Dale Says

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1999 …

April 24, 1999

On my birthday I’m 48 years old.

This was a great birthday! I’m happy with what I’m doing and even happier that I know what I want to do next.

I want to write for a living. It’s something I like to do (and am reasonably good at) and I’ve concluded that when I’m done with the corporate world I will do it full time. I’ve started doing a little freelance work on the side, and have found that I really enjoy writing.

I realize how very fortunate I am to have a wonderful family and friends and a beautiful and loving wife. And our little house is so cozy! The fireplace has made such a difference! This year we intend to get started on turning the room over the garage into a guest room.

And for now I’m pleased with what I’m doing at work. I waited a long time and worked very hard to get to do what I’m doing now. I’m running a small group called Market Intelligence that includes competitive intelligence, market research, and the corporate library and I’ve got a terrific staff to help. At this stage, I really enjoy working with employees, helping them learn and grow.

But I’ve also come to realize that I don’t want to do it forever. My work takes more of me than I want to give to it. Over the past year I’ve spent a significant amount of time travelling for work, keeping very long hours, and adjusting to the continually revolving door of re-structuring and management and policy changes.

The past year has been a busy one for me personally, too. Patty’s Dad has been in the hospital a couple of times, and while he’s OK now, he’s weak from his illnesses. And Anne found out in December that she has breast cancer. That has been a blow to all of us, which has been lessened somewhat by the courageous way she has dealt with it. She’s about done with chemotheray and will go right into radiation treatments.

Our big trip this past year was a bike tour down the Danube River, from Vienna to Budapest. It was a wonderful tour that we will remember the rest of our lives. We saw storks and heard co-koo birds, spent time with Eva’s family in Slovakia, and explored Budapest and Prague, which are now among our favorite cities. After the bike ride, we took Eurail to Prague then crossed Switzerland on the Glacier Express.

We spent a lot of time with friends this year, including Christmas in Stillwater with the Struthers, Boldings, Patty’s college friends, and Diggs in Duncan. Our Easter Party has several special guests, including Mari and Martin and Mari’s little Mommy. We kept our gourmet dinner club going with Kevin and Julia, and enjoyed several outings with our special group of friends, including Drakesbad, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.

In the news the past year was bittersweet for the world. Most people were struck by the death of Princess Diana in an auto accident. We watched the funeral on television (in the middle of the night) and closely followed the investigation. She was beloved by so many people!

The U.S. economy is enjoying a prolonged period of prosperity, but a sizeable portion of the world is still lving in economic resession. Several Asian economies and Russia are still in pretty bad economic shape, but signs of improvement are showing. Businesses all over the world are consolidating; including oil and telecommunications companies, retail stores, and banks.

Use of the Internet is commonplace in the U.S. and most homes now have a personal computer. The Internet is used mostly for email, but electronic shopping is growing.

People are still killing each other in the Middle East and Ireland, and the U.S. is bombing Yogoslavia and Iraq. And just last week two high school students in Littleton, Colorado show and killed 24 of their classmates and a teacher at Columbine High School.

President Clinton got caught with his pants down, then lied about it on national TV. His mistress, Monica Lewinski, said he did it and she had the soiled dress to prove it. So we went through an impeachment trial that threatened to tear the country apart. Fortunately, the Senate didn’t vote to impeach him, so he got away with cheating and lying. But Hillary will probably punish him enough to make him wish he hadn’t done either.

Several European countries have united to form the European Union, and they have a new unified currency called the euro.

The sports star this past year was Mark McGuire, who smashed Babe Ruth and Roger Maris’ home run records. He wound up with 70, and Sammy Sosa ended with 66.

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1997 …

April 24, 1997

On my birthday I’m 46 years old.

The past winter was the wettest ever in California. There were floods and mud slides and several houses in Pacifica slid over the edge and into the Pacific Ocean. El Nino is the culprit and is now getting blamed for everything that goes wrong. Fortunately, we haven’t had any serious damage from the storms. At one point, the skylight in my bathroom was dripping on my head as I was shaving in the morning, but that didn’t last long. Overall, our place came out of it in good shape.

