Cast Of Characters
As
agreed, I'm putting together a description of all of the folks I
write about. This request was made by Dr. Joe but I think it will
help the disparate friend groups who read this, and the occasional
web browser who may come across the blog, to piece it together more
readily.
I'll
put the groups into four categories chronologically, starting with my
pals in the Foster City Mother's Club, which was formed in the mid
90s when the kids were young.
Hopefully
no one has blogosfear
FCMC
#1
#1
is a good man. All the folks I actually know that I write about here
are good people. They have a sense of humor, which allows me to bust
their chops with impunity. #1 has always been very encouraging
about this goof fest called DJ's Detritus. He's the guy who
encouraged me to start it and has always been a regular reader.
Unlike myself, he is smart, handy, and always willing to help out a
friend. His wife, who like all our FCMC moms, is a sweetheart, and
is coincidentally Mrs. #1. Stay tuned for FCMC2, as #1's SB1 (Sonny
Boy 1, aka older son) is one of my SB1's best friends, and they are
currently roommates in DC.
#2
Like
#1, #2 is is a native Southern Californian. He's a finance guy who
works across the bay. He has a nice little domicile on the water and
has played grill master at many a great holiday BBQ there. During
these events, he'll take us out on his electric boat, the only kind
allowed on the lagoon. #2 was one of the blog's early adopters.
The
Exec
The
Exec has been carping lately that that #1 needs to be called The Exec
instead of him. As usual, I ignore him. When this thing started
off, he was merely a VP or SVP. I can't recall because I really
don't give a shit about his career. But now he's the CEO of his own
venture. We share western PA roots and drinks.
TCG
TCG
does not stand for any variety of sexually transmitted disease. He
is part of the FCMC, although he came to it a little later than the
rest of the crowd. We used to work at the same company. He helped
me out a great deal after my surgery, by driving me to work for a
while. As I've mentioned before, all these folks were instrumental
in my recovery. TCG has been running his own IT gig for quite a
while and set up my wireless network when I decided to enter the 21st
century.
The
Banker
The
Banker has done stints at several of the country's biggest banks.
When I met him and his family, I was surprised to learn he grew up
about a half hour from where I did. The Banker, who played college
hoops, coached my daughter and his to several middle school
championships. Now both girls play for their college teams.
The
Belgian
This
is the last, but certainly not the least, of the FCMC crew. Since
I'm not particularly creative with names, you've probably figured out
where he's from. He's a big wig at a biotech up the road and has
been instrumental in the creation of cancer drugs. I'm sure he and
Dr. Joe could have some interesting conversations.
THE EDGE
(see 9/6/06 post)
The
Wolv
A
big fan of his home state Wolverines, The Wolv and I spent many a day
hanging out in the mid 80s when we were both working at a residential
facility for emotionally disturbed kids. We'd get together at his
house where I'd play Blood On The Tracks incessantly until he almost
decked me one day. Then we changed up the play list a bit. We used
to hang out at The Little Shamrock on Lincoln in SF. I remember
sitting there with him as Reagan talked about the Iran Contra affair
happening "on my watch". We shared a deeply cynical
reaction. The Wolv has been out of the Bay Area for almost 20 years
but we still keep in touch, occasionally even by snail mail.
Unc
Unc
joined The Wolv and I on several occasions, whether at the Persian
Aub Zam Zam Room or the hoops court. We were all younger and more
spry in those days. Unc is still here and we still hang. He's 60
something and looks 48. Unc used to be a BMW mechanic before he
decided to get into special ed. He could pull a car or a house apart
and re-build it. I imagine he's saved me several grand by
"assisting" me with house projects. We had a good old time
with Unc and his wife in Puerto Vallarta last year.
Poughkeepsie
Kid
Another
one of the mid 80s gang, PK hired me at the residential facility.
For once those upstate NY roots helped me out. He headed up to Santa
Rosa many years ago but we still see him and his family, most
recently at a Sonoma State hoops game
Double
R
Along
with PK, Unc and Wolv, Double R and I participated in some fierce
Thursday night hoops games at the bandbox gym of that residential
facility. Double R's shot was ugly but effective. He headed up to
the Sacramento area a while back.
Phoenix
Flyboy
PF
was yet another mid 80s co-worker. As young bachelors, we
commiserated over over-priced beers at Candlestick day games, where
we were one of 3000 or 4000 in attendance. We shared upstate NY
roots and a desire to find new careers, which we both soon did as the
magic age of 30 approached. He was a communications major and I
studied Spanish, so it is logical that we respectively got into the
airline and telecom industries.
COLLEGE
Dr.
Joe
SUNY
Binghamton, which they've now decided to call Binghamton University,
is where I met a couple of my closest friends. Dr. Joe and The Wig
were with me at Columbia Presbyterian on the morning of February 25,
1999, before I entered the operating room for 10 1/2 hours of spinal
cord surgery. I got interviewed by our school paper for an article
about Dr. Joe, in which I described him as a "selfless person, a
brilliant man who is the epitome of modesty". I think Dr Joe
and I first bonded over 16 oz. cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon in my dorm
room shortly after his break up with one of his college girlfriends.
There were lots of great moments after that. We served as each
others best man at our weddings.
The
Wig
I've
always appreciated the effort The Wig has made to stay in touch for
the last 30+ years. In that article about Dr. Joe, I described him
as "one of the most loyal and generous friends I've ever had".
The boy from Jackson Heights, Queens has done well for himself,
retiring several years back. He, Dr. Joe and I spent a magical
semester at 67 Cleveland Ave. in Binghamton. It was magical because
we managed not to knock one another out. After spending many years
in NJ, he and his family recently moved down to Richmond.
HIGH
SCHOOL
4M
4M
is one of my oldest friends. I mean really old, decrepit almost. I
kid. 4M, whose names all start with M, including middle and
confirmation names, came to my small upstate NY community in 1969
from The Bronx. He automatically became the smartest kid in the
room. As he explains it, the stuff they were teaching in our 8th
grade had already been covered in his 6th and 7th grades classes at
St. Nicholas of Tolentine. We did not hang together a lot in high
school but did so during a stint at the local JC. We also had
several card games with some of the other locals during that time.
It is then that I learned to be a lousy card player. 4M moved to CA
in late 70's and came back to The Bronx for a few years to show his
bride his old stomping grounds. In 1983 we both headed to CA for
good. We still hang and he always provides the finest wines for our
get togethers.
TK
TK
and I occasionally ran in the same circles during high school. He
lived in the next town down Route 17, where our high school was
located. We played JV hoops together. My illustrious high school
hoops career ended after that. TK and I lost track of each until we
both found out a few years back that we lived a half hour apart.
We've enjoyed several good times since then, such as boy's weekends
at UK's cabin in Kirkwood.
The
UK
The
Upgrade King is a Silicon Valley stalwart who often has the latest
tech gadgets. He was the youngest member of our high school class,
graduating at 16. After completing his degree early at Syracuse, he
headed out to NorCal and never looked back, taking his first job at
HP at 20. He has generously hosted the high school boys at his
Kirkwood manse on several occasions. He's currently working as CEO
of his own start up, with 4M as Director of Client Relations.
posted by DJ @ 12:24 PM
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