Albq.to L.A.

Coming back to L. A. , the day before I’m in Taos with my old girlfriend, where she buys me a pair of moccasins and an indian blanket. We drive back to Albq. and she sends me on my way. Driving to L. A. In my D-50, all that was on the radio was about a child that had fallen down a well in Texas. I never got an FM radio in this old truck, so I was having to choose between this and Navajo Radio. I would be back to new Mexico before to long, but right now I didn’t think It ever happen. The up side to this was that I would be living in a castle, in the hills. Some old friends were helping me to start again. It had been tough to get work in Albq. Just two weeks before me leaving for LA, I drove back to New Mexico from Pennsylvania. I got a call, let’s say, a dear john call. My friend and I had gone back east to work, we were making good money,finely! In the bat of an eye, we wrap up, and head back west. That phone conversation fell on deaf ears, I was going back to fix whatever was broke.—————————————- I had spent a lot of time at the house on hollyridge drive. Years before, my friend was working on the fuel system of his 63vette, when some gas spills that had collected in a pipe that filled the tank. He’s a pretty smart guy, he figured something was going to happen. He started backing out of the garage, soon to be followed by a great ball of fire. I don’t think he even singed an eye lash. Fumes were ignited by the pilot on the water heater. and the entire garage was destroyed. Years later I found out how rare and special that car was, that very few were made with that package. I’ll tell you, this was the fastest car I have ever been in. The fire dept shows up, confine the fire to the garage, but the smoke and water damage to the house is extensive. Whats left of the garage and its contents are piled into the street, the neighbors have all gathered. I remember my friend, on the street, destroyed, looking dazed, when a neighbor, a very nice but noisy neighbor, comes up to me with a burnt up box, and asks me if I know what a tingulator is? —————————————- Over the next few days, contractors, insurance guys,and such are stopping by. My friend decides to take it on himself and asked me to help. Fire cleanup is the worst. I can,t remember how many trips to the dump we made in a rented stake bed truck. You get covered with soot, its hot, it stinks at the dump, it is terrible work. I don’t know what they use for fire cleanup these days, but back then we used some pretty nasty stuff to deal with the damage from the smoke. After things got cleaned up, some paint on the walls,things not smelling like smoke, the pace slowed. It took him years to finish. From time to time I’d help him on a project, but mostly he just pecked away, slow and steady. It was nice to be coming back here. I had left LA in 1984 right after the Olympics and I didn’t think I was ever coming back. The Two years had seemed like a couple lifetimes. He had finished his house before I had left so I’d be getting a job, staying here as I got a few checks banked. We had become close,close friends during the time we worked on his house, beside my Father, the only man I’ve ever told I loved