Our little house is looking good! Over the past year we built a cabinet in the living room to house our new fireplace, and it puts a wonderful finishing touch on the room. We love our fireplace and used it nearly every night this past winter.

Patty and I had another wonderful year together! She continues to give and give and is so full of life. She doesn’t want to miss out on anything, and I get to see a lot by going along. We are also fortunate to have two fabulous families and lots of great friends. Patty’s family has taken me in, and her Dad told us that he thinks of me as part of the family. That’s quite an honor!

We’ve done so much the past year: attending the Summer Olympics last July in Atlanta, a cycling tour through Holland, a trip to the winter ice carnival in Quebec, boating in Oklahoma, brother John’s wedding, Drakesbad, and Christmas with both families.

The Holland bike trip was the best yet! I loved walking through Amsterdam and the tulips were incredible. They seemed even more vibrant from our bicycles and at times they were in full bloom on both sides of the road. We made new friends on the tour and hope to stay in touch with them. And Kukenhoff Gardens were all they were billed to be.

In the news, last month 39 people were found dead at Rancho Santa Fe, California, in a carefully orchestrated group suicide. The Heaven’s Gate cult was made up of Web developers who used their site to recruit new members. They believed that the comet Hale-Bopp was being trailed by a spaceship that would transport them to a higher state of existence when they left their earthly bodies.

In U.S. politics, Bob Dole and Jack Kemp were nominated last August as the Republicans’ choice for president and vice president, and Bill Clinton and Al Gore were re-nominated as the Democratic choices. Clinton and Gore won the national election in November by a landslide, but the Republicans retained control of Congress.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana agreed to divorce last July, which had everyone talking and has the Queen and her family rather shaken.

Women continue to make great strides in all areas of society and business. Last December, President Clinton appointed Madeleine Albright as the first female U.S. secretary of state, and she seems to be doing a great job so far.

The best movies of the past year were The English Patient, Jerry Macguire, Fargo, Sling Blade, and Shine. Hottest actors/actresses were Tom Cruise, Ralph Fiennes, Frances McDormand, Billy Bob Thorton.

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1996 …

April 24, 1996

On my birthday I’m 45 years old.

I am so fortunate at this mid-point in my life to have a loving relationship, great family, terrific friends, a wonderful house, and a generally fabulous life. When I stop to think about how things could have turned out I realize how incredibly lucky I am. I gave myself to someone early in my life and that person let me down. For many years that disappointment and hurt kept me from opening myself to the possibility of loving again. But now I’ve taken another chance and it’s wonderful! Loving another person (especially someone like Patty) is incredible!

International travel has been one of the greatest surprises for me over the past several years, as each new country offers a new perspective on life. Over the past year I have had business trips to London, Scotland, Spain, Poland, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Patty and I travelled together to New Zealand (and hiked the Milford Trek), Rio de Janeiro, Ashland Oregon, and to Oklahoma and Nebraska to see our families.

We lost a good friend last year when Steve Watson died of AIDS on December 29. He was a talented and wonderful person and his death has created a huge void in our lives. We spent a lot of time with him the last few months and helped his family through his last Christmas and with the arrangements and estate. That has created a bond with his family, which is helping ease the pain of losing him and has helped speed up the grieving process. We also have a few pieces of his art and some of his furniture, which helps us feel as though he is still with us in a small way.

Patty’s Dad was very ill last summer, but he has managed to get back most of the strength he lost. He has been a real source of inspiration to me, as he had every reason to be upset at what has happended to him, but instead he is very positive and charging on.

In the news, there were several big murder trials this year. The O.J. Simpson trial dragged on for months and ended in the acquittal of an obviously guilty man. The Menendez brothers were tried for killing their parents; their first trial ended in a hung jury, but the second ended with guilty verdicts and life sentences. The trial of the Oklahoma City bombers (Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols) and Richard Allen Davis (who has admitted killing Polly Klaus) are just beginning.

