MARRIED... Winter woes (Part 49c)
From this point on up to Spring break I’m unable to put things down in a time line. There were any number of interesting (at least to me) things that happened but there was just so much going on in our lives that I can’t remember what came first, second or last. So, what I’m going to do is list things by category (ie; Trailer Park; School; living with the T’s, etc.) and try to put down what I can remember happening during those seven weeks.
======================
>Trailer Park...
All the Winters had been “tough” as compared to what they were like at home. However, up to this point this Winter had been relatively “calm” with the exception of the big snow (which we’d missed by being home at Christmas) and the New Year’s Eve ice storm. All the snow we’d seen had been manageable but that was about to change. We had a 30+ day period where we had measurable snow every day. I don’t remember any overly big snows but we did have one honest to goodness blizzard. Most people don’t know that a blizzard isn’t the amount of snow but is determined by how hard the wind is blowing when it is snowing. I wasn’t there at the time but I saw the results when I finally got home. With the trailer park being on a hill it was severely affected by drifts that were created during the storm. The drift across the front of my trailer was at least five feet high. I could see just the top of it and the one next to us (closer to the road) was just about buried and there was no where to park the car. Josh had made a path so Elle could get in and out of the trailer and that was it.
There was also a 4 or 5 day period in which the temperature never got above a single digit. Any number of residents had their water line freeze. When Harry had set us up he really did a good job with the electric heat tape that he wrapped around our water line. We became a source of water for a few of the other residents. But the real damage from the cold was in that the water pipe burst in the room in the back of the old service station that housed the washing machine that we all used. Not only that but residual water in the tub and pump of the machine also froze and pretty much ruined it. We all complained bitterly about the loss of the machine and, much to the surprise of everybody, the owner decided to upgrade the room and to replace the machine. He also added a dryer but he made both the new machines coin operated which was not very popular. During that time we all had to use the laundromat down town. Because of the college there was never a good time to go there. It closed at 10pm and wasn’t well maintained. Elle stuck me with laundry detail for the weeks that the park’s wash room was inoperable. I hated the thought of doing it because I could only do it on a Friday night. Then I’d have to wait to get a machine and wait for it to be done. Even though I’d never had a problem with embarrassment when going into the lingerie department at stores I did have one in this situation. I was the only male in the place and I had a lot of Elle’s panties to wash plus her bras. My first visit was very frustrating. There was no place to hide from the girls and they would walk in and see me and then giggle. I did notice that by 9pm business had slowed down. I vowed to come back at a much later time the next week. That turned out to be a very good move. My wash was just about finished and there was no one there when I discovered the “Lost & Found” box. There were mostly a collection of ratty old socks in there but with nothing else to do I rooted through the whole mess and found a couple of panties. I didn’t dare take much of look at them as the there were two big glass windows and people walking by would often peer in. I balled them up in my hands and stuffed them into my pants pockets. I couldn’t wait to get into the car and see what I'd "won".
The first pair was a disappointment. The elastics were shot and the tag was washed out. The other pair had a really nice feel to them but they had no label. Even with that I was excited. They looked to be about Elle’s size and were more opaque than Elle’s nylon panties were. They also had a distinctive waist elastic and a very wide crotch. I kept feeling the material and knew that somehow, some way I wanted to find panties with just that feel. I ended up hiding them under the front seat of the car.
To be continued...
Monday, October 26, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
MARRIED... Winter woes. (Part 49b)
I left for Elle and the trailer right after my last class on Friday. It was a good day in that I’d gotten paid for all the tests that Elle and I had scored. I think it was around $220. There were some household tools that I needed now that I was a “homeowner”. All my tools were mechanics tools and needed a variety of things so, flushed with money, I stopped at the hardware store. As I was browsing through the place I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked around and was truly surprised to see the veterinarian that AJ used at the race track. Dr John recognized me and asked what I was doing in his town. I had no idea that he lived there but after I explained he insisted that I bring Elle out to his house to meet his wife and kids. He strongly suggested that we do it that night after supper and, as he was quite persuasive, I couldn't say "no". I knew Elle wouldn’t be pleased with that as she’d started “feeling the pregnancy” and seemed to be happy to just come home and lounge, especially after a week of classes.
When I walked in the door I sprung it on her by asking her if she’d do me a big favor. That usually worked and it did on this night. It also helped that the weather was cooperating. Dr John lived only about a mile away, just off the by-pass. His wife, Babs, had made a dessert in anticipation of us coming. It was a new house and had the best of everything. I could see Elle’s eyes showing amazement as she walked around the different rooms. After we’d eaten our dessert we sat down in the living room and it became clear why Dr John had wanted us to come right over.
However, I do need to give some background her before going on...
Dr John and his wife had been born and raised in the town. He'd gone to college, gotten a degree in veterinarian medicine specializing in horses. He went on to further narrow the field to Standardbred horses (trotters and pacers/harness racing). Because he was willing to try new methods it didn’t take him long to get a very good reputation that put him in demand all over the country. When his first child was born he decided that it was time to settle down and he came back home. He also cut down on his travels and concentrated on serving the track where AJ raced. In the off season he took a teaching job at a nearby Ivy League college in their animal husbandry department. But, because of his reputation he was in almost constant demand to speak to groups of other veterinarians and he did this mostly on weekends. He usually took his wife with him. Having said all that, his wife’s mother had been babysitting their two kids (a 4yo boy and a 6yo girl) but had some medical problems since the first of the year and could no longer do it. Seeing me and hearing I was married, a light bulb went on in his mind and he thought we could be the answer.
He had commitments for most weekends up until the end of April. Depending on travel arrangements he (and his wife) could be gone one or two nights. What he was offering us was $10 for one night and $17.50 for two. We would be sleeping at their house and eat their food. He told us that they were usually back by the early afternoon on Sundays. Of course my mind went right to the economics of the offer. I quickly figured that this could be the replacement for the money we were no longer going to get for scoring Dr F’s tests. I calculated we could cut our weekly food bill by 1/3 on the longer weekends plus we could turn the heat down in the trailer when we weren’t there. When I looked over at Elle I could see she was clearly uncomfortable and Dr John did as well. He suggested that he and his wife leave us alone for a bit and they left the room.
I liked the idea. To me it was an easy way to replace the money we were no longer earning. Elle was mostly concerned about the kids. She’d done enough baby sitting to know that there were some really nasty kids out there. With her being pregnant and not always feeling all that well she had some concerns. I laid the economics out for her and asked if she had any other ideas. I know it was unfair because she was the one who would have the most to do but I didn’t think I had any other choice.
We found Dr John and Babs in the kitchen. I asked Elle to tell them her decision. With trepidation she said she/we would. Neither of us were ready for what happened next. Babs asked her if it were even remotely possible for us to start the next day. Elle and I looked at each other not knowing what to say. I was going to be working with Harry so it was clearly up to Elle. Dr John was, as always, persuasive and Elle said she/we would. I was surprised.
That was when Babs gave Elle the detailed tour of the house so she would know where to find everything she/we would need. She also got to meet the kids up close and personal. When we headed back to our trailer Elle was quite upset with me for not speaking up. I didn’t know what she meant. In my mind it was strictly up to her to make the decision. I just kept my mouth shut. Babs said she’d pick Elle up around 10am. When I was done at Harry’s I was to drive right there. I remember lying in bed doing all kinds of calculations as to just how much money we’d be saving on food, fuel and electricity. Even though Elle wasn’t thrilled with the idea, I was.
It went very well. The kids were well behaved and Babs had left a refrigerator full of food. After Elle had met the kids the night before Babs mentioned that the boy wet his bed. That gave Elle the opportunity to mention that, with her pregnancy, she had a bit of a bladder problem as well. It didn’t phase Babs at all and she showed her where the rubber pads were kept. I made sure that Elle brought all her alarm clocks. I was truly impressed with the bed. Our mattress was a real cheap one that came with the trailer. The one we were sleeping on was much softer. I really liked it!. They were back around 2pm on Sunday and we got paid on the spot. I really liked that and actually looked forward to our next visit.
To be continued...
I left for Elle and the trailer right after my last class on Friday. It was a good day in that I’d gotten paid for all the tests that Elle and I had scored. I think it was around $220. There were some household tools that I needed now that I was a “homeowner”. All my tools were mechanics tools and needed a variety of things so, flushed with money, I stopped at the hardware store. As I was browsing through the place I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked around and was truly surprised to see the veterinarian that AJ used at the race track. Dr John recognized me and asked what I was doing in his town. I had no idea that he lived there but after I explained he insisted that I bring Elle out to his house to meet his wife and kids. He strongly suggested that we do it that night after supper and, as he was quite persuasive, I couldn't say "no". I knew Elle wouldn’t be pleased with that as she’d started “feeling the pregnancy” and seemed to be happy to just come home and lounge, especially after a week of classes.
When I walked in the door I sprung it on her by asking her if she’d do me a big favor. That usually worked and it did on this night. It also helped that the weather was cooperating. Dr John lived only about a mile away, just off the by-pass. His wife, Babs, had made a dessert in anticipation of us coming. It was a new house and had the best of everything. I could see Elle’s eyes showing amazement as she walked around the different rooms. After we’d eaten our dessert we sat down in the living room and it became clear why Dr John had wanted us to come right over.
However, I do need to give some background her before going on...
Dr John and his wife had been born and raised in the town. He'd gone to college, gotten a degree in veterinarian medicine specializing in horses. He went on to further narrow the field to Standardbred horses (trotters and pacers/harness racing). Because he was willing to try new methods it didn’t take him long to get a very good reputation that put him in demand all over the country. When his first child was born he decided that it was time to settle down and he came back home. He also cut down on his travels and concentrated on serving the track where AJ raced. In the off season he took a teaching job at a nearby Ivy League college in their animal husbandry department. But, because of his reputation he was in almost constant demand to speak to groups of other veterinarians and he did this mostly on weekends. He usually took his wife with him. Having said all that, his wife’s mother had been babysitting their two kids (a 4yo boy and a 6yo girl) but had some medical problems since the first of the year and could no longer do it. Seeing me and hearing I was married, a light bulb went on in his mind and he thought we could be the answer.
He had commitments for most weekends up until the end of April. Depending on travel arrangements he (and his wife) could be gone one or two nights. What he was offering us was $10 for one night and $17.50 for two. We would be sleeping at their house and eat their food. He told us that they were usually back by the early afternoon on Sundays. Of course my mind went right to the economics of the offer. I quickly figured that this could be the replacement for the money we were no longer going to get for scoring Dr F’s tests. I calculated we could cut our weekly food bill by 1/3 on the longer weekends plus we could turn the heat down in the trailer when we weren’t there. When I looked over at Elle I could see she was clearly uncomfortable and Dr John did as well. He suggested that he and his wife leave us alone for a bit and they left the room.
I liked the idea. To me it was an easy way to replace the money we were no longer earning. Elle was mostly concerned about the kids. She’d done enough baby sitting to know that there were some really nasty kids out there. With her being pregnant and not always feeling all that well she had some concerns. I laid the economics out for her and asked if she had any other ideas. I know it was unfair because she was the one who would have the most to do but I didn’t think I had any other choice.
We found Dr John and Babs in the kitchen. I asked Elle to tell them her decision. With trepidation she said she/we would. Neither of us were ready for what happened next. Babs asked her if it were even remotely possible for us to start the next day. Elle and I looked at each other not knowing what to say. I was going to be working with Harry so it was clearly up to Elle. Dr John was, as always, persuasive and Elle said she/we would. I was surprised.
That was when Babs gave Elle the detailed tour of the house so she would know where to find everything she/we would need. She also got to meet the kids up close and personal. When we headed back to our trailer Elle was quite upset with me for not speaking up. I didn’t know what she meant. In my mind it was strictly up to her to make the decision. I just kept my mouth shut. Babs said she’d pick Elle up around 10am. When I was done at Harry’s I was to drive right there. I remember lying in bed doing all kinds of calculations as to just how much money we’d be saving on food, fuel and electricity. Even though Elle wasn’t thrilled with the idea, I was.
It went very well. The kids were well behaved and Babs had left a refrigerator full of food. After Elle had met the kids the night before Babs mentioned that the boy wet his bed. That gave Elle the opportunity to mention that, with her pregnancy, she had a bit of a bladder problem as well. It didn’t phase Babs at all and she showed her where the rubber pads were kept. I made sure that Elle brought all her alarm clocks. I was truly impressed with the bed. Our mattress was a real cheap one that came with the trailer. The one we were sleeping on was much softer. I really liked it!. They were back around 2pm on Sunday and we got paid on the spot. I really liked that and actually looked forward to our next visit.
To be continued...
Sunday, October 18, 2009
MARRIED... winter woes (Part 49a)
Registration for the second semester was the day after my trip to the city. I had a hard time getting up as I’d gotten spoiled by having my first class at 10:30am. Staying up late and leaving early wasn’t a good combination. I’d moved my things from the fraternity to the T’s farm during the semester final exams so as to have a head start. In truth I felt there wasn’t really much for me to do at registration as my three Economics courses (my major) had been selected for me because of the arrangement between the Administration, the head of the Economics department and me way back at the end of my junior year. I had but two elective choices and since my “minor” (concentration) was English/Education all I had to do was find courses available in the open time slots. I was pretty confident when I arrived but quickly went into a panic. There was only one course in either of those subjects available in one of the two time slots. The professor had a terrible reputation as a hard marker. It was course in Contemporary Literature and the “word” was that the reading load was brutal. I really didn’t have a choice.
I wasted a good bit of time catching up with my friends and didn’t get to the T’s farm until after milking had started. Mrs T came out and told me to go on in the house and get my room “settled” and she’d be in soon to fix supper. She also asked if I could take the laundry basket that was in kitchen upstairs to the bathroom for her. As I walked into the kitchen I saw the basket but what caught my eyes were the two piles of panties right there on top. I didn’t know if Joanne was home or not so as I carried the basket up the stairs I called out but got no response. The basket and I headed right for my room.
As I took the first pair from the basket I made sure I noted how it was folded and just how it was placed on the pile. As soon as I had it spread open I knew they belonged to Mrs T. She was a bit broader in the hips than Joanne and as I peeked at the label saw they were size 6. I remembered from when I’d stayed over and taken a pair of Joanne’s panties that she wore size 5, the same as Elle. They were a light pink and were a plain nylon. They had a Mojud label in them and I’d seen that name a few times before. I checked a few more and they were basically all the same. I got them folded back up and, hopefully, placed in the basket they way they had been before. My heart was really pounding as I knew the other pile had to belong to Joanne.
The very top pair were truly “fancy panties”. I spread them out on the bed and was rewarded by seeing a whole lot of lace. It was all around the leg openings as if it was part of the leg elastic. There were two panels of 2“ wide lace that ran from the waist elastic down to the leg elastic that followed the side seams. Holding them up I could see right through the panels. There were also two strips of satin ribbon that were attached to the lace strips where it was attached to the center panel. They took my breath away. I took a quick peek at the label and it read ”Gotham Gold Stripe“. Even the label was special as the writing was embroidered in gold thread. The rest of the pile were a mix of cotton and nylon panties and nothing anywhere near a special as the first pair. I didn’t spend much time on the others as I was afraid that Mrs T or Joanne would be arriving. As I carried the basket into the bathroom I did note that Joannes pile was bigger than her mother’s and I made note of that. I also wonder if Joanne had any more of the same panties.
After supper Mr T took me out to the milking barn to show me my ”chores“. I’d agreed to doing some work to help ”pay“ for my room. However, I had some second thoughts as Mr T showed me what I had to do. Basically, it was to clean the milking machines and the empty 20 gallon milk cans. The problem wasn’t the work itself but the smell of the mixture of cow manuer and urine. I thought it would be easy to adapt to after having worked with the horses but this was totally different. It took about an hour with the two of us doing the work. Because we were using water I ended up being quite wet. Mr T had given me a pair of coveralls and rubber boots but somehow I ended up being wet through to my own clothes.
As I had written before, Mrs T had a rule that you didn’t come into the house with work clothes (or boots) on. You would strip out of them in a small wind break that Mr T had built out on the porch by the kitchen door. Once inside I could still smell the odor of the barn. So could Mrs T and she suggested that I go shower and change my clothes. I remembered how Joanne would take off her jeans in the house and now knew why.
The ”deal” was that I would do my chores on the nights I was staying at the farm. It would revert back to Joanne when I wasn’t there. Even though she wasn’t totally relieved from that chore she was thankful for the respite. Her new classes with the “educable” program were to start the following week and she kept after me to tell her what it was going to be like. I had no idea since I hadn’t been a party to the arrangements. She thought I was lying so we had a bit of fun with the banter. It was good because it showed me that she did have a sense of humor.
To be continued...
Registration for the second semester was the day after my trip to the city. I had a hard time getting up as I’d gotten spoiled by having my first class at 10:30am. Staying up late and leaving early wasn’t a good combination. I’d moved my things from the fraternity to the T’s farm during the semester final exams so as to have a head start. In truth I felt there wasn’t really much for me to do at registration as my three Economics courses (my major) had been selected for me because of the arrangement between the Administration, the head of the Economics department and me way back at the end of my junior year. I had but two elective choices and since my “minor” (concentration) was English/Education all I had to do was find courses available in the open time slots. I was pretty confident when I arrived but quickly went into a panic. There was only one course in either of those subjects available in one of the two time slots. The professor had a terrible reputation as a hard marker. It was course in Contemporary Literature and the “word” was that the reading load was brutal. I really didn’t have a choice.
I wasted a good bit of time catching up with my friends and didn’t get to the T’s farm until after milking had started. Mrs T came out and told me to go on in the house and get my room “settled” and she’d be in soon to fix supper. She also asked if I could take the laundry basket that was in kitchen upstairs to the bathroom for her. As I walked into the kitchen I saw the basket but what caught my eyes were the two piles of panties right there on top. I didn’t know if Joanne was home or not so as I carried the basket up the stairs I called out but got no response. The basket and I headed right for my room.
As I took the first pair from the basket I made sure I noted how it was folded and just how it was placed on the pile. As soon as I had it spread open I knew they belonged to Mrs T. She was a bit broader in the hips than Joanne and as I peeked at the label saw they were size 6. I remembered from when I’d stayed over and taken a pair of Joanne’s panties that she wore size 5, the same as Elle. They were a light pink and were a plain nylon. They had a Mojud label in them and I’d seen that name a few times before. I checked a few more and they were basically all the same. I got them folded back up and, hopefully, placed in the basket they way they had been before. My heart was really pounding as I knew the other pile had to belong to Joanne.
