Biography of Arturo Onnias Part I

ITALY and California, Texas, France, England, Turkey, 

Mexico, Autralia.

  

Perth, Western Australia. Dic. 2011

I was born in a small town located on the slope of the Alps, north of Turin, Italy. The year was 1940. As a small boy I was curious, determined, persistent, and constantly asking questions about everything.

During primary school I had three different teachers. One in particular stands out in my mind, Dante Musso. He was a “maestro”, not only on school subjects, but also in how to live one’s life.

From the age of nine until age 18 I lived in a farm. Only later in life I recognize the lessons I had learned from living next, and with, the domestic animals, working the land, and living mostly from what the land provides.

In spring you plant, in summer you work seven days a week, in fall you harvest. At such time, if you have two new calves in the barn, a fat pig, rabbits, chickens, hay for the cows, potatoes, fruits, and wine in the cellar, you know it has been a good year. Then winter is going to be a time for indoor slow living. Outside it's cold, lots of snow, the days are short and gloomy.

So, what did I learned: the farmer is aware that next year could be a bad one. The future is uncertain, he is mentally prepared to take it as it comes. He will make do with what he has. Today's factory workers are rarely financially (and mentally) prepared to live for one year without a salary. Second lesson: biological processes take the time they need. One cannot rush them. He must be patient, and live according to mother earth timing and cycles.

Elementary school ended in 1952. The only local school available (and affordable for my family) was a trade school. I chose cabinet making. I did not intend to practice that trade, but I liked it. Many times in life I discovered that it was a useful skill to have, as well as a mental ability to see and deal with physical three dimensional objects.

Schooling ended suddenly in 1956. I got sick with serious kidney and thyroid problems. For almost two years I was either at home resting, or at the hospital. I never had any pain. I read a great deal.

I was hospitalized 3 times for a total of 92 days. At that time (1956 and 57) the hospitals had very large rooms with 24 beds, two rows of 12 beds, facing each other. Since I was coming from an isolated farm, and I had never travelled, all of this was new to me. I watched, I listen, I wondered, I learned, I had questions.

It was a community, a very closed one indeed. The time spent together was 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The life of 23 patients, their families and friends, unfolded in front of my eyes.

Some patients got well rapidly and left, some lived by the day hoping for good news, some died, mostly at night. In this last case the bed was quietly rolled out leaving an empty space in the neat row of beds. When morning came, the space was filled by a clean empty bed. The new patient would arrive between 9:30 and 12 noon.

There was curiosity about all the new comers. Would they be old or young, very sick or apparently healthy, sociable or unfriendly, quite or noisy. In any case for each new comer the stage was set  for a new life story to unfold. In the language of today television programs, we would call it a reality show.

A couple of older patients were sociable, mature, educated people. They talked to me, they explained, they made me see and understand what I couldn’t. One in particular taught me to watch carefully patients and visitors’ behaviours. A lot can be learned by what experts call body language. To this day I practice this skill, getting useful insight in people’s personality.

In spite of the fact that I almost died, this experience in the hospital was a positive one for me. I understood that life's events (good or bad as they may be) can provide an opportunity to learn and grow. Sad will be the day when my intellectual curiosity will start to fade away.

When  finally my health came back I was 18 year old, and 20 cm taller. The year was 1958.

Much later in life I become aware that having missed two years of a normal teenager life, marked the development of my personality.

From this point on, my life progressed in clean-cut periods of seven years. 

I did not plan it this way. It just happened.

Period 1   (1959 - 1965) 

It was time to find myself a job.

Since the age of ten I developed a keen interest in electronics. I took a course by mail in electronics technologies. I worked as an apprentice in a TV radio shop  for two years. Not yet 21, I open my own business in Turin, a large and dynamic city. Italy was then in the middle of it's first economic expansion after the war. There was excitements and work for everyone. Most people bought their first car in that decade. More than 50% of the cars were FIAT 600, and soon after the FIAT 500. I had a great and very exciting time. Lots of work, intense social life, freedom to do as I pleased. 

At the end of this period (five years of self employment) I did not have a single penny saved. Why?: - no goals, financial or otherwise -no strategy -no plan -no cost control, and ... lots of youthful distractions. Money-wise I had one rule: don't buy it if you don't have the money. Therefore no debts, but also no savings. A radical change was needed

Period 2   (1966 - 1972)

In 1965 I close my business in Turin, and vent to California. After 23 days on board of the ship Saturnia, (an adventure in itself) and three days crossing the States by train (NY to SF) I arrived in Berkeley, Cal. It took me less than one week to discover that education in California was available to all, either free, or at very affordable cost. Even at the university (last 3 years), if you had a Foreign Student Visa (my case) the fees were affordable. 

One year to learn English, one year to complete High School, two years in College, and three years to complete the studies for a Bachelor Degree in Engineering, from California State Polytechnics, at S.L.O. To support myself and pay school’s fees I worked (mostly as a carpenter) every weekend, holidays, and summer vacations. Physical work (I had never worked so hard) kept me healthy, learning kept me happy. (A great help, in finding part time jobs and good advice, came from a friend, a real friend I made in Oakland Ca.: John Sue, and his family).

In this 7 year period I never had any doubts about the goal I had set for myself. I wanted the education, above all for myself, and the degree in Engineering to get a job in a leading company. On both counts I got what I was aiming for. Out of 49 job applications sent out one month before graduation, I received four firm job offers: two for positions in USA and two for Europe. One from HP, Germany, and one from Texas Instruments (TI) in Italy. The location was near Rome (Rieti). I accepted the position with TI.

I must add that in 1971 I also managed to get married with Olga, in Reno, Nevada. 

Gamblers and occasional visitors take note: Nevada marriage certificates are legal ... anywhere, anytime, especially after you sober up.

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