The Internet is the hottest technology topic. A lot of people are buying personal computers and “surfing” the Net. Few people have figured out what to do when they get there, but the Internet is beginning to replace TV as a source of entertainment.

The U.S. presidential primaries wound up with Bill Clinton and Bob Dole winning; Clinton should win the election this fall unless he does something to screw it up.

After several years of mailing bombs to an assortment of people, they finally caught the Unabomber. He turned out to be a former U.C. math professor, living in a hermit’s shack in Montana.

The summer Olympics will be held in Atlanta this July. We plan to go, and we’re really looking forward to the experience.

Several legendary figures died over the past year including George Burns, Gene Kelly, Edmund Muskie, and Erma Bombeck. Ronald Reagan recently disclosed that he has altheimers.

The hottest movies the past year have been Dead Man Walking, Braveheart, Il Postino, and Babe. Popular TV shows include Friends, Seinfeld, ER, Murder One, and Chicago Hope.

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1995 …

April 24, 1995

On my birthday I’m 44 years old.

So here I am in my mid-40s! Over the past year, I’ve felt my impending age, more so than in previous years. Because of my knee problems I can’t do all of the things I used to be able to do, and it frustrates me. I guess the secret from here on is to concentrate on the good things in my life (a loving and tolerant wife, wonderful family, a terrific home), and to see how well I can deal with any limitations thrown my way.

Patty continues to be my source of comfort and sanity. She pushes me to be more and better, and encourages me through my rough periods. I’m very lucky to have found her.

My knee has stabilized over the past year, and I seem to be able to keep it that way if I concentrate on keeping it stretched. Having given up running and raquetball, I find I can still bicycle, cross-country ski, and hike.

Our house keeps getting better and better. Over the past year we added drapes in the living room (thanks to Patty’s mother), bought a hutch for the dining room, recovered the chair in the living room, and bought a new couch.

Molly, our calico kitty, is a great companion. She is very affectionate and seems to know when one of us needs a little comfort. She loves her house and spends a lot of time roaming in the garden.

We had several great trips this past year including hiking through Costa Rica, weekend trips to Seattle and Colorado, spring training in Pheonix, and a family reunion in Wickenburg, Arizona.

In the news, OJ simpson is suspected of killing his ex-wife and her friend last June. The trial is going on now and will likely continue for many months. It’s on TV every day and in the papers, and people are getting tired of it. Almost everyone thinks he did it, but few people think he will be convicted of it. His defense team (F. Lee Bailey, Robert Shapiro, Johnny Cochran) are the best money can buy, and they are using police incompetence as a defense. The jury has already been sequestered for more than 100 days, and they have about had it. It’s starting to look like it will wind up as a hung jury or mistrial.

Last week someone put a bomb outside the Federal Building in Oklahoma City and blew off the front of the building. Around 200 people are dead and hundreds more are wounded. The entire country is furious, especially since there was a daycare center in the building and children are among the dead. On top of the bombing last year of the World Trade Center, this has everyone on edge.

The Republicans won a majority of seats in both houses of Congress last November. They have offered their “Covenant with America” and promised to make radical reforms. The lead Republicans are Newt Gingrich (Speaker of the House) and Bob Dole (Senate majority Whip). The tide in the U.S. has really turned conservative.

The U.S. dollar has fallen versus the Japanese yen and most European currencies. Initially a problem for the U.S., it has turned into an even bigger problem for the Japanese, because their exports are now more expensive in the U.S. Japan has has its share of other problems over the past year, as first a serious earthquake hit near Kobe, and then a terrorist group planted a gas bomb on the subway.

Radio talk shows are the rage now. Everyone has one, including Rush Limbaugh, Jennifer Jones, Donahue, etc.

The movie of the year was Forrest Gump; it won nine Academy Awards, including best picture, best actor, best director, etc.

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1994 …

April 24, 1994

On my birthday I’m 43 years old.

