After Walter completed his training program the nearest place of employment that was available turned out to be a firm in Compton. It was a long drive for Walter to go to work each day and the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift wasn't the most ideal, but we got used to the inconvenience.
The day arrived when high school graduation for Dave and Dick was on the horizon, and it was time to make a decision about college. While they were still in the 11th. grade we'd taken them into Los Angeles to the Johnson O'Connor Human Engineering Lab. to be tested for natural aptitudes, since neither one could decide about a college major. They'd always tested out to be equal in all I Q tests that had been given in school, but as it turned out they were quite different in natural aptitudes, as we discovered at the O'Connor Institute. Among the various choices of vocations the boys made their decisions based on the test results. Dave would choose a P.E. major and Dick would go for an architecture degree. Dick's choice presented a bit of a problem as we couldn't locate a college near Pomona that offered that major, so it became apparent we'd have to look elsewhere. I went to the library to obtain a list of colleges which had the architecture major listed, and also would be considered to be in the smaller college category, as that was another recommendation from the O'Connor Institute. We narrowed the choices down to a final decision of Cal Poly, in San Luis Obispo, Which seemed to have all the criteria we were seeking, and soon after they sent their application their acceptances arrived from Cal Poly.
Two hundred miles north of Pomona wasn't a great distance away, but when we brought them up to begin that big event in their lives, it was two disconsolate parents traveling back to Pomona trying to make the adjustment of being a three person family instead of the five that we'd set the table for for so long. We tried to be happy for the boys as we knew they were embarking on a grand adventure of a serious nature--at least, we hoped they'd treat it seriously. Judging from the first grades issued it was to take them a little while to knuckle down, but they soon got down to business and we could be proud of their progress from then on.
As time wore on, it was apparent that the long drive to work was getting to be a strain on Walter, and since the company he worked for seemed to offer a good future we decided to try and find an area, closer to the job, where we might like to live. We scouted all of Orange County from one end to the other, and the more we looked the more discouraged we became. The entire area seemed to be one huge mass of humanity, and as future years proved, that was only the beginning.
After driving up to San Luis Obispo a couple of times to visit the boys we came to the conclusion that spot on earth was exactly what we were looking for, but along with the easy going life, small population, slow pace, etc. there was the one flaw of a scarcity of positions in Walter's field. He did submit an application to the college, but at that time the computer dept. was very small and consequently little chance of a position opening up.
My father had become seriously ill from a heart attack, where he and Elsie were living in Santa Barbara. He was in the hospital there, so one Sunday we drove over to visit him. (It turned out to be the last time that I saw him alive. ) While we were sitting in the waiting room of the hospital I picked up the Santa Barbara paper and found an ad in the Help Wanted column stating that Cal Poly was looking for someone to fill a position in the computer dept. Immediately upon arriving home, Walter sent off a letter of application, and by return mail had a notice to appear for an interview. Before we had a chance to think about the task ahead of us, he was offered the position and we eagerly made plans to sell the house in Pomona, and relocate. Walter started working at Cal Poly in Sept. He rented a small house in Morro Bay and drove home each weekend, while Kevin and I waited for a buyer to show up and release us from our "Bonds" which kept our family in a state of neither here nor there.