Bonus Post: Fond Memory 1 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 1

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

1800 or so more days!

Well, to clarify, that would take us to the 30th anniversary of graduation in 2019 ... so I should probably explain.  Just like this countdown, the original plans for this month's full blown reunion were changed relatively late in the game ... with the Friday social activity and the Saturday tour of the remodeled high school the parts that remained.  Those that still went home anyway made the best of it ... just as we'll do in five years (or maybe next year as the rumor is that this year's official shindig might be rescheduled to 2015).  Ultimately, that removed the urgency from my countdown somewhat, but in the spirit of finishing that which was started, here's the final memory ... which, in true rule-breaking fashion will be a set of memories.

Here's the truth ... if I'm being completely authentic, the reality is that I was a late bloomer who excelled in class (because I didn't have any other stereotypical teenage distractions) ... which means my fondest memories would be of time spent during the lessons with my teachers, documented here in the photo on my report cards from 9th to 12th grade (see how many *you* know!) as:  Mrs. Mills, Mr. Celaschi, Mr. Rupp, Mr. Gettle, Mr. Putt, Mrs. Bomberger, Mrs. Jackson, Mr. Webb, Mrs. M. Gardner, Mr. Stuckey, Mr S. Miller, Mr. Graeff, Mr. Heck, Mr. Heilman, Mr. Rossi, Mr. McDaniels, Mr. Heverling, Mr. Linn, Mr. Detwiler, Mr. R Smith, Mr. Yenser, Mr. Graeff (again), Mr. Heck (again), Mr. Heilman (again), Mr. Linn (again), Mr. Coles, Mr. Garvey, Mr. Gettle (again), Mr. S. Miller (again), Mr. Heck (for the third time) and Mr. Heilman (also for the third time).

AND that's how I was originally going to end the countdown.  But then I went to what was left of the = reunion weekend and remembered that, despite my focus on the classroom from 1985-1989, there were a handful of classmates from those four years that ALSO deserve to be part of the number one memory ... [in alphabetical order by first name - ish] ...

Amy M (for always letting me eat peanut butter cups from her fundraising activities despite my inability to pay for them)

Holly F (for starting a friendship that would only blossom in the immediate months after graduation ... and beyond)

Jenn W (for being the one with whom everyone in high school thought I should be coupled)

Kerri G (for being my high school girlfriend at just the right time to convince her father to harbor an illegal runaway the first few nights after I struck out on my own in March of my senior year ... which was just the start of an amazing friendship)

Matt H (for being the reason I still wear Adidas sneakers *today* in hopes of being as cool now as he was then)

Rose M (for being my eternal homeroom buddy AND co-worker at McDonald's)

Sally P (for being my "wife" in our sociology class from the beginning to the end:  fantasy-home building to egg-in-lieu-of-child keeping to who-gets-what-in-the fake divorce planning)

The Hebron kids:  Jenn G, Jerry W and Mark B (for being doubly involved in my life at the time since they also attended the youth group for the Methodist church in town, meaning we had Retreat memories to add to our high school ones)

The I Don't Care So Much For Physics Crew:  Bob W, Sally P (again), Tom I and occasional guest star Wendy W (for helping me pretty much ignore Mr. Garvey's Physics class with an often blue-humored round robin passing of notes that still survive to this day but that can't be put on the interwebs due to the fact that some of those folks have kids now)

Wendy W, again (for being so magnanimous as to get her mother to legally take me in regarding the situation I described above, becoming my insta-sister in the process)

And so (finally) ends a countdown (admittedly, a few days later than planned)  ... here's hoping that I still have the capability for memories when it's time to go back home for the 30th reunion!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 2 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 2

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

8 more days.  Well ... kind of.*

(*Let's get the elephant out of the room.  Although news broke earlier that the Saturday night event was postponed for now, the surrounding weekend activities are still on ... and the out of towners I've been counting on seeing are still heading home in eight days...)