During the past year my sense of invincibility has declined a little as a result of my arthritic knee. Up to now, I have been able to do whatever I wanted, and I was able to heal any physical problem that cropped up. Now, I’ve been told this ailment won’t go away and can’t be fixed, so I have to learn to adjust and live with it. I don’t mind the pain as much as I hate the fact that it is slowing me down.

On a more positive note, being married continues to get better each year. Patty is a great companion, and she adds so much to my life.

My family is well (four married, one grandchild) and family is becoming more important every year. We started a yearly reunion a few years back and I really look forward to them. Patty’s family is well and very busy! I’m crazy about her mother, as she’s a very kind and loving person, and I feel fortunate to have a chance to know her and spend time with her.

In the news, the U.S. economy is finally starting to look better. The Federal Reserve just raised short term interest rates to try to slow it down. California is dragging a bit, as the downsizing of the U.S. military hit California really hard.

The hot domestic topics are crime and health care. Violent crime is the number one concern throughout the U.S. and most politicians are jumping on the “tough on crime” bandwagon. Longer jail terms, life sentences (“three strikes and you’re out”), and the death penalty are much discussed subjects. Mr. and Mrs. Clinton have proposed a health care program that has bogged down in Congress. If passed, it would guarantee health care to all U.S. residents. Employers would pick up most of the tab, with consumers and the federal government paying the rest.

The Clintons are spending most of their time defending their past financial dealings. It’s ironic that the one that is the most scrutinized (Whitewater) is one in which they lost money.

South Africa is scheduled next week to hold its first ever completely free election. Everyone will get to vote, even the blacks, and it offers a hope that the widespread killing that has gone on there for too long might stop.

Russia’s economy is bad and getting worse. North Korea is developing nuclear bomb capabilities. And Japan’s economy is in a deep recession and the prime minister just resigned following a scandal.

In technology, everyone is talking about the Information Superhighway. It seems to be a communications network for purchasing, news, and finding services.

The Winter Olympics were successfully held last winter in Lillihamer, Norway. The U.S. has a few new heros following the Olympics including Nancy Kerrigan, Dan Jantzen, Bonnie Blair, and Peekaboo Street. We also have a new villian, Tonya Harding. She and her ex-husband conspired to whack Nancy Kerrigan in the knee, so Nancy couldn’t compete with Tonya in the Olympic tryouts. It was an ugly affair that left a bad aftertaste throughout the Olympics.

Richard Nixon died yesterday. He was 81 and all I could feel for him was sadness. He represented some really ugly human characteristics, but I can’t seem to work up anger at someone who tried so hard to get something that will never be given to him — he wanted to be good.

Schindler’s List was the best movie of last year. Tom Hanks did a serious movie about AIDS (Philadelphia) and won the best actor for it. Holly Hunter did likewise for The Piano.

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1993 …

April 24, 1993

On my birthday I’m 42 years old.

While I’ve become accustomed to the idea of being in my 40s I haven’t fully accepted it. I still feel like a 30-year-old, at least most days. Right now, however, I’m hobbled from knee surgery, and that has curtailed my activities somewhat. Is this a preview of what I will feel like in my 60s?

I’ve observed that I’m getting to be more like my father each year. That’s not all bad; my father is, afterall, a great guy. He’s led a very full, complete, and honest life. Unfortunately, along with some of his good qualities I seem to have also inherited his male pattern baldness.

There has been a very positive change in my relationship with Patty. We’ve now been together five years and I feel better about her all the time. I now believe I can accept her the way she is (she’s pretty wonderful the way she is) and I’ve come to realize how lucky I am to have her in my life. She has added another dimension to my personality that involves exploring new ideas and being open to meeting new people and situations.

Much of the news involves our new president, Bill Clinton. He’s been in the White House for about 100 days, and has found out it’s a lot easier to be a candidate than president. He just lost his first big battle with Congress, which killed an economic stimulus program he spearheaded. Bill is now shaking his head and wondering how he so badly misjudged Congress.

