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Who’s this Eye Bone Cat Anyway?
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Look Out! I’m Here!
I was born in Palo Alto Children’s Hospital on July 23, 1952. I grew up in Los Altos CA in a house my father literally built (starting in 1949). Except for the chimney and the foundation. Los Altos was a small Rail Road line town on the SF Peninsula. A town along the "Blossom Line," branching off the main peninsula line at California Ave. (once the town of Maywood) in Palo Alto. Then the line went straight south past Los Altos & Liola Corners, then looped around the west side of the Santa Clara Valley through Monte Vista, and Cupertino, toward Saratoga, & Los Gatos. In my lifetime, Los Altos gradually evolved from mostly fruit orchards to an upper middle class, semi rural, suburb, bedroom community. It reached its full-blown snob status by the time I graduated high school.
My early childhood was a little like the "Lil’ Rascals" or "Our Gang" movies. My street was a dead end at the time. So all the neighbor hood kids would play quite often in the street. We had "Go Cart" (the coaster kind made out of old crates and other scrounged parts) races etc. We had green apricot & dirt clod wars! The street ended at a natural creek. That we also played in. When I was in second grade that all changed. The Army Core of Engineers turned the creek into a fenced off, "Flood Project!" The creek became no longer accessible, or interesting, just a cement ditch. They also put a bridge over it and soon my street became one of the most traveled in Los Altos! After that we all played in our own, or close neighbors yards. The kids scattered into smaller groups who became estranged from each other.
As I reached school age it felt to me like my street had the highest percentage of "Bullies" living in all of Los Altos! So I had to run all the way to the bus stop on many a day. Even so I was relieved of my lunch money more than once by older bully kids at my bus stop. In second grade I was transferred to another school that I didn’t have to cross any busy major streets to get to. So I was able to walk or ride my bike to school. So at least now I didn’t get bullied… ’Til I got there! LOL
My Grand Father on my Dad’s side was an auto mechanic/machinist with an eight grade education (not stupid though). My dad was an Electrical Engineer who worked for NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field Navel Air Station his whole career (we’re talkin’ since before WWII when it was NACA). My Grande Father on my Mom’s side was one of the first four men in the US Berea of Entomology set up by Teddy Roosevelt after the National Park system was created. Both my parents came of age in the Grate Depression and served in WWII. Both in rear echelon jobs. Dad’s unit was sent all the damaged radios from combat zones. Then made as many good ones out of the busted ones that they could. Then sent them back up to the front. He never was given him a real gun, only a wooden replica. So the guy’s at the front could have the ones that worked. He was sent to the Philippines & New Guinea. Mom was a "Wave" stationed at Bathesda Naval Hospital. She did blood work-ups on FDR, and other prominent governmental folks of that era. I have an older brother, and a younger sister. We are all about two years apart. The families’ oldest ancestor on this continent came to James Town, one John Slaughter. I’m a mutt but I think mostly Welch & Scottish… with some Irish, English French and German throne in for spice… or is that spite! LOL
I grew up in a Rube Goldberg environment. We were always going to the dump and scrounging up stuff for Dad to make stuff out of. He liked to work from plans from he found in Popular Science magazine (he got his first one in 1937– I still have it). We were the first house on the block with an electric dryer (made from a discarded dishwasher). We had a homemade electric lawn mower. It ran off of an extension cord that was always getting run over and severed. Finally it almost cut my brothers big toe off! So Dad retired it for good. We had the first homemade, electric, garage door opener on the block too. And much later a home made electric trolling motor for our canoe. That’s right the electric car heater fan motor was lowered under water on a tiller… and it ran just fine! All these things where constructed with esthetics that only an engineer could love. Rube would have been proud! I have no idea where my artistic sense of esthetics came from! LOL
The project to beat all projects was an Electric Car he built starting in 1958 while I was in Kindergarten. Again plans from Popular Science. In their version plans called for it to be powered by a small gas engine. But he powered it via helicopter starter motor. In the magazine it was supposed to be a cheesy homemade "Popular Science" wooden bodied replica of an early tiller steered motor car. After Dad built it. Its range was about two miles. But he drove in the annual "Pet Parade" for several years. He would trailer it up-town and enter it in the parade. It would just barley make one lap around the parade route before it would die. He even made the charger for the six truck batteries under the seat.
Most of my neighbor’s dads were engineers too! Later Dad decided to open the a-fore mentioned homemade electric garage door opener from inside the family car. So he buried a coil of wire in the driveway and put one under the radiator on the front of the car. So when you parked over the coil in the driveway and hit a big black button on the dash… the garage door would open (Remember this is pre Genie). My neighbors Dad who also worked at NASA was into flying remote controlled airplanes. He’d spend six months building one from balsa wood, tissue paper, and airplane dope. Then he would strap it to the workbench fire it up and test all the systems. Then he would take it out some where try to fly it… And total it! LOL Then he would buy a new kit and start the cycle all over again! He did this every time! I don’t remember one lasting longer than two weeks! But on the days he tested his planes… Our garage door would be opening and closing all day long! His remote controller was on the same wave link! That’s what growing up in early Silicon Valley was like. Now you know why my eye’s spin in two opposite directions! LOL
Continued on next page…
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The "Eye Bone" Credo
"No mater how embarrassed you chose to feel around me, or whatever labels you hang on me to dehumanize me in your mind. No mater how important you’ve convinced yourself that you are and how many thugs you have on your pay role to attempt to beat me back down every time I stand up. No mater how much disrespect you aim toward me. How ever worthless, arrogant, and/or insubordinate you tell yourself that I am when I do dust myself off and stand back up. There is one fact that you can never rob me of no mater how hard you try, even if you take my liberty or my life… I’m just as valid a human being as you are… always have been… always will be!!!
I Win!!!"
© 2008 Alan "Eye Bone" Eglington, All rights reserved!
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"I despise "Bigotry" in damn near every form!… Which makes me a "Bigot" toward "Bigots"!… Which makes me a "Hypocrite"!… But that’s a form of "Hypocrisy" that I can live with!"
Tongue in Cheeck Warning!
Now come on folks don’t take much of this stuff too seriously! Please keep in mind at all times while viewing this web site, that in 85-90%
of everything I say in words or with my art (except maybe for when I complain about mans inhumanity to man),
my tongue is firmly, deeply, imbedded in my cheek!!!
Contrary to popular belief, No Drugs are involved!
© Alan "Eye Bone" Eglington 2006-2008
Reproduction in whole or in part without without express writen permission from the artist is prohibited !
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