Catalina Saturday, there were always sailboats in view, and there were usually 2 or 3 behind us. When land came in sight, the doldrums returned and we inched in, excruciatingly slowly (one sailboat gave up with the race and motored in, leaving just one boat behind us).

Eventually got in by 7:00, with Bob Kirkaby waiting (it's his boat, sort of). Mom eventually came to pick us up, and we all came to Grandlydia [goofy nickname for my trailer] to eat and play chess. Chunk beat me in one game, and I beat Murray in one game (he's slooow to move, taking at least five minutes for each -- like Chunk said: "Playing chess with you is like sailing with no wind."). I drove Murray home, then Chunk, then me. The end.

Official Patch of Chuck's Sea Scout Team

Jun 03 - Racing to Catalina with Chuck & Murray**

Saturday, June 3, 1972 - Page 155
LOCATION: Newport Beach & Catalina, California

8:00 AM
I... am... up...

Santa Catalina Island, California (see Wikipedia article)

Catalina panorama from a sail boat; Avalon to the far left, Two Harbors to the mid-right.

(2:26:35 PM Monday 6/5/1972)
I am back --- Mom drove me to the Sea Scout base by 8:45. I signed in at the enterence and found Chunk & Murray at the sail boat loading it up. We got underway at 9:30 and wouldn't set foot off that boat for the next 33 1/2 hours. We went to the starting line with the motor, and after the race in our class ("C") started, we crossed it in four minutes (due to Murray's superb sailing and calculations).

We followed the shore to Point Loma (is that what it's called?) [No! Point Loma is in San Diego -- we would have left off the coast of San Pedro], then angled off toward Catalina. By that time, all the other boats in the race (at least 18 of them) were completely out of sight. The weather could have been better -- it was constantly overcast and got very windy towards the end of the race, so the sails were always sounding like the props of a helicopter. Chunk was sick most of the time (he regurgitated once) and he slept quite a bit.

I learned the fundamentals of sailing, and learned some of the dialect (fore guy, after guy, genoa sheet, topping lift, mainsail, genny, tacking, boom bang, helm, bow, aft, starboard, port, stern, hike, spinnaker, chute, halliard, slide, hatch, light wind sheet, centerboard, locker, turning about, cleats, etc. "Etc" means I can't think of any more).

I was soaking wet and shivering mostly, and trying not to get sea sick, which I managed (I've never been sea sick, but I've got close enough to it to know I don't want to be sea sick). The race started at 10:00 [AM], and we got into Catalina (in exactly the right place, despite Murray's navigating) by 8:00 [PM]. Last, if not least, of course. [The island is 22 miles wide and it is about 22 miles from the coast]

We anchored and tied to one of them thar floating things what boats tie up to and Murray lit the stove and I threw Beef Stew (the can we din't eat at Hansen Dam [see May 20]), peas, and corn into a pan for dinner. The water was clear, and a light under water lit up the fish and sparkling things in there. We got to sleep by about 10:30 P.M. So that was Saturday.

Jun 02 - Man's Rise to Civilization as Shown by the Indians of North America from Primeval Times to the Coming of the Industrial State**

Friday, June 2, 1972 - Page 154
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

5:55:55 AM
I woke up this morning at 5:10 after having gotten to sleep at around 7:30 or 8:00 last night after Tricky Dicky's speech at 6:35. He just got back from the Summit meetings in Russia. (He closed by saying history books will note that this was the year in which we: "...went from the lowlands of war to the high plateau of world peace" [thunderous applause -- standing ovation], if I remember correctly. We shall see, shan't we?)

Dad came over today with my 5$, and I finally got the dishes washed. I wonder how long I'll retain this 'Early to bed, early to rise' schedule. It's now 6:02:22 A.M. ---

(1:30:30 AM 6/3/1972)
I'm sorry I can't say I read "Man's Rise to Civilization as Shown by the Indians of North America from Primeval Times to the Coming of the Industrial State" today, because I like to mention it everyday, but I promise, the next time I read "Mansrisetocivilizationasshownbytheindiansofnorthamericafromprimevaltimestothecomingoftheindustrialstate" I'll mention it. (There, that makes up for the lack of mentioning it yesterday.)

I got to sleep at about 11:30 A.M. and got up at 3:00. I finished organizing "Time Fall" notes. Dad called and for a while it'll be a toss up whether this summer will be used working for Aeroneurotic or serving time at Beth, S.D. Chunk called, and my immediate future is a bit more definite -- He, me & Murray are racing to Catalina in a Sea Scout sail boat. We stay there over night and race back. So I had to get a sleeping bag, so I drove over to dad's to get it (he & Larry are going to a party at 9:00) and I gave him the wire chair to fix, and the electrolux sink center.

Chunk called again, and we figured out what food I'd bring. I took a bath & made a bunch of turkey sandwiches. I've gotta be at the Sea Scout Base by 8:00 A.M. Tha's early. 11:45:30 now

Jun 01 - ARTWORK: Various sketches**

Thursday, June 1, 1972 - Page 153
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

3:33:33 PM
I haven't slept yet since the last entry, tho I may have dozed a couple minutes while I layed in the sun between 11:00 and 12:30. The temperature is in the 80°s, but it is now a bit overcast. I quit reading at 5:15 when Lum 'n Abner came on, followed eventually by Lohman 'n Barkley. To occupy myself whilst listening, I drew the picture on this page.* ...

[Side note:] * The original drawing mentioned is no longer in my possession. It is now owned by Tom Shearing of South Dakota. In its place is a first attempt at this photo that was given up quickly for obvious reasons. -- G.L., 8/17/72 (see page 190 [July 8, 1972] for info)

Here is the substitute art and photo

... I still think the sketch on 115 is my best, but this was a valiant effort none the less. This was copied from a photo included herewith.

Here is the sketch that also appears
on page 115, April 24

I took a few liberties in the process of translating the photo to pencil. None of these drawings are accurate to the photos -- least of all the color pencil attempt.

Here is the color pencil drawing that
first appeared in the entry for May 26

[To see more of my artwork, please go here: Gallery ]