Maybe I Shouldn't Have Driven While Drunk

Written By:  Andrew Eide

The year was 1970 and although I was not the legal age of 21 to drink in the State of California, I was 17 years of age which means I could legally drive and I had my Driver’s License.

Back in those days beer cans were metal and not aluminum. Also you had to open the top with a can opener as the pull tabs for beer cans were not invented yet.

I would meet my friends at a canyon that was about half way between where I lived in the Sequoia Country Club area of East Oakland and where Steve lives in the Montclair District of Oakland in the northeast side of Oakland.

We would all manage to get people to purchase beer for us and we brought what we had to the canyon. There was a rope swing tied to a large branch of a large tree and we would get drunk and swing over the canyon on the rope.

We didn’t just casually “sip” our beer. We had a unique way of doing it. I forgot the term used for what we did but it went like the following.

We would use the can opener to poke a triangular hole in the side of the can near the bottom of the beer can. Then we would hold the can up so that our mouth was covering the triangular hole we made in the side of the bottom of the can. Then our friends would use their can openers to open the top of the beer can and we would start sucking on the hole on the bottom of the can. With the air rushing in from the top we were able to drink an entire can of beer in 3 to 5 seconds.

Now here’s the problem with what we were doing. When you sip a beer you may be able to drink one or two beers and then you start to feel the effects of the alcohol. But since we were downing beers in the manner described above, sucking in an entire beer in 3 to 5 seconds, we would often down 5 or 6 beers in a matter of just a few minutes.

We would sit there and instead of a gradual feeling of getting drunk the feeling would hit you as if someone just slammed a brick into the side of your head. You would go from sober to falling down drunk in an instant.

On the night in question we ran out of beer quickly. I decided that I would drive my friends to the nearest liquor store located on Skyline Drive in Oakland. I figured either they would be able to pass for being 21 years of age or they could ask a stranger to purchase beer for us.

Now here’s the problem. I got in my car, which was the 1959 Chevrolet Impala that used to be my sister’s car, and it was a huge tank of a car, and we started driving. That evening I found out how the term BLIND DRUNK came to be. I swear I was so drunk that I could barely see over the steering wheel and for sure I couldn’t even see out the windshield and no way I could see the hood of the car.

Somehow, totally by sheer luck, we made it to the liquor store and a nice stranger purchased beer for us and we paid him for his time and trouble. I drove back to the canyon, again still blind drunk, and to this day I have no clue how I drive 3 or 4 miles round trip, totally blind drunk, without having an accident or driving over a cliff and killing or injuring those of us in the car.

Had I said to myself that evening “Maybe I shouldn’t drive when I am so drunk that I can’t see” then I wouldn’t still have this memory with me 41 years after the incident.

Bottom line:  Don’t drink and drive.

Maybe I Shouldn't Have Driven High on LSD

Written By:  Andrew Eide

I’m not sure if you know what LSD is. It is a hallucinogenic drug promoted by Professor Timothy Leary in the 1960’s but actually it was a hallucinogenic drug created by our Government to use against our enemies and spies to make them “mind trip” and talk about the secrets they have been gathering.

The official name of LSD is actually Lysergic Acid Diethylamide but I’m not going to try to pronounce that over and over again so I will use LSD.

LSD is an interesting drug as it makes you hallucinate. I’ve seen things I will never be able to fully describe. Also LSD is not only a hallucinogenic drug but I call it a time warp drug also as I assure you that it warps your sense of reality and time.

Again I ask you to go into Mapquest or Google Maps and look up the intersection of Palomar Street and Broadway in the town of Chula Vista, California. Right at the corner where Palomar Street intersects with Broadway, and across from the two shopping centers listed on your map, there used to be an apartment complex named Broadway Terrace. I lived there for a few years before purchasing a home. The time warp incident happened in 1974 while I was living there.

Before I go on please look at your map. Broadway runs North and South and if you go North on Broadway you enter National City and then San Diego. You will notice as you go north from the corner of Palomar Street and Broadway that you will pass Oxford Street and then Naples Street.

One day my roommate’s brother, who served in the Navy Reserve, told us his ship was going to make a port visit in San Diego and that they would tie up at the Broadway Pier. If you scroll to see San Diego on your map just follow Broadway Street in San Diego to the West and as soon as you reach the water in San Diego Bay you are at Broadway Pier.

Before I go into the time warp details let me explain that in 1974 the common names of LSD were Strawberry Fields, Purple Haze, and Window Pane. Yes you have heard the Beatles sing about Strawberry Fields and Jimmi Hendrix singing Purple Haze, and yes both were singing about LSD. Window Pane got its name because the LSD liquid is usually painted on a thin plastic strip, usually something like a gelatin that dissolves in your mouth, so it looks like small little panes of glass. Strawberry Fields and Purple Haze got their names as they would put drops of LSD onto Sweet Tarts candy and let it soak in. The pink ones were called Strawberry Fields and the purple ones were called Purple Haze.

Back to the time warp story. My friends and I dropped some Window Pane LSD. Usually you start getting the effects of LSD in about 15 or 20 minutes. Normally the “peak” effects kick in at around the one hour point. The duration and intensity of the “trip” depends upon the strength of the LSD in the concoction you are taking.

