On tonight's episode of "Undercover Boss" on CBS, president and CEO Andy Wirth gets a makeover and goes undercover to Lake Tahoe, Calif. The Squaw Valley mountain is famous for hosting the 1960 Winter Olympics and the epicenter of big mountain skiing. Alpine Meadows offers a family-friendly atmosphere with excellent snow sports for the entire family. The founder of the empire was Conrad Wirth, Andy's grandfather, who was the Director of the National Parks Services for eleven years. When Andy took over, he purchased Alpine Meadows to give the two resorts a more family-friendly atmosphere, where Squaw Valley mainly catered to the expert skiers. Thus, technology was on a roll. Bill Gates had founded the Microsoft Corporation in 1975 and McDonalds had created a drive thru. However, my mother was more interested in her own life and leisure time. In the seventies she had graduated high school, entered the workforce, and married my father in 1976 and started her own family.

According to statistics, the average household income in 1970 was $8,734 and it rose to $16,461 in 1979. The unemployment rate was 3.5% in 1970 and up and down all decade landing at 8.5% in 1979. Heart disease was and still is the leading cause of death. Also, Aids and HIV was discovered in the seventies. There were many major medical break throughs in the 1970's. One of the most noted being the completion of the MRI scan in 1977. My mother recalls having medical insurance and being able to get a tooth pulled at the dentist for $15.00. http://www.pressbox.co.uk/Arts/LS_-_GEN_III/IV_Dirty_Dingo_Big_Block_Chevrolet_8.1_Conversion_Mount_Plates_1543340.html It's no secret that Jay Leno beat out David Letterman when it was time for NBC to replace the retiring Johnny Carson in 1992. But, did you know since the six foot tall comedian started hosting "The Tonight Show" that he rarely takes a day off? One of his many cars can most always be seen parked in his reserved "#1" parking place at the NBC Studio in Burbank. And, on top of doing the show, Jay Leno still manages to perform more than 150 standup comedy gigs a year. He now takes a look about the area, it is not the house, it is the top of tress by the lake; --the shadows are forming the likes of a house. As he catches his breath, they continue forward. I had just started on another beer when someone dropped a few coins in the juke box. The music was bad country. To my utter disgust the first song that played was that "I want to stick a boot up your butt" super-patriotic, ultra-jingoist thing by the guy in the buy truck tires online commercials. The people around me began to sing along loudly. Well, since that was the only plan the three of us were able to come up with that whole evening, I figured it was destiny. There really wasn't anything else going on in my life so as dawn arrived we headed for the Army recruiting office. There were, of course, some tests for me to take. It all came back to her then, how he'd lain sobbing in his room across from hers while the man raged in the livingroom, how she'd slipped into his twin bed with him and wrapped her arms around him until he was finally asleep, how she'd read chapters of "Charlotte's Web" to him each night, how he'd raced on his bike through the dark streets the night they'd finally made their escape. She'd let him in on it early on, told him all about her plan to find a new place where it would be just the two of them and how he wouldn't ever again have to lie awake at night afraid of what was going on in the livingroom or of what he'd see in the morning as he headed out for school. He'd told no one. It was their secret. A little later I waved my hand around in front of my face to clear some of the smoke and give myself a line of sight. I drained my beer and told Murphy that I had to bail. He slapped me on the back and headed toward the old scarred pool table. As I walked out into the sunlight I was thinking that I'd never have to see the inside of that place again.