That news aside ... tonight's fond memory 2 is of getting to say the closing prayer at graduation.  Fun fact ... it may have been the last year it happened, as I recall a certain Supreme Court decision of that era may have banned such a thing at future graduations.

Just for fun ... here's the text (captured in the special graduation program booklet pictured below, which also has contributions from Lynn S, Wendy W, Lucy K, Fred F and Ellen L, should anyone want to know what it was that they said 25 years ago).  Funny enough, a quarter century later, and I still think I sound (and write) the same way ...

Dear Heavenly Father:

We, the graduating class of 1989, come before Your presence tonight, praising You for the years behind us.

As we gaze through the looking glass of our lives, we are continually reminded of Your presence in every aspect.  We thank You for the support system we have had in the past - parents, who led us through trying times to the point where we are today; devoted teachers, who faithfully prepared us for the future awaiting us; caring friends, who were always there to lend a helping hand, a smile, or a shoulder to cry on - and we ask You to touch each of their lives in a special way, as our thanks to them.

We especially ask You tonight to bless each of us who have prepared to make the move to yet another phase of our lives.  Help us to become what we both wish and need to be in order to make the world that we live in a much better and brighter place.  Help us to work to our potential and to be always striving to do even more, keeping in mind both the joys and the sorrows, the love and pain, and all the memories of the past to guide us into the future.

AMEN.

One more post ... in four days ... fond memory #1 will be posted on Mon the 6th!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 3 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 3

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

12 more days!  What-what?!

Sure enough ... final plans were confirmed and there's a FB post on the official reunion page asking for folks to chime in as to whether they are planning to attend, so that organizers can start to get a rough count.

All of which makes my fond memory number three on point ... my years with Unified Math!  Quick background ... my high school allowed a certain subset of guinea pigs to "play" with the 'rithmetic side of the basic Rs with a series of classes throughout high school that took a *different* approach to educating (i.e.  more unified).  Unfortunately, the curriculum guides, as pictured below, didn't provide any better explanation (and yes, if you haven't learned yet throughout this countdown, I'm a bit of an "archivist" [a word I prefer instead of "hoarder"]).

After all, it's Math that allowed me to create an every-four-days posting schedule back when there were 100 days remaining ... although, admittedly, I didn't use things I learned in Unified Math like Z-clock arithmetic OR imaginary numbers, the latter of which I found explained in my notes from Mr. Yenser's class in 11th grade in the third photo.  [Well, they were "explained" as of the 88-89 school year.  I have absolutely no idea what any of it means at this time.]

Only two memories remain ... the next to be posted this Th on Oct 2!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 4 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 4

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

16 days remain (that's just over two weeks!) until the big 25th reunion weekend ... which brings me to fond memory number four.

As I've hinted at throughout this countdown, I did pretty well at school and definitely made it my own for the time I was there.  That being said, one of the reasons that happened was because of the self-fulfilling concept of getting an "enriched education", as I belonged to a group of students that got individualized education plans.

Well, that's what they were in the grades before high school.  Once we hit ninth grade, those of us in this group just got excused to go off site to SEE seminars (almost all in the neighboring Lancaster County, where kids were smarter I guess?) ... field trips that, by the time we were seniors, became excused absences where we could drive ourselves ... and we attended every one we said we would (right, Sally P?).

Only three memories left to share ... the next one will be posted on Sun the 28th.

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 5 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 5

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

20 days to go until the big reunion weekend (time to start thinking about what to pack for the trip!), which means I'm up to the fond memory number five of my years in high school.

Oddly enough, it is the roughly 45 minute walk to and from the high school each day.  Let's face it ... except for the very very beginning of my education (i.e.  my dad's brief marriage to the lady in Elverson, which meant a bus ride with the little red headed girl Margot to kindergarten) and the very very end (when my sister was driving me to school in the morning and when I was sneaking out on Friday afternoons to get a ride to the Methodist church I was attending where I was publishing a monthly newsletter) ... I was a *walker* (uphill, both ways, etc etc).