The very top pair were truly “fancy panties”. I spread them out on the bed and was rewarded by seeing a whole lot of lace. It was all around the leg openings as if it was part of the leg elastic. There were two panels of 2“ wide lace that ran from the waist elastic down to the leg elastic that followed the side seams. Holding them up I could see right through the panels. There were also two strips of satin ribbon that were attached to the lace strips where it was attached to the center panel. They took my breath away. I took a quick peek at the label and it read ”Gotham Gold Stripe“. Even the label was special as the writing was embroidered in gold thread. The rest of the pile were a mix of cotton and nylon panties and nothing anywhere near a special as the first pair. I didn’t spend much time on the others as I was afraid that Mrs T or Joanne would be arriving. As I carried the basket into the bathroom I did note that Joannes pile was bigger than her mother’s and I made note of that. I also wonder if Joanne had any more of the same panties.
After supper Mr T took me out to the milking barn to show me my ”chores“. I’d agreed to doing some work to help ”pay“ for my room. However, I had some second thoughts as Mr T showed me what I had to do. Basically, it was to clean the milking machines and the empty 20 gallon milk cans. The problem wasn’t the work itself but the smell of the mixture of cow manuer and urine. I thought it would be easy to adapt to after having worked with the horses but this was totally different. It took about an hour with the two of us doing the work. Because we were using water I ended up being quite wet. Mr T had given me a pair of coveralls and rubber boots but somehow I ended up being wet through to my own clothes.
As I had written before, Mrs T had a rule that you didn’t come into the house with work clothes (or boots) on. You would strip out of them in a small wind break that Mr T had built out on the porch by the kitchen door. Once inside I could still smell the odor of the barn. So could Mrs T and she suggested that I go shower and change my clothes. I remembered how Joanne would take off her jeans in the house and now knew why.
The ”deal” was that I would do my chores on the nights I was staying at the farm. It would revert back to Joanne when I wasn’t there. Even though she wasn’t totally relieved from that chore she was thankful for the respite. Her new classes with the “educable” program were to start the following week and she kept after me to tell her what it was going to be like. I had no idea since I hadn’t been a party to the arrangements. She thought I was lying so we had a bit of fun with the banter. It was good because it showed me that she did have a sense of humor.
To be continued...
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
MARRIED... trying to adapt (Part 48e)
Final semester exams were less than two weeks away and Elle was full tilt into studying for them. Even though Dr F had cut off the number of tests he was going to use for his paper he felt that all tests submitted, even if late, should be scored. When I pulled out a couple of hundred more she absolutely refused to help. I felt it was useless to argue with her so finished them off that night by myself. I’ll admit I was glad to see them all gone although I had no idea what I was going to do to replace the income.
I went to Harry’s on Saturday and, as it was a nice day, we ended up exposing all the yearlings to the racetrack. That was interesting! By the time we finished up it was almost dark. Harry asked me to stay late and collect the garbage. I was exhausted and couldn’t wait to get home but how could I say no after Harry had made a special trip to reset my trailer and not charged me for it. Vi had told me that her sister had moved into the park with her 17 year old son but I hadn’t yet met her. It didn’t take long to find her. Hers was the trailer with all the boxes piled up behind it. I remember cussing about having to crush them up to get them to fit into the wagon. I was just about done when this very attractive woman approached with a few more boxes. I was more interested in finishing up and getting home than making her acquaintance at the time but she just marched right up and said her name was Stephanie. I shook her hand and kept on crushing the boxes. Then a boy who could’ve been my twin appeared out of the darkness. It was her son, Levi. I said ”Hi“ and got on the tractor and drove off.
Elle was concerned about my being late and when I explained she still seemed upset. Josh had delivered our groceries and I hadn’t been there to pay for them and that also upset her. It was getting to the point that even some really trivial things bothered her. She wouldn’t let me turn the TV on and insisted that I study along with her. I really didn’t have a choice. It was really hard transitioning from life in the fraternity during the week to life at home with Elle on the weekends.
The only thing out of the ordinary that took place from that time up to the end of final exams was in getting a call from one of my father’s best friends. I’d known both he and his wife (who was a distant relative) all my life but hadn’t seen or talked with him since Elle and I married. He offered congratulations and asked for our address so that they could send us a wedding gift. Then he really surprised me and asked if there was any way I could meet with him in the city during intersession (the period between semesters). Surprisingly, with our poor financial status, I replied ”yes“ without even asking why. When I told Elle she was mad that I’d be spending money to go to the city and didn’t even know why. We had settled on a Tuesday and I took the 4+ hour trip to the city with the knowledge that I’d actually exceeded my much needed and required 2.0 grade point average. That pretty much guaranteed I’d get the loan for my tuition. I think I slept most of the way.
The man I was meeting, John, was a professor of literature at one of the major universities located in the city. He was well known in both the newspaper business as well as literary circles. He met me at the train station and we took a taxi to The Players, an elitist men's club. It was mostly small talk on the cab trip there and after we arrived he gave me a brief history of the club. It had been around for a long time and some former Presidents had been members. I couldn’t believe the opulence of the interior. We actually arrived a little after the busy lunch hour and I remember him apologizing that there weren’t too many ”noted“ people still there. He asked the maitre d' just who was still there and one was John Steinbeck. I didn’t actually see him as he was in another room at the time. Even without seeing him I was overwhelmed.
After we ordered John told me that the main purpose for the meeting was to discuss the situation between me and my family. He put me right at ease by saying that, in spite of his ”love“ for my mother and father, he felt they were totally wrong. He acknowledged that the source of the problem was my grandmother and, to a lesser extent, my grandfather. As much as he admired my grandfather he was most upset that, in a conversation with him, he’d admitted that he’d never really met Elle. I knew, on a personal basis, that my grandfather admired John as well. What I heard next was hard to fathom. He told me that if Elle and I would come home during our Spring break he would ”broker“ a meeting with my grandparents. That, initially, excited me but, in thinking about how Elle would react to the suggestion, I quickly became apprehensive. John saw that and stated that it was just a suggestion but one that he wanted me to think seriously about. He quickly changed to the second reason for our meeting.
With his ties to the newspaper business he wanted to give me what we now call a ”heads up“. Democrats had ruled the State for decades but in the November election had been pretty much run out of both the State Assembly and Senate as well as the for the governor. To combat that, the ”lame duck“ legislators and governor convened a special session and crammed through a whole series of spending bills designed to create problems for the incoming legislators and governor. John gave me a number of leads to follow up on the background of what had happened. Since my concentration within my Economic major was Public Finance he felt I could use it to my advantage. I was amazed at just how corrupt politics really was and I hadn’t even begun to do the deep research on the matter. I don’t think I’d ever been as enthusiastic about any subject since I’d arrived at college. I truly couldn’t wait to start digging. As we were leaving John took me into another room that had books lining all the walls. There were a few people there and he pointed to a man sitting at a table and told me that it was Arthur Miller. That truly impressed me especially since I'd read his play, Death of a Salesman, during Summer school.
I didn’t get back to the trailer and Elle until it was after 10pm. She was asleep and even though I didn’t think she’d be interested, I woke her up. It took her a while to get focused but I know I impressed her with the enthusiasm I expressed about what John had told me. Of course I didn’t bring up the subject of going home to meet with my grandparents. In spite of her initially being upset with my trip to the city it was obvious to me that she now approved of it and I was ”rewarded“ in a very special way.
To be continued...
Final semester exams were less than two weeks away and Elle was full tilt into studying for them. Even though Dr F had cut off the number of tests he was going to use for his paper he felt that all tests submitted, even if late, should be scored. When I pulled out a couple of hundred more she absolutely refused to help. I felt it was useless to argue with her so finished them off that night by myself. I’ll admit I was glad to see them all gone although I had no idea what I was going to do to replace the income.
I went to Harry’s on Saturday and, as it was a nice day, we ended up exposing all the yearlings to the racetrack. That was interesting! By the time we finished up it was almost dark. Harry asked me to stay late and collect the garbage. I was exhausted and couldn’t wait to get home but how could I say no after Harry had made a special trip to reset my trailer and not charged me for it. Vi had told me that her sister had moved into the park with her 17 year old son but I hadn’t yet met her. It didn’t take long to find her. Hers was the trailer with all the boxes piled up behind it. I remember cussing about having to crush them up to get them to fit into the wagon. I was just about done when this very attractive woman approached with a few more boxes. I was more interested in finishing up and getting home than making her acquaintance at the time but she just marched right up and said her name was Stephanie. I shook her hand and kept on crushing the boxes. Then a boy who could’ve been my twin appeared out of the darkness. It was her son, Levi. I said ”Hi“ and got on the tractor and drove off.
Elle was concerned about my being late and when I explained she still seemed upset. Josh had delivered our groceries and I hadn’t been there to pay for them and that also upset her. It was getting to the point that even some really trivial things bothered her. She wouldn’t let me turn the TV on and insisted that I study along with her. I really didn’t have a choice. It was really hard transitioning from life in the fraternity during the week to life at home with Elle on the weekends.
The only thing out of the ordinary that took place from that time up to the end of final exams was in getting a call from one of my father’s best friends. I’d known both he and his wife (who was a distant relative) all my life but hadn’t seen or talked with him since Elle and I married. He offered congratulations and asked for our address so that they could send us a wedding gift. Then he really surprised me and asked if there was any way I could meet with him in the city during intersession (the period between semesters). Surprisingly, with our poor financial status, I replied ”yes“ without even asking why. When I told Elle she was mad that I’d be spending money to go to the city and didn’t even know why. We had settled on a Tuesday and I took the 4+ hour trip to the city with the knowledge that I’d actually exceeded my much needed and required 2.0 grade point average. That pretty much guaranteed I’d get the loan for my tuition. I think I slept most of the way.
The man I was meeting, John, was a professor of literature at one of the major universities located in the city. He was well known in both the newspaper business as well as literary circles. He met me at the train station and we took a taxi to The Players, an elitist men's club. It was mostly small talk on the cab trip there and after we arrived he gave me a brief history of the club. It had been around for a long time and some former Presidents had been members. I couldn’t believe the opulence of the interior. We actually arrived a little after the busy lunch hour and I remember him apologizing that there weren’t too many ”noted“ people still there. He asked the maitre d' just who was still there and one was John Steinbeck. I didn’t actually see him as he was in another room at the time. Even without seeing him I was overwhelmed.
After we ordered John told me that the main purpose for the meeting was to discuss the situation between me and my family. He put me right at ease by saying that, in spite of his ”love“ for my mother and father, he felt they were totally wrong. He acknowledged that the source of the problem was my grandmother and, to a lesser extent, my grandfather. As much as he admired my grandfather he was most upset that, in a conversation with him, he’d admitted that he’d never really met Elle. I knew, on a personal basis, that my grandfather admired John as well. What I heard next was hard to fathom. He told me that if Elle and I would come home during our Spring break he would ”broker“ a meeting with my grandparents. That, initially, excited me but, in thinking about how Elle would react to the suggestion, I quickly became apprehensive. John saw that and stated that it was just a suggestion but one that he wanted me to think seriously about. He quickly changed to the second reason for our meeting.
With his ties to the newspaper business he wanted to give me what we now call a ”heads up“. Democrats had ruled the State for decades but in the November election had been pretty much run out of both the State Assembly and Senate as well as the for the governor. To combat that, the ”lame duck“ legislators and governor convened a special session and crammed through a whole series of spending bills designed to create problems for the incoming legislators and governor. John gave me a number of leads to follow up on the background of what had happened. Since my concentration within my Economic major was Public Finance he felt I could use it to my advantage. I was amazed at just how corrupt politics really was and I hadn’t even begun to do the deep research on the matter. I don’t think I’d ever been as enthusiastic about any subject since I’d arrived at college. I truly couldn’t wait to start digging. As we were leaving John took me into another room that had books lining all the walls. There were a few people there and he pointed to a man sitting at a table and told me that it was Arthur Miller. That truly impressed me especially since I'd read his play, Death of a Salesman, during Summer school.
I didn’t get back to the trailer and Elle until it was after 10pm. She was asleep and even though I didn’t think she’d be interested, I woke her up. It took her a while to get focused but I know I impressed her with the enthusiasm I expressed about what John had told me. Of course I didn’t bring up the subject of going home to meet with my grandparents. In spite of her initially being upset with my trip to the city it was obvious to me that she now approved of it and I was ”rewarded“ in a very special way.
To be continued...
Sunday, October 11, 2009
MARRIED... trying to adapt (Part 48d)
I don’t know how long it was before I was wakened by feeling the trailer move. I felt it but didn't hear anything. There was only one movement. I didn’t have a flashlight but I walked to the front of the trailer and looked out the window. There was a car right up against the trailer hitch. I didn’t hear Elle come in the room so she scared me when she spoke. She looked out and saw the same as I did. I really didn’t want to go outside but felt I had to to make sure the trailer was OK. It was hard to walk because everything was ice coated. The car was actually backed into the hitch and it appeared to have come from up the hill. I didn’t recognize it so didn’t know what to do about it. It missed the front of my car by less than a foot and based upon the way it was placed against our trailer I was sure that if Josh and Beth had been home that their car would’ve been hit instead of our trailer. I made my way around to the back of the trailer and could see that it was off the blocks but not by much. The kerosene tank was still connected and we had power. There was nothing I could do at that point so went back inside.
All Elle’s anger had abated by then. I was thankful for that. We sat and talked about what had to be done to get our trailer back in place for a while and were just about to go back to bed when there was a knock on the door. It was the owner of the car.
I really didn’t want to go back outside but I knew I didn’t have any choice. When I got to the car I saw Vince and another guy I didn’t recognize. It was almost impossible to stand up but the owner of the car insisted that we try to get it detached from the trailer. A close look showed that when the car hit the tongue of the trailer it bent the jacking bolt thus making it impossible to get the trailer off the back bumper of the car. The car owner was really upset... not that his car had damaged my trailer but by the fact he couldn’t just get in a drive away. By that time it was me who was mad.
By the time I got back inside I was cold all the way through. It was around 3am and Elle was sound asleep. It was only a matter of minutes before one of the alarm clocks that Elle used to wake her so she could use the toilet went off. She hadn’t even noticed that I was gone. It was somewhat funny but up to that time I hadn’t noticed that the trailer was ever so slightly tilted towards the front. It was also about then that I realized that I’d need to get Harry to come to raise the trailer and to put it back in place. With it now being New years day I wondered if he’d be available. I didn’t get much sleep once back in bed.
The ice storm had hit the area where Harry was located harder than our area and when I tried to call him there was no sound on the other end of the line. It was Saturday before I was able to get connected. The best he could offer was possibly on Sunday as there was a lot of damage to his trailer park. The guy who owned the car was a real pain in the ass coing back two or three times telling me I had to do something. The ”something“ I wanted to do was to hit him upside his head with a 2x4. Elle and I had adapted to our ”tilted“ life. We found that by moving the couch so that it paralleled the front of the trailer we could sit and score tests without getting a stiff neck. It really was sort of funny.
Good old Harry showed up around noon on Sunday. He brought some bottle jacks to raise the trailer up off the car. But the jerk who owned it wasn’t around and had left the car locked. I told Harry to just push it out of the way and if he did any damage the guy could sue me. By the time Harry left we were pretty much back to normal. When the guy showed up for his car he had the colossal nerve to come and ask me for my insurance information. I gave him the finger and slammed the door.
The last of the tests were scored at around 2am. When I put them back in the boxes all I could see was $200+. I got to Dr F’s office early on Monday morning even though I knew I wouldn’t get paid for the work for at least two weeks. But it still felt good knowing that I’d accomplished what I’d set out to do. He let me know that he’d already started to interview potential people to be participants in what he’d dubbed the ”educable“ ( I really have no idea how to spell it anymore... it was a word he invented) program. At that time he had six participants, including Joanne. The next step was to get instructors and he told me he was working with the state education department as to certification requirements. To me it was all good news.
As I remember it the week went flying by. I knew the ”flap“over the TV was well past when, as I walked in the door, Elle asked if I noticed the antenna. I hadn’t and immediately stepped back out side to see a completely different one now attached to the rear of the trailer. The owner of the park had stopped by one afternoon and asked if Elle wanted one that a previous renter had left behind. She said ”yes“ and Josh had attached it. She even admitted that it was nice to have it on when she ate dinner. Hmmmmmmm...
As we were getting ready for bed I noticed that Elle didn’t put sanitary pads in her night time ”package“. I asked her why and she said that Beth had told her to use folded washcloths and that way we could save money. I liked that idea but I was intrigued with the fact that it was Beth that had suggested it. I asked and Elle said that one day she’d gone over to Beth’s before going into our trailer and had not known that her ”package“ had leaked. Beth saw it and asked about it. Elle figured that was no need to hide it from her and told her all about her ”problem“. Then Beth, in turn, had told her that since Christmas she’d been having problems at night. She’d gotten some plastic pants and then just put folded washcloths inside and it had seemed to work. I’ll admit that the thought of Beth wetting, even though pregnant, was ”interesting“ to me.
To be continued...
I don’t know how long it was before I was wakened by feeling the trailer move. I felt it but didn't hear anything. There was only one movement. I didn’t have a flashlight but I walked to the front of the trailer and looked out the window. There was a car right up against the trailer hitch. I didn’t hear Elle come in the room so she scared me when she spoke. She looked out and saw the same as I did. I really didn’t want to go outside but felt I had to to make sure the trailer was OK. It was hard to walk because everything was ice coated. The car was actually backed into the hitch and it appeared to have come from up the hill. I didn’t recognize it so didn’t know what to do about it. It missed the front of my car by less than a foot and based upon the way it was placed against our trailer I was sure that if Josh and Beth had been home that their car would’ve been hit instead of our trailer. I made my way around to the back of the trailer and could see that it was off the blocks but not by much. The kerosene tank was still connected and we had power. There was nothing I could do at that point so went back inside.
All Elle’s anger had abated by then. I was thankful for that. We sat and talked about what had to be done to get our trailer back in place for a while and were just about to go back to bed when there was a knock on the door. It was the owner of the car.
I really didn’t want to go back outside but I knew I didn’t have any choice. When I got to the car I saw Vince and another guy I didn’t recognize. It was almost impossible to stand up but the owner of the car insisted that we try to get it detached from the trailer. A close look showed that when the car hit the tongue of the trailer it bent the jacking bolt thus making it impossible to get the trailer off the back bumper of the car. The car owner was really upset... not that his car had damaged my trailer but by the fact he couldn’t just get in a drive away. By that time it was me who was mad.
By the time I got back inside I was cold all the way through. It was around 3am and Elle was sound asleep. It was only a matter of minutes before one of the alarm clocks that Elle used to wake her so she could use the toilet went off. She hadn’t even noticed that I was gone. It was somewhat funny but up to that time I hadn’t noticed that the trailer was ever so slightly tilted towards the front. It was also about then that I realized that I’d need to get Harry to come to raise the trailer and to put it back in place. With it now being New years day I wondered if he’d be available. I didn’t get much sleep once back in bed.
