Member-only story
Spelunking My Brain — But What I Really Want pg129–130
Colorful companion to my memoir The Incompetent Psychic
1981
My parents Joan and Roy had found a property high in the Sierra foothills and designed their dream retirement home. Construction was well underway in a pretty golf course development, not far from Big Trees Giant Sequoia Forest.
The foundation was poured, the framing was finished, and they needed a bigger crew of semi-skilled helpers. Turns out I, my sister and brother were all willing to toil for $5 an hour with free room (sleeping bags on the deck) and food. The following year turned out to be a wonderful way for our family to get back together again as we all worked to complete Mom and Dad’s ingenious 2800 square foot solar envelope home.
Eventually I had to figure out a new plan. There wasn’t employment to be had in the small towns of the foothills, but there had to be where I really wanted to be. I wanted to be successful in San Francisco. After so many false starts I moved back down to the Walnut Creek house to try again.
I quickly landed a receptionist job in a prestigious architecture firm, and commuted back and forth on BART. A couple of paychecks later and the search for a decent share rental began. — From Chapter 6
