YEAR END IN SIGHT... (Part 93a)

There were all kinds of rumors circulating throughout the County Center as the monthly Board of Supervisors meeting approached. They ranged from one that seemed absurd (they were going to build a new County Center about 40 miles to the West and close the existing one) to one that seemed to be on everyones wish list... a pay raise. We all had to wait until after their monthly meeting to find out what was real and what wasn’t. Mrs K called us all together the morning after and certainly had our attention. The first thing was that the County was going to take over the full payment of our retirement. I remember thinking “Whoopie... a whole dollar and a half more in my biweekly paycheck!" My retirement was almost 40 years away and was probably last on my personal priority list. However, she went on to say that the Board had also decided to broaden our hospitalization coverage. I knew that Elle’s stay in the hospital for the upcoming birth was covered so it didn’t seem like a big deal. That is until she fully explained what was meant. It turned out to be the forerunner of our present day medical insurance coverage. That did sound good to me as it meant that it would cover most of the cost for doctor visits for Elle, I and the kids.  I liked that, a lot!. But it didn’t end there as we were then told the County was going to pay the premiums for both medical and hospitalization. The biweekly cost had been under $3 for the hospitalization but added to the dollar that I wouldn’t have to pay for my retirement was up to $4 and would amount to over $100 for the year. Not a lot but...

Most of us thought that was the end of the announcements. Mrs K, playing with our psyches, dragged it out for a few minutes longer but then said something like ”How would you like a 7 1/2% increase in pay?“ It took more than a few seconds for that to sink in. I was sitting next to Sonny and he was the first to let out a yell. Even though he wasn’t married I’d learned that he was sending money home to help out his family. A quick calculation tallied up to $400 more for me. The sum and substance of all of it was that I’d have roughly $20 more in my biweekly check and even more once the baby was born. It was an early Christmas present even though I’d have to wait until the new year for the benefit.

It didn’t take me long to start spending (mentally) the money we’d been putting aside to pay the doctor bill for the delivery of the new baby. With Elle teaching between one and three days a week we’d already put aside over $200. That was almost as much as I needed to pay Bags for the new motor for my race car. It was shortly after the announcement when Bags called the house and, in a nice manner, asked when he could start to see some money. He was well into building his new race car and needed some cash. I told him it’d be right after the first of he year. He seemed satisfied and told me I should stop up to Ricky’s barn to see what the car looked like. I'd wanted to but had put it off knowing that he’d probably ask for money once he saw me. Now that part was over so I was anxious to see it as ”Crash“ had indicated that it was different.

It was shortly after that call that I did stop by Ricky’s barn. I still shake my head when thinking about the car. Bags had started with a 1939 Ford sedan and had cut the roof right about half way to the back. Then he took the sloped rear part of the body and welded it to the front half. It was like no other vehicle I (or anybody else) had ever seen. It surely was ”different“. Bags explained that he didn’t want to have to go buy another car body just to be like everybody else. There would be no doubt as to which car belonged to Bags.

While there I got to meet another guy who’d gone to high school and played football with Ricky, Bags and some of the other guys who were a part of Ricky's pit crew. I was introduced to ”Big B“ or, as he preferred, ”Buddah“. The latter name really fit him as he was rather large and, although only in his early 20’s, starting to go bald. I found him to be a lot more friendly than some of the others in Ricky’s crew. A racing fan since his early teens he actually remembered my first race car. I found out that he’d joined the Army right out of high school to be able to qualify for the GI Bill and college assistance. He’d chosen a Junior College and graduated in June and had hoped to find a job in the area around the college but was unsuccessful. He finally gave up and had just arrived back home. He admitted that he had no skills relating to cars but hoped to be a part of Bags' pit crew. I left that night liking him a lot.

To be continued...