Of course, I did have to pass the time with myself for those periods each day ... so I distinctly remember using that time to host my own talk show in my head (I was a creative [and lonely] child after all).  That was until I learned that I could master the art of reading whilst walking.  So that's what I did ... in the streets of Lebanon PA ... finding a path that would put me in the least amount of harm ... learning how to read the page AND be aware of the upcoming intersection (or the tree root that was buckling the sidewalk in front of me).

In a way, it was the original "pay attention to where you're going and stop looking at your phone" trend (years before kids were given such toys).  And, thankfully, I survived to write these posts 25 years later.

Fond memory number 4 ... to be posted this Wed the 24th!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 6 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 6

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

With only approximately 24 more days to go until the big event when a good number of us from my high school class will assemble in my hometown of Lebanon (I'm posting a day late, so it's officially 23 ... but hey, the point is it's really really really soon), it's time for fond memory 6 ... of, appropriately enough,  the High School Assembly.

It's true that any of them from the four years of school would work if I was highlighting the amazing orderliness of our assemblage (such good soldiers we were, marching through the hallways and sitting in our homerooms) ... or how your ability to misbehave was directly proportional to how close you were seated to the teacher chaperon (and how it seemed that assembly duty was a commodity traded in the black market of the teacher lounge) ... but I actually have one specific gathering in mind.

And that would be the time the hypnotist visited and put a few classmates under his spell (which, come to think of it in modern times, seems like a recipe for a lawsuit).  One of those classmates was also my friend whose name guaranteed that we shared homeroom together all the time ... and she was hypnotized to stuff something akin to monopoly money in her shirt .... and then at a later time, when some word was said, that monopoly money was supposed to feel like ice cubes.  Sure enough, it worked as predicted, and said classmate jumped to her feet in surprise and let out a small scream and shook her shirt until the "ice" paper fell out.  I was *this* close to posting a picture of Rose M with hypnotized eyes, but decided at the last minute that that wouldn't be polite to put on the internet.

How can it be?  Only 5 more memories in this countdown (the next one to be posted on this Sat the 20th)!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 7 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 7

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

With 28 days to go until the big 25th anniversary of high school graduation weekend, and seeing as how this bonus series of posts on my blog and the Facebook will soon be over, it seemed like the perfect time to re-visit the fond memories of my multi-media escapades back at dear old LHS.

So memory number seven is in triplicate ... first in the copies of the school newspaper edited by none other than Kerri G* (and featuring my election wrap up there in the issue on top), second in the Woodnotes literary magazine (sold for $1.00!) to which I was lucky to contribute and third in the pass to get in late to the first period classes due to being a member of the team that did the announcements each morning.

It's probably obvious, even though Al Gore had already invented the internet by the end of the eighties, clearly that culture hadn't worked its way into small town high schools at that time.  I'm sure nowadays all of this type of stuff is no longer paper based (and therefore can't be pulled out of any archives, unless someone took the time to digitalize them) ...

Only six more memories remain ... next one will be posted Tuesday the 16th!

*[Bonus:  here's Kerri G's final editorial, where she stakes her claim to parking spot 190 for all time!]

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 8 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 8

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

In just 32 days, a good many of the graduating class of '89 will be gathering to reminisce about the innocent days of high school ... when the most important concern was whether one was carrying one's hall pass when one was accosted by a hall monitor ... AND we'll also be recalling some of our favorite instructors who left the biggest impression on the lot of us.

Tonight's fond memory number eight combines those two ideas into one fait accompli.  On the Facebook, it will show as a full 30 second video (through three rooms) of this roll of paper towels that Mr. Coles prepared as my pass one day in January 1989.  On the blog, it will have to be presented as two photos, but hopefully you get the idea.

What idea was that?  A gentle poke at authority that spoke to the absurdity of some of the most sheltered times of our lives, all in the spirit of good good fun.

