1997 Christmas letter


Family letters
Merry Christmas Everyone!

I just finished reading all of my previous annual letters and I was amazed at how much my goals have changed every year. Little things that I am never able to anticipate always seem to alter my outlook on life, sometimes in a major way. I guess that I shouldn't plan my life out so far in advance. Just take it one year, one month, or one day at a time. So this letter will only focus on current and past events. I will keep any future predictions to myself for now. Besides, I'm content with where my life is right now anyway.
January arrived to start off the year and it brought a whole lot of water along with it. There was flooding all thru the state of California but the closest it got to me was Modesto. Luckily Turlock seems to be on high ground and has no rivers or lakes nearby. On the 31st, Star Wars was re-released with new footage and I spent any spare time at the theater watching it over and over again.

I helped my sister Sherry move in February. She rented an apartment that is only one block from me, which was nice. On the 21st, Empire Strikes Back came out so now I had one more reason to spend time at the theater.

In March I tried to be a carpenter and put up some beer bottle shelves. I now have a narrow shelf that goes around my living and dining rooms about one foot from the ceiling. They turned out really good and have changed the look of my apartment completely. On the 14th, Return of the Jedi started showing a week after originally announced. I hope that everyone went to see the entire trilogy back to back like I did.

I attended the Wondercon again in April. It was great and they were handing out lots of free items. I also got to meet a few people including Richard Hatch from Battlestar Galactica who was talking about starting a new TV series. There was also an AMA race weekend this month so I loaded my bike up and headed to Laguna Seca. I camped at the track like last year and had a good time.

May came and I went to a CPR class for two days. Work sent me and I learned all about resuscitating rubbery people. I think that if they just stopped drinking all of that rubbing alcohol they probably wouldn't need CPR in the first place. Memorial day weekend I rode down to LA and visited some ex-Navy friends. It was great to see them again and we even went to Universal Studios. That place has completely changed since the last time I was there in 1989. I took another trip in May to Oregon with my Mom. It's always wonderful visiting relatives once again.

The month of June found me at my local Honda dealer trying to scratch an itch that I couldn't seem to locate. Well I finally did and it looked just like a shiny red 1997 CBR600F3. I love this bike! The Peppers came to visit a few days later and we all left for Yosemite. Uncle Dave, Matthew, Jeremy, and I all hiked up to the top of Half Dome. This time I knew what to expect and I didn't get any cramps like my previous encounter with this large hunk of rock. Soon after a guy from the Hawkworks newsletter placed my old bike on the internet for me and the very next day I received a call. A man in the Bay area wanted it and came over with cash. That didn't take long.

I was still breaking in my new bike during July and what better way than a rode trip. That's right, it was time once again for the World Superbike races at Laguna Seca. The race was awesome and I got a lot of autographs. I even got to eat dinner with Kevin Schwantz. Well not exactly with, he was at a different table and I didn't even realize that it was him until he was leaving.

August was very busy and I decided to start it off with a haircut. My shoulder length hair was reduced down to about 2" long. Then it was time to move Sherry once again. She moved to Salinas so she could start teaching fourth grade. The best part is that she lives only 30 minutes from Laguna Seca. After that I headed to Sacramento and Yuba City with my Mom to visit relatives. The San Francisco Science Fiction Convention was next and it was incredible. I purchased a VIP ticket so I was able to eat with all of the guests, had front row seats, and many other things. Most of the guests were from Star Wars and I got autographs from all of them. It was strange actually having a conversation with someone that you have only seen in a movie. The last thing in August was the AMA races at Sears Point. I had never been to this track before and I really liked it. I did not have to camp this time because I was able to stay at the house of the man who bought my old bike.

In September I started going on bike rides with some people that I met thru the Honda shop. I never knew how many cool roads there were around here. On the way back from a long ride I was pulled over and received a speeding ticket, 80 mph in a 65 mph zone. I guess I am going to have to pay more attention looking for cops because I can't slow down. On the 6th I rode down to LA again for a trip to Catalina island paid for by work. The yacht we were on was beautiful and the trip gave me a chance to meet everyone from the other office in Orange. It was too long since I had been to a beer festival so I went to the Oktoberfest in Modesto. I even learned how to polka!

About the only news in October was that I attended traffic school so I wouldn't receive any points on my license. Something exciting happened in November though. I bought some sticky tires and went to Buttonwillow raceway. A friend had arranged renting the place for the day and there were only about 15 of us there. At times I was the only one riding on the track! I can't wait to go out again.

Now it is finally December and I just turned 26. Lately I have been spending a lot of time going thru my parents photo albums. I am almost done and when I am, my sister and I will have our own albums and my parent's will finally be complete. Well that's it for now. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,
William Chirrick
Currently 0.00 / 5 (0 votes)

Share It!

Trackback

Trackback URL for this entry: https://www.chirrick.com/trackback.php?id=2006061120321652

No trackback comments for this entry.

Login required to comment
Be the first to comment