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In 1976, I'd done a contract with Bell & Howell (working for Mike Waller) - an enjoyable project where they wanted the following experience:
 | Farsi (language used in Iran) both written and spoken |
| Eye-Readable Titles in COM (Computer Output Microfilm) Fiche |
| Big Honeywell mainframes Level 66 |
| DEC PDP Assembler |
| Cobol |
I had the last one and none of the foregoing - but there again, its doubtful if anyone would have had...... So I was on the project for the next 6 months.
When it finished I did a couple of other projects then in late 1977 they asked if I'd like to join them as an employee and as Almuth was all in favour of it - I went ahead. Had a good time selling and supporting the Bell & Howell 3700 and 3800 COM Recorders, and was called into the office of the UK Sales Director around November 1978 and was asked if I'd like to go on a seminar concerning the new Remittance Processing System........ for about 2 weeks..... in.......Nevada!!
Duly pitched up at Heathrow on 8th December 1978 and met up with ??? (I'll call him Giles from now on) French Bell & Howell guy who was on the TWA flight and was going to the same seminar. What a good flight....lots to drink, lots of "Hollywood" style from the cabin crew, great views over Canada, and then into LAX. Got rubbished by one of those ladies selling Hari-Krishna books/whatevers - and then waited around for another B & H English guy ??? Brian from now on) who had been in California for a few days already, had a rental car and was going to pick us up. Marty Feldman was meeting someone off the plane I remember.
Brian duly pitched up - well late - and we zoomed off for the Holiday Inn in Pasadena. The Freeways amazed me... I'm sure there are people still driving - trying to get off them!! It seemed every "off" was onto another Expressway, and in addition "offs" went off both left and right. We were keeping to the 3rd lane having realised that the right 2 lanes often "off'd", and so it was better to carry on straight in a middle-lane - when...... the left 3 lanes (including the one we were in) went "off" - crazy!!
Can remember waking up the next morning (a Saturday) and looking out on Pasadena High Street (or whatever), and thinking - "where are all the shoppers?? - Either it must be Sunday, or its very early". Checked the time - about 09:00AM and decided I must have slept through Saturday - because a "High Street" in the UK - at 09:00AM on a Saturday would have been choc-a-bloc with people/cars etc.... Went down for breakfast and checked things out with the 2 boys - and we realised that because lots of stores were open 24 hours, there wasn't the "crush" to get everything bought on a Saturday morning - 30 years later its happened in the UK too!!
It was a Saturday... three grown men, with nothing to do, foot-loose and fancy-free - where did we go...???
....Disneyland!!!
Is this "The Wild
Wild West"??? - was under construction then!
Sunday - we're off to the airport....
Flew up to San Francisco, hired a car and had to drive over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito (nice lunch there)
San Francisco...
Then off through Sacramento up to Hurrah's Hotel at Lake Tahoe, where the seminar was to be held.
I remember us checking-in at Hurrah's and being told that "you and you are sharing" - to which we replied that "we don't share in Europe, we want individual rooms" (they only cost something like $25 anyway) - but when we got upstairs - we found massive rooms with 2 king/queen sized beds - 2 bathrooms (each with its own TV) etc...
The seminar turned out to be a "Ra-Ra" session for the people who had been working with the RPS over the last year or so, and basically every speaker got up and said "I'd like to thank all you wonderful people, for doing such a great job" - and then one of "those people" would get up and say "how great you are for allowing us to do our jobs" etc.. etc.. it went on for about 3 days - and we leaned nothing about the RPS system.
So we hired a car and wanted to drive back through the Sierra Nevada mountains - what a fabulous trip!!
Lake Tahoe scene -
snow on the mountains..
and the water was
frozen for the first few feet from the shore
Getting out of Tahoe
Along the route
somewhere...
Empty roads - brilliant scenery - I
couldn't believe that we were amongst pine trees in a desert with snow all
around.
We'd been going for hours - Brian was driving - Giles was in the back, everything was quiet and relaxed, when - for no reason, and very quietly at first, Giles started with "Hey Mike, don't you think Brian is just doing a great job of driving, and shouldn't we show our appreciation.....etc..." - we all just laughed so much!!
Could this be
Bishop?? I just wanted to capture the wide-open road, with
very little traffic, but lots of advertising hoardings etc... I know we stopped
somewhere along here for food - and we were sitting in one of those scalloped
tables with high backrests talking about how we'd done well at 70+ miles per
hour (speed limit was 55), when 3 or 4 Highway Patrol guys got up and left, from
the next door scallop - whoops!!
We got back to LA, attended some meetings down in Newport Beach then split up - Brian and I wanting to see New Orleans...
Mississippi etc.. we
did the French Quarter (couldn't get a Mint Julep for love nor money!!) on foot
- then in the hired car drove out across Lake Pontchartrain towards ..
Covington, turned
right on 12 then right again on 10 back to New Orleans
Brian with car by
the lake and Spanish Moss everywhere