My Dad taught me that there's history in buildings and landmarks.  He was a construction worker who built many buildings in Silicon Valley and the City (San Francisco), and was intimately familiar with the history of the area that he called home for over 50 years.  I got used to him pointing out various buildings he worked on such as the distinctive red brick office building on the corner of Winchester Boulevard and Moorpark Avenue in San Jose, or the masonry block sound walls built along 280 that California paid a million dollar per mile to build.

His first construction job after moving my mother and brother out from Idaho in the early 1950's—I wasn't born until the late 1960's—was at the General Electric Motor Plant on Curtner Avenue and Monterey Road in San Jose.  When the company he worked for kept him standing around doing nothing, he quit his job after two weeks because he wanted to work.   (That didn't please my Mom since she wanted his paycheck whether he worked or not.)  General Electric eventually shut down the plant and a real estate developer turned it into a new shopping called The Plant. (The name isn't very original and reminds me of a Stephen King story.)  I went there this past Sunday to check out the new stores and to marvel at a piece of family history.

I got a ten dollar gift card from OfficeMax to use at their new store at The Plant.  Since I'm a writer with 17 short story manuscripts in circulation and 34 rejections so far, I was running low on envelopes.  Much of the shopping center is still under construction.  OfficeMax, Target, Toy R Us, Best Buy and Pet Smart were the only stores opened.  From the distinctive orange paint on one building, I think a Home Depot will be there.  I keep wondering how many Home Depots can one area support with the real estate market tanking from the subprime mess.   Or any of the other stores scattered all over the valley.  Or, if you want a real brain teaser, why does every shopping center have a nail saloon?

I guess people still got money to burn in Silicon Valley.   I don't.  I stayed out of Target as I usually spend a hundred bucks whenever I go in, I didn't need another DVD from Best Buy, and I'm sure I would've gotten something at Pet Smart for my tropical fishes if I went in.  The OfficeMax store was nice, clean and very well organized than their typical store.  I got a box of envelopes and a few other items that came to twenty bucks after I used the gift card.   I may come here in the future since all the stores I shop at are here and it's a short freeway jump from my home.

The older I get the more I find myself being like my Dad.  I saw history being made when the tomato fields that I walked through as a teenager became the 85/87 interchange in South San Jose, saw the old railroad ties of a San Jose/San Francisco trolley line being dug out of The Alameda that ran through Santa Clara University, and saw the foundation of a future light rail line that will never be built laid undeneath the landscaped walkway that used to be San Carlos that ran through San Jose State University.  I built some history with my Dad when we worked together in construction for a few years on the Bayview apartments in San Francisco and the River Oaks apartments in North San Jose.  I came across the paths of many of the big names who made history in Silicon Valley as I worked at some of the top Fortune 500 companies.  As a writer working on my first novel this year, history of time and place will be a big part of the narrative fabric.  I'm planning to go back to SJSU in 10 to 15 years to earn a bachelor degree in history with my focus being my own backyard.  And I absolutely hate standing around doing nothing when I'm supposed to be working.