Seven more memories to go ... #7 will be up on Friday the 12th!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 9 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 9

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

With 36 days to go (time to  finalize the itinerary of the return trip home for the 25th reunion weekend), tonight's top-10-worthy fond memory number nine of my time there (which was only four years ... since 7th and 8th grades were at the *Junior* High in my hometown ... and since I didn't have to repeat any from 9th through 12th) ... was how I pretty much had the run of the place.

Admittedly, these passes in the photo handed out the senior year for those who had the best deportment would have helped had I ever been asked by the hall monitors to show my "carried papers" (and, by the way, "hall monitors" back then didn't have to worry about metal detectors in those innocent days) ... but let's face it.  Little old innocent me could walk the halls with impunity all my days there.

Check back Monday the 8th for memory number 8!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 10 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 10

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

With 40 days and 40 nights remaining until the big reunion weekend (sounds almost Biblical, doesn't it) ... I am pleased to have hit the big TOP 10 in my list of fond memories from my time in high school (Sep 85 to Jun 89, for those keeping score somewhere).

When I started the list of 25 memories, I did say that they'd be in no particular order, at least at the beginning ... but that does mean that I reserved the right to have the top 10 be slightly more meaningful.  And in the world of high school where I was lucky to have a lot of adults who looked out for me, perhaps no one did so more meaningfully than Mrs. K (aka Polly Keesey).

After all these years, I'm not even sure how we got connected (was I maybe her assistant helping to tutor others?) ... but I do remember that she was a lifeline for me.  I spent a lot of spare time in her office (she even let me store personal things there in the time leading up to my running away from home) and she helped me be me, to the extent that a late blooming high schooler knows who he is during that frame of time.  The best part ... I can close my eyes right now and still hear her laugh -- and she laughed a lot (presumably *with* me and not *at* me).

More fond memories (leading up to the *most* fond memory) continue with number 9 on Thursday the 4th!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 11 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 11

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

With only 44 more days until the big weekend celebrating the 25th anniversary of my time in high school, I'm excited that the announced plans include a tour of the recently remodeled buildings.

One of the things I'll be looking for ... are the items that were once in the cafeteria, and so new to us back then, still there ... as they comprise my fond memory number 11 for tonight.  That includes, of course, the just installed jukebox (which always seemed to be playing Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" ... perhaps because I always had lunch with Matt H?) ... and the new "spiffy electronic sign", as it was described in the yearbook caption for the Mike K photo below, who was captured uploading key messages for the student body to see ... and the new Coke machines, pictured just behind Becky Z, where cans of soda cost only 50 cents.  Ah yes, life in the high school cafeteria in the late 80's ... good times.

Hard to believe, but I move in to the top 10 list of these fond memories with the next post this holiday weekend on Sunday the 31st!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 12 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 12

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

Maybe I'm just hungry at the time of this post, but as I sat down tonight to decide which fond memory from my time in high school would be chosen now that there are just 48 days until the big reunion weekend, all of the memories I considered were somehow tied back to the cafeteria.

And what was originally going to be a shout out to the Ala Carte line (My generation had choices!  Wait in the long line for the meal that Reagan approved where catsup counted as a vegetable ... or pay per item in the *other* line [which was basically pizza every day if you so chose] ... and I'm not 100% sure but I think there was also a third salad bar/milk/ice cream line out front?) quickly turned into a comment about how I just wanted to get my mouth around a Cedar Treat again (Cedar Treats being the "adult" version of the little sugar coated round peanut butter balls that were all the rage in elementary and junior high cafeterias in my youth). 

Come back Wed the 27th for memory 11 (spoiler alert ... it's *also* going to be about cafeteria experiences)!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 13 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 13

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

With just 52 days until the 25th HS Reunion weekend back home, it's time to go way back ... to a boy with a brand new camera taking photos of his ninth grade teachers (which places these pictures sometime in the school year of 1985-1986).