The ice storm had hit the area where Harry was located harder than our area and when I tried to call him there was no sound on the other end of the line. It was Saturday before I was able to get connected. The best he could offer was possibly on Sunday as there was a lot of damage to his trailer park. The guy who owned the car was a real pain in the ass coing back two or three times telling me I had to do something. The ”something“ I wanted to do was to hit him upside his head with a 2x4. Elle and I had adapted to our ”tilted“ life. We found that by moving the couch so that it paralleled the front of the trailer we could sit and score tests without getting a stiff neck. It really was sort of funny.
Good old Harry showed up around noon on Sunday. He brought some bottle jacks to raise the trailer up off the car. But the jerk who owned it wasn’t around and had left the car locked. I told Harry to just push it out of the way and if he did any damage the guy could sue me. By the time Harry left we were pretty much back to normal. When the guy showed up for his car he had the colossal nerve to come and ask me for my insurance information. I gave him the finger and slammed the door.
The last of the tests were scored at around 2am. When I put them back in the boxes all I could see was $200+. I got to Dr F’s office early on Monday morning even though I knew I wouldn’t get paid for the work for at least two weeks. But it still felt good knowing that I’d accomplished what I’d set out to do. He let me know that he’d already started to interview potential people to be participants in what he’d dubbed the ”educable“ ( I really have no idea how to spell it anymore... it was a word he invented) program. At that time he had six participants, including Joanne. The next step was to get instructors and he told me he was working with the state education department as to certification requirements. To me it was all good news.
As I remember it the week went flying by. I knew the ”flap“over the TV was well past when, as I walked in the door, Elle asked if I noticed the antenna. I hadn’t and immediately stepped back out side to see a completely different one now attached to the rear of the trailer. The owner of the park had stopped by one afternoon and asked if Elle wanted one that a previous renter had left behind. She said ”yes“ and Josh had attached it. She even admitted that it was nice to have it on when she ate dinner. Hmmmmmmm...
As we were getting ready for bed I noticed that Elle didn’t put sanitary pads in her night time ”package“. I asked her why and she said that Beth had told her to use folded washcloths and that way we could save money. I liked that idea but I was intrigued with the fact that it was Beth that had suggested it. I asked and Elle said that one day she’d gone over to Beth’s before going into our trailer and had not known that her ”package“ had leaked. Beth saw it and asked about it. Elle figured that was no need to hide it from her and told her all about her ”problem“. Then Beth, in turn, had told her that since Christmas she’d been having problems at night. She’d gotten some plastic pants and then just put folded washcloths inside and it had seemed to work. I’ll admit that the thought of Beth wetting, even though pregnant, was ”interesting“ to me.
To be continued...
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
MARRIED... trying to adapt (Part 48c)
The next morning when the phone rang it was still dark. It was Harry hoping to find that I/we were back. Clyde had hurt his back when a horse reared up and fell on him. Harry had to go to the city on business for two days and he was hoping that I could fill in while he was gone. No money was mentioned but that was not an issue as I knew I owed Harry (and Vi) a lot of favors for all that they had done for Elle and I. I told him I’d get there as soon as possible. When I told Elle she was not very happy with the prospect of being alone and having to spend all her time scoring “my” exams. She wasn’t interested in listening to my reasoning so I just left.
Harry had an old man that had worked with him taking care of his horses for many years. He knew a lot more about training horses than I did but just didn’t want the responsibility. With his (expert) help I was able to get through the two days working with the yearlings without problems. Harry called Vi on the second day (which was actually New Years Eve) to say that he’d be back before dark and asked her to ask me to wait for him to arrive. I’d wanted to get home before dark as Elle and I had been invited to a small party up at Trish and Vince’s place. I really wasn’t interested but having “abandoned her” (her words) for two days she insisted. In any case when Harry got back he invited me up to the house. I wasn’t really expecting to be paid and when he tried to give me $30 I told him I wouldn’t take it... that he’d done way to much for Elle and I. Vi, who was sitting at the kitchen table, spoke up and said that maybe I’d be more “comfortable“ with something else. I had no idea what she was talking about but she put her coat on and motioned for me to follow her.
As I’ve mentioned in prior postings Harry and Vi had multiple businesses working out of their property. One of Vi’s own businesses was like what we now see a lot of... a consignment shop. People would bring things in and price them themselves. If it didn’t sell in 30 days it would be sold at the monthly auction that she would hold. The next auction was to be the upcoming Saturday and when we walked into the room where the items were stored she told me to find something I liked.
It reminded me of my grandparents attic, only bigger. Most of the things looked like junk to me. After a few minutes I saw what was then called a table top TV. It had a wood case and almost looked like a cube with each side being about 30 inches. In our trailer there was a shelf right above the refrigerator that was open on two sides with one of those sides facing the living room. To my eye it looked like a perfect fit. If there was something missing in our trailer it was a TV. At the fraternity, watching TV had been one of my weaknesses. I’d been busy enough since we moved into the trailer that I really hadn’t missed it all that much. But, standing there looking at it I got to thinking about the long winter ahead and decided that would be my choice. Vi told me that the guy who’d brought it in said that it worked but she didn’t know for sure. I took it anyway.
It was heavy! It took Harry and I to get it into the trunk of my car. Just as I was about to leave Harry walked up with a ragged TV antenna and pole telling me that it wasn’t much but since I was fairly close to a city I should be able to get some reception with it. I couldn’t wait to get back to the trailer. It was raining the whole way back and since I had to put the rear flap down (it was a convertible) to accommodate the antenna it was also cold inside the car. The excitement of my new "treasure" kept me somewhat warm.
Elle had never been one for watching TV. When I walked in and told her what i had in the car she went from being upset (from having been left alone all day) to downright mad. It was the maddest I’d ever seen her. I tried to explain my reasoning but she wouldn’t have any of it. Actually, she told me not to even bring it inside. That’s when I got mad. I went back outside and on up to Vince’s trailer to get him to help me. It took some work but we managed to get it in place. Elle was sulking back in our bedroom as I ran the antenna wire out the door and connected it to the pole that was leaning against the trailer. When I turned it on all I got was snow. Vince told me to go out and turn the antenna around until I got something. He called out to me when a picture finally appeared. I was drenched when I got back inside but at least i had a picture. When Vince left he reminded me about the party.
I stuck my head in the bedroom and Elle was actually asleep. I took a shower and then went to see what I could find on the TV. There was only one channel and, being black and white, a lot of snow. That was when I got to thinking about what I’d done and had some remorse. About that time I got a call from Mac telling me that they weren’t going to Trish and Vince’s party as everything outside was coated with ice. I opened the door and could see ice coating my car. The phone woke Elle up and when I told her about the ice she said she was going back to bed. I decided I better score some tests since Elle wasn’t. I left the TV on and watched the New Year come in before going to bed myself.
To be continued...
The next morning when the phone rang it was still dark. It was Harry hoping to find that I/we were back. Clyde had hurt his back when a horse reared up and fell on him. Harry had to go to the city on business for two days and he was hoping that I could fill in while he was gone. No money was mentioned but that was not an issue as I knew I owed Harry (and Vi) a lot of favors for all that they had done for Elle and I. I told him I’d get there as soon as possible. When I told Elle she was not very happy with the prospect of being alone and having to spend all her time scoring “my” exams. She wasn’t interested in listening to my reasoning so I just left.
Harry had an old man that had worked with him taking care of his horses for many years. He knew a lot more about training horses than I did but just didn’t want the responsibility. With his (expert) help I was able to get through the two days working with the yearlings without problems. Harry called Vi on the second day (which was actually New Years Eve) to say that he’d be back before dark and asked her to ask me to wait for him to arrive. I’d wanted to get home before dark as Elle and I had been invited to a small party up at Trish and Vince’s place. I really wasn’t interested but having “abandoned her” (her words) for two days she insisted. In any case when Harry got back he invited me up to the house. I wasn’t really expecting to be paid and when he tried to give me $30 I told him I wouldn’t take it... that he’d done way to much for Elle and I. Vi, who was sitting at the kitchen table, spoke up and said that maybe I’d be more “comfortable“ with something else. I had no idea what she was talking about but she put her coat on and motioned for me to follow her.
As I’ve mentioned in prior postings Harry and Vi had multiple businesses working out of their property. One of Vi’s own businesses was like what we now see a lot of... a consignment shop. People would bring things in and price them themselves. If it didn’t sell in 30 days it would be sold at the monthly auction that she would hold. The next auction was to be the upcoming Saturday and when we walked into the room where the items were stored she told me to find something I liked.
It reminded me of my grandparents attic, only bigger. Most of the things looked like junk to me. After a few minutes I saw what was then called a table top TV. It had a wood case and almost looked like a cube with each side being about 30 inches. In our trailer there was a shelf right above the refrigerator that was open on two sides with one of those sides facing the living room. To my eye it looked like a perfect fit. If there was something missing in our trailer it was a TV. At the fraternity, watching TV had been one of my weaknesses. I’d been busy enough since we moved into the trailer that I really hadn’t missed it all that much. But, standing there looking at it I got to thinking about the long winter ahead and decided that would be my choice. Vi told me that the guy who’d brought it in said that it worked but she didn’t know for sure. I took it anyway.
It was heavy! It took Harry and I to get it into the trunk of my car. Just as I was about to leave Harry walked up with a ragged TV antenna and pole telling me that it wasn’t much but since I was fairly close to a city I should be able to get some reception with it. I couldn’t wait to get back to the trailer. It was raining the whole way back and since I had to put the rear flap down (it was a convertible) to accommodate the antenna it was also cold inside the car. The excitement of my new "treasure" kept me somewhat warm.
Elle had never been one for watching TV. When I walked in and told her what i had in the car she went from being upset (from having been left alone all day) to downright mad. It was the maddest I’d ever seen her. I tried to explain my reasoning but she wouldn’t have any of it. Actually, she told me not to even bring it inside. That’s when I got mad. I went back outside and on up to Vince’s trailer to get him to help me. It took some work but we managed to get it in place. Elle was sulking back in our bedroom as I ran the antenna wire out the door and connected it to the pole that was leaning against the trailer. When I turned it on all I got was snow. Vince told me to go out and turn the antenna around until I got something. He called out to me when a picture finally appeared. I was drenched when I got back inside but at least i had a picture. When Vince left he reminded me about the party.
I stuck my head in the bedroom and Elle was actually asleep. I took a shower and then went to see what I could find on the TV. There was only one channel and, being black and white, a lot of snow. That was when I got to thinking about what I’d done and had some remorse. About that time I got a call from Mac telling me that they weren’t going to Trish and Vince’s party as everything outside was coated with ice. I opened the door and could see ice coating my car. The phone woke Elle up and when I told her about the ice she said she was going back to bed. I decided I better score some tests since Elle wasn’t. I left the TV on and watched the New Year come in before going to bed myself.
To be continued...
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
MARRIED... trying to adapt (Part 48b)
Martha had indicated for Elle to come over and sit on their sofa over by her. Just as Elle started in that direction I put my hand on her shoulder and then asked if it would be OK to use their bathroom. Elle turned to look at me and as she did I nodded my head towards their bathroom. Elle hesitated for a few seconds and then headed that way as I explained that it had been quite a while since our last stop. All I could do was to hope Elle took the time to check her “package” out.
The fact that it took Elle over five minutes to return told me that she’d made the discovery. They had a small table to eat at with vinyl covered seats. When Elle returned I pulled one out for her thus saving Martha’s sofa. There was some conversation before Elle asked me if I was going to “go”. I took the hint and found a “present” waiting on the edge of the sink for me. It was three sanitary napkins that had been squeezed into a ball about the size of a large orange. It told me that Elle was still wearing her wet panties with the plastic panties over them. With the saturated pads out of the equation at least she wouldn’t be leaking any more. I wrapped the “ball” up with toilet paper and stuffed it into my coat pocket and returned to the living room. Martha offered to feed us and as tempting as that was Elle said it would be best if we headed home. Knowing Elle as well as I did I knew it was best. When we got in the car she leaned over and kissed me and said “thank you!”
We had nothing to eat but canned soup in the trailer but Elle was so excited about getting all our wedding gifts put away it didn’t really matter. I ended up having to plead for her to come to bed. I wanted to be at Dr F’s office as early as possible. I woke up to find it snowing. The trip took almost a half hour longer than usual. Dr F was quite cordial and gave me the news that he’d received a partial grant with which to start the program for kids like Joanne. That news made my day and after getting the boxes with the tests to be scored from Dr F I headed for the T’s farm.
Dr F had told me that he’d already notified them so I wouldn’t be bringing the “news” to them. But I wanted to share my happiness about it. Mrs T was in the milking barn and dressed for it. As soon as she saw me she rushed over to give me a big hug and kiss. I appreciated the spontaneity of it, at that moment, but when I went into their kitchen to wait for her to finish up her chores I could smell the “result”... not nice!
When she arrived she was just “bubbling” with enthusiasm. I asked about Joanne and was told she was off with her grandmother but was told that she was “excited”. We ended up talking mostly about me and how the marriage was going. I don’t remember exactly how we got around to it but the conversation ended up on what I was going to do for the last semester. As I stated previously, I knew what I needed to do (inform the college that I was married, apply for a tuition loan, figure out how to pay for my room and board at the fraternity) but had done nothing about any of them. The most troubling of the three was the part about the fraternity. I needed a place to stay, at least during the heart of the Winter (February and March and maybe early April) and a place to eat for four days a week. To pay the fraternity for something I wasn’t going to fully use just didn’t sit well with me (aside from the fact that I didn’t have the money to pay for it). It was like out of nowhere that Mrs T said that I could stay with them. In talking about my situation I’d given no thought of that possibility so was almost shocked to silence with the offer. I really don’t remember what I initially said but one of the first things I do remember was in asking how much would it cost. I also don’t remember her answer but I do remember thinking that the whole thing was some sort of dream. The long and short of it was that when Mr T came in for lunch he was all for it and we settled on a deal where I would pay $10 a week for food and that I would do some “chores” to offset my room.
I’d told Elle that I’d be back by lunchtime and it was after 1pm when we came up with the agreement. I asked if I could call and when I reached Elle I couldn’t really exhibit the excitement that I felt in having probably the biggest worry that I/we had, resolved. I couldn’t wait to get back to the trailer to see her and to explain, fully, the ramifications of the T’s offer. I will admit that, while driving home, I did think of some of the opportunities I might have in living in the same house as Joanne. Believe me when I say they were not physically sexual thoughts but were strictly in the area of seeing her in panties. Having lived there for a short time a couple of years earlier and remembering the opportunities I had back them fueled my thoughts.
For me to get all Dr F’s tests scored by the first day of classes meant that Elle would have to be a full participant in the scoring process. We started right in and by the time we went to bed it was close to 11pm. Elle was getting more comfortable with the process and we, together, were scoring close to 200 an hour by the time we finished up for the night. I set up a schedule setting a goal of at least 1200 a day. Elle didn’t like it but I reemphasized the importance of her participation as we climbed into bed. I didn't even get a kiss.
To be continued...
Martha had indicated for Elle to come over and sit on their sofa over by her. Just as Elle started in that direction I put my hand on her shoulder and then asked if it would be OK to use their bathroom. Elle turned to look at me and as she did I nodded my head towards their bathroom. Elle hesitated for a few seconds and then headed that way as I explained that it had been quite a while since our last stop. All I could do was to hope Elle took the time to check her “package” out.
The fact that it took Elle over five minutes to return told me that she’d made the discovery. They had a small table to eat at with vinyl covered seats. When Elle returned I pulled one out for her thus saving Martha’s sofa. There was some conversation before Elle asked me if I was going to “go”. I took the hint and found a “present” waiting on the edge of the sink for me. It was three sanitary napkins that had been squeezed into a ball about the size of a large orange. It told me that Elle was still wearing her wet panties with the plastic panties over them. With the saturated pads out of the equation at least she wouldn’t be leaking any more. I wrapped the “ball” up with toilet paper and stuffed it into my coat pocket and returned to the living room. Martha offered to feed us and as tempting as that was Elle said it would be best if we headed home. Knowing Elle as well as I did I knew it was best. When we got in the car she leaned over and kissed me and said “thank you!”
We had nothing to eat but canned soup in the trailer but Elle was so excited about getting all our wedding gifts put away it didn’t really matter. I ended up having to plead for her to come to bed. I wanted to be at Dr F’s office as early as possible. I woke up to find it snowing. The trip took almost a half hour longer than usual. Dr F was quite cordial and gave me the news that he’d received a partial grant with which to start the program for kids like Joanne. That news made my day and after getting the boxes with the tests to be scored from Dr F I headed for the T’s farm.
Dr F had told me that he’d already notified them so I wouldn’t be bringing the “news” to them. But I wanted to share my happiness about it. Mrs T was in the milking barn and dressed for it. As soon as she saw me she rushed over to give me a big hug and kiss. I appreciated the spontaneity of it, at that moment, but when I went into their kitchen to wait for her to finish up her chores I could smell the “result”... not nice!
When she arrived she was just “bubbling” with enthusiasm. I asked about Joanne and was told she was off with her grandmother but was told that she was “excited”. We ended up talking mostly about me and how the marriage was going. I don’t remember exactly how we got around to it but the conversation ended up on what I was going to do for the last semester. As I stated previously, I knew what I needed to do (inform the college that I was married, apply for a tuition loan, figure out how to pay for my room and board at the fraternity) but had done nothing about any of them. The most troubling of the three was the part about the fraternity. I needed a place to stay, at least during the heart of the Winter (February and March and maybe early April) and a place to eat for four days a week. To pay the fraternity for something I wasn’t going to fully use just didn’t sit well with me (aside from the fact that I didn’t have the money to pay for it). It was like out of nowhere that Mrs T said that I could stay with them. In talking about my situation I’d given no thought of that possibility so was almost shocked to silence with the offer. I really don’t remember what I initially said but one of the first things I do remember was in asking how much would it cost. I also don’t remember her answer but I do remember thinking that the whole thing was some sort of dream. The long and short of it was that when Mr T came in for lunch he was all for it and we settled on a deal where I would pay $10 a week for food and that I would do some “chores” to offset my room.
I’d told Elle that I’d be back by lunchtime and it was after 1pm when we came up with the agreement. I asked if I could call and when I reached Elle I couldn’t really exhibit the excitement that I felt in having probably the biggest worry that I/we had, resolved. I couldn’t wait to get back to the trailer to see her and to explain, fully, the ramifications of the T’s offer. I will admit that, while driving home, I did think of some of the opportunities I might have in living in the same house as Joanne. Believe me when I say they were not physically sexual thoughts but were strictly in the area of seeing her in panties. Having lived there for a short time a couple of years earlier and remembering the opportunities I had back them fueled my thoughts.
For me to get all Dr F’s tests scored by the first day of classes meant that Elle would have to be a full participant in the scoring process. We started right in and by the time we went to bed it was close to 11pm. Elle was getting more comfortable with the process and we, together, were scoring close to 200 an hour by the time we finished up for the night. I set up a schedule setting a goal of at least 1200 a day. Elle didn’t like it but I reemphasized the importance of her participation as we climbed into bed. I didn't even get a kiss.
