Chapter 2: Moving In

“Boxes?”

“Oh, yes. How many?”

“Four would be good.” I had a stack of flattened boxes. I grabbed four or five and the tape gun putting them in the back of the truck along with a few old blankets and ropes. We left for her place in my truck and her car, a forty minute drive.

We pulled up and I parked on the street. I took the boxes and tape gun and we went inside. It was quiet though Gail gave a quiet call announcing that she was home. I followed her into her bedroom. She said, “Please make up the boxes. I will load them while you take my hanger clothes to my car. Please lay them in the back seat.” I nodded and quickly taped the boxes together. She opened her closet for me. Once the boxes were made, I started carrying clothes to her car. I was coming in from the second trip when I heard a male voice in her bedroom. She was saying, “Jack, I’m packing. My company closed my location today and I have no job. I’m moving to cheaper digs while I look for work. The rent is paid through the end of the month when the lease ends. I may move in with my parents.”

“Darlin’, you could stay with Amy and me. I can figure a way for you to save on rent.”

“I’m not interested in your type of savings. I have a friend from work helping me move.”

“She would be welcome, too. I could handle three of you.”

I quietly walked into the room. “I don’t swing that way, Jack.” I put a little emphasis on his name. “Gail, what else is ready to go out?”

“I have two boxes ready. The night stands, lamps, dresser, and bed are mine.” I nodded. I lifted both boxes and carried them out to her car to go into the trunk. Back inside, I carried a night stand and lamp to my truck and returned for more.

Jack had been quiet. When I came in this time, he was saying, “Why don’t you get friendly before you leave? Your boyfriend and I could put a real smile on your face.”

“He’s not my boy friend but is a former co-worker. Todd is trying to help me move. Jack, if you’re not going to help, at least get out of the way.”

He didn’t look happy but left the room. I took the other night stand and lamp out to my truck. When I returned, Gail said, “I’m glad that didn’t result in any more confrontation than that.” She looked around. In here, there is still the dresser, mirror, and bed.”

“Keep some blankets out for cushioning when I load the truck. What else is there?”

“I have a box of pots and pans. I bought the dishes with Amy. She can have them. The coffee table and floor lamp are mine. That will be it. Not much for almost five years of working and living on my own, is it?”

I smiled gently. “It’s not bad considering costs in Atlanta and your needs. Let’s get finished.”

“Okay, Todd.” We did go into the living room. I carried the coffee table out while Gail carried the lamp. When we went back inside, she helped me take the mattress from her bed and carry it out. We came back in and we finished loading everything else. I tied everything down in the bed of the truck. We had filled her car and the cab of my truck, too. We made it but there was no extra room.

We returned to my house and stripped the spare bedroom Gail had chosen to be hers. We carried everything from it into the barn and stored it. We then unloaded my truck and set up her things in the bedroom. The coffee table and floor lamp went into the barn to be stored. I pulled the truck inside, closed the door, and returned to the house.

It had been a long afternoon. Gail said, “Let’s rest a minute. We do need to shop for food so I can start earning my keep.” We took it easy for about twenty minutes and then left for a grocery store in my car.

Once there, we went through the aisles and loaded a cart. I paid and we returned to the house. After unloading, Gail said, “When would you like to have supper?”

“I don’t care. I usually eat late because I’m on the radio in the evening. I am a member of the Georgia Single Sideband Net. It meets at seven in the evenings.”

“Where do you meet?”

I smiled. “It’s a radio net. I am in my office with the radio talking to other members. Depending upon band conditions, I might stay on for a couple of hours. With no work, I can be on in the daytime, too. It’s a good opportunity to work some DX.”

“What’s DX?”

“Sorry. That’s ham radio shorthand for distant stations. I’m working on my second hundred countries on twenty meters. Work does get in the way of radio time though it won’t for some time now since there isn’t any work.”

Gail said, “You may do what you want. Supper will be at eight. I’m going to spend some time getting my room straightened out.”

“Fine. If you need me to do something, shout.”

I went into the radio room/office and turned the radio on. Soon, I was making contacts and entering the information in my log. I checked into the Sideband Net and was listening when Gail came into the room. “Supper’s ready, Todd.”

“Thank you. I’ll be right there.” Moments later, I turned things off, washed my hands, and followed my nose to the kitchen. Things smelled good.

“This smells good. Gail, it looks like this will pay off for me quickly.”

“I hope you like it. This is one of my recipes. It’s beef stroganoff.”

“Sounds good. Smells better.”

She served it and we sat down to eat. I said, “Do you mind if I pray?”

“Not at all.”

I prayed and she echoed my amen. I dug in making happy sounds because the taste was as wonderful as the smell.

Our supper was delightful. I excused myself saying that I would pick up the dishes later. I went to the radio. I turned to forty meters and listened at a few different frequencies. I then moved to twenty meters and tuned. I found a pileup of stations trying to contact a station in Nigeria. I joined in it and was finally recognized. We exchanged signal reports. He said, “Are you good on LOTW?”

“Yes. Thank you for the contact. KA4D.”

I then tuned lower in the band but heard nothing special. Gail had followed me from the dining room. She said, “Tell me what you were doing, please.”

“Sure. While I started on the forty meter band, I soon moved to twenty meters. Hams have many different frequency areas called bands. Those bands are named by the approximate wavelength in meters. For instance, twenty meters is the rough distance a signal in that frequency area travels in one cycle of a sine wave.”