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Twenty-ninth Job of Bob - College Student Part X - College Grad, a Harley to myself
This entry was posted on 6/22/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob.
Even though I was almost 50 years old, I had to have a college advisor. He was a professor about my age.
"You know what you want, Bob. What could I possibly tell a guy your age? Make your own schedule of classes and I will sign off on it." he had said rather mater-of-factly.
So I did. I graduated from UW-Whitewater in the spring of 2003 with a degree in Sociology with an emphasis in Criminal Justice - what we all know and love as pre-law. Many of my student colleagues would be going on to law school. I had elected to go on to graduate school at Whitewater. They have a graduate degree program in Communication, or what may better be described in layman terms as....Journalism.
Heide was there for me when I walked across the stage; as well as every parent and guardian of each and every student there....except mine. My mom and dad never got to see me graduate from college. They had both passed away. The packed audiende was excited for their loved ones walking across the stage. The economy was still viable; there was some hope for the graduates. I still have my cap and gown.
The Chancellor at the time, John W. Miller, was a guy my wife described as an "apple." Somebody with spindly legs and a big torso. Leave it to my wife. Yikes, marriage! Regardless of Heide's critique of the poor man's stature, I noticed something about Chancellor Miller. Besides him being a big man, I noticed a more important nuance about the man. I met him once at some arbitrary event shortly after I started classes at Whitewater. I mentioned to him I drove 65 miles to campus from New Glarus.
About two years after that random meeting, I was walking up the campus mall and there was Miller in his trench coat, heading up to Main Street. "Hey Bob," he said rather casually. "How's that long commute going?"
I was stunned. Here was a man that talked the talk and walked the walk. Was I that memorable as an old fart student? I am thinking not. This guy Miller made a concerted effort to remember names....and one little significant tid-bit about his students.
My faith in academia was restored. As I walked across the stage, one of 2000 or so students, and took my diploma booklet, Chancellor Miller said rather matter-of-factly, "Have a safe ride back to New Glarus, Bob."
Back in December of 2002, after an emergency medical training session in Middleton, Wisconsin, with fashionably pensive medical student ambulance partner in tow, I rode the 20 miles up to Sauk Prairie Harely to explore their winter motorcycle offerings. My young partner's snarky and rude comments about the gasoline culture aside, I made the mental decision....to buy a fuck'n Harley for the first time in my life - as a graduation present to myself.
I needed to apologize to no one. I had finished college at nearly 50 years old while working. I had already actually died a couple of times; served in the military when it was abysmally unpopular at the end of the Vietnam War era; stayed married to one woman for 30 years, taken care of my mother in her last traumatic year of cancer; and stayed working for almost 40 years at some crappy job or another with no interims of unemployment - even in horribly shitty economies.
"No," I thought. "Anyone fucks with this plan at their own peril."
Lost on the "New Norm" culture of group hook'n-up, there are actually benefits to marriage. My wife's people come form Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. They are invariably linked to the recession proof Chicago culture. This is a crowd that unapologetically celebrates adult toys - boats, planes, big cars, and motorcycles.
It is a culture any real.... "American guy"....would pray for in a foxhole.
Expecting a battle, I mentaled up and announced to Heide I would be getting a used Harley in honor of graduating from college at 50 years old.
To my stunned amazement she simply said, "Great....I expect nothing less after so many years of sacrifice on your part. Oh, by the way....teal and cream colors are nice."
Color challenged Bob takes everyones' word that the 1998 Soft Tail Harley sitting in the back yard is the prettiest teal and cream motorcycle they have ever seen.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Private Enlisted Grade 2, Adam Jacob Novak, 20, Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, died Friday, August 27, 2010 in the Zardan district of Paktiya, Afghanistan. Insurgents with a command-wired roadside bomb (improvised explosive device) attacked his vehicle during convoy operations. He was assigned to Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Private Novak was one of two soldiers killed in the incident. Also killed in the blast was Private First Class Chad D. Coleman, 20, of Moreland, Georgia, who was also originally from Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted Novak was a 2008 graduate of Sauk Prairie High School. He joined the military a year after graduation. Adam had recently been married. He was expecting to be back home in November of 2010. Novak's older brother Logan also served in Afghanistan. The Journal Sentinel went on to mention Adam had also lived in Fergus Falls, Minnesota for 11 years where as a boy he participated in Boy Scouts, Sunday School, and soccer. Adam's father died when Adam was around 12 years old.
A Wisconsin State Journal article found on lexisnexis.com notes that Adam Novak was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He spent the aforementioned years in Minnesota, and returned to Wisconsin during the last couple years of his high school time. Novak was recently married in March of 2010. Private Novak's unit was part of the deployment of President Barack Obama's 30,000 soldier surge into Afghanistan.
The Websites wiscnews.com and channel3000.com for WISC-TV mentioned Adam had only been married for two weeks before heading to Afghanistan. Adam is remembered as having a magnetic personality and his love for life. They emphasized Novak's unit worked in reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition. The WDAY-TV-6 and WDAY-AM-970 Website wday.com noted that during his time in the military Novak worked on military trucks.
At the time of his death Adam Novak was survived by his wife Celeste Stuessy Novak; mother Sue Block; stepfather Rick Block; sisters Brooke (Doug) Warren and Jessica Novak; brothers Nick Novak and Logan Novak; and, grandparents Bonnie Christ, Milton and Doris Novak, and Elanie Wons. Adam was preceded in death by his father Greg Novak. Private Adam Novak was the 20th Wisconsin military service person killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
101,366 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10,028 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,466 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1623 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
911 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011
32,120 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
12,002 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
33 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since October, 2001.
148 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
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