1973 - I was accepted into the B.Mus program at the University of Windsor, Ontario. I don’t think it’s generally known by anyone in my family other than my brother, but I got kicked out of university after my second year. I had such a good time that year, partying all the time, staying up until all hours of the night, sleeping late and, of course, smoking marijuana, that I never really attended very many classes. Most of my courses that year, with the exception of a Fortran IV computer course (got an "A" if you can believe it) ended up with an NR designation - No Report. I got a very nice letter from the Dean of Arts who strongly suggested that I take a year away from school to "find myself". So, I did. I managed to get a job at Syd’s Bridge House - a pub not too far from the university. It was a good year, relatively speaking - I was earning some money and I was finding myself... and, for $600 in 1975, I bought my first car - a 1969 Simca.

Simca 1204

The Simca, which was practically unheard of anywhere outside Windsor, Ontario (or Detroit), was a French made Chrysler product built exclusively for export to North America. When I first got it, it didn’t work too well, so I took it to a local garage where it also needed to get a safety certificate. Did you know that a car’s engine doesn’t need to work in order for the car to be considered safe? It was news to me! Anyway, after another $100 or so in repairs, she was on the road. I called the car "Aphrodite" - the Greek goddess of love and beauty. In fact, using little sticky letters, such as you’d see on a mailbox, I wrote her name on the hatchback. I had Aphrodite for a little less than a year. She died one day while trying to make a U-turn just outside the University’s music building: crash, boom - broken axle. I had her towed back to where I was living at the time, a small basement apartment - but I couldn’t afford to repair her, so she ended up in the junk yard. More's the pity... she was a good girl!

I did return to school in the fall of 1976 and from then until my graduation in June of 1978, I managed to get straight A’s (well, okay - I also got a *few* B’s). So, that’s why it took me 5 years to finish a 4 year degree! I wonder if anyone other than me ever did the math on that. Graduation was a relatively peaceful time, and my family came from Toronto to attend. I guess they were all quite proud of me, although I don’t recall anyone actually saying the words. Dad had only completed grade 10 and, while mom had finished high school, no one in the family had yet graduated from University. My brother, although 2½ years older than me, was still completing his university courses. Mind you, he was taking a double major and so received two degrees at the same time. I didn’t get a second degree until 5 years later when I received a B.Ed. also from U of W.

Michael and me at my graduation, 1978.

Well, more about my dad in some future post. It's said that we "become" our parents as we get older... and I guess that might explain why I'm a sanctimonious prick!