1979 to 1984 - San Diego & Los Angeles

Driving from Canada to the bottom of the United States is quite a jaunt! And with a short stop in Reno, Nevada to get my first taste of gambling, well, what should have been a 3 day journey took more like 5. But I saw a lot of the country before ending up in San Diego - Mira Mesa to be exact.

Sue was my roommate's name and after finally finding her house, greeting her dogs, and viewing my bedroom, well, I realized then and there that I wouldn't be staying too long. Since I had only a small settlement from my ex, I figured I had to get to work right away making money. I went to a ton of Employment Agencies in San Diego but after 3 weeks of "waiting it out" after a ton of interviews, nothing happened. And when I finally blew my stack at the employment agencies that promised faithfully to send me out on job interviews, I figured San Diego was NOT the place for me to live. Good thing I came to that decision quickly because less then 1 month after my arrival, Sue told me she was getting married and her new husband would be moving in. Whew! What a relief!

Packing the car once more I headed toward Los Angeles. My first apartment was in Hollywood and I set to finding myself a job. I was lucky in that a girl in the apartment building told me that a certain company in Westwood Village was always looking for salesgirls.  Shane's Jewelry was the name of the company and so off I went.  The job interview took all of 20 minutes but the background check was horrible. I had to present myself to a PI to take a lie detector test and answer a ton of VERY personal questions. Well, with all the gold around the shop, the first thing on Shane's mind was trustworthiness and every girl who worked there had to pass the test. I did and the next day I was working in Westwood for the grand sum of $695 per month!

I stayed at Shane's for about 8 months meeting celebrities like Anna Maria Alberghetti, Susan Strasberg and Little Stevie Wonder. One of the girls behind the counter with me was Jennifer Savidge, an actress who was a buddy of Richard Chamberlain. She eventually found fame, though short lived, in the last 2 seasons of St. Elsewhere playing Nurse Lucy Papandrao - the love interest for Ed Begley, Jr.  Jennifer stayed with Shane's for a spell and left before I did. She had found a job on stage which was her true profession. Can't say I blamed her. Shane's, at best, was only a stepping stone to another job.

The 70s turned into the 80s and after leaving Shane's I applied at a few different venues. One, working for Don Rickle's accountants. Two, working for one of Ted Turner's companies. Three, working for a law firm on Wilshire Blvd near the Miracle Mile. The law job was the first one back with an offer.

While working PI Defense as a receptionist, then legal secretary, then book keeper, then office manager, I met and fell in love with my first L.A. guy. It didn't work out. Then I met my second L.A. guy. That didn't work out either. But I did find something that took my fancy. The Craft shows of California!

I started to apply to craft shows selling the small quantity of jewelry that I had. Since I didn't have room in my apartment for a full silversmithing set-up I figured I had better try my hand at something else. And during the early 80s, with Disco in full bloom, and physical fitness "in", I started making hair combs and hair headbands. And they sold!

Westwood Village had a small market within one multi-retail establishment. I was able to rent one table and sit on the fountain every Friday and Saturday night. Rent was $25 for Friday night and $35 for all day Saturday. And I sold my wares and made money. I met a few more celebrities at this venue and sold lots of hair combs to a lot of ladies.

In 1982, I lost my job at the law firm and found another one with yet another one but this time in Century City. The pay was about $200 more than I was making at the old job which was a nice bonus AND one of the lawyers at the firm was moving out of his 2 bedroom condo in Santa Monica and looking to rent it out. Well, who wouldn't want to live in Santa Monica! I grabbed a roommate - which didn't work out too well (she eventually moved out) and when she left, I grabbed another roommate from the same law firm. Ricki was her name and she was a very interesting lady. Since I had no furniture for the condo other than my own bed, she asked if she could move in hers. I figured, why not - so in it came. And oh my goodness, what furniture she had! Antique Victorian pieces that literally took my breath away. A Four Poster bed, a Hutch that had so many carved cupids on it (I didn't think it was possible to HAVE that many on ANY piece of furniture), carved tables, gorgeous lamps, just downright beautiful STUFF! And all I wanted to know was where she had found such fantastic stuff. And that's when it all started. Antiques - my new passion. Where could I find all this great booty FOR ME?

And that's another story best left for my next blog.