I'm guessing that none of these individuals are still actively working at the high school ... and I hope that they are all still alive ... and I doubt that any of them will be at the weekend activities in mid-October (do teachers dare go to the reunions of those they taught?), but here are multiple shots of the pre-renovation LHS classrooms and those that stood in front of them to educate me and my classmates ... Mr. Webb, Mrs. Bomberger, Mrs. Mills, Mr. Gettle, Mr. Rupp, Mr. Weible and Mr. Celaschi.

Memory 12 is up next on Saturday the 23rd!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 14 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 14

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

In just 56 more days, we'll make like we did back on May 19, 1989 at the Grantville Holiday Inn.

Except, of course, we'll all be 25 years older (because, you know, it's our upcoming 25th high school reunion).  And we probably won't look much like we did back then [see pic below and thanks to co-worker Leslie G who went with me to the event].

And I'm pretty sure there will be more alcohol involved this time (as there wasn't any "officially" back then ... not even at the school sponsored post-prom in the high school gym [see other pic below] ... although, I'm not vouching for any post-post-prom shindigs).

One thing will be the same ... that class motto [see one more pic below] still sounds like good advice ... I'll be back with memory 13 on next Tuesday the 19th.

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 15 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 15

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

In only 60 days ... just two months ... it will be the big weekend back home for my 25th HS reunion -- which makes it time for my fond memory 15, connected to MTV, as you can tell from the image.

Let me first place things on the historical timeline.  MTV first killed the radio star early on in 1981, when I was in 4th grade apparently.  It was the secret thing to watch in *Junior* High in the AV room (to which only the "cool" kids had access [I heard tell about it ... I only saw the AV room there through a crack in the door]).

So how does the channel that was showing videos all the time back in my HS days fit into my memories?  It turns out that, in order to avoid more suspension time for being chronically late (see fond memory 22 for that story -- and know that i was but a pawn in a crazy game with my father's wife-of-the-time), I would walk up the street from my house two blocks to where my sister Sharon was living.  She'd let me in, and while I waited for the secret ride from her that would keep me out of manufactured trouble at school, I'd watch twenty minutes of the MTV.  

Which means for a few months, my high school daily routine starting with a little Buffalo Stance ... When the Children Cry ... The Living Years ... Like a Prayer ... and Lay Your Hands On Me!  

Memory number 14 is queued up for this Friday the 15th ...

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 16 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 16

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

With just 64 days remaining until the 25th HS Reunion weekend (Fri football with a social after, a Sat HS tour, and a Sat night party all allegedly in the planning stages), it's time for Fond Memory 16:  Alphabetical Homerooms.

That means that *these* folks were the ones in the mix for every school day of every year for four years (or longer, as I believe Junior High followed the same pattern).  I had to add my picture into this shot of the yearbook page, because my senior pics were more Olan-Mills-at-the-Mall (well, in Lebanon, it was near the mall) and less whomever did them for school (or were they the same company?) as I was fighting with my parental units at the time and had to have my photo slipped into the yearbook at the last minute after declaring my independence a few months before graduation (it helps to have had friends/surrogate siblings on the Lodestone staff!)

Here's hoping I'll see some of these smiling faces (that is a smile, right Rose?) from L124 (Mr. Webb?), L213 (Mr. Heverling?), A217 (Mr. Garvey?) and L223 (Mr. Miller?) in just a few weeks (anyone feel free to correct me of the teacher names if I'm wrong ... although those rooms are verified from my report cards moments ago...)!  

And I'll be back with Fond Memory 15 on Monday the 11th!

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 17 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 17

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

We're just 68 more days away from the 25th high school reunion for the LHS class of '89, and so I went digging around in the bins that house the detritus from my youth to uncover this collection of royal blue and red (our school colors).

From right to left, there's the tassel that once hung around the rear view mirror of my 83 Ford Escort (because, for a time, graduating high school was the biggest accomplishment in my life) ... and the "medal" that hung around my neck during the graduation ceremony ... and the other item ... well, that's today's "fond" memory ... because it's from when vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle stopped by the high school in late October 1988.  