To be continued...
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
MARRIED... trying to adapt (Part 48a)
Elle was more excited about going home than I was. With my parents living across the street it was inevitable that our paths would cross. For me the best part of being home was the fact that we wouldn’t have any expenses with Elle’s parents paying for the food. Elle and I had agreed that we’d skip exchanging Christmas presents with each other and would just buy one for her parents. Her mother had been hinting way back in the Summer about wanting a new table lamp. That was to be our only expense except for gas for the car.
When Elle would talk to her mother on Sundays she would tell Elle that she had a BIG surprise for her when she got home. We left right after dawn and were home by mid afternoon. I don’t remember much about the trip except, for once, we missed rush hour traffic. When we walked in the door we could see this great pile of presents stacked up on the dining room table. They weren’t Christmas presents but were wedding presents, the result of Elle’s mother sending out announcements to all her friends. I remember Elle going up and giving her mother a great big hug. She actually started opening presents before taking off her coat.
It was amazing just how many of the things were exactly what we needed. Without boring you, among them we got a full set of Melamine (plastic) dishes, stainless steel tableware, a set of pots and pans, glasses, sheets, blankets, pillows and most important, money! It was truly incredible. Of all the things we got there were only a few that were impractical. We were truly thankful to all who gave and to her mother who orchestrated the whole thing. For the first time I felt that we were close to be on level ground.
Two days before Christmas I got a call from Dr F. He’d asked where I could be reached over the holidays and when I gave him the number I didn’t think much about it. When I took the phone from my mother in law I was a bit puzzled. He wanted to know when I was returning to campus. To maximize the fact that we basically had little to no expenses we’d planned to stay for the full two weeks. After telling Dr F my plans, he asked if there was any chance that I’d be back earlier. This whole conversation was very much unlike any I’d had with him prior to this. Puzzled, I asked why. Right after classes ended he had received over 7000 tests from the West coast and it was critical that he have the results to work with as soon as possible. At first I told him that our plans were fairly firm. Then he really got my attention when he said he’d pay 3 cents each if I could have them scored by the first day back to classes. That was $210 cash. I told him I’d call him right back. I discussed the offer with Elle and we figured out just how much of it we’d spend on food for the week. She was torn between leaving the relative comfort of her parents house and also wanting to get back to the trailer with all the the wedding gifts so she could make it our own. I ended up making the decision to go back. In the back of my mind was that if I helped Dr F out now he just might find other work for me when his project was done.
Christmas was nice even though there weren’t many presents exchanged. We’d found a reasonably priced lamp for her mother and it really pleased her. Her parents present to us (read that Elle) were maternity clothes. Elle was approaching four months and other than a thickening waist still really didn’t show all that much. But we both knew it would be coming soon so it was very appropriate. Elle’s brother arrived home on leave in time for dinner. He hadn’t seen Elle for over a year. He also had a wedding present for us; a toaster.
We headed back on Sunday so that I could be at Dr F’s office first thing on Monday. By the time we loaded all our things into the car there was barely enough room for us. I’d seen my father a couple of times driving by the house. I didn’t acknowledge him nor he, me. What really did bother me was in not seeing my grandparents. I did call after Christmas but when my grandfather heard my voice he hung up. Even with that, our time at home was still good. It was time with Elle that was pressure free for me and probably the same for her. We got in a couple of good walks on the beach and just enjoyed each others company.
The only snow we’d seen prior to Christmas had been manageable. When we got back we found well over a foot on the ground and, since we hadn’t been there to shovel the snow after if fell, found ourselves “snowed out”. With all the things we’d received the one thing we didn’t get and needed most was a shovel. Josh and Beth hadn’t yet returned so I trudged through the snow over to Mac and Martha’s trailer to borrow one. I cut a path to the door and went inside. We’d turned the heat way down but it was absolutely cold inside. The furnace was off... again. Elle sat in the car while I changed the filter on the tank and finally got it started. Mac had seen me out behind the trailer and called to see if everything was OK. I told him the problem and that Elle was still sitting in the car. He told me to drive around to their place and to come on inside while our place warmed up some.
We’d not seen much of them in the short time we’d been at the park so it was a little awkward at first. He was football player and rather large. Their trailer was much older than ours and the ceilings were lower. The top of his head was only inches away from it. Martha, on the other hand, was rather plain looking and very quiet. When we walked in the warmth felt good. Elle had preceded me and as Mac took her coat I saw that her bottom was wet. It wasn’t all that bad but her “package” was obviously full and had leaked around the leg opening of her plastic pants. I didn’t want to embarrass her and yet I also didn’t want to have her sit on their furniture like that.
To be continued...
Elle was more excited about going home than I was. With my parents living across the street it was inevitable that our paths would cross. For me the best part of being home was the fact that we wouldn’t have any expenses with Elle’s parents paying for the food. Elle and I had agreed that we’d skip exchanging Christmas presents with each other and would just buy one for her parents. Her mother had been hinting way back in the Summer about wanting a new table lamp. That was to be our only expense except for gas for the car.
When Elle would talk to her mother on Sundays she would tell Elle that she had a BIG surprise for her when she got home. We left right after dawn and were home by mid afternoon. I don’t remember much about the trip except, for once, we missed rush hour traffic. When we walked in the door we could see this great pile of presents stacked up on the dining room table. They weren’t Christmas presents but were wedding presents, the result of Elle’s mother sending out announcements to all her friends. I remember Elle going up and giving her mother a great big hug. She actually started opening presents before taking off her coat.
It was amazing just how many of the things were exactly what we needed. Without boring you, among them we got a full set of Melamine (plastic) dishes, stainless steel tableware, a set of pots and pans, glasses, sheets, blankets, pillows and most important, money! It was truly incredible. Of all the things we got there were only a few that were impractical. We were truly thankful to all who gave and to her mother who orchestrated the whole thing. For the first time I felt that we were close to be on level ground.
Two days before Christmas I got a call from Dr F. He’d asked where I could be reached over the holidays and when I gave him the number I didn’t think much about it. When I took the phone from my mother in law I was a bit puzzled. He wanted to know when I was returning to campus. To maximize the fact that we basically had little to no expenses we’d planned to stay for the full two weeks. After telling Dr F my plans, he asked if there was any chance that I’d be back earlier. This whole conversation was very much unlike any I’d had with him prior to this. Puzzled, I asked why. Right after classes ended he had received over 7000 tests from the West coast and it was critical that he have the results to work with as soon as possible. At first I told him that our plans were fairly firm. Then he really got my attention when he said he’d pay 3 cents each if I could have them scored by the first day back to classes. That was $210 cash. I told him I’d call him right back. I discussed the offer with Elle and we figured out just how much of it we’d spend on food for the week. She was torn between leaving the relative comfort of her parents house and also wanting to get back to the trailer with all the the wedding gifts so she could make it our own. I ended up making the decision to go back. In the back of my mind was that if I helped Dr F out now he just might find other work for me when his project was done.
Christmas was nice even though there weren’t many presents exchanged. We’d found a reasonably priced lamp for her mother and it really pleased her. Her parents present to us (read that Elle) were maternity clothes. Elle was approaching four months and other than a thickening waist still really didn’t show all that much. But we both knew it would be coming soon so it was very appropriate. Elle’s brother arrived home on leave in time for dinner. He hadn’t seen Elle for over a year. He also had a wedding present for us; a toaster.
We headed back on Sunday so that I could be at Dr F’s office first thing on Monday. By the time we loaded all our things into the car there was barely enough room for us. I’d seen my father a couple of times driving by the house. I didn’t acknowledge him nor he, me. What really did bother me was in not seeing my grandparents. I did call after Christmas but when my grandfather heard my voice he hung up. Even with that, our time at home was still good. It was time with Elle that was pressure free for me and probably the same for her. We got in a couple of good walks on the beach and just enjoyed each others company.
The only snow we’d seen prior to Christmas had been manageable. When we got back we found well over a foot on the ground and, since we hadn’t been there to shovel the snow after if fell, found ourselves “snowed out”. With all the things we’d received the one thing we didn’t get and needed most was a shovel. Josh and Beth hadn’t yet returned so I trudged through the snow over to Mac and Martha’s trailer to borrow one. I cut a path to the door and went inside. We’d turned the heat way down but it was absolutely cold inside. The furnace was off... again. Elle sat in the car while I changed the filter on the tank and finally got it started. Mac had seen me out behind the trailer and called to see if everything was OK. I told him the problem and that Elle was still sitting in the car. He told me to drive around to their place and to come on inside while our place warmed up some.
We’d not seen much of them in the short time we’d been at the park so it was a little awkward at first. He was football player and rather large. Their trailer was much older than ours and the ceilings were lower. The top of his head was only inches away from it. Martha, on the other hand, was rather plain looking and very quiet. When we walked in the warmth felt good. Elle had preceded me and as Mac took her coat I saw that her bottom was wet. It wasn’t all that bad but her “package” was obviously full and had leaked around the leg opening of her plastic pants. I didn’t want to embarrass her and yet I also didn’t want to have her sit on their furniture like that.
To be continued...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
MARRIED... and facing the real world (Part 47i)
I arrived at Harry’s place around 7:30am or so and found both he and Clyde out working with the yearlings, breaking them in to having a cart behind them. As soon as I walked up to them harry handed me the reins and said he’d see me later. Clyde was there to guide me as I really didn’t know what to do. It was fairly easy and I was aided by the fact that the two colts I worked with were well behaved. Clyde had his hands full with one and all I could do was to be thankful it wasn’t me. Harry came back just as we were putting the horses away. He took me into the office he had in the horse barn and told me to sit down. I was sort of surprised but did as he said. As if he (and Vi) hadn't done enough he offered me a job on Saturdays. He would pay me $10 for the day. The mornings were working with the horses along with Clyde and then in the afternoon I was to do what he called ”park maintenance“. Without explaining just what was entailed in that he added that when I was done with that I would work with Hank, the man he had preparing new trailers. I don’t think I hesitated when I said I’d do it and thanked him.
It didn’t take long to find out what ”park maintenance“ was all about. In simplest terms, I collected the garbage from all the trailers in the park. Vi was actually the manager for the park and had also designed it. She became very defensive when anyone would disparage a trailer park so wanted hers to look as nice as possible. To that end, residents had to keep their trash barrels behind the units and basically out of sight. When the park was laid out it had about a 10 foot wide path that ran behind all the units (with the trailers back to back off of two separate roads). My job was to take the small Ford tractor with a four wheel wagon behind it and to drive down the path and pick up the garbage. It didn’t take all that long and since it was cold out the smell was tolerable. But, it didn’t take long to find out a benefit from this job. Every trailer had a clothes line. It was a single pole with four arms that folded down with three separate lines at different levels. I was only about a third of the way down the path when I came across my first ”discovery“. There were three pair of white nylon panties blowing in the breeze. As I picked up the garbage pail I was looking right at them. I’ll admit I stood there for at least 15 seconds, if not more, staring at them. As far as I can remember they were nothing special but they looked so nice. I do remember that they had a fairly large crotch but didn’t look all that big as far as size. I think it was a horn blowing that broke the trance. As I continued on down the path I got a glimpse of a few more. My mind was whirring as I imagined what I would find in upcoming weeks.
When finished collecting I dumped it all in a big pit out behind the horse barn. With the manure pile right next to it whatever smell it contained was more than compensated for. I then went to meet Hank who worked as the resident handyman. Harry told me that I’d learn a lot about trailers working with him and he guaranteed that, living in one, I’d put to use a lot of what I learned. A brand new trailer had come in that day and he was in the process of getting it set up for display. It wasn’t long before it was quitting time. I stopped by the trailer office to say good night and Vi handed me $10. Even though I didn’t know her all that well I wanted to give her a hug as I said thank you... but I didn’t.
Elle had made a trip downtown to Woolworth's with Beth to buy some of the things that she would have to have to live the whole week there. The $10 that I had in my pocket sure hadn’t lasted very long. That night Beth and Josh invited us over for ”games“. They were big into board games and, as a boy, so was I. The evening went quickly but was important in that we really ”bonded“ with them. Beth offered to drive Elle to the sorority each morning and, if she needed a ride back, would come and get her when she drove Josh to work at the parts plant in the late afternoon. It took a big worry off both our minds.
Because Elle was now out of her routine she had taken to wearing a "package" more and more... and unfortunately, using it. I don’t think I’d ever given any thought to the cost of sanitary napkins that she was using. But, when I looked at what she’d purchased and the price I took notice. She was using anywhere from eight to twelve a day. I didn’t say anything but made a mental note of it. Elle had also purchased a folding rack that would give her a place to hang her panties so the living room wouldn’t be decorated by them. During the day it fit inside the bathtub. I approved.
We spent Sunday studying and had dinner with Beth and Josh. We had determined that since we each got paid on alternating weeks that the one getting paid would buy the meat for a good meal, cook it and invite the other over to share on Sundays. Elle was already in a panic about the following week when it would be her turn. Even with that we had a good time.
I drove Elle to the sorority before I left on Monday morning. Since my first class wasn’t until 10:30am I had plenty of time. I had many thoughts about what I wanted and needed to do but not the conviction to follow through on them. Truthfully, the next three weeks are like a void in my mind. The only important thing I can think of is that Dr F complained that he was falling behind on the project where I was scoring tests. He’d originally planned on scoring them by machine and the hand scoring was taking far longer than he expected. I flat out told him that I was doing the best I could but with him limiting me to scoring them only in his office was the real problem. I know I was ”pushing the envelope“ when I told him that if he’d let me take them that I could guarantee at least 3000 a week. Initially, he said ”no“. I don’t remember exactly when he changed his mind but it caught me by surprise. I brought about 2000 or so home with me that next weekend and when I told Elle that she was going to have to help me do it she got upset. It ended up being our first real ”discussion“. When all was said and done she finally agreed. We got quite a few done that night and she promised to do some when I was down at Harry’s. As I remember it my pay for that week was the most I’d made since back at school.
I also remember Beth and Josh ”surviving“ Elle’s first attempt at cooking a real meal.
There was a lot of laughing, in good nature, as it (slowly) progressed. We all decided that we'd go home for Christmas. Trish and Vince had the biggest living room so they offered to hold a Christmas party the night of the last day of classes. This was long before the word went out about pregnant women shouldn’t drink alcohol. Beth got really drunk and we all had a good laugh watching her. As Elle and I were leaving for home the first thing in the morning we left fairly early. Josh decided that Beth had had enough and they joined us. Trish and Vince’s trailer was right at the top of the hill and as we made our way down Beth fell. We were all concerned, worried about the baby. When we leaned down to see how she was she seemed really upset. I remember her repeating, over and over, ”Where are my legs? I can’t see my legs!“. She was actually sitting on them but in her drunken state she was convinced they were gone. Josh and I reached down to pick her up and as we did it was very obvious that she was in the process of wetting herself. Even though I was concerned about her and the baby I couldn’t help myself as I felt a bulge growing in my pants. We, more or less, carried her the rest of the way to her trailer and once Josh got the door open he went inside trying to pull her up and in. It wasn’t working as she was like a rag doll. I got behind her and tried to lift from her hips. As she finally started upwards I put one hand on her backside to give a final push and felt the now cold wetness. My bulge was still there when we got to the door of our trailer. I had a little persuading to do when we got into bed but I did prevail. :-)
To be continued...
I arrived at Harry’s place around 7:30am or so and found both he and Clyde out working with the yearlings, breaking them in to having a cart behind them. As soon as I walked up to them harry handed me the reins and said he’d see me later. Clyde was there to guide me as I really didn’t know what to do. It was fairly easy and I was aided by the fact that the two colts I worked with were well behaved. Clyde had his hands full with one and all I could do was to be thankful it wasn’t me. Harry came back just as we were putting the horses away. He took me into the office he had in the horse barn and told me to sit down. I was sort of surprised but did as he said. As if he (and Vi) hadn't done enough he offered me a job on Saturdays. He would pay me $10 for the day. The mornings were working with the horses along with Clyde and then in the afternoon I was to do what he called ”park maintenance“. Without explaining just what was entailed in that he added that when I was done with that I would work with Hank, the man he had preparing new trailers. I don’t think I hesitated when I said I’d do it and thanked him.
It didn’t take long to find out what ”park maintenance“ was all about. In simplest terms, I collected the garbage from all the trailers in the park. Vi was actually the manager for the park and had also designed it. She became very defensive when anyone would disparage a trailer park so wanted hers to look as nice as possible. To that end, residents had to keep their trash barrels behind the units and basically out of sight. When the park was laid out it had about a 10 foot wide path that ran behind all the units (with the trailers back to back off of two separate roads). My job was to take the small Ford tractor with a four wheel wagon behind it and to drive down the path and pick up the garbage. It didn’t take all that long and since it was cold out the smell was tolerable. But, it didn’t take long to find out a benefit from this job. Every trailer had a clothes line. It was a single pole with four arms that folded down with three separate lines at different levels. I was only about a third of the way down the path when I came across my first ”discovery“. There were three pair of white nylon panties blowing in the breeze. As I picked up the garbage pail I was looking right at them. I’ll admit I stood there for at least 15 seconds, if not more, staring at them. As far as I can remember they were nothing special but they looked so nice. I do remember that they had a fairly large crotch but didn’t look all that big as far as size. I think it was a horn blowing that broke the trance. As I continued on down the path I got a glimpse of a few more. My mind was whirring as I imagined what I would find in upcoming weeks.
When finished collecting I dumped it all in a big pit out behind the horse barn. With the manure pile right next to it whatever smell it contained was more than compensated for. I then went to meet Hank who worked as the resident handyman. Harry told me that I’d learn a lot about trailers working with him and he guaranteed that, living in one, I’d put to use a lot of what I learned. A brand new trailer had come in that day and he was in the process of getting it set up for display. It wasn’t long before it was quitting time. I stopped by the trailer office to say good night and Vi handed me $10. Even though I didn’t know her all that well I wanted to give her a hug as I said thank you... but I didn’t.
Elle had made a trip downtown to Woolworth's with Beth to buy some of the things that she would have to have to live the whole week there. The $10 that I had in my pocket sure hadn’t lasted very long. That night Beth and Josh invited us over for ”games“. They were big into board games and, as a boy, so was I. The evening went quickly but was important in that we really ”bonded“ with them. Beth offered to drive Elle to the sorority each morning and, if she needed a ride back, would come and get her when she drove Josh to work at the parts plant in the late afternoon. It took a big worry off both our minds.
Because Elle was now out of her routine she had taken to wearing a "package" more and more... and unfortunately, using it. I don’t think I’d ever given any thought to the cost of sanitary napkins that she was using. But, when I looked at what she’d purchased and the price I took notice. She was using anywhere from eight to twelve a day. I didn’t say anything but made a mental note of it. Elle had also purchased a folding rack that would give her a place to hang her panties so the living room wouldn’t be decorated by them. During the day it fit inside the bathtub. I approved.
