Naples, Italy with the Bay of Naples on the right and Mount Vesuvius in the background. November 23, 1980 we experienced a 6.9 earthquake that killed 2,483, injured over 7,700 and left 250,000 homeless.
The picture above of me becoming a YN2, Yeoman Second Class Petty Officer by Admiral Shear, USN, CINCSOUTH. He was the Commander In Chief of Southern Europe (N.A.T.O.) which included U.S., U.K., Italy, Greece & Turkey. I was a member of a bowling league. We saw Slappy White & Redd Foxx perform there.
We had our car and furniture shipped overseas and we lived out in the economy not military housing. We lived among the Italians and we rented our apartment from them. Our landlord was one of four brothers who all had apartment buildings and they lived above their restaurant. We made a few friends living among the Italians. We lived about 10 miles from work and wife did babysitting. It was different since it was a different way of living. Italy won the World Cup in 1982 and whole country celebrated.
While living there we saw a lot of different places in and around Naples. We visited the Royal Palace of Naples & Caserta, Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Sorrento, Isle of Capri, Vatican & Rome. We also went to the San Carlo Opera House and saw Don Giovanni by Mozart. It was amazing to watch. We ate a lot of different restaurants. The pizza was their fast food since it took 60-90 seconds to cook in a wood burning oven.
One place we will never forget was Pizza by the Meter in Vico Equense, Naples.
We went on a two week vacation around Europe either 1981 or 1982. We visited and stayed in Florence & Venice, Italy; Vienna & Salzburg, Austria; Munich, Germany and Geneva, Switzerland. While driving between Vienna & Salzburg my clutch went out in my car. It was about half way to Salzburg and was towed to a Datsun dealer. Told them we had reservations at a Bed & Breakfast in Salzburg and they drove us to the railroad and we had called ahead to let them know what had happen. Once in Salzburg they picked us up from the railroad station. It was a nice place and their continental breakfast was amazing. We woke up and looked out the window to our room and it was snowing and the Alps was covered in snow. While there we went on the Sound of Music tour. We got a Bavarian lunch included in the tour and saw many buildings and area from the movie. We took the train back and had to wait about a week to get our car since I had to call the bank to get an advance to pay for the repairs.
We never got to the Amalfi Coast and drive down it to see all the beautiful homes and hotels.
I had 69 days of leave on the books so I could only get paid for 60 days so took 9 days of leave. I also sold my car over there since the gas over there ruined the catalytic converter. 1983 I was 30 when I got out of the Navy and been married 5 years. I did not reenlist because of the politics and wife did not want me to. When I got out of the Navy we took a commercial airline, PanAm, from Rome and took our dog with us in the pic at the top. My parents picked us up from Los Angeles Airport and took us home. I worked for my father who was a tax accountant and I learned to be his bookkeeper on the job training and at college.
This was my father's office on Ventura Blvd near Fallbrook Ave. It was next to Bobby's Coffee Shop. The computer system was 2 Tandy 10 computers sold by Radio Shack. The Tandy 10 had 2 8" disk drive one for accounting software and the other for the client. Accounting software was financial, accounts payable, accounts receivable and payroll. Depending on the client all used the financial disk and the others used whatever disk they needed for their business. The monitor and keyboard were together and a Texas Instrument dot matrix printer.
Near the end of the year my father decided to upgraded the computer system. He called IBM but they never return his call so he called AT&T and they called him back. Sold him a computer, AT&T 3B2/400, for over $30,000 so he made payments plus monthly repair service payment that was over $150. Hooked up to one computer was 3 terminals which included monitor and keyboard. All 3 could be working at the same time since it was a UNIX system. My father got tired of using an outside services to do the tax returns. He bought the first HP LaserJet printer so he could do tax returns in house. The accounting software and tax software were very expensive for the computer. I was not trained as a bookkeeper but learned it all on my own and went to CSUN to get some training.
My wife got a job as a bank teller with Bank of American then she got one with 1st Los Angeles Bank. It was at this bank will tell you what happen in the next decade.
1988 was our 10th Anniversary. We went to a hotel in Buellton that was at an off ramp. The room near the bed was a heart shape jacuzzi that use to be a Holiday Inn. Solvang was down the road from there plus all the places we stayed at were along 101 Highway.
Our next stop was the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. We ate at the steak house and had the filet mignon that was as good as it was 10 years ago. Every room is different there and you can tell it is old but well maintain.
Our last stop was in Pismo Beach and stayed at the Sea Venture. Our room was facing the beach and the balcony had a jacuzzi. We ate at the restaurant that is on the top floor. We then drove home.
1989 for our 11th anniversary we flew up to San Francisco to spend several days up there. We spent time at Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. The 2 biggest tourist spots plus the stores across the street from them. I tried Cippino which is a tomato base fish stew that originated in San Francisco by Italian Americans. When we were waiting for our plane to board we saw sitting across the way from us was someone wearing sunglasses and looking around like he didn't want to be noticed. Once the first class which was him the rest went on board. He took off his sunglasses and I knew who it was immediately. I sat down next to my wife and told her that was Steve Perry from Journey. I went up and talked to him and how big of a fan I was and he gave me his autograph. Nicest guy who told me about growing up in Central California and we were flying to Burbank.