Regardless of one's political orientation (although this was central PA and not Philly or Pittsburgh, so if you weren't Republican, people were whispering about you), it was still something special to have someone so nationally known stop by the gym (I had to get bused over to Millersville University four years earlier to see sitting president Reagan on the campaign trail).  I believe this was during the height of his "you spell potato, I spell po-ta-toe" press, but still ... it was good times.

[Whilst fact-checking today on the interwebs, I discovered this article, which summarizes the whole experience "nicely":  http://articles.philly.com/1988-10-29/news/26269381_1_dukakis-weather-dan-quayle-bush-quayle , which confirmed my memory and included this quote from a classmate:  "Tailback Alphonso Apple, a muscular 17-year-old who sported a mustache and stood with Quayle on the podium, said the candidate was 'a nice guy'".]

More memories ... number 16 is up next ... in four days on Thursday the 7th ...

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 18 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 18

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation: 

With only 72 more days until the 25th high school reunion back home in Lebanon PA, it's time for fond memory 18 ... namely, how we affectionately referred to the location of our education as "the three ringed circus", understandably so as perfectly captured in the image on this program from the building's dedication that is somehow in my personal files (a bit of mystery, because, let's face it, I wasn't even born when this ceremony happened).

Also of interesting note from this cover, we'll be holding our big event (and maybe even touring the  recently remodeled school, which no longer has that real estate footprint) exactly 45 years after its dedication ... the same mid-October weekend, four and a half decades later.  Feels somewhat historic when viewed that way, no?

Memory 17 ... coming this Sunday on August 3rd ... 

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 19 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 19

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation:

[okay ... this is the last post to catch me up and get me back to the original premise of issuing these every four days leading up to our 25th HS reunion this mid-October ... this one should have been shared back on the 26th when there were 76 days until the event]

As much as I would have liked to post a picture of the cardboard cutout that graced the corner of the gym during my four years of high school, I couldn't find any of those pictures, so this classic uncredited photo found on the interwebs will have to suffice.

Without a doubt, though, one fond memory of my time in school would have to be the ever present reminder of my school's "most famous graduate" ... Sam Bowie (he of the seven foot one inch frame that is apparently just reaching up to make a basket in the picture).  Of course, that was 25 years ago, so I don't know if someone else has supplanted him with regards to that title ... or if that cardboard cutout still graces a spot in the recently remodeled school.

The countdown continues with Memory 18 ... to be shared on this upcoming Wednesday ... and then every four days thereafter ...

Bonus Post: Fond Memory 20 (LHS Quadranscentennial Celebration Edition)

Fond Memory 20 

on this, the Quadranscentennial Celebration of 

my Lebanon High School Graduation:

[note:  I'm *almost* back on track with my countdown timeline that went all asunder when I was traveling for work this month ... here's the post that should have been on the 22nd, when there were just 80 days until this fall's 25th reunion extravaganza ... additional note:  have you made your travel plans yet?]

Since the last memory was of using typewriters in an actual class for which we got some kind of grade (pass/fail as I recall), I wanted to clarify that I'm old, but not *that old*, since I do have memories of using computers in high school.

Sure, we all learned the language of BASIC early on (if only so that we could make the computer screen fill up with "my name is Troy" repeatedly) ... but, by my senior year in 88-89, I was lucky enough to learn PASCAL.  The image accompanying this post ... actual homework assignments from that class that I dug up tonight (maintaining a good filing system does not necessarily make you a hoarder, right?).  What I love most about these four examples, and PASCAL in general, is that there was a "notes" section at the top where one could place descriptive non-command lines of programming ... and reviewing mine illustrates that I've been a smart ass since *at least* high school (some of the comments appear to be inside jokes for the benefit of my teacher, Mr. Miller).

Most importantly, I am young enough to have had computers in my high school education.  *That's* my main point with this fond memory.