Employed 10 Part 4

Sunnyvale Mountain Park was a 250 acre property, located on the east side of
Skyline Boulevard about 15 miles west of the city of Sunnyvale, whose city
council had purchased in the mid-50s for use by Sunnyvale residents. My dad was employed there as the resident custodian. Why he called it Gobblers Knob,
l don't know. (l never saw  Tom Turkeys,or hens, anywhere on the place). l
think it had more to do with the parks aerie location. (2,000' above the adjacent
Santa Clara Valley floor). l do know that Gobbler's Knob is the part of Punxataunie, Pennsylvania,the site where the annual ground hog viewing is done. My dad and his family lived there in a very nice two-story,four bedroom
house with all the regular utilities, just like downtown, owing to it's creek-fed
water system (with a 26000-gallon storage facility) and a back-up electric
generator. A large leach-field provided a place for sewage. An enormous propane cylinder held enough to cook the meals and heat the house for 2or3
months. ln the mid-80s, Santa Clara County purchased the 250 acre property
and combined it with surrounding properties (owned by the County)to form the
new, and much larger "Sanbourn Skyline Regional Park" My dad retired then,
having worked there from Autumn '59, thru Summer '85. He said that it was his
favorite job in the most beautiful working environment of his life. When he died, in '88, his ashes were strewn over his favorite place in the park

My dad introduced Theresa (aka Teri) as "your mean old stepmother". ln fact,
she was not nearly old at 32, certainly nothing like mean (nor has she ever been) and she was the only woman l'd ever seen in person, that came close to being as pretty as my mom, or maybe even more so. My dad was 45 then. 
Physically, we were much alike. The same height, much the same build,though
he probably was ten pounds heavier. We semed of similar disposition (though
he wasn't hiding any pertinent information from me as l was from him. l had
been with them only a couple of days when l realized that, as much as l would have liked to spend a bunch of time with them, l really had to be on my way if 
l were to avoid the consequences of my mis-deeds. l told them that i intended
to settle somewhere in the Bay Area, hopefully, near them but l needed to find
work soon, since my money was real low. Of course, dad said l was welcome to
stay indefinitely but he understood that l, like anyone, needed to work and he had an idea that someone he knew might br able to help. The person he turn-
ed me onto first, was the owner of Larry Hopkin's Pontiac Oldsmobile.
Larry and l talked for only about ten minutes when he decided l would be a good car salesman. l agreed. At that point, considering my recent "sales" work, which
obviously couldn't be included in the resume, l figured l'd be a good car salesman, too. But when l got into the application, l knew l wouldn't be able to
sell cars. One copy of the car salesman application goes to the California Dept.
of Motor Vehicles, which licenses car salesmen. A background investigation is
done on all applicants. l told Larry's Sales Mgr. that l needed to consult my records to complete the application and would returnthe app when finished.

When we returned home, dad and Teri got the whole story. From being expelled
from UNR, thru the combat-avoiding Army history, the hoked-up speeding tick-
et that took all my money at a crucial moment. And my sale of "investments" to
a defensless old man. The forged checks written on my stepdad's account and
strung between Elko and San Francisco, after Sammy had picked up the $600
bunch l'd written in Elko. They were visibly moved, but not angry or openly
disappointed. The thought the situation was not so bad that it couldn't be worked out. A good job, over a given period of time, could pay back what was owed. They would help as much as they could. And, if their house was convenient to my work,l could stay with them 'til l got my own place.

The next day, l answered an ad for a job selling ads for "The Saratoga Citizen",
(a popular, local, weekly free newspaper.) Saratoga, being the closest town to
Gobbler's Knob, made it a good place to look for work. l got an appointment
with the publisher, Carl Danner. As l was arriving there, Carl was bidding goodbye to an attractive young lady, who was apparently eight or more months
pregnant. Alone with Carl, l said "Wow". He said "Yeah, and her husband left
her a couple of months ago". l had a strange feeling that l would encounter this
woman, again.

l admit that from the time l left D.C., l was so focused on finding my dad that l
rarely (if ever) gave one thought to the burden l was to bring to him and his family. But while l regret whatever shock l caused, l think it might have taken
half-a-lifetime, or never happened if l had really thought thru what l was doing.
Of course, l've been thankful, in the extreme most of my life, to know them.

Before Rita and l parted in Elko, l agreed to call her at a number in Cyprus,Ca.
at her mom's house, during the second week in December ('59). When l did we had a nice talk w/some reminisments and "let's get together soon"s. ln the near
future (l think it was two weeks), she was to sing on the Jack Paar Tonite Show
and maybe even be interviewed by Jack. The Magnetics would accompany her.
She hoped l could be there "for good luck- don't ask. Though l was in no condition(in many ways) to go travelling to Burbank. But l really  would have 
liked to be in Rita's audience at the Tonite Show. L may have this a bit garbled
but l think l remember that in those years, the Tonite Show's home was New York City but for 2 or 4 weeks in the winter the show came from "hollywood"
(Burbank?)  Even though l was in no financial way that might allow a thousand
mile trip, l felt pushed in that direction.

l called my cousin "Vinny"who worke for L.A. County in the Building and Maintenance Dept. At that time his work was in North county and  his residence
was in Lancaster. He invited me to stay at his house while l looked for a job in North county, where a growth-uptake was underway. That sounded good. l'd
never been there' so it's not a place to which l might return. l might be able to
disappear in a place like that, indefinitely. And new residents are arriving every day. So, a few days later,on a Friday evening l got a ride from Dad and Teri's to
down town San Jose and walked around looking for a road-house with a lot of parked cars present. Only a few minutes after l found such a place, l found a 
nice little '56 Chevy sedan with the keys in the ignition (and the driver's window
rolled down. No, there was not a "take Me" sign on a sheet of paper left under a windshield wiper, but l had to look to be sure. l reached Vinny's place about dawn Saturday and after a short "hello" visit, l crashed 'til mid-afternoon. When
l got up, Vinny suggested that l park the Chevy at a spot outside town. l followed him to a spot where the road winds into hilly country, making it possible to leave a car with reduced chance of being seen and possibly connected to the car. l hadn't given any thought to how and where to dump
it so was happy for Vinny's input. On friday of that week, l walked in Palmdale,
which is the town just east of Lancaster. l didn't see any business that l thought l might like to work for until l saw the building labeled "Radio KUTY" it's real call
letters. l don't know if it's still there today, and if so whether the call letters are the same. l went in, introduced myself to the only person there, the station 
manager. l told him l'd like to have a life in radio, but l was without any exper-
ience. Well, he said, let's see if you have any talent. He had me sit at a table, 
put a mic. in front of me and handed me copy containing the morning news.
"Here, just read this", he said. And l did. l can (and could then) Read fast, talk good and project a pleasant personna. When l finished, he said "Pretty good for having no experience. ln fact, it's good enough for starters. When can you start?
"ls Monday ok? l'd like to start now but l have to be in San Gabrial this evening
and this weekend."
"Monday's fine. ls 6AM ok?"
"Ok, and thank you".

Vinny left work early, to be a little ahead of the commute and maybe on-time
for dinner. We weren't late and Aunt Emma made a dinner, not to be missed.
lt really was great, and being at the same table with Uncle Burle turned out to
be tolerable. After dinner Vinny and l went cruising and he told me that, while l had been in the bathroom, washing up for dinner, his parents told him that two agents of the FBI had been at their house, looking for me. l left D.C. on Sept. 1
'59. The Friday that KUTY hired me was Dec.11 '59. About a hundred days out
and the FBI all but had me caught. l needed to make a big move.