THE ROAD TO GOOD TIMES... the start (Part 65d)

The rest of the day went by without incident. Again, I stayed late just to give myself a little breathing room for running the checks the next day. It would be the first time, anywhere, where continuous form checks with the check numbers prepunched were used. Jay had promised to be there early to help me set the tabs on the printer. By the time I left for home I was confident that I was prepared.

I hadn’t been in the trailer but for a minute before there was a knock on the door. It was Mac with a young, blond man. He asked if I could come outside for a minute. I still had my coat in my hand so told Elle I’d be right back. Mac introduced me to the guy who’s name was Lance. He told me that this was the friend who had his car for sale. I reminded him that I’d just bought the station wagon that we were standing next to. He said he knew that but Lance was hoping that I might know somebody who might be interested. He was desperate to sell the car and was just looking for help in finding a buyer. Lance said the car was parked in front of Mac’s. I hadn’t eaten and was cold but I said I’d go take a look at it. As we approached Mac’s I could see this ‘55 Chevy. As we walked up to it I could see it was in good shape. ‘55’s were known to rust out over the headlights and these looked perfect. It was blue and white and as we walked around it I couldn’t see any rust or dents. Lance opened the drivers door and started the engine. Immediately I heard the deep sound of dual exhausts and a powerful engine. Even though I hadn’t been messing with cars in a few years my ear was still tuned the “sound”. As we walked from my trailer to Mac’s I told myself I was doing it as a favor to Mac. Hearing that engine and seeing what appeared to be a pretty clean car had my head spinning. When I sold the convertible I let myself dream about having a second car but was enough of a realist to let it die. I'd lived hand to mouth for long enough to have put the thought of it quickly to rest. That is until I heard that motor and saw the car. Lance lifted the hood and shined a flashlight on the engine. It was clean as a motor could be. I quickly noticed the 4 barrel carburetor just like the one on the station wagon. Lance proceed to tell us that he had completely rebuilt the motor and put a “street cam” in it for a little extra “oomph”. I don’t remember how many miles were on it but it wasn’t that many. Just like the unctuous little man over at the used car lot, Lance stated that the tires were new and the brakes were good. Even if I’d had a question, Lance covered it before it was asked. I slid in behind the steering wheel and revved the engine a bit. I could hear the “growl” of it through the glass pack mufflers and as I did I swear I could feel the hair on my arms rise. I sat there for a minute before I got out. I knew immediately that I wanted it and I’d only been there for about 10 minutes. I also knew I didn’t dare say so right then and there. That extra money I had from selling the convertible was going to pay off the bills that I owed and buy some Christmas presents. I knew I had to control myself and it took all the will power that I had. Trying to be as indifferent as I could I finally asked what he wanted for it. I almost choked when he said $600. It took only a split second for me to do the calculation. This was a 1955 “210” model and not the top of the line “Bel Air”. I’d just paid $750 for a 1957 “Bel Air” station wagon. Lance wanted only $150 less for a car that was two years older. That just didn’t add up for me. I told him it was too much. He started telling Mac and I just how much he’d put into the car. By that time I was really getting cold and the price had shocked me back to reality. I told him that I’d talk it up at work, shook his hand and headed home.

I admitted to Elle that I’d been looking at a car but only as a favor to Mac. She didn’t press me on it but when we went to bed I can tell you that my thoughts were more on that car than on Elle or the payroll. As I drove to work the next morning I was imagining that I was driving the ‘55 rather than a staid old station wagon. Jay was in early as he’d promised. I set the tabs on the printer and he checked them. I was amazed that I’d gotten them all right. It was then that I told him about the ‘55 that I’d looked at. I wasn’t mentioning it for anything more than conversation. I was surprised when he started asking me about some of the details. When I told him that I thought the $600 price was high he said that it was but not by that much especially when you considered all the work that had supposedly been done on the engine. At that point we both knew we better get the checks into the printer if we were going to make the noon deadline to have them to the Treasurer’s office.

We had very little trouble printing the checks once we got them aligned. But we’d both forgotten one major thing. They were continuous form checks and had to be burst apart before we delivered them to the Treasurer. We had a burster but we’d never used it for anything other than standard sheet computer paper. The settings for it had never been changed since the machine had been delivered. On top of that Jay had no idea where the instructions for the machine were. Luckily, we were both mechanically inclined. We wasted almost an hour getting it to work and by the time we did we knew we’d never make the deadline. Jay called in to the Controller and explained the problem. Of course he had to come in to see for himself. Once satisfied he said he’d go to the Treasurer and get us “off the hook” but admonished us to get them delivered in “batches” rather than to wait until they were all done. I breathed a sigh of relief as he walked away. It was around 2pm when the last batch was delivered.

To be continued...