Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Gabby Gabriel’s last 20 years….

Hello Class of 1987 from Guillermo “Gabby” Gabriel. I must say it has been sooo much fun dusting off the yearbook and flipping through memory lane. I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts. It truly sounds like everyone is doing very well. Now I know where to go if I need rental supplies, entertainment for kid’s parties, a good doctor, lawyer or anything else. I really feel like time has gone by so fast. I seriously can’t believe 20 years has passed by. It’s like a blur.

Where to start… well, after high school, I tooled around for a bit before I decided to go to Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks. At the same time I was working full time at a car dealer (almost dropped out of school) and when that company went out of business, I started working at a bank. I got out of college in a little over five years and continued my career at the bank, eventually managing one of the branches. I got tired of banking and decided to change careers altogether and joined an oil and gas company (where coincidentally Sam Dominick’s father was a big, big boss) so I could learn new things and travel the world. And did I travel…in less than two years I racked up something like 300,000 base miles – but I saw a lot of places and things I never would have seen on my own dollar.

Our department fell into the rage of the 90’s, (not grundge music or boy bands) but outsourcing. I ended up joining one of the “Big 5” accounting firms thinking “wow-my resume is set for life!” but thanks to Enron, my firm and dreams collapsed. I had some great years at the firm, but I was still traveling, to the point where the people at the airport knew me by name and my condo never looked like it had been occupied. So, when the firm fell, I followed my core group to start a small consulting firm, which is where I still work today. Travel is nothing more than some bouts up and down the 101 or 405 and I love it.

I have not really left the San Fernando Valley since high school. I got my first place in the 90’s on Shoup and Sherman Way. Currently, I live with my fiancé (whom I have been with for almost 20 years) about a half mile from Chaminade on Platt Hill. We pass Chaminade every time we go to Costco. I can’t believe the stuff that has happened over there recently – from security check-in at the main gate (wasn’t Ms. Lerned enough security?) to the new science building which was built on the site we used to run down that hill to ditch school during lunch. I actually went to an open house a few months ago where the view from the backyard was the Chaminade football field.

What do I remember the most?

  • 80’s music – I still listen to the Smiths, the Cure, New Order… anything 80’s. Music like that will never be repeated. Thank God Time Warner has a great 80’s new wave station on their music channel.
  • I still use the hair spray, but I don’t think Aqua Net is still in business. Looking at our yearbook, I swear 98% of us used some sort of crazy freeze hold hair product.
  • Walking across the football field to the FA building while smoking a smokeless cigarette.
  • I just spent $72 on a Lacoste polo shirt that would have otherwise been free if I could wear my old high school clothes and not have gained all this weight.
  • Well, I did give up Bartles and James wine coolers. Enough said. Not sure if they still sell Boone’s Farm at Ralph’s.
  • They still sell 5 pound blocks of ice. I wonder if kids these days still go ice blocking.
  • Why is Chaminade Park a mile away and not the park right across the street from the main campus?
  • Do Chaminade high school students these days have beer bongs?
  • Why did they have all these blood drives in high school but if you have a tattoo they give you the third degree when you want to donate?

Just curious.

High school was definitely a defining moment of my life. I wish I would have just stepped back and enjoyed it more versus rushing to grow older and speed through it. Looking back, this is one of my greatest regrets.

I hope to make it to the reunion and catch up with all of you.

No comments: