In the mid-1980s, I worked for a printing company that produced the highly unpopular Door Store Shopper. The Shopper was a weekly publication comprised of ads and coupons that was left on your doorstep whether you wanted it or not. Did I say “publication?” I meant “litter.” We kept an odd schedule. Ad sales were done during the day, so ad production took place at night. We’d work 4:00pm to midnight all week, except Saturdays, when we had to report […]
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Although I was born in Albuquerque, my military family moved around quite a bit for the first few years of my life. We returned to Albuquerque for good when I was five, and that’s probably when I started forming lasting memories of my hometown. On a sergeant’s pay, we didn’t go out to dinner much, so when we did it was kind of a big deal. I can count on one hand the number of times we went to a […]
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When I was a kid, it was just “Lotaburger,” no “Blake’s”. It was one of our neighborhood hangouts, across from the high school. There was no indoor dining area. You either sat in your car, on your car, or on the massive concrete tables in the shade under the metal canopy while you waited for your number to be called. “Number 52. 52, please!” Cracking the Code We were lucky. My best friend’s mom worked a split shift at our […]
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