We were playing a card game and our minds were wandering off many times. The phone rang and it was my roommate’s brother stating his Navy Reserve ship just pulled into Broadway Pier. He said they were only there for the evening and he cannot get off the ship but he had some Window Pane LSD for us to pick up. We knew he had great stuff as he was a Pharmacy Tech so he had ready access to all the materials needed to make LSD for us.

We hopped into my car and we are all tripping big time as it had been just over one hour since we dropped the LSD. I’m scared as hell to drive but I wanted more Window Pane LSD.

We pulled out of the apartment complex on the corner of Broadway and Palomar Streets and we start driving North on Broadway toward San Diego. In what seemed like a very long time I started to question where we were. Nobody else in the car could tell where we were and everyone agreed that since we have been driving for “such a long time” that we should almost be at Broadway Pier in San Diego which is a 6 to 8 mile drive from our apartment complex.

While cautiously driving I looked ahead and saw a side street coming up. I told everyone to look at the street sign and tell me what the name of the street is so we could tell how close we were to Broadway Pier. As we passed the side street we all saw that the name of the street of Oxford Street. OMG! We thought we have been driving for a long time and that we were almost at Broadway Pier in Downtown San Diego and here we are just one block away from our apartment complex!

We were so freaked out by this incident that we turned right on the next street, which was Naples Street, and we drove up to Third Street, and turned right. We then turned right on Palomar Street, and then right on Broadway and we returned to my apartment. That time warp incident was so traumatic for us that we called my roommate’s brother and told him we were unable to drive into San Diego to pick up the LSD from him. He said that was okay and that he would mail it to us in a birthday card and he did.

LSD is a fantastic thing and to this day I can tell you that I’ve seen things I can never adequately explain. I’ve taken what seemed like a very long LSD trip only to find out what seemed like many hours was less than one hour. I’ve also taken what seemed like a 5 to 10 minute LSD trip only to find out it is hours later and I lost that time forever.

Maybe had I thought to myself that evening “Maybe I shouldn’t attempt to drive into San Diego while tripping on LSD” that I wouldn’t have this incident still on my mind 41 years later.

Maybe I Shouldn't Have Climbed That Tree

Written By:  Andrew Eide

I want you to go into either Mapquest or Google Maps and type in the address 4022 Fullington Street, Oakland, California. That way you can see the visual of what I’m talking about in this blog.

I was born in this house on Fullington Street. When I was around 7 or 8 years of age the Government was planning on constructing Interstate 580 (I-580) through Oakland.  As you view the map results you called up on your computer you will notice that I-580 goes directly behind our house located at 4022 Fullington Street. My father, being a light sleeper, stated he wouldn’t put up with having an Interstate Highway directly behind our house and the noise would keep him awake so we move to 4263 Saint Andrews Road, up in the East Oakland Hills, when I was 9 years old.

Back to the tree climbing story connected with 4022 Fullington Street. As you look at your map you will notice that Fullington Street runs North and South. If you look to the Southeast of 4022 Fullington Street you will see a street named Porter Street. You will notice that Porter Street was removed due to the construction of I-580.

Now go to the northernmost part of Fullington Street and you see 39^th Street. Please note that 39^th Avenue was also truncated where I-580 goes through and now only 38^th Avenue still goes through with an overpass bridge.

Go to the other side of I-580 to the East and you will see the continuance of the streets named Quigley and Redding Streets. Those two streets were the other two, in addition to Porter Street, that were destroyed due to the construction of I-580.

The tree in question that I climbed which was one of my earliest “maybe I shouldn’t have done that” moment was on the corner of Porter Street and 39^th Avenue which is now where I-580 is located.

I was with my friend and we both decided to climb a tree similar looking to the photo I put in this blog. I was quick to climb up the tree to the top as it was a sturdy tree. On my way down I missed a footing and lost my grip. The instant I lost my grip with my hands I blacked out, went unconscious, and the next thing I remember was that I was on my back on the ground with my friend standing over me asking me if I was dead. No, stupid, I’m talking to you now so I’m no dead! I can joke about that now.

I asked my friend what happened and he said I fell out of the tree from about 15 feet up. He said I must have blacked out when I lost my grip and that maybe due to my body hitting several branches on the way down I didn’t hit the ground hard enough to break any bones, get any cuts, or kill myself. Actually I was fine but I never learned my lesson about climbing trees and I still do so today even though I am not 62 years of age.

Maybe if I had thought to myself, when I was 7 or 8 when that tree climbing incident happened, “Maybe I shouldn’t climb that tree as I might fall and get hurt” there is a possibility I wouldn’t have climbed that tree and I wouldn’t have that memory lingering in my brain 54 or 55 years after it happened.

May, Maybe, Maybe Not

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Since we are in the month of May I thought it would be nice to write some blogs concerning the things that maybe I shouldn’t have done, but did anyway, to help you understand that things need to be thought through before you leap into doing something.

Some of the items I have in mind will surprise you. Some are shocking. Some are silly. Overall it will help you understand that over my lifetime that “maybe I shouldn’t have done that” item.