Chapter 12: A Fresh Start and A New Beginning

A week after I had completed my masters program and had graduated, I received a call from Ginny B’s dad. I had no idea how he got my phone number and was going to ask him when I next saw him. He was going to be in the area and wanted to have lunch with me. He chose a nice place near the Interstate and said lunch would be on him. He also added not to worry as it would be just him. At the agreed upon time I walked into the restaurant and saw him sitting at a table by himself. He saw me and waved me over. After sitting down a waitress brought me a menu to choose lunch from. I went simple and ordered a club sandwich and chips with a soft drink. Waiting on our food to arrive we made the usual small talk, the weather, what we had been up to etc.

After the food arrived was when the conversation turned more serious. “So what are you planning on doing now since you completed your masters program? I mean let us be serious here, you are going to enter the work force for the first time. What are your plans?”

I knew he meant well but the last thing I wanted was for Ginny B to learn where I heading off to. So I did what anyone else in my position would do. I lied, I lied my ass off. I told him I had some offers at doing research and teaching up in the Boston area. Of course that was completely bogus but I didn’t want it getting back to his daughter where I may end up. Then he did drop a bombshell.

“You know my wife and your mother have formed a friendship. They talk on a regular basis”.

So that is how he got my phone number! Mom was the source. I wonder what else she shared with the enemy. So when I am found dead in a ditch somewhere, who to blame? No one else but dear old well meaning mom. So if Ginny’s parents knew then Ginny knew. This was not good.

No I didn’t know and this put me in a very bad position. If it told him Boston and tell my mother Seattle things would not be good for me with my parents. The one thing they would not tolerate was a liar and I was on the way of becoming one. This was not good, not good at all. I quickly added, “If things don’t work out in Boston I am open to other opportunities elsewhere.” Talk about tiptoeing through a minefield. He wished me luck.

Then he let me know he was resigning as college president where he had been for the last twenty years. He felt it was time to enjoy life and that he and his wife planned on buying a diesel pusher RV and seeing the country. His retirement date was set for the end of the month.

I then asked the twenty four million dollar question. “What about Ginny B?” I asked. “What are her plans once she graduates?”

“That is all up to Ginny B”, he responded. “For twenty two years her mother and I have been her support. Now it is time for her to stand on her own two legs. She will either sink or swim on her own. I know it sounds callous but she needs to make decisions for herself and be held accountable for her actions. God knows she hasn’t had to up to now. Her mother and I coddled her, her whole life and it is coming back to haunt us all now.”

“Have you told her this yet?, I asked. “She doesn’t do well handling things out of her comfort zone. We both know that.”

“That was part of the reason I wanted to speak with you” he answered. “I wanted to check to see if there was even a remote chance of you and her getting back together. She needs a stabilizing force in her life. And I can’t think of a more solid rock than you. Without you being in her life she will flounder.”

“Thanks for the compliment,” I said seriously. “But there is not a snow ball’s chance in hell that I am letting her back in to my life. I know she is your daughter but she is oil to my water. We don’t mix and there is no reason to try that experiment again. It is a proven fact of nature.”

With that our lunch meeting was completed and he paid the tab and I left the tip. We each wished each other well and parted going our own way.

With her parents retiring and traveling in a diesel pusher and in touch with my parents hastened my decision to pack up and head for the hills. I wasn’t completely honest with my parents and lying by omission I rented a moving truck and a trailer for my car and headed out as soon as I could. So I wouldn’t be lying I called them the night before I left I was heading out for the east in the morning and I would get back with them in a couple of days on the road. I could hear the tears my mother was shedding over the phone as she and dad wished me luck on my new start in life.

Promptly at 4 AM, I woke up and prepared to leave on my journey. That last night I slept on the floor of my old apartment in my sleeping bag. I pushed myself and was out the door for the last time just before 5 AM. I locked the door and put the keys in the mailbox as instructed by the landlord. Hopefully I would get my security deposit back.

