Life of Brian

2003

Two thousand and three.  Some of these years are hard to write about because one really melds into the other.  Our first born would turn two this year.  I was still working nights.  Sarah must have graduated somewhere around this time.  I don't think she was still attending college while she was pregnant with our second child.  I gained my birthday buddy in 03.  My oldest sister was due at some point after my birthday in July of this year.  Her second child Grace decided to enter this world a little early and she was actually born on my birthday.  I believe my sister and her husband and their first born were driving to my birthday party when they had to divert to the hospital.  Because of this event, I remember that we still lived in our apartment off of Grand Ave.  Sarah and I were doing well.  My parents were loving their relatively newly purchased home up in the mountains.  We'd take Kaylie up there and enjoy the trees and sometimes the snow.  I think our rent was somewhere between $600 and $800 a month for our two-bedroom apartment.  Our focus at this time in our lives was to hunker down, work as much as we could and start saving some money.  Sarah would soon be hired by the company she still works for to this day.

I do not remember this particular year being bad in terms of wildfire.  I don't believe we had any major fires in our county.  San Diego, however, would have the largest and most destructive wildfire on record until the Thomas fire of 2017.  Researching on-line I discovered that the Cedar Fire which started east of Ramona, burned 270,000 acres, killed 14 people including one fire fighter.  Two thousand residential structures were destroyed as well.  This fire was started by a "lost hiker who fired off a rescue flair".  Simi valley also had a major fire during this time.  Both of these fires were in the month of October and were fanned by the infamous Santa Anna winds.  The 'Simi' fire burned 100,000 acres before being contained.  I read about an earlier fire, back in 1991, that I also had never heard about.  The 'East Bay Hills Fire, also started in the month of October, 91.  This fire was also fanned by Santa Anna winds and burned 740,000 acres, killed twenty-five people and injured one hundred and fifty others.  Three thousand residential structures and 36 commercial buildings were destroyed.    Keep in mind that these fires occurred well before "Climate Change" became a popular topic, and in which most fires are now blamed.  Southern Ca goes through drought periods every six to eight years.  It is nothing new.  The Santa Anna winds we get in the early winter months have been happening probably since before weather data started being recorded. 

Here are some worldwide events that I found at ducksters.com.  In January the Department of Homeland Security officially began operations.  October, Gov. Gray Davis was recalled and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.  February, the Space Shuttle Columbia crashed upon re-entry killing all on board.  March 19, the invasion of Iraq began.  April 28, Apple iTunes opens on-line, selling one million songs in its first week.  August of 03, Mars would make its closest approach to earth in sixty thousand years.  September, a twelve-year-old girl by the name of Brianna LaHara was sued for sharing music illegally.  

Some very famous movies came out in 2003.  Lord of the Rings, the Return of the Kings was released.  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was published.  Other notable movies included Monster, Gods Generals, and Master and Commander.  In looking at popular T.V. shows of 03, I don't recognize any of them.  Most of the T.V. I watched was probably kids shows and cartoons for Kaylie. I recall watching Baby Einstein and The Wiggles, as well as Rolly Pollie Ollie and Bear in the Big Blue House. 

On the radio hit songs included, "In da Club" 50 Cent, "Crazy in Love", Beyonce, "When I'm Gone", 3 Doors down, "Unwell", Matchbox Twenty, and "Bring Me to Life", by Evanescence.  I seem to recall phasing out my liking for Country Music around this time in my life.  

Cost of items in 2003.  A new Honda Accord cost you $18,665.00.  A 5000 BTU AC window unit cost around $85.00.  Median, single-family homes were selling for $180,000.  Twenty years later this price would more than triple to $616,450.00!  Gasoline was $1.60 a gallon.  According to the internet, rental prices for a two-bedroom home in the U.S. ran you $2822.00 a month.  That seems quite high.  Another chart shows average rental prices hovering around $719.00 a month in 03.  That seems more like it.  London Broil ran about $1.99 a pound.  Coffee was $3.99 for a 30oz can of Chock Full O Nuts.  Ketchup, .99 cents for a 24 oz bottle.  Mason jars, quart size were .88 cents each.  A nine cubic foot Microwave cost about $349.00.  A 20.5 cubic foot refrigerator ran you just under $500.00.  A Compaq Presario 7000 desktop cost $389.00. 

To re-cap, 2003 was a year of trudging through the trenches.  Sarah would begin her career at NHH.  I was plugging away at my night supervisor job.  We were able to provide for our two-year-old little girl.  We both drove nice cars and had a nice apartment we called home.  Next year we'd add one more to our little family.   

"I think music is like anchovies."  "Some people love it; some people get nauseous."   

- Barry Manilow