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 Darin Volpe I'm told I look the same, only taller. |
 Greg Luke On his way to Indonesia. |
I moved into the area way back in '72 (just a couple of years before that photo up there was taken) when my parents built a house in Sunset Terrace in Los Osos. (Sold it three years later for a whopping $53,000 they did...) This is about the time that I discovered the facinating world of science and computers with a little help from the crew of the Starship Enterprise. I spent the next few years in the various classrooms of Sunnyside Elementary school and in the sixth grade my life was ruined by my moving into the Baywood Elementary zone. Not that there was anything wrong with Baywood school, but this was the year of construction on the new part of the school, so we went to school in two shifts: Something like 7-noon and 10:30 to 3:30. I, of course, was in the 10:30 shift, which explains why I don't open my store until 10. Yes, the sixth grade set my internal clock forever.
(If you're getting bored about now and haven't already, you can walk out of the room without hurting my feelings.)
Skipping ahead, about four years ago I met Greg Luke when I attended a meeting of the now defunct North County Model Railroaders. I joined the club to tear myself away from my computer obsession at least one night a week, but somehow within two weeks I said "Hey, we need a Web site!" (www.trolleyville.com/ncmr) Shortly thereafter we started an at home computer repair business called "GLA Computer Services" (Greg had an engineering business called "Greg Luke & Associates" which conveniently included an answering service that politely answered "GLA" whenever someone called.) This eventually led to the opening of our store next to the train shop on El Camino Real. We were both walking into Radio Shack for a CMOS battery one day when Greg (ever looking for a business angle) said "You know, if we take all those old computer parts people give us and recycle them, we can get a recycling grant!" Within two hours we aquired the store (Greg was partners in the train store at the time and they wanted to expand, but it wasn't the time yet so to hold the store we moved into the vacant shop next door), hired a technician, and were on our way to getting a recycling grant. I didn't know what hit me. I was actually on vacation in Costa Rica the day the store opened! Everything happened that fast. Shortly after we opened, Greg wrote an ad for the radio which said, essentially, "If you're thinking computers, think 7600 El Camino Real." When it was read, however, the booming radio voice announced "Remember: Computers - 76! Computers 76! Computers 76!" so after the first dozen or so people came in and asked "Is this Comptuers 76?" we decided that it was now.
Greg ran the day-to-day operations for about two years with me being the "ordering guy". After that I quit my other job at the Salty Pelican in Baywood Park and became the constant face behind the desk, allowing Greg to pursue other interests. When I'm not in working, I can be found in the hills blasting holes into old computer components (as everyone who has a computer wants to) with one of several historic European military rifles or working on the Computers 76 model railroad in the back room.
Wow, you're still with me! You deserve a prize!
What does the "GLA" in "GLA Computer Services" stand for?
(Only your first answer counts.)