Bill’s wife, Hillary, is in charge of health care reform, and she’s getting close to proposing a semi-national health care insurance. Under her plan, employers would have to buy health insurance for all employees from giant insurance pools, which would be partially subsidized by the Federal Government. Groups are lining up on each side of the issue, with labor on Hillary’s side and business against her.

An interesting story is going around about the Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea. It seems that Chelsea arrived at school with a headache. Before giving her an aspirin, the school nurse wanted to check with her parents, to get their approval. Chelsea told the nurse, “You’d better call my dad, because my mother is too busy.”

After holding off the FBI and other law enforcement agents for nearly two months, more than 80 members of the Branch Davidian religious group are dead in Waco, Texas as a result of a mass suicide. The FBI used tanks to ram the gates of the group’s compound, then injected tear gas. Shortly afterwards a fire started that incinerated all but a few of the group inside. The FBI says the cult staretd the fire; the survivors say the FBI started it by knocking over gas lanterns. It’s a strange and very sad story.

Much of the world is in a recession. Russia, the U.K., and Scandavian countries have it the worst, and nearly all countries are devaluing their currencies and bracing for several years of slow growth. Russia seems to be in very bad shape. They are to vote tomorrow on whether to keep Boris Yeltsin as President. The U.S. has pledged billions of dollars in aid to Russia and our allies are being encouraged to do the same. It looks like it’s going to be a long and hard struggle for that country.

Social consciousness is alive and well. Hundreds of thousands of gay men and women are in Washington to march for equal rights and Clinton has vowed to eliminate discrimination against homosexuals in the military. Abortion is a sensitive issue, and there are protests and fighting on both sides. Sexual harassment is not only a hot topic, it’s now trendy to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against current or former employers. Nearly every newspaper has at least one account of a suit against a politican, athlete, or musician. The “Tailhook” case is very publicized now. In this instance, a group of navy pilots had a wild party and several female members have claimed they were sexually mistreated. Several high-ranking Navy officers have lost their jobs as a result, and it isn’t over yet.

Cesar Chvez is dead at age 66. He spent most of his life fighting for better working conditions and higher pay for immigrant workers in the U.S.

Arnold Batliner is dead at age 88. Arnold was the coin washer at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco for the past 30 years. His death leaves a vacancy that probably won’t be filled.

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1992 …

April 24, 1992

On my birthday I’m 41 years old.

All things considered, this past year has been the best of my life. I have everything I could possibly really want, and more importantly I am deeply in love with Patty. I consider myself a very fortunate person to have found her.

We both love our little house! It fits us so well and feels so comfortable. The past year we’ve done a lot of painting and finishing touches, but there are still four or five major improvements pending, which we plan to tackle a couple each year.

This past year we bought a very special painting from our dear friend, Steve Watson. It’s called Patty’s Flowers, because Patty inspired it. It’s probably the best thing he’s done and Patty loves it!

My family had a reunion last May in Estes Park, Colorado, which was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to get together. We hope to repeat it each year, beginning this July 4 at Anne and Buzz’s house in Oregon.

We have seen a lot of Allan lately, as he stays with us one night a week when he’s working at NASA.

I’ve travelled a lot the past year, including work-related trips to London, Toronto, and Miami and personal trips to Hong Kong and Thailand. We met Patty’s family in Hong Kong to celebrate Paul and Ines’ 50th wedding anniversary, and then Patty and I went on to Bangkok and Phuket Thailand. We loved both Hong Kong and Thailand and were especially impressed with the gentle nature of the Thai people.

In the news, the U.S. economy is just beginning to recover from a recession that has seen two years of negative GDP growth, high unemployment, and lower consumer sales. In my lifetime I’ve never seen unemployed people and business closings like this. There are so many homeless people now — many begging and living on handouts and soup kitchens. They are on virtually every street in San Francisco, and most other large U.S. cities. I’m volunteering in a homeless shelter now, serving food to the homeless, and it’s very sad to see the same people come in for their one hot meal every time I’m there.