We spent Sunday studying and had dinner with Beth and Josh. We had determined that since we each got paid on alternating weeks that the one getting paid would buy the meat for a good meal, cook it and invite the other over to share on Sundays. Elle was already in a panic about the following week when it would be her turn. Even with that we had a good time.
I drove Elle to the sorority before I left on Monday morning. Since my first class wasn’t until 10:30am I had plenty of time. I had many thoughts about what I wanted and needed to do but not the conviction to follow through on them. Truthfully, the next three weeks are like a void in my mind. The only important thing I can think of is that Dr F complained that he was falling behind on the project where I was scoring tests. He’d originally planned on scoring them by machine and the hand scoring was taking far longer than he expected. I flat out told him that I was doing the best I could but with him limiting me to scoring them only in his office was the real problem. I know I was ”pushing the envelope“ when I told him that if he’d let me take them that I could guarantee at least 3000 a week. Initially, he said ”no“. I don’t remember exactly when he changed his mind but it caught me by surprise. I brought about 2000 or so home with me that next weekend and when I told Elle that she was going to have to help me do it she got upset. It ended up being our first real ”discussion“. When all was said and done she finally agreed. We got quite a few done that night and she promised to do some when I was down at Harry’s. As I remember it my pay for that week was the most I’d made since back at school.
I also remember Beth and Josh ”surviving“ Elle’s first attempt at cooking a real meal.
There was a lot of laughing, in good nature, as it (slowly) progressed. We all decided that we'd go home for Christmas. Trish and Vince had the biggest living room so they offered to hold a Christmas party the night of the last day of classes. This was long before the word went out about pregnant women shouldn’t drink alcohol. Beth got really drunk and we all had a good laugh watching her. As Elle and I were leaving for home the first thing in the morning we left fairly early. Josh decided that Beth had had enough and they joined us. Trish and Vince’s trailer was right at the top of the hill and as we made our way down Beth fell. We were all concerned, worried about the baby. When we leaned down to see how she was she seemed really upset. I remember her repeating, over and over, ”Where are my legs? I can’t see my legs!“. She was actually sitting on them but in her drunken state she was convinced they were gone. Josh and I reached down to pick her up and as we did it was very obvious that she was in the process of wetting herself. Even though I was concerned about her and the baby I couldn’t help myself as I felt a bulge growing in my pants. We, more or less, carried her the rest of the way to her trailer and once Josh got the door open he went inside trying to pull her up and in. It wasn’t working as she was like a rag doll. I got behind her and tried to lift from her hips. As she finally started upwards I put one hand on her backside to give a final push and felt the now cold wetness. My bulge was still there when we got to the door of our trailer. I had a little persuading to do when we got into bed but I did prevail. :-)
To be continued...
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
MARRIED... and facing the real world (Part 47h)
Thanksgiving with Harry and Vi was fun. We were incorporated right into their family. The men talked about horses and the women about family. It was dark before we knew it. But, when we got back to the trailer we found it to be quite cold inside. I didn’t even know where to begin to look to find the reason. My first thought was to call Harry... but we didn’t have a phone. Something else I/we had forgotten.
It was another visit over the Josh and Beth’s and a call to Harry. I was really upset more in the fact that I felt so helpless than anything else. Harry was actually apologetic as soon as I told him my problem. He knew exactly what was wrong. When he brought the kerosene tank the movement of the truck over the road had stirred up all the junk that had been inside it. The filter was clogged and not letting the fuel through to the heater. He had brought extra filters but had forgotten to mention it to me. He told me where he’d put them and how to change it. After thanking him Josh and I went out to do the dirty deed. (Have you ever gotten kerosene on your hands?) Then Josh restarted my heater and we were set for heat. While our unit warmed up we stayed with Josh and Beth. We found out that he was veteran and had been going to college part time for about six years. He had met Beth at school and they had been married for over a year. He was hoping to graduate in June but Beth, who was also pregnant, would still have another year to go. Josh also worked as a night watchman at a local truck parts factory Monday through Friday. We felt very comfortable in their presence and when we finally went back to our unit felt very lucky to have them as neighbors. Elle was finally warming up to where we had located.
When we got back we sat down and counted up just how much money we had left. I don’t remember how much it was but the cost of the list of things we still needed to buy far exceeded the amount. Beth had told Elle that we could keep the glasses, dishes and utensils until we could afford to buy our own which took a lot of the immediate burden off. Elle was pretty sure that she could still eat at the sorority since she’d already paid for it. If that was so we felt our situation was manageable. At least enough for us to get a good night of sleep.
The first thing I did on Friday was to go down to the phone company and order up a phone. More $$ gone. Beth had promised to introduce us to the other students and “young” people living in the park. Elle already knew Tricia and her husband Vince. She was also pregnant. Ironically, all three of them were due in June. By the time we met Mac and Martha, the other couple going to school, it was time for lunch. We had stocked up on Campbell’s chicken soup along with tuna fish on our shopping trip. So it was soup for lunch and tuna for supper. Yum! (NOT!!)
We spent the afternoon studying and when we took a break we made our “wish list” of things to make the trailer more “homey”. Elle knew of some things she thought her mother would let her have. It was sort of fun picturing where we would put the various items we hoped to get.
One of the two buildings that were out front by the road held a coin operated washing machine. Beth had told Elle that the residents filled out a list of when they wanted to do their wash and since we were the newest we were last on the list. Elle needed to wash her panties. (She’d been wearing mostly “packages” just to be sure since we never knew where we were going to be and the availability of a toilet.) So after supper we went over and did a panty wash. I knew Elle had a lot but was really surprised at the number she put into the machine. It was sort of funny because I’d often try to peek into her panty drawer when I was up in her room at home and yet, with all the things going on over the past couple of days I never gave a thought to looking at what she had. But I vowed to do a “count“ before I left to go back to school.
When we got back to the trailer we had another problem... what to do with all the panties. We never gave a thought as to where we’d put them to dry. There was a ”community“ wash line just outside the room where the washing machine was located but Elle said there was no way she was going to put them out there for everybody to see,especially at night. We hung as many as we could over the shower curtain bar and a whole bunch spread out over the edge and inside the tub. Then we moved to the kitchen and spread out as many as the counter would hold. We had them hanging on the door handles and over the back of the chairs. It was really pretty funny to look at. I don’t remember just how many there were but it was at least two dozen. We decided to head for bed when I heard a knock at the door. Talk about a panic attack! Elle told me not to answer the door. All she was worried about was someone seeing all those panties spread all around. With most of the lights still on there was no way to pretend we were asleep so I, very reluctantly went to the the door. I only opened it a crack and saw Josh standing there. He had a message from Harry. He wanted me to come down to his place and to work with the yearlings the next day. I thanked Josh and heaved a sigh of relief. Elle wasn't too happy when I told her I'd be leaving the next day but I knew I had to go. Harry (and Vi) had been so good to us that I knew I really didn't have a choice.
To be continued...
Thanksgiving with Harry and Vi was fun. We were incorporated right into their family. The men talked about horses and the women about family. It was dark before we knew it. But, when we got back to the trailer we found it to be quite cold inside. I didn’t even know where to begin to look to find the reason. My first thought was to call Harry... but we didn’t have a phone. Something else I/we had forgotten.
It was another visit over the Josh and Beth’s and a call to Harry. I was really upset more in the fact that I felt so helpless than anything else. Harry was actually apologetic as soon as I told him my problem. He knew exactly what was wrong. When he brought the kerosene tank the movement of the truck over the road had stirred up all the junk that had been inside it. The filter was clogged and not letting the fuel through to the heater. He had brought extra filters but had forgotten to mention it to me. He told me where he’d put them and how to change it. After thanking him Josh and I went out to do the dirty deed. (Have you ever gotten kerosene on your hands?) Then Josh restarted my heater and we were set for heat. While our unit warmed up we stayed with Josh and Beth. We found out that he was veteran and had been going to college part time for about six years. He had met Beth at school and they had been married for over a year. He was hoping to graduate in June but Beth, who was also pregnant, would still have another year to go. Josh also worked as a night watchman at a local truck parts factory Monday through Friday. We felt very comfortable in their presence and when we finally went back to our unit felt very lucky to have them as neighbors. Elle was finally warming up to where we had located.
When we got back we sat down and counted up just how much money we had left. I don’t remember how much it was but the cost of the list of things we still needed to buy far exceeded the amount. Beth had told Elle that we could keep the glasses, dishes and utensils until we could afford to buy our own which took a lot of the immediate burden off. Elle was pretty sure that she could still eat at the sorority since she’d already paid for it. If that was so we felt our situation was manageable. At least enough for us to get a good night of sleep.
The first thing I did on Friday was to go down to the phone company and order up a phone. More $$ gone. Beth had promised to introduce us to the other students and “young” people living in the park. Elle already knew Tricia and her husband Vince. She was also pregnant. Ironically, all three of them were due in June. By the time we met Mac and Martha, the other couple going to school, it was time for lunch. We had stocked up on Campbell’s chicken soup along with tuna fish on our shopping trip. So it was soup for lunch and tuna for supper. Yum! (NOT!!)
We spent the afternoon studying and when we took a break we made our “wish list” of things to make the trailer more “homey”. Elle knew of some things she thought her mother would let her have. It was sort of fun picturing where we would put the various items we hoped to get.
One of the two buildings that were out front by the road held a coin operated washing machine. Beth had told Elle that the residents filled out a list of when they wanted to do their wash and since we were the newest we were last on the list. Elle needed to wash her panties. (She’d been wearing mostly “packages” just to be sure since we never knew where we were going to be and the availability of a toilet.) So after supper we went over and did a panty wash. I knew Elle had a lot but was really surprised at the number she put into the machine. It was sort of funny because I’d often try to peek into her panty drawer when I was up in her room at home and yet, with all the things going on over the past couple of days I never gave a thought to looking at what she had. But I vowed to do a “count“ before I left to go back to school.
When we got back to the trailer we had another problem... what to do with all the panties. We never gave a thought as to where we’d put them to dry. There was a ”community“ wash line just outside the room where the washing machine was located but Elle said there was no way she was going to put them out there for everybody to see,especially at night. We hung as many as we could over the shower curtain bar and a whole bunch spread out over the edge and inside the tub. Then we moved to the kitchen and spread out as many as the counter would hold. We had them hanging on the door handles and over the back of the chairs. It was really pretty funny to look at. I don’t remember just how many there were but it was at least two dozen. We decided to head for bed when I heard a knock at the door. Talk about a panic attack! Elle told me not to answer the door. All she was worried about was someone seeing all those panties spread all around. With most of the lights still on there was no way to pretend we were asleep so I, very reluctantly went to the the door. I only opened it a crack and saw Josh standing there. He had a message from Harry. He wanted me to come down to his place and to work with the yearlings the next day. I thanked Josh and heaved a sigh of relief. Elle wasn't too happy when I told her I'd be leaving the next day but I knew I had to go. Harry (and Vi) had been so good to us that I knew I really didn't have a choice.
To be continued...
Friday, September 11, 2009
MARRIED... and facing the real world (Part 47g)
Before Harry left he gave us a tour of the trailer and some advice. Then we were all alone. It was as cold inside as it was outside and I think that took away some of the excitement. I remember sitting on the couch and trying to figure out where to get the money we needed to get the basics... electricity, kerosene for heat and another thing I’d overlooked... bottled gas for cooking. Elle was cold and just sitting there fretting about the problem wasn’t going to solve it. As we headed back to the sorority Elle said she’d call her mother and ask for a loan. I knew how hard that was for Elle to even consider. The Winter was rough for her parents and they’d just written a $1000 check. But it was all we had to turn to. I left while it was still daylight with Elle promising to call when she got an answer.
The trip back to my college was filled with thoughts of what I could sell to bring in some money. I had a suitcase full of what I called “junk”, things I’d collected in lieu of money owed to me by fellow fraternity brothers and classmates back at boarding school. (I won’t go into the details of how I managed to get the stuff... say “thank you”) It included a Japanese bayonet, a Nazi flag that had been partially burned and a real Swiss army knife. Among other things I also had a fairly good collection of Dixieland Jazz on 10 inch LP’s. I decided I’d hold an auction. As I finished the trip I had most of it planned.
It was on Tuesday that I got it off. I netted almost $50. It was somewhat ironic as that night Elle called to say that her mother was wiring $100. That meant we’d have enough money to at least get into the trailer and to buy some food. The only problem was that it was Thanksgiving week and we’d decided to stay and not go home so we could get settled in and Elle’s mother wasn’t too pleased. Notwithstanding that, I think that night was the first good sleep I’d had since we got married.
I’d contacted the electric company that Monday and sent the deposit that same day. I also contacted the park owner and asked if he could arrange for some kerosene to be delivered. I also called Harry and asked if he could stop by late Wednesday afternoon to make sure I knew what I was doing as far as the heater was concerned. He laughed but said that he would be there.
I picked Elle up around 2pm. She’d packed most of her clothes which concerned her roommate. Up to that time neither of us had told anyone. Elle wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving to make the announcement. We arrived at the trailer to find Harry and Vi waiting. We walked in and found the trailer to be nice and warm. Harry had brought a barrel partially filled with kerosene along with a stand for it and had started the heater. I offered to pay but he said that they had been left behind at his park when a unit moved out. But the surprises didn’t stop there. Vi took Elle to the main bedroom and there was the bed, all made up with sheets, pillows and bedspread. She told her it was their wedding gift to us. A few minutes later she invited us to their house for Thanksgiving dinner. I couldn’t believe all this good fortune in just such a short period of time. I really didn’t know what to say.
Vi told us to be at their house at noon and then she and Harry left. Finally alone in our own “home” but it wasn’t for long as there was knock on the door. I opened it to see a very tall, black haired man and a very short young woman standing there. They introduced themselves as Josh and Beth, our next door neighbors. We invited them in but I was concerned about the time. It was Thanksgiving eve and way back then there was no such thing as extended hours. We had no food in the place at all. With that as my main concern I asked them where the nearest food market was located. Josh laughed and accused me of “spying” on him. I was lost as to what he meant. He then told us that he worked as a security person at a relatively new “supermarket” just a mile or so away on the new by-pass. I told him of our needs and he volunteered to take us there. I said it wasn’t necessary but he insisted. All four of us went. We needed all the staples... milk, bread, eggs, cereal, mayonaise and lots of tuna fish. When we were ready to leave Josh took the basket from me and pushed it towards the check out counter. I protested and all he said was he’d take care of it. I couldn’t believe it. But my amazement was short lived for when we got to the car he asked for the money he’d just paid. He then explained that as an employee he got a discount. Then the whole episode made sense.
Back at the trailer Beth told Elle that if we’d forgotten anything to be sure to come next door. I’m laughing because, just to show our naivety, we hadn’t thought about bowls, plates, glasses and eating utensils (among a whole lot of other things). By the time we finally ate Elle or I had made at least three visits to borrow things from them.
It had been quite a day! The only thing we had to do before going to bed was to put the rubber pad on it. I remember having wonderful thoughts about Harry and Vi as we did. I know I don’t have to go into detail as to what followed. :-)
To be continued...
Before Harry left he gave us a tour of the trailer and some advice. Then we were all alone. It was as cold inside as it was outside and I think that took away some of the excitement. I remember sitting on the couch and trying to figure out where to get the money we needed to get the basics... electricity, kerosene for heat and another thing I’d overlooked... bottled gas for cooking. Elle was cold and just sitting there fretting about the problem wasn’t going to solve it. As we headed back to the sorority Elle said she’d call her mother and ask for a loan. I knew how hard that was for Elle to even consider. The Winter was rough for her parents and they’d just written a $1000 check. But it was all we had to turn to. I left while it was still daylight with Elle promising to call when she got an answer.
The trip back to my college was filled with thoughts of what I could sell to bring in some money. I had a suitcase full of what I called “junk”, things I’d collected in lieu of money owed to me by fellow fraternity brothers and classmates back at boarding school. (I won’t go into the details of how I managed to get the stuff... say “thank you”) It included a Japanese bayonet, a Nazi flag that had been partially burned and a real Swiss army knife. Among other things I also had a fairly good collection of Dixieland Jazz on 10 inch LP’s. I decided I’d hold an auction. As I finished the trip I had most of it planned.
It was on Tuesday that I got it off. I netted almost $50. It was somewhat ironic as that night Elle called to say that her mother was wiring $100. That meant we’d have enough money to at least get into the trailer and to buy some food. The only problem was that it was Thanksgiving week and we’d decided to stay and not go home so we could get settled in and Elle’s mother wasn’t too pleased. Notwithstanding that, I think that night was the first good sleep I’d had since we got married.
I’d contacted the electric company that Monday and sent the deposit that same day. I also contacted the park owner and asked if he could arrange for some kerosene to be delivered. I also called Harry and asked if he could stop by late Wednesday afternoon to make sure I knew what I was doing as far as the heater was concerned. He laughed but said that he would be there.
I picked Elle up around 2pm. She’d packed most of her clothes which concerned her roommate. Up to that time neither of us had told anyone. Elle wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving to make the announcement. We arrived at the trailer to find Harry and Vi waiting. We walked in and found the trailer to be nice and warm. Harry had brought a barrel partially filled with kerosene along with a stand for it and had started the heater. I offered to pay but he said that they had been left behind at his park when a unit moved out. But the surprises didn’t stop there. Vi took Elle to the main bedroom and there was the bed, all made up with sheets, pillows and bedspread. She told her it was their wedding gift to us. A few minutes later she invited us to their house for Thanksgiving dinner. I couldn’t believe all this good fortune in just such a short period of time. I really didn’t know what to say.
Vi told us to be at their house at noon and then she and Harry left. Finally alone in our own “home” but it wasn’t for long as there was knock on the door. I opened it to see a very tall, black haired man and a very short young woman standing there. They introduced themselves as Josh and Beth, our next door neighbors. We invited them in but I was concerned about the time. It was Thanksgiving eve and way back then there was no such thing as extended hours. We had no food in the place at all. With that as my main concern I asked them where the nearest food market was located. Josh laughed and accused me of “spying” on him. I was lost as to what he meant. He then told us that he worked as a security person at a relatively new “supermarket” just a mile or so away on the new by-pass. I told him of our needs and he volunteered to take us there. I said it wasn’t necessary but he insisted. All four of us went. We needed all the staples... milk, bread, eggs, cereal, mayonaise and lots of tuna fish. When we were ready to leave Josh took the basket from me and pushed it towards the check out counter. I protested and all he said was he’d take care of it. I couldn’t believe it. But my amazement was short lived for when we got to the car he asked for the money he’d just paid. He then explained that as an employee he got a discount. Then the whole episode made sense.
Back at the trailer Beth told Elle that if we’d forgotten anything to be sure to come next door. I’m laughing because, just to show our naivety, we hadn’t thought about bowls, plates, glasses and eating utensils (among a whole lot of other things). By the time we finally ate Elle or I had made at least three visits to borrow things from them.
