Happy Birthday to Me

Today I am 70. Never dreamed I'd be this old when I was young. I still remember the days when the chant was - Never Trust Anyone Over 30! The same days when I couldn't get into Welding school without a Sponsor & guaranteed job because I was a woman. No bathrooms for women in the muffler shop, mechanic shop, welding shop .  .  .  .  .  And why wouldn't I want to go to secretarial school anyway??? 

Those were the days of Live Fast, Die Young. If you remember the 60s, you weren't there! Well, I was there. Working for $1.35 an hour at two jobs trying to save money to go to college since I couldn't be a Welder & my parents had 5 more kids to educate. 

But I'm not going to say I didn't have fun. I tried my hand at hitching around the country, you could get a job washing dishes anywhere! I couldn't drink the water on the Prairies but loved Alberta. Hated Toronto but the water & the islands were good. Missed the Maritimes, to my regret, because I always wanted to go there. Was warned out of Quebec in the early 70s & never made it back. Found out along the way that I needed roots & a home so I came back, kicked the duffle to the curb, got a job & went to college.

Here I am 50 years later - the world has really changed in my lifetime! TV in your car now - when I was a kid, some of us actually had TV but it wasn't in color! And it came in a big cabinet & signed off the air every evening. Radios still had to be plugged in until Transistors hit the market when I was around 12 - battery operated! Woohoo - a kid's dream, no more crystal sets. Remember phones with a partyline?? The whole neighborhood got to listen in when your boyfriend called. Everyone still drove standard transmissions too until my aunty got an automatic imported. She had a Pushbutton gear changer on the dash. Nowadays cars park themselves. And every house has a computer .  .  .  

I'm still taking college courses with Coursera. That is if I can co-ordinate the eye balls & the brain with hands & feet. Speaking of body parts, my leg is a lot better although my ankle is still sore & knee unstable enough that I won't climb over my bathtub for a shower even with the seat in there. I haven't been down the ramp to the garbage yet but I think I'll make a trip today. And try getting into the car since I have my Covid shot booked for Sunday.