Flying away on a wing and a prayer - Who could it be? Believe it or not it's just me

1981 ushers in a new decade and my second semester of 7th Grade - long live the 80's.

Ronald Reagan takes over from single termer Jimmy Carter. Just minutes after he takes the Oath of Office, Iran releases the 52 Americans it has held hostage for 444 days.

Time travel is one step closer to reality as the first DeLorean rolls of the production line. However, my dream car at this time is a Chevy Luv pick-up truck.

The stinkin' Raiders beats the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 to win Super Bowl XV.

President Reagan, police officer Thomas Delahanty, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, Press Secretary James Brady are victims of a failed assassination attempt the day I celebrate my 13th birthday. The Academy Awards broadcast is postponed to the following day.

Indiana beats North Carolina 63 to 50 to win the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Indiana Jones is introduced to the world. My Cyclones conclude their first basketball season under Johnny Orr with a 9-18 record.

Space Shuttle Columbia blasts off for the first space shuttle mission. A few months later it flies a second mission. I just know I will be able to vacation on the moon soon.

Pope John Paul II is the victim of a failed assassination attack in St. Peter's Square. Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, is assassinated in Cairo while attending a parade.

A musical tragedy in the name of Stars on 45 tops charts with its self titled medley single causing wedding DJs to rejoice. Rick Springfield he sucks at both music and acting but the girls seem to think he's dreamy. Dolly Parton, John Lennon, and Hall & Oates all have number one songs on the Billboard Hot 100 proving that kids' tastes are unpredictable and are often poor.

Five men in Los Angeles are subjects of a CDC report about a very rare type of pneumonia that occurs in people with weak immune systems. They are the first identified cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

There is a 49 day work stoppage in Major League Baseball. This strike actually helped my subpar Royals make the post (shortened) season. The Dodgers when a hollow World Series by beating the Skankees four games to two.

A suspended walkway at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City collapses killing 114 people and injuring a couple hundred more. My Uncle Bob and Aunt Mildred were staying there that weekend but were not in the building when collapse occurred. This disaster is discussed in many of my engineering courses and seminars and serves as a lesson on the importance of design, constructibility, shop drawing review, and field modifications.

At 00:01 a.m. on August 1, the Buggles song "Video Killed the Radio Star" becomes the first music video played on the new cable television network MTV. Good luck seeing a video on that channel now. Diana marrying Prince Charles (British royalty) and Laura marrying Luke (characters on the soap opera "General Hospital") break television ratings records. "The Hill Street Blues" and "The Greatest American Hero" premier. My "Be safe" is inspired by "Let's be careful out there."

Air-traffic controllers go on strike despite having taken an oath when they were hired that they would not. Flights were cut by 50% due to the reduced staff of the control system. President Reagan fires most of them two days later.

I enter the 8th grade and my last year of school at the Modale campus. I see the movie "Chariots of Fire" with my girlfriend and her family. To this day I still can't tell those runners apart but I don't lose any sleep over it. "Stripes" is a much better movie but I don't get to see it for another two years.

The Cyclone football team ends it 1981 season with a 5-5-1 record and no bowl game. The tie with Oklahoma slips them down to the Sun Bowl.

1981 was an average year for me.

This post's title is a line from the "Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)" performed by Joey Scarbury which reached number two on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1981.

Be safe.