It had been quite a day! The only thing we had to do before going to bed was to put the rubber pad on it. I remember having wonderful thoughts about Harry and Vi as we did. I know I don’t have to go into detail as to what followed. :-)
To be continued...
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
MARRIED... and facing the real world (Part 47f)
When we pulled into the gas station there were two buildings. Between the two I saw a road which was more like a path that, when following it by eye, ran up a small hill. I could see about five trailers from where I’d stopped. Elle, with an incredulous sound to her voice asked if this was what I was looking for. It certainly wasn’t what I expected but it was the trailer park that I was searching for. After a few seconds I drove between the buildings and there I could see about a dozen more trailers. There were a couple of open spots. No matter what, there was no way to make this place seem attractive. I stopped the car a few feet beyond the buildings and as I did this young woman walked past the car carrying a wash basket. Elle recognized her as a classmate from the previous year. She put the window down and called to her. The girl’s name was Tricia and she stopped and walked slowly back to the car. Long story short... She’d gotten married but was still going to school and living in a trailer with her husband. Elle even knew who he was. As it turned out, Tricia told us there were two other married couples living there that were going to school as well.
Even as disappointing as the site was, and Elle’s initial negative reaction to it, it was more than negated by the fact that there were young college people living there and she even knew (slightly) two of them. It was obvious that Tricia was excited with the possibility of us moving there. It took longer for Elle to embrace the idea. But, as disappointing as the site was and Elle’s initial reaction to it I knew it would take some persuasion on my part to ”sell’ the idea completely to her. We immediately headed for Harry’s to make our payment and to take title to the unit. I used the time to point out the benefits of living there to Elle. With other students living there, and some that she actually knew, I told her she would have a ride to school and back. Plus, there would be others our own age that we/she could befriend. When we pulled in at Harry’s she still wasn’t totally convinced.
I managed to get Harry alone for a few seconds and let him know that Elle hadn’t been a part of the decision for the location and was a bit reluctant. That’s all I said. When we were all together he told us that in spite of his “connections” there weren’t a lot of choices as far as locating the unit near the college. He said that it was his thought that the place we’d visited, in spite of it’s relative unattractiveness, was the best for our situation. He told us that he knew the owners and that they were very responsive to any problems... and that they lived in one of the trailers. It was Harry who sold Elle. (7)..
By the time we got all the papers signed it was dark. Harry asked us if we wanted to move the trailer the next day which was Sunday. He said that his help was off but he was willing to do it himself if I could be there at the site to help him “block it”. (Even though mobile homes have wheels, when they sit on on a permanent or semi permanent site cement blocks are used to stabilize them) I really appreciated the offer and told him “yes”. When Elle and I left he told me to meet him around noon. To say we were excited is to put it mildly.
That night we ended up eating at a diner on the outskirts of Harry’s town. We didn’t eat much but what we did do was to make lists of things we had to do and things that we were going to need to live in the trailer. Fortunately there wasn’t much business so I didn’t feel guilty occupying the booth for an extended period of time. It was probably close to three hours. As we wrote our lists on paper napkins the reality of what we needed and the money we had was sobering. But we still left feeling good about the future.
Even though it was pretty cold out I decided to sleep in the car. I hadn’t stayed with my classmate’s family in a long, long time and didn’t feel comfortable just showing up. I kept a wool blanket in the trunk and Elle had an extra pillow so I had all I needed. I parked in a relatively unused parking lot over by the football stadium. However, I was so excited about finally getting the trailer I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t the cold or the fact that the car seat was uncomfortable but I just couldn’t calm down enough to settle in. I actually watched the sunrise.
It seemed like time crawled by until noon. I went to pick Elle up around 11:30am and we drove out to the site. I’d never seen a trailer as big as this being towed down a highway and when it was approaching my heart was pounding. Harry pulled it into the road/path to the trailer park and when he saw us called us over. Then we went to the owners trailer and he introduced us to them. We had a choice of two open sites and Elle asked if either one was next to another couple that was going to the college. He pointed out the one was at the bottom of the hill. Harry backed it in and I helped get it blocked. Then came another shock... make that two. No, make that three. We had to have electricity and we had to have fuel for heat plus I had to pay the rent for the space a month in advance. I think that if I could lay my hands on all the money that was mine at that moment it was probably less than $50. All I had with me was about $10. I don’t know if it was embarrassment or panic but I didn’t know what to do. Harry saved the day and paid the rent which solved, temporarily, one of the problems. I didn’t know what to do about the others.
To be continued...
When we pulled into the gas station there were two buildings. Between the two I saw a road which was more like a path that, when following it by eye, ran up a small hill. I could see about five trailers from where I’d stopped. Elle, with an incredulous sound to her voice asked if this was what I was looking for. It certainly wasn’t what I expected but it was the trailer park that I was searching for. After a few seconds I drove between the buildings and there I could see about a dozen more trailers. There were a couple of open spots. No matter what, there was no way to make this place seem attractive. I stopped the car a few feet beyond the buildings and as I did this young woman walked past the car carrying a wash basket. Elle recognized her as a classmate from the previous year. She put the window down and called to her. The girl’s name was Tricia and she stopped and walked slowly back to the car. Long story short... She’d gotten married but was still going to school and living in a trailer with her husband. Elle even knew who he was. As it turned out, Tricia told us there were two other married couples living there that were going to school as well.
Even as disappointing as the site was, and Elle’s initial negative reaction to it, it was more than negated by the fact that there were young college people living there and she even knew (slightly) two of them. It was obvious that Tricia was excited with the possibility of us moving there. It took longer for Elle to embrace the idea. But, as disappointing as the site was and Elle’s initial reaction to it I knew it would take some persuasion on my part to ”sell’ the idea completely to her. We immediately headed for Harry’s to make our payment and to take title to the unit. I used the time to point out the benefits of living there to Elle. With other students living there, and some that she actually knew, I told her she would have a ride to school and back. Plus, there would be others our own age that we/she could befriend. When we pulled in at Harry’s she still wasn’t totally convinced.
I managed to get Harry alone for a few seconds and let him know that Elle hadn’t been a part of the decision for the location and was a bit reluctant. That’s all I said. When we were all together he told us that in spite of his “connections” there weren’t a lot of choices as far as locating the unit near the college. He said that it was his thought that the place we’d visited, in spite of it’s relative unattractiveness, was the best for our situation. He told us that he knew the owners and that they were very responsive to any problems... and that they lived in one of the trailers. It was Harry who sold Elle. (7)..
By the time we got all the papers signed it was dark. Harry asked us if we wanted to move the trailer the next day which was Sunday. He said that his help was off but he was willing to do it himself if I could be there at the site to help him “block it”. (Even though mobile homes have wheels, when they sit on on a permanent or semi permanent site cement blocks are used to stabilize them) I really appreciated the offer and told him “yes”. When Elle and I left he told me to meet him around noon. To say we were excited is to put it mildly.
That night we ended up eating at a diner on the outskirts of Harry’s town. We didn’t eat much but what we did do was to make lists of things we had to do and things that we were going to need to live in the trailer. Fortunately there wasn’t much business so I didn’t feel guilty occupying the booth for an extended period of time. It was probably close to three hours. As we wrote our lists on paper napkins the reality of what we needed and the money we had was sobering. But we still left feeling good about the future.
Even though it was pretty cold out I decided to sleep in the car. I hadn’t stayed with my classmate’s family in a long, long time and didn’t feel comfortable just showing up. I kept a wool blanket in the trunk and Elle had an extra pillow so I had all I needed. I parked in a relatively unused parking lot over by the football stadium. However, I was so excited about finally getting the trailer I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t the cold or the fact that the car seat was uncomfortable but I just couldn’t calm down enough to settle in. I actually watched the sunrise.
It seemed like time crawled by until noon. I went to pick Elle up around 11:30am and we drove out to the site. I’d never seen a trailer as big as this being towed down a highway and when it was approaching my heart was pounding. Harry pulled it into the road/path to the trailer park and when he saw us called us over. Then we went to the owners trailer and he introduced us to them. We had a choice of two open sites and Elle asked if either one was next to another couple that was going to the college. He pointed out the one was at the bottom of the hill. Harry backed it in and I helped get it blocked. Then came another shock... make that two. No, make that three. We had to have electricity and we had to have fuel for heat plus I had to pay the rent for the space a month in advance. I think that if I could lay my hands on all the money that was mine at that moment it was probably less than $50. All I had with me was about $10. I don’t know if it was embarrassment or panic but I didn’t know what to do. Harry saved the day and paid the rent which solved, temporarily, one of the problems. I didn’t know what to do about the others.
To be continued...
Saturday, September 05, 2009
MARRIED... and facing the real world (Part 47e)
Back in the car I remember being wet from nervous perspiration. Elle knew how hard that had been for me and she snuggled close and gave me a kiss. It was appreciated. On the trip back we got the idea of stopping at Harry’s to give him the check. Our thinking was that we could cut a week’s time off getting the trailer. It wasn’t that far out of our way but when we got there I realized that this was the weekend for the big yearling horse auction in Pennsylvania. I'd forgotten about it and the fact that he was there as he was selling a few of his homebred colts. In a way it wasn’t a waste of time because it was Elle, looking at the trailer park, who asked where we were going to put the trailer once we got it. I’m laughing as I write this. I can’t believe that I’d signed the papers for the trailer without having a space to put it in. As we drove the last little way back we realized that we still had some work to do before we could move into our new ”home“.
It was a combination of concern and laughter as we drove the 20 miles back to Elle’s sorority. In the 3 plus years that I’d been in and around the town I couldn’t remember seeing a trailer park. It was almost dark when we got there so there wasn’t much point in just driving around trying to find one. As I said good bye to Elle I told her that Harry surely would know of at least one. She didn’t look convinced.
As I started the week I felt like I was drowning with decisions to be made and things that had to be done. As I was leaving class with Dr F he called me into his office. In my first meeting with him concerning the possibility of providing educational opportunities for students not able to keep up with the prescribed curriculum. I had mentioned Joanne and how unfair it was that she was denied formal schooling. He now wanted me to arrange a meeting with her and her parents. I’d wanted to go tell the T’s about that meeting with Dr F and the fact that he was working on a possible program for the State education department but I just never found the time. Now I had to.
After my afternoon class I drove out to the farm just in time to see the cows get herded into the milking barn. My timing wasn’t the greatest. Mrs T saw me and motioned for me to go to the house. As I walked in it seemed like old times as the smell of fresh baked apple pie filled the air. I waited for about 10 minutes and then Joanne walked in. As was usual for her after not seeing me for more than a few weeks she appeared to be shy. Her mother walked in right behind her and I was greeted with a big hug and an immediate invitation for dinner. She always did know the way to get my attention. I accepted but told her I needed to talk with her before dinner. After explaining the little that I knew about the potential for the program I explained that Dr F wanted to meet with the family. It was like I’d just given them a big Christmas present. Joanne and her mother started dancing around the kitchen like little children. I was excited too but no where near that much.
I’d wanted to call Harry but by the time we finished dinner I knew I wouldn’t be able to reach him so that was a bit of a disappointment. Another was that I’d spent the afternoon at the T’s and hadn’t scored any exams. Having to do the scoring in Dr F’s office was turning out to be a royal pain. The next day I called Harry first thing and was told that there were two possibilities for the trailer in the town with one being within a mile of the campus. He also said that he could/would make arrangements if I wanted. Even though I knew Elle would want to see just where she was to live I told Harry to ”go“ with the one nearest to the school. When I hung up the phone all I could do was hope that it wasn’t too bad. The only one I'd really ever noticed was at Harry's place and that seemed to be OK. I hoped that it would be at least equal to it.
The T’s came to meet with Dr F on Wednesday. I wanted to be there but wasn’t invited. I made Mrs T promise to tell me just how it went and that I’d call that night. In spite of all the things I had on my mind all I could focus on that afternoon was that meeting. The net result was that Dr F wanted all of Joanne’s school records and any aptitude tests and the like that she’d ever taken. Dr F told them that Joanne was going to be the centerpiece of his presentation to the powers that be who would be making the grant. I remember feeling almost as excited as the two women had been in the kitchen only a few days prior.
As much as I wanted to get over to Elle's I stayed at school Saturday morning trying to score enough tests to make up for my lost day. At the minimum I needed to average between $15 and $20 a week and it really wasn’t enough. Anything less and I was in trouble. My trip over to see Elle was mixed with trepidation and excitement. I hadn’t told Elle about finding a ”home“ for the trailer so that was part of it. The other half was taking the check to Harry and arranging for the trailer to be delivered. Unfortunately it was a dull, gray day. I got Elle in the car and followed Harry’s directions to the trailer park. It was actually on the same street/road that Elle’s sorority was on but almost a mile away. I didn’t tell Elle any more than we were going to look at a potential space for the trailer. I was attentively looking for it but actually drove right by it. Harry had warned that it might be hard to spot. He wasn’t kidding. After turning the car around and heading back into town I noticed a couple of trailers parked on a hill behind a closed gas station. My first thought was that this couldn’t be the place. It was!
To be continued...
Back in the car I remember being wet from nervous perspiration. Elle knew how hard that had been for me and she snuggled close and gave me a kiss. It was appreciated. On the trip back we got the idea of stopping at Harry’s to give him the check. Our thinking was that we could cut a week’s time off getting the trailer. It wasn’t that far out of our way but when we got there I realized that this was the weekend for the big yearling horse auction in Pennsylvania. I'd forgotten about it and the fact that he was there as he was selling a few of his homebred colts. In a way it wasn’t a waste of time because it was Elle, looking at the trailer park, who asked where we were going to put the trailer once we got it. I’m laughing as I write this. I can’t believe that I’d signed the papers for the trailer without having a space to put it in. As we drove the last little way back we realized that we still had some work to do before we could move into our new ”home“.
It was a combination of concern and laughter as we drove the 20 miles back to Elle’s sorority. In the 3 plus years that I’d been in and around the town I couldn’t remember seeing a trailer park. It was almost dark when we got there so there wasn’t much point in just driving around trying to find one. As I said good bye to Elle I told her that Harry surely would know of at least one. She didn’t look convinced.
As I started the week I felt like I was drowning with decisions to be made and things that had to be done. As I was leaving class with Dr F he called me into his office. In my first meeting with him concerning the possibility of providing educational opportunities for students not able to keep up with the prescribed curriculum. I had mentioned Joanne and how unfair it was that she was denied formal schooling. He now wanted me to arrange a meeting with her and her parents. I’d wanted to go tell the T’s about that meeting with Dr F and the fact that he was working on a possible program for the State education department but I just never found the time. Now I had to.
After my afternoon class I drove out to the farm just in time to see the cows get herded into the milking barn. My timing wasn’t the greatest. Mrs T saw me and motioned for me to go to the house. As I walked in it seemed like old times as the smell of fresh baked apple pie filled the air. I waited for about 10 minutes and then Joanne walked in. As was usual for her after not seeing me for more than a few weeks she appeared to be shy. Her mother walked in right behind her and I was greeted with a big hug and an immediate invitation for dinner. She always did know the way to get my attention. I accepted but told her I needed to talk with her before dinner. After explaining the little that I knew about the potential for the program I explained that Dr F wanted to meet with the family. It was like I’d just given them a big Christmas present. Joanne and her mother started dancing around the kitchen like little children. I was excited too but no where near that much.
I’d wanted to call Harry but by the time we finished dinner I knew I wouldn’t be able to reach him so that was a bit of a disappointment. Another was that I’d spent the afternoon at the T’s and hadn’t scored any exams. Having to do the scoring in Dr F’s office was turning out to be a royal pain. The next day I called Harry first thing and was told that there were two possibilities for the trailer in the town with one being within a mile of the campus. He also said that he could/would make arrangements if I wanted. Even though I knew Elle would want to see just where she was to live I told Harry to ”go“ with the one nearest to the school. When I hung up the phone all I could do was hope that it wasn’t too bad. The only one I'd really ever noticed was at Harry's place and that seemed to be OK. I hoped that it would be at least equal to it.
The T’s came to meet with Dr F on Wednesday. I wanted to be there but wasn’t invited. I made Mrs T promise to tell me just how it went and that I’d call that night. In spite of all the things I had on my mind all I could focus on that afternoon was that meeting. The net result was that Dr F wanted all of Joanne’s school records and any aptitude tests and the like that she’d ever taken. Dr F told them that Joanne was going to be the centerpiece of his presentation to the powers that be who would be making the grant. I remember feeling almost as excited as the two women had been in the kitchen only a few days prior.
As much as I wanted to get over to Elle's I stayed at school Saturday morning trying to score enough tests to make up for my lost day. At the minimum I needed to average between $15 and $20 a week and it really wasn’t enough. Anything less and I was in trouble. My trip over to see Elle was mixed with trepidation and excitement. I hadn’t told Elle about finding a ”home“ for the trailer so that was part of it. The other half was taking the check to Harry and arranging for the trailer to be delivered. Unfortunately it was a dull, gray day. I got Elle in the car and followed Harry’s directions to the trailer park. It was actually on the same street/road that Elle’s sorority was on but almost a mile away. I didn’t tell Elle any more than we were going to look at a potential space for the trailer. I was attentively looking for it but actually drove right by it. Harry had warned that it might be hard to spot. He wasn’t kidding. After turning the car around and heading back into town I noticed a couple of trailers parked on a hill behind a closed gas station. My first thought was that this couldn’t be the place. It was!
To be continued...
Sunday, August 30, 2009
MARRIED... and facing the real world (Part 47d)
I have no memory of that week at all. The only thing I remember of Friday was that Elle’s parents were still up when we pulled into the driveway. For us to have gotten home that early I must’ve cut my afternoon classes. I don’t think I was all that nervous when we walked in the front door but I know Elle was. I remember standing outside waiting for her mother to open the door and her shivering. It wasn’t that cold and we’d just come from a warm car so it had to have been nerves.
The first thing out of her mother’s mouth was to ask if she was OK. Elle had never come home without first talking to to her. When she finally spoke I remember her exact words... “Mom... I’m married!” It wasn’t “we’re married” but “I’m married”. I remember looking at her father’s face and I really don’t remember his expression changing. Her mother, on the other hand, ran straight to Elle and threw her arms around her. Other than that I don’t remember much until Elle’s father suggested that we all sit down. The only thing I truly remember saying was that we were definitely finishing college. Other than that it was all Elle and her mother until her father said he was going to bed. After he left I remember Elle’s mother asking me/us if we’d told my parents.
That was the real problem. I’d gone over a whole bunch of scenarios trying to anticipate what might actually happen. When We finally went upstairs to bed I couldn’t sleep at all. I was awake for all three of Elle’s toilet visits. She was still in bed when I went downstairs. I’d heard her father leave for work just as it was getting light. Her mother was baking in the kitchen when I walked in. I was surprised when she walked up to me and hugged me. Then, still holding on to me, she looked up at me (she was only 5’1“ and I was 6’1”) and reminded me about finishing college. I promised that we would both finish and then she gave me another hug.
