Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Diary - Moon Walk

It seems to be the in thing at the moment to reminisce about where one was 40 years ago. I have kept a diary since 1962. Most of it is very uninteresting but occasionally helpful.
Last Saturday says: Washing, Vacuumed bedroom
Yesterday said: Ironing but I will soon add: to Katoomba and saw 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'.
Reading my activities in the 60's I wonder how I had the energy.
July 21st 1969 I wrote:
To School, portable Tvs used to watch Man's first walk on the Moon Went shopping - To Jones's

I was a 25 year old teacher in my 4th year of teaching so had just gained my 1st list which meant I could begin to apply for more supervisor positions and in 2 years would go for 2nd list and then be able to apply for promotional positions (actually took another 4 years).

I have no idea what I purchased while shopping. I was still living at home with my parents so did not need to shop for food, perhaps clothes.
The Jones were a family whose son was in the group I took camping in NZ at the end of that year so it was probably about fund raising activities.

There were not lot of TVs in schools at the time so students were sent home to collect portables for nearly every room and classes were suspended for most of the day while we watched the Moon landing. We have always been proud that the images came through the Radio Disk at Parkes in Central NSW (about 250km from me now). This was because of the position of the Moon over the earth at that time.
I remember a new teacher from India had only started that day and she thought Australian schools were crazy.

Reading around that date, I had assisted with the Christian Fellowship at school the previous Friday and attended Evening Prayer the night before. Most of the weekend had been spent collecting bottles to raise money for the NZ trip.

However Saturday night I had driven, wearing biker clothes, to places where I might fall in with gangs. This was my pathetic attempt in those days to explore my sexual urges. These lives were kept completely separate, even my diary is cryptic. Fortunately I never came to grief in those dangerous activities.

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