President Bush and Congress are doing very little about the economy and umemployment, believing that the economy will recover by itself. Many Americans are becoming frustrated with inactions by the President and Congress.

This is an election year and I think there could be a presidential change (this is Bush’s first term) if the Democrats can find someone worthwhile to run against Bush. At this point, it looks like Bill Clinton (Governor of Arkansas) is the most likely to get the nomination, but I doubt he can beat Bush. There have already been several scandals in Clinton’s past (marital infidelity, draft dodging, improper use of funds) and the media is dragging those through the mud on a daily basis.

California had a public execution last week, the first in 25 years. The man’s name was Robert Alton Harris, and he killed two teenage boys in 1978. The media is wild about the issues associated with capital punishment, and it’s been in the papers steadily since early April. I’m so sorry that with all the good things we have been able to accomplish we haven’t been able to end capital punishment and wars.

There is still no prevention or cure for AIDS. Nearly 100,000 people died from it last year, and millions now have the virus. It has gone beyond being a disease associated with drug users and homosexuals, and now others are contracting it from blood transfusions. Over the past few weeks Magic Johnson and Arthur Ashe have admitted having it and famous musicians and authors have died from it. It may be our most urgent challenge.

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1991 …

April 24, 1991

On my birthday I’m 40 years old.

This is a milestone, for sure. What an incredible year this has been! We bought the most fantastic house and moved in it last month. It’s a Victorian cottage, built in 1885, that is perfect for us! It’s only around 1,100 square feet, but has the possibility of being expanded. It’s a two-level house (the kitchen, dining room, pantry, and an office/guest room are below street level) on a large corner lot, with a detached garage, beautiful terraced garden, and a room above the garage that will someday be another guest room. It’s our dream house!

We bid on the house just before Christmas, then had to walk away from it when we went to Oklahoma for the holidays because the owner thought he would get a higher bid. When we got home there was a message on our telephone telling us the owner had changed his mind and the house was ours! We moved in the third week of March, and are just now getting settled in. There’s some work to be done and some finishing touches to be added, but we already love it! We both got what we wanted, too; Patty got her Victorian house in the City, and I got my garden. It’s going to be a lot of fun for a long time!

For the world this has also been an incredible year! The civilized world ganged up this year to beat a ruthless aggressor. “Good old Sadam” (Hussein) as President Bush calls him, took quite a licking. The Persian Gulf War, as they are now calling it, affected everyone’s lives for 108 days. We were glued to our televisions and radios from August 9, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, until March when Bush declared a temporary cease-fire and an end to the war. There was little talk during that time of anything else. Some people were discussing the possibility of drafting soldiers to supplement the half-million volunteers and reservists that were sent to the deserts of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and there was some talk about cancelling the Superbowl in January.

We were all pretty stunned when the war started. A lot of people I talked to were disappointed that we hadn’t advanced any further as a civilization, and that we still have to settle our differences by war. There were a lot of prayers said and a lot of very relieved people when this situation didn’t turn into a prolonged blood bath.

Patty’s brother, Allan, and his wife were activated by the Air Force and they have flown several missions to Saudi Arabia. They have transported bombs, food, tanks, and soldiers; One of Allan’s planes was full of wounded American GI’s, some as a result of a SCUD missile attack on a barracks.

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1990 …

April 24, 1990

On my birthday I’m 39 years old.

It’s hard to believe I’m 39! That was Jack Benny’s “age” and it always seemed so old to me. I somehow had a picture of myself as always being in my early 30s, so this is requiring an adjustment. It’s not that this age is so bad, because it’s not, and there are advantages, including a peacefulness brought on by maturity and experience.

The past year was a major one. In October Patty and I were married in a wonderfully romantic ceremony in Sonoma. Our friends and families joined us in what will probably be the best party we will ever attend. It was a warm and magical day and Patty was stunning in her wedding dress!

It was a busy year all around, as in addition to getting married I also moved to San Francisco and changed positions at Visa. This is all requiring adjustments, which have been relatively easy. I’m especially fortunate to have found someone like Patty, as she is very loving and we share a lot of the same interests and ideas.