When Elle finally came downstairs she came up to me and whispered that she just couldn’t go with me when I went across the street to tell my parents. We’d discussed it in the past and she’d warned me that she might not be up to it so it wasn’t a big surprise. I could see the shades were up over at my house and that’s when I started to get nervous. I think it was around 9am when I finally headed that way.
When I got to the kitchen door I couldn’t breath. I walked in and my ftaher was sitting on a stool with the newspaper spread out on the counter in front of him. My mother was sitting at the kitchen table, smoking a cigarette and with a cup of coffee. I stepped inside and shut the door. My father turned and looked at me but didn’t say anything. My mother, who could always read me “like a book” had a look on her face that told me she knew something not very good was about to happen. In my mind it seemed like an eternity before my father spoke. I don’t remember what he said but when I didn’t answer him my mother spoke up... “Is Elle pregnant?” My jaw probably dropped when I heard her say that and the next thing I knew my father was in my face. “Is she?” He spit the words at me and I could see his face was all red. I still didn’t answer and he stepped back. When he did I could see that he had both his hands balled up into fists. I truly thought he was going to hit me. From the corner where my mother was sitting I heard “ANSWER HIM!” Somehow I managed to get out the words “We’re married” and with that my father stepped back another few steps. He glared at me said but two words... “YOU BASTARD!” and then turned and went back to the stool. Once there he turned around and, much calmer, said “You’re on your own now. Get out!” I reached for the door handle and as I opened the door I heard him say that I had to go tell my grandparents. Somehow I’d managed to forget about that even though the whole situation was precipitated by their view that Elle wasn’t worthy of me. As I walked back to Elle’s I started worrying about what I’d say to them. The ordeal wasn’t over.
That evening, after supper, Elle’s father was the one to bring up the $1,000. He asked what we palnned to do with it and I know he wasn’t pleased when I/we told him that it was going to be used as a down payment on a “trailer”. We probaly spent a half hour trying to describe what it was like. But, in their minds only “gypsies” lived in a trailer. I made a little headway with them when I explained that if we used it for rent we’d have nothing when it was gone. At least we’d own something when it was paid for. I know I impressed Elle’s mother with that thinking. She was the one who paid the bills and was a “saver”. By the time we went up to bed I felt we had won over her parents. Her mother was going to notify the local papers and send out wedding announcements. She was sure that some of her friends would help us out with gifts. Honestly, I never gave that angle a thought but it was nice to know of the potential.
Sleep was, again, elusive. On this night it was the thought of stopping to tell my grandparents. In the case of my parents I was more scared of what they might do than anything else. For my grandparents I was feeling badly because, even though their reasons for not approving Elle and I together were wrong, I knew the news would hurt them. Being old and set in their ways I was concerned that they might just shut me out of their lives. Also, in the case of my grandfather it was how his relationship with AJ and the horses would play out for me.
Elle wanted to get back to school fairly early. She hadn’t brought much schoolwork home with her and didn’t want to go to classes the next day unprepared. I figured the best way to handle telling my grandparents was to stop on our way back. It was about 10am or so and when I walked in my grandfather was sitting at his desk typing something. My grandmother, as always, was sitting in her rocking chair, knitting. It was obvious that my parents hadn’t told them I was home because they were really surprised to see me. The first words out of my grandfather’s mouth were... “Is everything OK?’. As nervous as I was I don’t remember how I told him or what I said. But, after I did I do remember him just turning back to his typewriter and ignoring me. I stood there for a few minutes and finally said ”Good bye“ without getting a response. I don’t think my grandmother ever stopped knitting.
To be continued...
I have no memory of that week at all. The only thing I remember of Friday was that Elle’s parents were still up when we pulled into the driveway. For us to have gotten home that early I must’ve cut my afternoon classes. I don’t think I was all that nervous when we walked in the front door but I know Elle was. I remember standing outside waiting for her mother to open the door and her shivering. It wasn’t that cold and we’d just come from a warm car so it had to have been nerves.
The first thing out of her mother’s mouth was to ask if she was OK. Elle had never come home without first talking to to her. When she finally spoke I remember her exact words... “Mom... I’m married!” It wasn’t “we’re married” but “I’m married”. I remember looking at her father’s face and I really don’t remember his expression changing. Her mother, on the other hand, ran straight to Elle and threw her arms around her. Other than that I don’t remember much until Elle’s father suggested that we all sit down. The only thing I truly remember saying was that we were definitely finishing college. Other than that it was all Elle and her mother until her father said he was going to bed. After he left I remember Elle’s mother asking me/us if we’d told my parents.
That was the real problem. I’d gone over a whole bunch of scenarios trying to anticipate what might actually happen. When We finally went upstairs to bed I couldn’t sleep at all. I was awake for all three of Elle’s toilet visits. She was still in bed when I went downstairs. I’d heard her father leave for work just as it was getting light. Her mother was baking in the kitchen when I walked in. I was surprised when she walked up to me and hugged me. Then, still holding on to me, she looked up at me (she was only 5’1“ and I was 6’1”) and reminded me about finishing college. I promised that we would both finish and then she gave me another hug.
When Elle finally came downstairs she came up to me and whispered that she just couldn’t go with me when I went across the street to tell my parents. We’d discussed it in the past and she’d warned me that she might not be up to it so it wasn’t a big surprise. I could see the shades were up over at my house and that’s when I started to get nervous. I think it was around 9am when I finally headed that way.
When I got to the kitchen door I couldn’t breath. I walked in and my ftaher was sitting on a stool with the newspaper spread out on the counter in front of him. My mother was sitting at the kitchen table, smoking a cigarette and with a cup of coffee. I stepped inside and shut the door. My father turned and looked at me but didn’t say anything. My mother, who could always read me “like a book” had a look on her face that told me she knew something not very good was about to happen. In my mind it seemed like an eternity before my father spoke. I don’t remember what he said but when I didn’t answer him my mother spoke up... “Is Elle pregnant?” My jaw probably dropped when I heard her say that and the next thing I knew my father was in my face. “Is she?” He spit the words at me and I could see his face was all red. I still didn’t answer and he stepped back. When he did I could see that he had both his hands balled up into fists. I truly thought he was going to hit me. From the corner where my mother was sitting I heard “ANSWER HIM!” Somehow I managed to get out the words “We’re married” and with that my father stepped back another few steps. He glared at me said but two words... “YOU BASTARD!” and then turned and went back to the stool. Once there he turned around and, much calmer, said “You’re on your own now. Get out!” I reached for the door handle and as I opened the door I heard him say that I had to go tell my grandparents. Somehow I’d managed to forget about that even though the whole situation was precipitated by their view that Elle wasn’t worthy of me. As I walked back to Elle’s I started worrying about what I’d say to them. The ordeal wasn’t over.
That evening, after supper, Elle’s father was the one to bring up the $1,000. He asked what we palnned to do with it and I know he wasn’t pleased when I/we told him that it was going to be used as a down payment on a “trailer”. We probaly spent a half hour trying to describe what it was like. But, in their minds only “gypsies” lived in a trailer. I made a little headway with them when I explained that if we used it for rent we’d have nothing when it was gone. At least we’d own something when it was paid for. I know I impressed Elle’s mother with that thinking. She was the one who paid the bills and was a “saver”. By the time we went up to bed I felt we had won over her parents. Her mother was going to notify the local papers and send out wedding announcements. She was sure that some of her friends would help us out with gifts. Honestly, I never gave that angle a thought but it was nice to know of the potential.
Sleep was, again, elusive. On this night it was the thought of stopping to tell my grandparents. In the case of my parents I was more scared of what they might do than anything else. For my grandparents I was feeling badly because, even though their reasons for not approving Elle and I together were wrong, I knew the news would hurt them. Being old and set in their ways I was concerned that they might just shut me out of their lives. Also, in the case of my grandfather it was how his relationship with AJ and the horses would play out for me.
Elle wanted to get back to school fairly early. She hadn’t brought much schoolwork home with her and didn’t want to go to classes the next day unprepared. I figured the best way to handle telling my grandparents was to stop on our way back. It was about 10am or so and when I walked in my grandfather was sitting at his desk typing something. My grandmother, as always, was sitting in her rocking chair, knitting. It was obvious that my parents hadn’t told them I was home because they were really surprised to see me. The first words out of my grandfather’s mouth were... “Is everything OK?’. As nervous as I was I don’t remember how I told him or what I said. But, after I did I do remember him just turning back to his typewriter and ignoring me. I stood there for a few minutes and finally said ”Good bye“ without getting a response. I don’t think my grandmother ever stopped knitting.
To be continued...
Friday, August 28, 2009
MARRIED... and facing the real world (Part47c)
The following Saturday Elle had to spend doing pledge duty with the new pledges for the sorority. I had intended to spend the day scoring Dr F’s IQ exams but when I went to his office it was locked. After wasting an hour waiting for him I gave up and decided to go visit with Clyde and Harry. When I arrived they were in the process of “breaking” yearlings. (A few words of explanation... Birthdays for all horses are January 1st no matter what actual day they are born. The first year of life has no “name” but in their second year they are called “yearlings”. Up until the Fall of their “yearling” year they are allowed to run free out in pasture land. Then they are exposed to all the material things that they will need to become racehorses and their exposure to those things is called “breaking” them, as in breaking them in to getting used to the bridle and bit, harness, various types of boots to protect their legs and knees etc.)
All of my experience was with horses that had already been “broken” and were race ready. I found myself really interested in what they were doing and almost immediately Clyde had turned his “yearling” over to me and was walking beside me telling me what to do. The next thing I knew Harry’s wife was calling to all of us that lunch was ready. About three hours had passed like the blink of an eye. Vi, Harry’s wife was quite an interesting woman. Supposedly, she was the bookkeeper for all of Harry’s businesses but it was easy to see that she was far more involved. She wanted to know all about me and it seemed like Clyde had more to say than I did. As soon as he mentioned that I’d just gotten married she asked where we were living. When I said we were looking into it she immediately said we should be living in a Mobile Home and, without missing a beat, told Harry to take me outside to look at some of the ones they had for sale. She was more of a salesman than Harry!
Harry showed me about a half dozen of them but never told me a price. I was amazed at just how well space was utilized and was duly impressed with most of them. I’d only been inside Clyde’s and I’d liked it. Other than not knowing the cost, I was “sold” but I wasn’t really sure how Elle would feel about living in a “trailer”. I left there with a promise to Harry (and Vi) that I’d bring Elle back but I wasn’t sure it would be the next day.
As it turned out it wasn’t until the following week that we made it back. I had to do a real “selling” job on Elle to even get her to go and take a look. Knowing her as well as I did I could see that she, like me, was impressed with the fact that they came fully furnished and all you had to do to move in was bring clothes, sheets, blankets and towels. Vi was smart enough to let us do our looking by ourselves. She knew that we'd sell ourselves. Within an hour we’d picked out the one we liked. Elle went into the office to visit with Vi and I went looking for Harry. He was out in the barn area with Clyde and when he saw me he knew.
I’ve always been very careful with and about money. Before I’d verbally commit to buying one I had to figure out how I was going to pay for it. I told Harry that we would have $1000 in a couple of weeks and that was it. I asked him if there was any way we could work out a deal. He looked over at Clyde and asked him something like “Should I trust this guy?” and Clyde just laughed. Then we went over to the office and had Vi draw up the papers.
But as careful about money as I claimed I was I still didn’t know the price. I still can’t believe that I’d let it get that far without knowing. But, one of the big surprises of my life came when they (Harry and Vi) pulled out their invoice from the factory and only added $100 to it. The total cost for a 41 foot, 10 foot wide mobile home was $4,100. I wanted to ask why they were being so nice to us but I didn’t dare. I do know I was shaking when I signed my name on the paper though. They agreed to let us have the trailer for $1,000 down and then to have a chattel mortgage on it for a year with no payments. I’m still shaking my head in amazement.
I don’t know if it was the knowledge that we’d soon have our own place that made our lovemaking in the front seat of my car somewhat unsatisfying or not later that evening. Maybe it was that our minds were on that and not on sexual things but it really wasn’t very good for either of us. On Sunday we didn’t even try. Our thoughts we now focused on what it was going to be like when we went home and told our parents.
To be continued...
The following Saturday Elle had to spend doing pledge duty with the new pledges for the sorority. I had intended to spend the day scoring Dr F’s IQ exams but when I went to his office it was locked. After wasting an hour waiting for him I gave up and decided to go visit with Clyde and Harry. When I arrived they were in the process of “breaking” yearlings. (A few words of explanation... Birthdays for all horses are January 1st no matter what actual day they are born. The first year of life has no “name” but in their second year they are called “yearlings”. Up until the Fall of their “yearling” year they are allowed to run free out in pasture land. Then they are exposed to all the material things that they will need to become racehorses and their exposure to those things is called “breaking” them, as in breaking them in to getting used to the bridle and bit, harness, various types of boots to protect their legs and knees etc.)
All of my experience was with horses that had already been “broken” and were race ready. I found myself really interested in what they were doing and almost immediately Clyde had turned his “yearling” over to me and was walking beside me telling me what to do. The next thing I knew Harry’s wife was calling to all of us that lunch was ready. About three hours had passed like the blink of an eye. Vi, Harry’s wife was quite an interesting woman. Supposedly, she was the bookkeeper for all of Harry’s businesses but it was easy to see that she was far more involved. She wanted to know all about me and it seemed like Clyde had more to say than I did. As soon as he mentioned that I’d just gotten married she asked where we were living. When I said we were looking into it she immediately said we should be living in a Mobile Home and, without missing a beat, told Harry to take me outside to look at some of the ones they had for sale. She was more of a salesman than Harry!
Harry showed me about a half dozen of them but never told me a price. I was amazed at just how well space was utilized and was duly impressed with most of them. I’d only been inside Clyde’s and I’d liked it. Other than not knowing the cost, I was “sold” but I wasn’t really sure how Elle would feel about living in a “trailer”. I left there with a promise to Harry (and Vi) that I’d bring Elle back but I wasn’t sure it would be the next day.
As it turned out it wasn’t until the following week that we made it back. I had to do a real “selling” job on Elle to even get her to go and take a look. Knowing her as well as I did I could see that she, like me, was impressed with the fact that they came fully furnished and all you had to do to move in was bring clothes, sheets, blankets and towels. Vi was smart enough to let us do our looking by ourselves. She knew that we'd sell ourselves. Within an hour we’d picked out the one we liked. Elle went into the office to visit with Vi and I went looking for Harry. He was out in the barn area with Clyde and when he saw me he knew.
I’ve always been very careful with and about money. Before I’d verbally commit to buying one I had to figure out how I was going to pay for it. I told Harry that we would have $1000 in a couple of weeks and that was it. I asked him if there was any way we could work out a deal. He looked over at Clyde and asked him something like “Should I trust this guy?” and Clyde just laughed. Then we went over to the office and had Vi draw up the papers.
But as careful about money as I claimed I was I still didn’t know the price. I still can’t believe that I’d let it get that far without knowing. But, one of the big surprises of my life came when they (Harry and Vi) pulled out their invoice from the factory and only added $100 to it. The total cost for a 41 foot, 10 foot wide mobile home was $4,100. I wanted to ask why they were being so nice to us but I didn’t dare. I do know I was shaking when I signed my name on the paper though. They agreed to let us have the trailer for $1,000 down and then to have a chattel mortgage on it for a year with no payments. I’m still shaking my head in amazement.
I don’t know if it was the knowledge that we’d soon have our own place that made our lovemaking in the front seat of my car somewhat unsatisfying or not later that evening. Maybe it was that our minds were on that and not on sexual things but it really wasn’t very good for either of us. On Sunday we didn’t even try. Our thoughts we now focused on what it was going to be like when we went home and told our parents.
To be continued...
Monday, August 24, 2009
MARRIED... and facing the real world (Part47b)
I still hadn’t told her my ulterior motive for heading for Buffalo. Once dressed we checked out and found a diner for some breakfast. As we ate she kept after me as to what we were going to do for the rest of the day. I still wouldn’t give in. It wasn’t until she saw a road sign reading ”Niagara Falls“ that she understood. I hoped she’d be pleased and her reaction told me that she was.
I’d specifically asked her to just wear a pair of nylon panties, promising that I’d find toilets to meet her needs during the day. We stayed on the US side and took in most of the things you can do from there. I kept my promise and she stayed dry... until the Maid of the Mist voyage. The rain slickers that were provided were barely adequate as they were way too big. The mist managed to get under them and our hair was wet as well as our clothes all down the front. When we got back to the dock I asked Elle how wet she was and she gave me one of ”those” looks. I was really just asking about her blouse and skirt but what she was trying to tell me was that she’d wet herself while we were riding around in the boat. However, it wasn’t until we were away from the other people that she was able to get through to me. She wasn’t mad and explained that she’d gotten chilled between the swirling winds and the cold mist and “it just happened”. Truthfully, knowing that she was wet excited me but, I was somewhat concerned because I’d persuaded her to not wear a package. But she was OK with it and we continued on with our touring.
When we got back to the car she was satisfied with just putting a pair of heavy cotton panties on over the now damp ones. She did this in the front seat of the car before we took off to find a place to eat letting me get a good view. After eating and because she’d done no studying at all up to this time she suggested that we head back while it was still light so she could do some reading while I was driving. As we drove I had this kind of euphoria about our time together. Just glancing over at her and knowing that we really were man and wife was a wonderful feeling.
Saying good bye was hard. Reality came back to my thoughts on my way back to my school. I knew I had to get some sort of job once the horses shipped out and the only thing I could think of was at the student co-operative at the job I had in the Spring flipping hamburgers. It was a minimum wage job paying $1.00 an hour. The most hours I’d worked in the Spring were 15 and I could make that on a good night at the track. It wasn’t too appealing but at least it was something.
That week I stopped in to see Dr F to see if there was anything new on getting a grant from the state to start a program for kids out of school like Joanne. I knew as soon as I stepped into his office that it wasn’t a good time to be there. He was obviously upset. He actually started a tirade about a piece of equipment that he was working on. I stood there for a few seconds then started to leave. As I reached the door he told me to stop. I did and he walked towards me with a handful of papers. Gruffly, he told me to sit down and to put this heavy piece of paper that was filled with little round holes over one of the papers he had in his hand. He then told me to count all the marks I could see through the holes. I had not the faintest Idea what I was doing. As I was counting he was timing me. It took about a minute and then he wrote the number I gave him on top of the paper. He then studied the paper and cursed. He then went to his desk and did some calculating. Then he asked if I wanted a job. (Explanation... Dr F was in the process of writing a “paper” to be published in an educational journal and he was in the process of collecting raw empirical data. He’d arranged to rent an IBM machine that would score IQ exams taken at High Schools all across the country so that he could use the raw data. The problem was that the machine made far more errors than was acceptable. When I walked in he got the idea to possibly have people score the tests and wanted to time me on just how long it would take. By doing a calculation of the time it took me to score a paper he was able to project that he would be better off having humans score the exams rather that use the machine that he didn’t trust plus eliminating the cost of the machine.) I had no idea what my “job” would be when he asked me but when he explained it I thought it was a great job. He was offering me 2 cents per paper to hand score them. I jumped at the opportunity. Later, I figured that I could probably score 90 of them per hour which would mean pay at $1.80 an hour plus I didn’t have to stand on my feet and get all smelly flipping hamburgers. Plus, it was up to me just when I wanted to work. All I could think of was how lucky I was that I’d walked in at the right time.
