# 20 years ago...



## FLBuff PE (Jun 4, 2009)

1989

I was 11.

A sampling of the early months...

February 2 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul, ending 9 years of military occupation.

March 4 – Time, Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans for a merger, forming Time Warner.

March 9 – A strike forces financially troubled Eastern Air Lines into bankruptcy.

March 24 – Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Alaska's Prince William Sound the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (11 million gallons) of oil after running aground.

April 21 – Students from Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, and Nanjing begin protesting in Tiananmen Square.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jun 4, 2009)

Jeez, I was 22/23.

First engineering job.

Bought my first new car (Civic Si)

Moved out on my own.


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## Flyer_PE (Jun 4, 2009)

I was 21/22 and still had one more year to go.

Still driving my POS '78 Toyota pickup.


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## squishles10 (Jun 4, 2009)

I was 9. In 3rd grade. Just finished multiplication, hadn't moved on to division yet. I was "dating" a guy named Blue. I'm not kidding. So glad that didn't work out, as is my mom I bet.


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## TXengrChickPE (Jun 4, 2009)

On this date 20yrs ago, I was looking forward to my 12th birthday... and finishing up 6th grade. I was dating a juvenile delinquent named Tommy from 5th grade (maybe 11 years old?). The day after school let out he stole his Aunt's car, picked me up at my house and we drove to Baltimore (about 50 miles away) and back... didn't get caught.


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## csb (Jun 4, 2009)

I was 9, about to turn ten in a few weeks...I think my parents had just bought their first house.

Amazing how 20 years ago when a company didn't have any money it went bankrupt...


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## Freon (Jun 4, 2009)

Let's see:

- May 20th, promoted to 1st Lieutenant, USMC

- May 27th, Married to the present Mrs Freon

- June 24th, turned 25


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## DVINNY (Jun 4, 2009)

October 13, 1989 (Friday the 13th)

I got 'lucky' for the first time.

20 years later, I'm still addicted.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jun 5, 2009)

Freon got married the day I turned 23.

20 years ago today I was getting my full arm cast exchanged for a shorty cast. I'd broken a bone that makes you thumb opposable. This made the first few weeks with the new Civic (I'd bought it 5/30/89) really interestiung as it was a manual and had no power steering (with a fast ratio steering box).

I watched Tiennamen square and couldn't believe that tank didn't run over that guy.

I started my first engineering job 6/20. I was making 27K a year and thought I was in high cotton.

I went to my fifth year class reunion that summer and was the only person gainfully employed.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Jun 5, 2009)

> I got 'lucky' for the first time.
> 20 years later, I'm still addicted.


Lucky is his gerbil's name for those of you who don't know. :laugh:


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## Fluvial (Jun 5, 2009)

Capt Worley PE said:


> I started my first engineering job 6/20. I was making 27K a year and thought I was in high cotton.


I'm jealous! I got out of grad school Dec of '88 and started work as an EIT in Feb of '89. I was offered the princely sum of $24,000 in that position. To me it seemed like a million dollars.

Now you gotta crush it all with your $27k !


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## MA_PE (Jun 5, 2009)

VTEnviro said:


> Lucky is his gerbil's name for those of you who don't know. :laugh:


Did Lucky ever come back out?


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## Ralph (Jun 5, 2009)

I turned 16 and failed my driver's test, damn one way streets.


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## goodal (Jun 5, 2009)

WARNING: Semi long post, but worth reading.....

In the winter of 89, I was 9. My family and I were living in Gronau, Germany while my dad was being trained to build a new plant to be built in Cape Girardeu (sp?), MO. On the week ends we would rent a car and go see the sites. One weekend in Oct/Nov we decided to go to West Berlin because the wall was coming down and we wanted to be a part of history. We usually rented something nice (Audi, BMW) this weekend we had a brand new Volvo. On the way to West Berlin we came to a road block on a two lane country road. After waiting several minutes, we saw several cars turning around and taking a dirt road. So we, being adventurous Americans, figured we would follow them. It was late in the day, when we started coming up to a large city. After driving around for a while we came up to a large concrete wall just as the sun was setting. My 7 year old brother asked the question (not kidding) "Dad, isnt the sun on the wrong side of the wall?" I remember him asking and I remember my parents response. Silence.

We, wearing our Kentucky sweatshirts and packing our camcorder the size of a small suitcase, got out of the car at what looked like a tourist spot (turned out to be the Brandenburg Gate). After a few minutes of watching the guards point and giggle at us, a couple Army lawyers, that just happened to be walking by, stopped and started chatting with my parents. They decided to take us to eat to one of the nicest places in town. At supper, where the only beverages offered where Vodka, water or orange juice, my mom posed the question "what do they wear in East Germany?" Our two companions looked confused and one said "You are in East Berlin, just look around". Turns out the dirt road we took was a back way into *COMMUNIST GERMANY *and was usually manned by multiple guards, but since East Germany was in such turmoil they werent posted that day. Any other day we would have been turned around.

After several phone calls and a very long wait at Checkpoint Charlie we eventually got through to freedom. Some very cool things that occured because of a wrong turn: 1) We got on TV driving our brand new Volvo to a long awaited freedom 2) we got our passports stamped from a communist block country and 3) several pounds of the actual Berlin wall now sit in various spots around the house.