A whole new world opened to me over the past couple of years. The experience of traveling to new countries is so exhilerating that it has become an obsession. Trips to England, France, and New Zealand have broadened my awareness of the variety of lives in the world and made me want to see more!

There was a major earthquake in San Francisco last October 17. We were on our honeymoon in New Zealand and didn’t experience the earthquake itself, but we lived the aftermath when we got home. There was little damage to our apartment, but our neighborhood in San Francisco was devastated. The quake took place just a few minutes before the third game of the World Series was to start between the two Bay Area baseball teams (Giants and A’s). It registered 7.1 on the Richter scale and caused more than 100 deaths and extensive destruction throughout the Bay Area. A section of the Oakland Bay bridge fell, as did a portion of the 880 expressway in Oakland. The Marina district of San Francisco (built on landfill) was severely damaged, as were parts of Santa Cruz and Watsonville. In all, there was more than $1 billion in damages.

After returning home from New Zealand, we wandered our neighborhood; many homes are damaged beyond repair, and others will take years to put bck together. Cracks in the streets and fallen houses remain as signs of how powerful the earthquake was and how much damage it caused. Everyone is pitching in to help put our wonderful city back together.

The most significant world event of the past year was the fall of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. The Berlin wall came down and people have been allowed to travel freely between East and West Germany for the first time since World War II. Democratic governments have been installed in Poland and Romania and three former Soviet nations have announced their intention to leave the U.S.S.R. The Soviet economy is in shambles.

In national news, President Bush exerted his authority in December by invading Panama. Fortunately for him, he was able to accomplish his objective of deposing the leader of that country (Noreiga) and installing a “choice of the people.” Once again, the U.S. has made the world safe for democracy …

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1989 …

April 24, 1989

On my birthday I’m 38 years old.

This past year I fell in love, got engaged, started doing personal writing, and figured out what I want to do with the rest of my life. What a year!

Patty and I got engaged just before Christmas. The asking wasn’t a surprise, but the timing was. I had planned a special evening with dinner and a room at the Majestic Hotel in San Francisco. I had planned to ask her over a glass of champagne in our room after a romantic dinner. That afternoon, Patty gave blood, and then had a bad reaction afterwards and nearly passed out. I was called by the blood bank to go pick her up. She was very weak and initially thought she’d better stay in that night. So I paced the hallway in her apartment while she napped and tried to decide whether to cancel the dinner and special evening. Fortunately, she rallied and we were able to go out. She was much better after dinner and even better after a glass of champagne, so I asked her to marry me. She said “yes!” and then sealed the deal by calling her mother to tell her. It was a wonderful night for everyone! Just six months to go now until we’re married! I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together for a lot of years.

After struggling for a few years, I finally figured out what I want to do with the rest of my life — I want to experience as many of the beautiful things life has to offer as possible and describe them in writing. And now I’ve found someone else to do it with me. We’ll start this year by traveling to Europe in the summer and New Zealand this fall.

This past year brought in a new president — Reagan is out and George Bush is in. Bush is off to a rough start. When his honeymoon with Congress is over, he’s facing a Democratic-controlled House and Senate, and they want to make him look bad so they can get a Democratic president elected next time.

The last of the “Irangate” players (Oliver North) is being investigated by Congress, and he’s likely to be fried, as have been several other high-ranked government officials. The U.S. people are shocked by how deep this scandal goes, and many are losing faith in their elected representatives. We thought for awhile that Reagan might have to resign, but as with the rest of his presidency, he managed to wriggle out of this one, too.

The U.S. savings and loan industry is in big trouble. The Federal Government is trying to figure out how to come up with $300 billion to bail them out, after they made bad loans and executives pilfered billions of dollars.

U.S. banks, airlines, and telecommunications companies are busy buying each other, creating bigger and bigger companies.

The dollar continues to slide, at the government’s insistance.

Bill Walsh took the 49ers to another Super Bowl, then resigned at the end of the season. What a class act he is!