Driving a rental truck hauling all your personal possessions and towing a trailer behind loaded with a car was not for the feint of heart. I think it took over two hours till I felt secure in my driving abilities and not worrying about dumping everything all over the interstate. An hour into my journey I came to the interstate I would take south so I could meet up with the interstate I planned on taking west to the Pacific Coast. I didn’t lie I did head east for part of my journey. Just before jumping on the interstate to head south I stopped at a McDonald’s and had a big breakfast. May not have been the best thing for me, but it was cheap and filling. Figured I was stop later and get something better to eat when I stopped for gas. Getting in and out of the McDonald’s parking lot was tricky but I did it without hitting anything or anyone. Once on the interstate I set the cruise control, steered and watched the scenery pass by. I did this for the next five days until I hit the coast. At night I would stop at the rest stops along the interstate and curl up on the truck’s bench seat. It wasn’t the most comfortable but it was the right price. Free!

When I arrived at my destination, I called my contact there and they met me at the parking lot they said to meet at. I apologized for my appearance but they totally understood and they were glad I had decided to take the position they had offered to me earlier that spring when they interviewed me on campus. I had agreed to an instructor’s position at a small west coast liberal arts college. There I would teach an entry level computer class and statistical analysis for the social sciences. Since I had a working knowledge of SPSS it was an ideal position for me. Along with a decent salary I was entitled to an apartment in the faculty court on campus. The only thing I would be responsible for would be my utilities and my living expenses. I could even eat at the college’s cafeteria at a reduced fee. For a first time job I had won the lottery. I got a decent salary, a nice apartment that I could walk to and from work, cheap food and a twenty minute drive to the beach. How could one beat that?

It took me a week to get settled in. First I had to unload the truck and carry everything into the apartment. I found a fraternity house not far from the faculty apartment complex and went over to talk to the guys I saw loafing out in front of their fraternity house. I negotiated with them about coming over and help carry the boxes of stuff and the furniture in the rental truck up the stairs and into the apartment. The final cost to me was four cases of beer and three extra large pizzas. In a little over two hours the truck was empty and everything carried in to my apartment. The frat guys were alright and they invited me over some night to watch baseball with them. We became fast friends. When it came time to turn in the truck and trailer I had one of them I trusted to follow me to the rental place in my car. I knew soon I would be an honorary member if this kept up.

The next morning after sleeping in my own bed for the first time in over a week. I got cleaned up, put on decent clothes and walked over to the sciences building to introduce myself to the other faculty in the department I would be working out of. Since I was teaching statistics and entry level computer courses I was assigned to the mathematics department. It must be a universal truth my colleagues in the math department were as humorous as a room full of morticians. It was the same at the university where I received my Masters from. I was given a key to an unused office that needed a serious airing out to get rid of the musty mold smell. They had building maintenance to come in and give it a good once over before I moved my things into it.

Two days later we had our first faculty meeting for the year and it was as exciting as watching concrete cure. All total there were five instructors and 2 office assistants. I swear the office assistant assigned to me dated Euclid in her youth. She was ancient but she did her job well and she was kind and respectful to me, the new kid on the block. So that was how I started my first year as an instructor of computer science and statistics.

My first day in class was interesting. I had a total of 40 students. The class roll said 38 guys and two women. Eight AM looking over the faces of the students I was hard pressed to ID the female students. They did a bang up job on doing the unisex look. When the bell sounded for my Nine AM class no one moved it was the same students for that class too. I could tell this was going to be a wonderful semester. After going over the syllabus I asked if there was any questions. No hands showed so I dismissed them early and said I would see them for our next class session. I went back to my office and started unboxing my books and looking over the paperwork the administration had sent over for me to fill out and sign. Mostly had to do with HR things. And there was a 2 page handout as to what was a proper student instructor interaction. It looked like I wouldn’t be going to the frat house of my friends much. At least not if I wanted to keep this job.

At lunch I went to the faculty dining room to eat. I learned there was no need to show cash. Any meals I partook of would be debited from my paycheck. Sounded like a decent way of doing things. The food I could select from looked like your typical college cafeteria fare. Edible but not gourmet. After I made my selections I went to the table to sit down and introduce myself to my fellow faculty. Being a junior member of the club I was accepted and tolerated but that was about all. Being the youngest one there I would have probably fared better if I had chosen to eat in the other dining room with the students.

I stayed in my office until mid afternoon in case I had any students that wanted to add or drop my classes. I felt like the Maytag Man, the loneliest guy in town. At three PM I had enough and left my office for the day. I walked backed to my apartment and decided I needed to go running to clear my head and keep in shape. This was the west coast by gosh, no fatties here. I changed into my running gear. Out in front I stretched and then took off at a moderate pace through campus. I guess I hadn’t put on too much weight cause I got a lot of admiring looks. Another boost for my ego.