History Adventuring

Time-travel with me to the 1970s, and let's go to a grocery store and pay with a check. I actually did this, back in 1977, when I lived at the Saguaro Apartments and would go buy groceries, with a check. First of all, you would need to have a checking account, which you got at a bank, and which came with a checkbook, which was a bunch of pre-printed documents that you would carry around. Checks are still being used nowadays, but it's been a long time since someone used one at a grocery store - it was quite a process. After the cashier had rung up all of your groceries, you would open up your checkbook and write out the name of the store (in cursive only), the date, the amount, and then you would sign the check. At that point generally the manager of the store would come over to approve the check and to look at your driver's license. Your home address and telephone number were pre-printed on the check I guess in case they needed to visit or call you. There were also "ch

In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, well in most parts of the country, but not really in old-time, or modern Phoenix, Arizona. The seasons are kinda turned around in Phoenix, and the nice weather begins in October, and lasts through the winter. Of course romance can find you at any time of the year, it's just more comfortable in the winter in Phoenix, and back before air conditioning was common, it also meant that the winter is when most people were in town. I'm serious here, back in those days during the summer Phoenix was pretty much empty - only people who had no choice stayed there in the summer. It's always been crazy hot in Phoenix! And it's always been deliciously comfortable in Phoenix in the winter, and that's when the population expands with winter visitors, and you also see your neighbors who have suffered through the summer go outside, maybe walking their dog. And who's that girl? Someone's niece? How does my

If you live somewhere with beautiful winter weather, like Phoenix, Arizona, you're gonna have to share your city with tourists. And how you deal with these people will determine if you're gonna be happy, or miserable. The photo at the top of this post is from the 1940s, but you could time-travel back to the 1800s and all of the way up into modern day and see the same thing. If you grew up in Phoenix, and have lived there all of your life, this probably looks unremarkable, but to tourists it's lovely. And since I've been sharing the beautiful cities that I've been living in since 1977, including Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara, I've developed an understanding with these people, and also with the locals who can never seem to get used to tourists. Speaking for myself, I've always been able to see what tourists see. I wasn't born in Phoenix, or Southern California, and I never tire of the warm weather in the winter, the palm trees, etc. And although

Time-travel with me back to the 1980s, when being able to pay right there at the pump, instead of having to deal with a person, was brand new. I was in Los Angeles when this happened, and it was wonderful. And the reason for this is because I was born a little too late. I started to drive in the 1970s, when everything just started to go wrong. If you're older than I am, you may remember how wonderful service stations were in the 1950s, even into the 1960s. Gas was very cheap, and all you had to do was pull up to the pumps and a smartly-dressed attendant would not only pump your gas, but also check your oil, and your tires. My parents remember those times, and I can see it on old movies, but I never saw it myself when I was driving. The price of gas started going up sharply in the early 1970s, right before I got my driver's license. Of course to our 21st Century eyes the prices look cheap, but they really weren't, gas had almost doubled in price almost overnight. That would