40 years ago

40 years ago, I was 7 and a half, and the TV was on all day, as we watched the moon landing.  For previous Apollo shots, we had stayed home from school to watch this "historical TV".  My dad was an areospace engineer, working on airplanes for the government, but he was facinated by the enginneering challenges to go to the moon, and kept us home those days to watch it on TV.

40 years ago, we watched Walter Cronkite on TV.  He took over the nightly news the year I was born, and for 19 more years, Walter was the face of the news for me.  "The most trusted man in America" they’re calling him now – he was the guy who gave us the news.

One of the … interesting… things about getting older is that, here on the tail edge of "the Baby Boom Generation" is that cultural icons and entertainers and other significant people are passing away.  Walter Cronkite is the "biggest" name to fade away, but as time goes by, more and more of those people die.

Micheal Jackson died a few weeks ago (and did that sell our newspapers or what?) and while I never really liked MJ, he was a significant influence on entertainers and especially on MTV.  MTV started in the early 80’s, but Jackson’s "Thriller" video raised the bar really high for music videos – they got better.  I was never an MJ fan, but he was around most of my life – in the news and on the stage and on tour – apparently, he had gazillions of fans, and it makes me feel sort of like a phillistine to not have much more to say about the man.  In the early 80’s, his music was soo popular that sometimes, he was on every rock music station on the radio and I got used to driving in silence.

(on the one hand, since MJ was only about three years older than I am, it could make me feel "old" that he died, but on the other hand, I’m in pretty good shape – maybe from having a fairly quiet life?  Incidentally, MJ was about the same age as my father was when he died in ’77)

I’m working on that five gallon pin for blood donated.  I have a blood donation appointment this afternoon… and it’s supposed to be in the 90’s today.  Good thing that Red Cross building is air conditioned!  I’ve been donating blood since the Navy days (got a half day off then for donating) so the total is well over five gallons, lifetime, but here in Oregon, I’ve been donating since 1987, and that’s the total that they’re using for the donation pins they’ve given to me.

It’s supposed to be HOT this week – good thing I don’t have to drive that hot ol’ school bus!  The widows that were installed here last winter, replacing the single pane windows I had has made a HUGE difference in how hot my apartment gets – it’s a good 20 degrees cooler in here now than it was for years.

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