What was going on when I was born?

HARTFORD LONG after the counting of the votes, the financial accountings for the Nov. 2 election campaigns are piling up this month in filing cabinets at the Secretary of the State's office, and they contain some common themes - record spending and several cases of leftover debts. The cost of running for office in Connecticut increased substantially for the major offices at stake in the election, and an analysis of the final campaign-spending reports of the candidates showed the following: - In most cases, the candidate who spent the most money won the election. - Some of the largest increases in campaign spending occurred in the races for the United States House of Representatives, with the major candidates in the state's six Congressional districts spending an average of $245,000 each, compared with only $142,000 two years ago. - Political action committees of business and labor groups provided significant portions of the total contributions to candidates for Federal offices.

Q. During the recent battle over your budget for 1983, you announced that you planned to run for re-election in 1985. Wasn't that a little early for that kind of political decision? A. Well, there was a lot of speculation that I had been offered jobs in private industry, and some of it was probably true. Some top leaders of the party apparently got wind of the fact that I had an offering. So, rather than have speculation and have people looking for something that might not exist, I felt it was the smart thing and the right thing to say that I would run again in 1985.

BACK in the mid-1970's, the fledging Quick & Reilly Inc., one of the pioneers of the discount brokerage business, had few friends on Wall Street. Quick & Dirty, it was called by a Wall Street fearful of its rock bottom rates - nearly 50 percent below what the big firms charged to buy and sell stocks. But that view has changed as Quick & Reilly has flourished. ''Now they tell me they admire my father,'' said Leslie Quick 3d, the 29-year-old son of co-founder Leslie C. Quick Jr. ''The same people who didn't think we would be anything now tell me: 'If I had only done it myself.' '' Discount brokers, once the scourge of Wall Street, have come of age. Giant banks - BankAmerica, Citicorp and Chemical Bank - are moving into the discount brokerage business, and in just a few weeks Los Angeles-based Security Pacific National Bank will begin marketing a cut-rate brokerage service that will enable corner banks across the country to execute stock trades for their customers. Many of the discounters themselves, flush with profits from the huge trading volume generated by the bull market, have grown from simple ordertakers to sophisticated multi-branch houses offering a variety of financial products.

In a long analysis of the Soviet economy, the Central Intelligence Agency says the Soviet gross national product has grown at an annual rate of 4.8 percent, in Western terms, over the last three decades. But it adds that in recent years the increase has dropped to less than 3 percent a year because of poor harvests. The 401-page study was released today by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, which had commissioned it. Representative Henry S. Reuss, Democrat of Wisconsin, the committee chairman, said, ''This important study helps put into perspective for Americans the fact that the U.S.S.R., far from being on the verge of collapse, has experienced major growth.''

American multinationals working in Europe can breath half a sigh of relief--Vredeling is going to be emasculated. Probably. For years, the European left has been trying to write into the Common Market law a requirement, known as the Vredeling Amendment, that large companies must make public more information about their activities and plans, and must consult with their workers before introducing major changes in the way they do business. Big business and the political parties of the right have been bitterly opposed. And now, Vredeling's enemies have won a major victory. By a comfortable majority, the European Parliament has adopted a new version of the amendment, carefully tailored by the conservative parties to satisfy the demands of business. Only Socialist and Communist members voted nay.

WASHINGTON NEARLY four months after President Reagan appealed for ''a fresh start'' toward peace in the Middle East, it may be saying a lot to simply report that the American initiative is still alive. The effort to get Arabs and Israelis to talk to each other has been frustrating, as expected, but its ''shelf life'' - as one official put it - ''has not yet expired.'' King Hussein of Jordan, whose participation is central to the Reagan plan, passed through Washington last week and was subjected to intense behind-the-scenes exhortations. Mr. Reagan and Secretary of State George P. Shultz (who dined with him twice) urged him to screw up his courage and agree to join Egypt, Israel and the United States in talks to end the impasse over Palestinian rights in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. No Arab leader has been more supportive of Mr. Reagan's efforts. As the King left the White House after a second meeting, Mr. Reagan and his aides went to some lengths to appear optimimistic about the week's results.

WATER flows into New York City buildings at 42 to 54 degrees and comes out of kitchen and b athroom taps 50 to 100 degrees higher. In most buildings, the water t emperature is raised by burning expensive fuel oil or natural gas, b ut a few landlords have discovered that the sun can be drafted to dom uch of the work instead. Systems for solar heating of water for domestic use are part of a well-established technology. They are easy to install on flat apartment-house roofs, giving them a major advantage over solar systems for heating entire homes, which often involve unproven technology and are not suitable for most older buildings. In addition, solar hot-water systems are especially efficient in multifamily structures. And unlike space-heating equipment, which is useful only in winter, the hot-water systems fill a year-round need. Solar hot-water systems can save substantial amounts of fuel and there are tax incentives to encourage their installation. Moreover, some condominium and cooperative owners can get a windfall - 145 percent of their initial investment in tax credits. According to James Atkins, a spokesman for the New York State Department of Energy, ''solar hot water is the closest thing to a free lunch.''

WHITE PLAINS IT all began with a phone call early in 1981 from the County Executive, who asked, according to the man who got the call, ''if I could take a temporary position to help him out.'' Daniel P. Guido's answer to Alfred B. DelBello was yes. Next Friday, as corks pop at county New Year's Eve celebrations, Mr. Guido's ''temporary'' assignment as the $58,000-a-year Commissioner/ Sheriff of the county's merged Department of Public Safety Services comes quietly to an end. The 51-year-old executive's reappointment as head of the county police force, where discontent among officers has bubbled close to the surface since 1979, seems likely, according to legislative sources. Mr. DelBello, a Democrat who will be sworn in New Year's Day as the state's Lieutenant Governor, has asked for Mr. Guido's reappointment. It is being considered by the County Board of Legislators' Committee on Internal Affairs, whose chairman is Leonard N. Spano, a Republican of Yonkers.

A fog had crept over New York overnight, shrouding its turrets and towers and muffling its clamor. With the temperature reaching 63 degrees in Central Park, it felt more like Easter. But it was Christmas, and a serenity descended with the fog on the city and the suburbs. A few tourists meandered along the avenues, a few cars and taxis glided down streets, but the New York area was largely still as families gathered in churches and homes, strolled on silent streets or helped those in need, or simply stayed home to feast, open presents and reflect.

Not wanting to leave his profits to chance, Ian Bruce Eichner is trying to find out whether microwave ovens will sell apartments, or whether potential buyers believe a bidet is necessary to their lives. Mr. Eichner, a developer, is seeking clues to the desires of potential customers through a market survey of 1,500 people because he is building a 40-story condominium tower at 400 East 70th Street.

Pat Zachry, who came to the Mets in the Tom Seaver trade in 1977, will not be Seaver's teammate next season, either. Zachry will join the Los Angeles Dodgers in a trade to be announced in the next few days. According to a source familiar with the trade, the Mets and the Dodgers have agreed on a swap of Zachry for Jorge Orta, an outfielder. The source said the trade will be announced as soon as ''some technical matters'' are worked out between Zachry and the Dodgers. Those matters, the source indicated, are expected to be resolved shortly.

NEW BRITAIN almost stopped helping its Hispanic residents find jobs and places to live last year, when the city-run Spanish Speaking Center faced bankruptcy. Then a group of private specialists stepped in and identified where city officials could manage the program better. The center survived. In Bridgeport, the United States Labor Department notified officials that it planned to decertify the city's CETA program. That was last December. Since then, seven prominent Bridgeport businessmen have advised the city on how to run it, and the Labor Department has given the revamped program its highest rating.