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## FLBuff PE (Jun 5, 2009)

badal said:


> WARNING: Semi long post, but worth reading.....
> In the winter of 89, I was 9. My family and I were living in Gronau, Germany while my dad was being trained to build a new plant to be built in Cape Girardeu (sp?), MO. On the week ends we would rent a car and go see the sites. One weekend in Oct/Nov we decided to go to West Berlin because the wall was coming down and we wanted to be a part of history. We usually rented something nice (Audi, BMW) this weekend we had a brand new Volvo. On the way to West Berlin we came to a road block on a two lane country road. After waiting several minutes, we saw several cars turning around and taking a dirt road. So we, being adventurous Americans, figured we would follow them. It was late in the day, when we started coming up to a large city. After driving around for a while we came up to a large concrete wall just as the sun was setting. My 7 year old brother asked the question (not kidding) "Dad, isnt the sun on the wrong side of the wall?" I remember him asking and I remember my parents response. Silence.
> 
> We, wearing our Kentucky sweatshirts and packing our camcorder the size of a small suitcase, got out of the car at what looked like a tourist spot (turned out to be the Brandenburg Gate). After a few minutes of watching the guards point and giggle at us, a couple Army lawyers, that just happened to be walking by, stopped and started chatting with my parents. They decided to take us to eat to one of the nicest places in town. At supper, where the only beverages offered where Vodka, water or orange juice, my mom posed the question "what do they wear in East Germany?" Our two companions looked confused and one said "You are in East Berlin, just look around". Turns out the dirt road we took was a back way into *COMMUNIST GERMANY *and was usually manned by multiple guards, but since East Germany was in such turmoil they werent posted that day. Any other day we would have been turned around.
> ...



^Post of the week! Very cool.


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## DVINNY (Jun 5, 2009)

MA_PE said:


> Did Lucky ever come back out?


ARMEGEDDON !!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Guest (Jun 5, 2009)

I had just completed my junior year of high school - last summer in high school.


My parents had just separated and started the long, arduous divorce that would eventually consume both of them financially;
I committed to enlisting in the Navy upon graduating high school;
Signed up for college classes to get a jump start;
Worked 50 hrs per week during that summer to save up for a car; and
Thought I was dating the woman I would marry and love forever - fizzled out by summer's end. :Locolaugh: 
Good times ....

JR


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## Katiebug (Jun 6, 2009)

Twenty years ago, I was 8.

All I remember clearly of 1989 was being pissed that the yearlong project that I'd been working on in the gifted/talented program was sidetracked by the fall of the Berlin Wall. The project was on West Germany - suddenly I was scrambling when, late in '89, the Wall came down.


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## vollEngineer (Jun 6, 2009)

High School graduation. Sigh. Today is our 20th reunion back home. I'm feeling pretty old today.

And my boyfriend was in Tiananmen Square also. What a bizarre time the 80's was. And the only thing today's kids are taking from it is the music. Man there was so much more!

Still... It's Hip to Be Square.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jun 8, 2009)

Katiebug said:


> All I remember clearly of 1989 was being pissed that the yearlong project that I'd been working on in the gifted/talented program was sidetracked by the fall of the Berlin Wall. The project was on West Germany - suddenly I was scrambling when, late in '89, the Wall came down.


HAHAHA!!! When i was in 6th grade, we studied Central and South America. One of the things we had to do was choose a country and keep a scrap book with all the news stories that popped up over the year for that country. Since this was 1977-78, not a whole lot was going on, so it wasn't a big deal for most of us.

Except the poor girl that got Panama. That was when Carter was getting the traty to hand it back over to the Panamanians. She had something like three albums full of articles.


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## Kephart P.E. (Jun 8, 2009)

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.......the ninth grade for me, my most memorable moments, playing well on the freshman basketball team, getting "promoted to JV" getting my ass handed to me for the rest of the season, but I started dating one of the Stat Girls, she was 16 and had a Diesel Rabbit and was one of those fast girls my mother never warned me about. Good times.


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## TouchDown (Jun 9, 2009)

I was 16 and sadly, most of those days are but a blurr to me now. I remember a 1977 Mercury Monarch was my first car and it had a tooth off the flywheel so the starter would screw up / get screwed up quite a bit and the starter was a B&amp;^#* to change out.

I was a little akward in my teens, so high school wasn't really my cup of tea. Only a couple years away from my 20 year class reunion. That's an odd thing to think about.

DV - I'm impressed that you can remember the date. Either you have a wicked sharp memory, or that experience left quite an impression on you!!!


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## Santiagj (Jun 9, 2009)

I don't really remember much. I was 7 years old in the 3rd grade at Tinc Road Elementary School in New Jersey. I think I got into my first fight in recess that year. Mainly involved putting someone in a headlock (later we became really good friends). I had to sit in the principles office for what seemed to be an eternity until my mom showed up. I got grounded for a week. I remember throwing sand at girls and chasing them in recess. Also, I think I got a Nintendo around that time, my favorite game was Contra.

Another random thing I remember. Another boy had drank 3 chocolate milks during lunch and wound up puking all over himself in the middle of class. I hate milk.


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## Chucktown PE (Jun 9, 2009)

Santiagj said:


> Imy favorite game was Contra.


up up down down left right left right b a select start

Crazy how I'll probably remember that till I dide.


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## Supe (Jun 9, 2009)

20 years ago, I was (presumably) using the big boy potty.


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## wilheldp_PE (Jun 9, 2009)

Supe said:


> 20 years ago, I was (presumably) using the big boy potty.


I still am.


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## Supe (Jun 9, 2009)

wilheldp_PE said:


> I still am.


Overachiever.


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## wilheldp_PE (Jun 9, 2009)

Supe said:


> Overachiever.


That's Little Lebowski Urban Achiever to you, buddy.


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## Sschell (Jun 9, 2009)

well... thats like, only your opinion... man


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