March 22, 1973, Thursday

I woke up, I went to chow, I went to class, I practiced my welding bead. I went to chow, I went to class, I practiced my welding bead. I went to the church. Padre took me to the church garage, it was a small airplane hangar. Inside were four cars. A mustang, a GTO, a Cameo, and a Jaguar. All of them were convertibles. All of them were 1969 models. All four of them were red.

We got into the Jaguar. Padre was looking for a navigator. He needed one for the road rally’s he ran down in Baja, Mexico. We drove off base. He handed me a stop watch. “Want to give it a try, George?” Nobody called me George any more. “I would. It sounds like fun, sir.” The sound and the feel of the 12 cylinder engine was so cool. “George when we are off base you don’t need to call me sir.” He stated. “Okay, Padre, Padre it is,” I answered.

We did some road test on the highway and on the city streets. Padre ran me through the paces. I had to watch the speedometer, the mileage gage and the stop watch at the same time, depending on the type of rally he wants to drive in. I tell him what speed to maintain and when to turn.

I passed, he asked if I wanted to do a rally this Saturday. I told him it might be difficult to pull myself away from confinement to the barracks. We went to his five room two story apartment to drink some beers and eat food. I had a great time. He’s a funny priest.

Padre was born with a silver spoon in his mouth here in San Diego. His family is filthy rich, he admits as much. He said he is so rich he doesn’t know how rich. “I grew up spoiled. I didn’t know what the word “want” meant.” He stated proudly. He looked like a surfer man. 30ish, blonde wispy hair, good build, six foot tall. He had it all. Girls, booze, lots of cars, lots of boats, lots of money. Then he found God. He always had a love for the ocean and anything water. His family has close ties to the Catholic Church and the navy.

I asked him if he is doing the priest thing out of guilt. “George, everything we Catholic’s do is out of guilt.” He answered. He took me back to the base, it was dark and late. The barracks are locked down. The watch lets me in. The night watch was tiring to figure out how I get to come in late, and drunk. I said you have to talk to the right officer, some of them are human. Later.