Use Limited Diff Lube Only Tag Question

Well it is now 4 years plus since I changed fluid I think and she is still shifting nice.

Mike

"L.W.(ßill) Hughes III" wrote:

If you had been here in the 1970s you wouldn't recgoginze it! Not a good thing IMHO. Lots of yuppification. The actual beach area is not too different, but most of Santa Monica has gone with the nasty trends of the past few years.....lots of new stop signs, speed bumps, Starbucks, "upscale shops", multiplexes, tourists, you name it.

The Pep Boys which had been on the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and 6th Street turned into a Salvation Army store about 2 years ago. I avoid SM as much as possible these days. My folks still live there, and my doctor and dentist (way too much of him lately) are there.

I'm in Mar Vista, just East of Venice. For the most part my nieghborhood is still nice. Oddly, I now live 5 blocks from where I lived until I was

12 years old. Dad moved to Santa Monica in 1971, and I followed in 1975 when Mom and the asshole (I mean stepdad) moved out of state.

Hum, you remind me, my 25 year Samohi reunion is coming up! Class of 1980.

Best Regards,

DAve

L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote:

I was a bit young for that, but got a taste. When Mom met my stepdad, he rented a 3 bedroom house on Howland Canal for $85 a month. (1968 I was 6 years old).

But I remember Venice when the boardwalk was just a zoo and not a circus. My stepdad, though he was an asshole (he's been dead for 20 years now) was a writer, poet, and sign painter. More of a beatnick than a hippy. He used to do standup poetry readings back in the 60s at the local night spots, and was on the same bill with George Carlin a few times. I do rememer Olivia's, the soul food restaurant that was where the "heritage square" is now in Santa Monica, on Main Street. This is the place that the Doors song "Soul Kitchen" was based on.

My sister was more into all the "counter culture" stuff, as she is 8 years older than me. We had a band practicing in our garage for a while, because she was dating the lead singer. The drummer went on to the band Ambrosia. They keyboardist used to babysit me, lol.

I remember P.O.P. and the Watts riots. Mom was working at Good Samaritan Hospital the night they brought Bobby Kennedy in. I remember Marina Del Rey when it was still a swamp. And I remember going to Seaworld in 1968 right after it opened, with Mom and Grandma, while Dad, my new stepmom and the older kids went to Europe. Dad gave Mom something like $300 (a forture in those days) for a weekend. We rode the Santa Fe, took taxis in San Diego and the occasional bus, crammed with sailors on leave. We stayed at the Hyatt Islandia which was also brand new.

My stepdad took some regular 8mm movies in Venice in the mid 1960s, mostly converging on anything over a C cup, but also taking in the other scenery. Mom found it in her attic up in Oregon, after he passed away, and we had it converted to VHS. It is around here somewhere. Cool stuff!

Best Regards,

DAve

--91 XJ, ABS working, at the moment!