I started in the very next day. So much for my new emphasis on studying. Dr F wanted me to do the work in his office which was a bit of a hassle. But, he really didn’t know me and it was a matter of building a trust with him. In the first two days I proved to myself that I could score at least 90 per hour. I found out that there were somewhere around 7500 papers and maybe even more to come. Since I had to work at the track that Saturday night I arranged with Dr F to work all day Saturday. My first weeks work netted me around $20. Not a lot but it sure came in handy. What I didn’t realize was that I was building a “bond” with Dr F.
Sunday with Elle was a lot less fun than our previous time together. It was a stormy day and after a short time in the car being buffeted by wind and rain (remember, the car was a convertible) we gave up and headed for the Student Union. It seemed so long ago since we’d used it as our refuge. Elle wouldn’t let me get too “close” and we ended up spending most of the time studying. I was really frustrated. Here we were, legally married, and not able to be really together. I found myself thinking seriously about getting a place to stay. By the time Elle had to get back to the sorority we had discussed looking for an apartment. We, reluctantly, agreed that we had to maximize the use of the monies that had already been paid for our room and board so it meant that we’d have to try and hide Elle’s pregnancy as long as possible.
AJ had decided over that weekend that he was going to ship out on Thursday. Wednesday night, my last night working with the horses, I went to say good bye to Clyde and found him talking with Harry, the guy who commuted almost two hours to race his horses. He saw me and sort of gestured for me to wait until he was through. As I mentioned earlier, Clyde had not had a good season and had told me that he was worried about making it through the Winter. It turned out that Harry had offered him a part time job that would allow Clyde to keep training the few horses that he had under his care. The problem for Clyde was that it meant that he’d have to spend the Winter at Harry’s place living in their trailer and wouldn’t be able to live at his and Jane’s home. Harry was the fellow who had multiple businesses and one was running a trailer park and Clyde would get to stay there for free. Clyde had one of those looks of resignation on his normally cheerful face. But, true to his nature, he didn’t dwell on it and asked what my plans were. At that time I just didn’t know and before I could come up with anything he told me to come on down to Harry’s on Saturdays and help out down there. At first I didn’t think it was a good idea but Clyde told me to come on down (it was only 20 or so miles South of Elle’s school) or he’d come up and get me... all with a big goofy grin on his face.
To be truthful, I put the idea in the far recesses of my mind. That weekend Elle and I went looking at available apartments and were mightily discouraged. Rents were way out of line of what we could reasonably pay and those that we saw were anything but desirable. Neither of us felt very “lovey” as we discussed our options. There were a bunch of “what ifs” and they all revolved around going home to tell our parents. We were sure we’d get the $1000 from her parents but, after seeing the apartments felt that if we used the money for that we would be wasting it. But, conversely, as soon as we told my parents I’d be cut off from all help. It all boiled down to how long Elle could go without “showing”. The way we figured she was about 7 weeks and she’d begun to notice that she couldn’t button the button around the waist of some of her skirts. Before I left to back to my school we decided that we’d go home in two weeks.
To be continued...
I still hadn’t told her my ulterior motive for heading for Buffalo. Once dressed we checked out and found a diner for some breakfast. As we ate she kept after me as to what we were going to do for the rest of the day. I still wouldn’t give in. It wasn’t until she saw a road sign reading ”Niagara Falls“ that she understood. I hoped she’d be pleased and her reaction told me that she was.
I’d specifically asked her to just wear a pair of nylon panties, promising that I’d find toilets to meet her needs during the day. We stayed on the US side and took in most of the things you can do from there. I kept my promise and she stayed dry... until the Maid of the Mist voyage. The rain slickers that were provided were barely adequate as they were way too big. The mist managed to get under them and our hair was wet as well as our clothes all down the front. When we got back to the dock I asked Elle how wet she was and she gave me one of ”those” looks. I was really just asking about her blouse and skirt but what she was trying to tell me was that she’d wet herself while we were riding around in the boat. However, it wasn’t until we were away from the other people that she was able to get through to me. She wasn’t mad and explained that she’d gotten chilled between the swirling winds and the cold mist and “it just happened”. Truthfully, knowing that she was wet excited me but, I was somewhat concerned because I’d persuaded her to not wear a package. But she was OK with it and we continued on with our touring.
When we got back to the car she was satisfied with just putting a pair of heavy cotton panties on over the now damp ones. She did this in the front seat of the car before we took off to find a place to eat letting me get a good view. After eating and because she’d done no studying at all up to this time she suggested that we head back while it was still light so she could do some reading while I was driving. As we drove I had this kind of euphoria about our time together. Just glancing over at her and knowing that we really were man and wife was a wonderful feeling.
Saying good bye was hard. Reality came back to my thoughts on my way back to my school. I knew I had to get some sort of job once the horses shipped out and the only thing I could think of was at the student co-operative at the job I had in the Spring flipping hamburgers. It was a minimum wage job paying $1.00 an hour. The most hours I’d worked in the Spring were 15 and I could make that on a good night at the track. It wasn’t too appealing but at least it was something.
That week I stopped in to see Dr F to see if there was anything new on getting a grant from the state to start a program for kids out of school like Joanne. I knew as soon as I stepped into his office that it wasn’t a good time to be there. He was obviously upset. He actually started a tirade about a piece of equipment that he was working on. I stood there for a few seconds then started to leave. As I reached the door he told me to stop. I did and he walked towards me with a handful of papers. Gruffly, he told me to sit down and to put this heavy piece of paper that was filled with little round holes over one of the papers he had in his hand. He then told me to count all the marks I could see through the holes. I had not the faintest Idea what I was doing. As I was counting he was timing me. It took about a minute and then he wrote the number I gave him on top of the paper. He then studied the paper and cursed. He then went to his desk and did some calculating. Then he asked if I wanted a job. (Explanation... Dr F was in the process of writing a “paper” to be published in an educational journal and he was in the process of collecting raw empirical data. He’d arranged to rent an IBM machine that would score IQ exams taken at High Schools all across the country so that he could use the raw data. The problem was that the machine made far more errors than was acceptable. When I walked in he got the idea to possibly have people score the tests and wanted to time me on just how long it would take. By doing a calculation of the time it took me to score a paper he was able to project that he would be better off having humans score the exams rather that use the machine that he didn’t trust plus eliminating the cost of the machine.) I had no idea what my “job” would be when he asked me but when he explained it I thought it was a great job. He was offering me 2 cents per paper to hand score them. I jumped at the opportunity. Later, I figured that I could probably score 90 of them per hour which would mean pay at $1.80 an hour plus I didn’t have to stand on my feet and get all smelly flipping hamburgers. Plus, it was up to me just when I wanted to work. All I could think of was how lucky I was that I’d walked in at the right time.
I started in the very next day. So much for my new emphasis on studying. Dr F wanted me to do the work in his office which was a bit of a hassle. But, he really didn’t know me and it was a matter of building a trust with him. In the first two days I proved to myself that I could score at least 90 per hour. I found out that there were somewhere around 7500 papers and maybe even more to come. Since I had to work at the track that Saturday night I arranged with Dr F to work all day Saturday. My first weeks work netted me around $20. Not a lot but it sure came in handy. What I didn’t realize was that I was building a “bond” with Dr F.
Sunday with Elle was a lot less fun than our previous time together. It was a stormy day and after a short time in the car being buffeted by wind and rain (remember, the car was a convertible) we gave up and headed for the Student Union. It seemed so long ago since we’d used it as our refuge. Elle wouldn’t let me get too “close” and we ended up spending most of the time studying. I was really frustrated. Here we were, legally married, and not able to be really together. I found myself thinking seriously about getting a place to stay. By the time Elle had to get back to the sorority we had discussed looking for an apartment. We, reluctantly, agreed that we had to maximize the use of the monies that had already been paid for our room and board so it meant that we’d have to try and hide Elle’s pregnancy as long as possible.
AJ had decided over that weekend that he was going to ship out on Thursday. Wednesday night, my last night working with the horses, I went to say good bye to Clyde and found him talking with Harry, the guy who commuted almost two hours to race his horses. He saw me and sort of gestured for me to wait until he was through. As I mentioned earlier, Clyde had not had a good season and had told me that he was worried about making it through the Winter. It turned out that Harry had offered him a part time job that would allow Clyde to keep training the few horses that he had under his care. The problem for Clyde was that it meant that he’d have to spend the Winter at Harry’s place living in their trailer and wouldn’t be able to live at his and Jane’s home. Harry was the fellow who had multiple businesses and one was running a trailer park and Clyde would get to stay there for free. Clyde had one of those looks of resignation on his normally cheerful face. But, true to his nature, he didn’t dwell on it and asked what my plans were. At that time I just didn’t know and before I could come up with anything he told me to come on down to Harry’s on Saturdays and help out down there. At first I didn’t think it was a good idea but Clyde told me to come on down (it was only 20 or so miles South of Elle’s school) or he’d come up and get me... all with a big goofy grin on his face.
To be truthful, I put the idea in the far recesses of my mind. That weekend Elle and I went looking at available apartments and were mightily discouraged. Rents were way out of line of what we could reasonably pay and those that we saw were anything but desirable. Neither of us felt very “lovey” as we discussed our options. There were a bunch of “what ifs” and they all revolved around going home to tell our parents. We were sure we’d get the $1000 from her parents but, after seeing the apartments felt that if we used the money for that we would be wasting it. But, conversely, as soon as we told my parents I’d be cut off from all help. It all boiled down to how long Elle could go without “showing”. The way we figured she was about 7 weeks and she’d begun to notice that she couldn’t button the button around the waist of some of her skirts. Before I left to back to my school we decided that we’d go home in two weeks.
To be continued...
Friday, August 21, 2009
MARRIED... and facing the Real World (Part 47a)
The next morning I sure didn’t feel like I was married. I was in an upper bunk at the fraternity house listening to a bunch of guys making a lot of noise. But there was one thing that I knew I had to do and that was to change some of my priorities. Money was and remained the number one priority. That was tough enough when all I had to do was to provide for myself. But the biggest change that I had to make was to concentrate on my studies. To be able to graduate on time I knew I would have to take a loan from the school. There was one basic rule for eligibility and that was you had to have at least a 2.0 grade point average. My tuition had been paid for the Fall semester but I knew that all help from my parents would end the minute my parents knew Elle and I were married. I’d been trying to do more studying but it had been hard while working both the mornings and nights. But, now my work was only at night so I knew I’d have to force myself to use my mornings wisely. I also knew it would be difficult. I had a pretty good time for my first three years and old habits are hard to break. As I got dressed I vowed that I would start on this day.
That night I knew that Clyde would be waiting to tease me at the track based on some of his comments when Elle and I left Doc Z’s the night before. I wasn’t wrong. He did use some discretion in that he only did it when we were alone. Even so, it was still uncomfortable for me.
It was Wednesday night that AJ sort of blindsided me. He had two horses racing that night and one was owned by his new owner. He told me that he wanted me to take the horse to the paddock (where the horses are kept before they race) and take care of him for the the night. I wasn’t happy because I was to be paid $5 for each horse I warmed up and AJ had three horses racing that night. Taking a horse to the paddock only paid $10. It wasn’t just the money because I felt that AJ didn’t trust me with the new owner’s horse. I kept my mouth shut and it paid off as the horse won and the owner gave me an extra $20. I decided I liked the man right then and there.
Friday night Clyde, who hadn’t had a good year racing, came up to me and told me he thought he could win with the horse he had in the second race. AJ had a horse in the first race and I honestly thought it could win. Clyde was confident enough to bet $10 on his own horse which was good enough for me. I sent over a $2 bet on both the horses for the daily double as well as $5 on each of the hoses to win. I rationalized it by telling myself that I was using “found money”. Long story short, I ended up with almost $100.
In spite of knowing that I should be saving as much money as possible I immediately hatched a plan to have a mini honeymoon. Without telling Elle about my good fortune I told her I would be over to pick her up Saturday after her classes and told her to pack things for overnight. That was all I told her. As AJ only had one horse racing that Saturday night I asked if I could have the night off. Since he was only paying me out of guilt for letting me go early, he had no problem with it, and I was only giving up $5. I couldn’t wait for the next day.
Weather in that part of the country can really be beautiful in the Fall and it sure was that day. We had a happy and joyful reunion and it was rather obvious what was on both our minds. Because we were out in front of the sorority it didn’t go very far. When we started out Elle was quickly aware that we weren’t headed down the road to the track but I wouldn’t tell her where we were going. Some people are totally ignorant of direction (East/West etc.) and Elle was one of those. We were headed due West, right into the setting sun. Other than stopping for a toilet break for Elle, we drove straight through to Buffalo.
My roommate was from that area and before I left I had asked him where there was a place that had good food at reasonable prices. He didn’t know but called his parents and got me one. I checked in at a triple A motel and Elle and I proceeded to get to know each other all over again. Then, after a short nap we got dressed and headed out to eat. I got the directions at the desk and quickly found it. I don’t know how long it had been since I’d had steak but this place had a special that looked appealing. Maybe it’s because of the euphoria of the moment but it ranks as one of the best I’ve ever eaten. Back at the room we never turned on the TV. Elle never admitted that it was on purpose but when we undressed her panties were wet which led to some very enjoyable foreplay (at least for me). The “afterplay“ was also pretty enjoyable.
Elle, in her rush to pack and to be ready for me, forgot her alarm clocks that she used to wake herself to use the toilet during the night. We set the room clock and Elle heard it and made it to the toilet in time. But I never heard the alarm, or her, so the alarm wasn’t set again. I woke up to find myself snuggled into a very wet Elle and bed. Instead of being upset I turned it into something pleasant. The room was very warm so I just stripped Elle’s wet pajama top off and we took up where we’d left off the night before.
Showering was fun. It brought back the memory of the first time we’d gone off alone together but with one big change. Elle was no longer as shy being naked... up to a point. As soon as she was dry she did put on a pair of nylon panties and her bra. In that mode of dress she was very comfortable. That was fine with me.
To be continued...
The next morning I sure didn’t feel like I was married. I was in an upper bunk at the fraternity house listening to a bunch of guys making a lot of noise. But there was one thing that I knew I had to do and that was to change some of my priorities. Money was and remained the number one priority. That was tough enough when all I had to do was to provide for myself. But the biggest change that I had to make was to concentrate on my studies. To be able to graduate on time I knew I would have to take a loan from the school. There was one basic rule for eligibility and that was you had to have at least a 2.0 grade point average. My tuition had been paid for the Fall semester but I knew that all help from my parents would end the minute my parents knew Elle and I were married. I’d been trying to do more studying but it had been hard while working both the mornings and nights. But, now my work was only at night so I knew I’d have to force myself to use my mornings wisely. I also knew it would be difficult. I had a pretty good time for my first three years and old habits are hard to break. As I got dressed I vowed that I would start on this day.
That night I knew that Clyde would be waiting to tease me at the track based on some of his comments when Elle and I left Doc Z’s the night before. I wasn’t wrong. He did use some discretion in that he only did it when we were alone. Even so, it was still uncomfortable for me.
It was Wednesday night that AJ sort of blindsided me. He had two horses racing that night and one was owned by his new owner. He told me that he wanted me to take the horse to the paddock (where the horses are kept before they race) and take care of him for the the night. I wasn’t happy because I was to be paid $5 for each horse I warmed up and AJ had three horses racing that night. Taking a horse to the paddock only paid $10. It wasn’t just the money because I felt that AJ didn’t trust me with the new owner’s horse. I kept my mouth shut and it paid off as the horse won and the owner gave me an extra $20. I decided I liked the man right then and there.
Friday night Clyde, who hadn’t had a good year racing, came up to me and told me he thought he could win with the horse he had in the second race. AJ had a horse in the first race and I honestly thought it could win. Clyde was confident enough to bet $10 on his own horse which was good enough for me. I sent over a $2 bet on both the horses for the daily double as well as $5 on each of the hoses to win. I rationalized it by telling myself that I was using “found money”. Long story short, I ended up with almost $100.
In spite of knowing that I should be saving as much money as possible I immediately hatched a plan to have a mini honeymoon. Without telling Elle about my good fortune I told her I would be over to pick her up Saturday after her classes and told her to pack things for overnight. That was all I told her. As AJ only had one horse racing that Saturday night I asked if I could have the night off. Since he was only paying me out of guilt for letting me go early, he had no problem with it, and I was only giving up $5. I couldn’t wait for the next day.
Weather in that part of the country can really be beautiful in the Fall and it sure was that day. We had a happy and joyful reunion and it was rather obvious what was on both our minds. Because we were out in front of the sorority it didn’t go very far. When we started out Elle was quickly aware that we weren’t headed down the road to the track but I wouldn’t tell her where we were going. Some people are totally ignorant of direction (East/West etc.) and Elle was one of those. We were headed due West, right into the setting sun. Other than stopping for a toilet break for Elle, we drove straight through to Buffalo.
My roommate was from that area and before I left I had asked him where there was a place that had good food at reasonable prices. He didn’t know but called his parents and got me one. I checked in at a triple A motel and Elle and I proceeded to get to know each other all over again. Then, after a short nap we got dressed and headed out to eat. I got the directions at the desk and quickly found it. I don’t know how long it had been since I’d had steak but this place had a special that looked appealing. Maybe it’s because of the euphoria of the moment but it ranks as one of the best I’ve ever eaten. Back at the room we never turned on the TV. Elle never admitted that it was on purpose but when we undressed her panties were wet which led to some very enjoyable foreplay (at least for me). The “afterplay“ was also pretty enjoyable.
Elle, in her rush to pack and to be ready for me, forgot her alarm clocks that she used to wake herself to use the toilet during the night. We set the room clock and Elle heard it and made it to the toilet in time. But I never heard the alarm, or her, so the alarm wasn’t set again. I woke up to find myself snuggled into a very wet Elle and bed. Instead of being upset I turned it into something pleasant. The room was very warm so I just stripped Elle’s wet pajama top off and we took up where we’d left off the night before.
Showering was fun. It brought back the memory of the first time we’d gone off alone together but with one big change. Elle was no longer as shy being naked... up to a point. As soon as she was dry she did put on a pair of nylon panties and her bra. In that mode of dress she was very comfortable. That was fine with me.
To be continued...
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