Norman Gregory Fernandez age 20.
I went to a party during the holidays where we were supposed to bring a picture of us when we were younger, and everyone would try to guess who was in the picture.
This party prompted me to look at some of my old pictures which I have not seen in years.
While looking through some of the old pictures, I came across this one which is me circa 1984; about 26 years ago, during a time when PC’s were just coming out, there was no such thing as the Internet as it is known today, and there was no such thing as scanners.
I was approximately 20 years old in the picture. This picture was taken long before I went to Law School; hell it was before I even went to college. This picture brought back lots of memories when I saw it that is why I am sharing it with you.
This picture was taken in my single apartment in Palo Alto, California (Northern California, Bay Area) by my old lady at the time. The apartment sure looks small in the picture, but we had some great times there. They say everything looks smaller with time.
Notice the vintage black light Harley Davidson poster on the wall in the background.
Well I scanned the picture in and I am now sharing it with you.
During this time, I had an old H.D. Iron Head motorcycle. The only way to get the darn motorcycle started was to basically run with it, jump on it, and pop the clutch. One time while trying to pop the clutch in a parking lot, I popped the clutch before I jumped on, the motorcycle started, and it got away from me. It started to ride by itself in circles in the parking lot in first gear. It literally ran in circles for about 5 minutes before it crashed into the fence. I was not able to jump on because it was going too fast.
Imagine a motorcycle in the San Francisco Bay Area that you had to run and pop the clutch to start! This was a freaking nightmare in some locations where you might be on a one way street facing uphill on one of San Francisco’s famous hilly streets.
Suffices is to say I got rid of the Iron Head shortly after the picture was taken, and bought a Kawasaki 750 which was a much more reliable motorcycle at the time.
Man oh man did I have a great time during the 80’s (90’s too)
By California Biker Attorney and California Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, © 2010
Welcome, my name is 
You look like your ready to join some modern militia in the American Northwest getting ready for the revolution. Pretty cool bro, & I grew up going to Palo Alto every weekend during football season. My dad played FB for Stanford and as you know, Palo Alto is where they play. Great photo bro!
Norm: Another great story!! Thanks for sharing the picture and memory. I think growing up in the 60’s and 70’s was a good thing. Life seemed simple and easier. Families seemed to love each other and were closer. Things are changing in this world and it does not seem to be for the best. You have not changed much from your picture…your body is beefier!!!
wow nice story. great.
Yesterday I had my husband sit down and read the UPDATE story on the AZ accident. He must have scrolled down and read a few other articles. I was in the kitchen and heard him laughing….he was reading this article. He loved it. He said it was “delightful and joyful to read. He loved the part about you pushing the bike, popping the clutch and not getting on fast enough and the bike going around in circles in first gear before it plowed into the fence. I agree with Hubby…it was a great article. In the uncertain times we now live, it is nice to read something like this story!! Good work Norm. Hubby does not do any blogging.
There is nothing embarrassing about our growing up!! We came up in “better times”. Bonehead stories and Vintage pictures are a wonderful thing. Again…this was an awesome article and you did a great job, yet again!!
What’s up Jon. Yea I moved up to the Bay Area to support Nasa. When this picture was taken, I had took another gig in the Bay Area for a company called Case Rixon that was based in Watford, England. I basically moved to and lived up in the Bay Area for work.
Na man, I was no militia man, I was recovering from Air Force active duty and the Air National Guard. I posed with a couple of my babies at the time in the picture. The damm Moosberg eventually fell apart after too many hunting trips.
Those were some good times bro.
Norm
I am glad you guys liked it. I have a bunch of other bonehead stories and vintage pictures I could share, but it is too embarrassing.
Norm