Chapter 13: Be It Ever So Humble

Three hours after leaving campus I was in Barstow in the middle of the Mojave Desert. At 9 PM it was still in the 90s. I was so glad my truck had an excellent air conditioner. Without it I would have been over come by the afternoon temperatures. While resting in the truck cab I was looking at an atlas trying to figure out where I wanted to go next. I thought to myself where would I would least want to spend my winters at. Didn’t take me long to come up with an answer for that question. North Dakota! A person would have to be insane or an Eskimo to winter there. So that was my next location.

I didn’t want to push it, so five days later I was pulling into Minot, North Dakota. Maybe not the cultural center of the universe but there were plenty of cowboys and US Air Force personnel about. Minot had a military base near town and I figured one of the defense contractors in the area might need a number cruncher plus there was a university here as well. Hopefully, I could find a position at both locations. I checked into a local motel for a few nights. I asked at the front desk for a nice place to get a decent meal. The desk clerk recommended the chain restaurant down the street. It was close enough that I could walk. Not knowing the local crime situation I chose to drive so I could keep a close eye on my possessions in the back of the bed. Supper turned out to be filling and reasonable. The usual chain restaurant fare.

Next morning I went to the local library and looked up some phone numbers I would need and soon was back in my motel room. I decided to use the phone to contact the local college and the local offices of the defense contractors in the area to see if there was any interest in my talents. By noon I had made 6 appointments for interviews over the next two days. If I didn’t get an offer by then I was moving on.

By the end of the second day I had four job offers. The local college, two defense contractors and one on base working directly for the Air Force doing analysis work. For three of them I would need to pass a security clearance. Which I knew meant they would contact my parents and some of my university friends. I couldn’t risk that connection so I turned down the air force related positions and went to work at the university. With my savings and the salary from the university I could live comfortably here in a relatively low key existence.

After accepting the college position I needed to find a place to live. The college didn’t have any faculty housing so that was out. I started asking around some of the administrative staff if they knew of anything close to the university that I could reasonably rent. It wasn’t long till I struck gold. A recently widowed retired staff member had an apartment over her garage that she wanted to rent out. To me it sounded OK. Even if it was a dump I could rent it til something better came along. Beggars can’t be choosers. After I pulled in at the address given I knew this was the place and my first impression didn’t let me down The house and the garage were both brick. Probably built back in the 1920s. Very solidly built and with hot water heat. That was fantastic cause it meant there would be no cold spots. Steam or hot water heat was radiate heat so the temperature would he uniform. Even the garage was heated. This was North Dakota by the way.

The widow, a Mrs Irene Jorgeson was in her 70s and needed the rent to supplement her pension which was not enough to keep things going. That was why she was eager to rent out the apartment and I was just as eager to rent it. It solved both our troubles. The apartment consisted of a living room a bed room a small kitchen and bathroom. At almost 900 Sq. Ft. It suited my needs quite well. And the best part it came furnished. I was able to move right in after I counted out the cash for the first months rent. You would have thought I cured cancer the way she reacted to the cash I handed her.

After carrying my things up the stairs, I thought about going out and finding a burger joint to grab a quick burger and then come back to unpack and crash for the night. No dice, when my landlady, Mrs. Jorgeson saw me coming down the steps walking to the truck she was out the door like a shot. I was told I was not going anywhere when I could have a perfectly good supper in her kitchen. She was very insistent. I was so glad I listened to “Grandma” as I ended up calling her to stay on her good side. I hadn’t a meal like that in years. Meat loaf, mashed potatoes and green beans from right out of the garden. She certainly was going to do her best to spoil me.

Sunday was her day, she made sure I attended church with her at The First Lutheran Church. Afterwards she tried her best to fatten me up with her Sunday noon meals. I had to really run then to keep the calories in check.

It was funny the first time she saw me come in after a run when I pulled off my sweaty shirt before heading upstairs to take a shower. I hadn’t hit the first step on the stairs until I heard exclamation of, “Oh my!” coming from her front porch. She had been sitting out there waiting for my return. I guess she was impressed with my six pack.

Classes went the same way as they did at my previous employer. Here I think the students were more concentrated on their studies. There are no distractions like beaches and surfers. The only negative I could come up with was the monthly alert drills when the whole wing of B 52s had to take off. For the next 30 min it was useless to lecture as the thunder in the sky when the planes took off caused the building to shake and the windows rattle. It was impossible to lecture over top of the B 52s.

Being near a military installation the town had its seedier parts of town that catered to the whims of the airmen. There were bars, strip clubs and brothels. As long as they kept it low key they were tolerated. Didn’t take long to know what parts of town to stay out of on a Saturday night. Cops and the military police did a pretty decent job keeping the airmen in check. Of course there were incidents from time to time but they were few and far between. And of course when the airmen and the college crowd got together there were bound to be problems. The airmen generally were lonely and were desirous of female company. The student body was close to 50 percent female. The male students were not eager to share and that would lead to some fights. More that once I had students in my class show up with black eyes or sporting bandages from where they got in a squabble about sharing with the Air Force.

Saturdays after 6 PM I made sure I was home and securely locked in until Sunday morning when I attended church with Mrs Jorgeson. No need to get myself in trouble and have an inquiry made about me back in my hometown. I definitely didn’t need that.

In late September I started to get bored and wanted something to do beside sitting around and watching the grass grow. I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood for something else to do. I had just completed three blocks when I saw the older Honda motorcycle for sale. It wasn’t a big road bike just big enough to get me from point A to point B without being a hindrance to traffic. It was an older Honda CB 360. A good durable bike for around town and exploring the surrounding rural roads. The seller only wanted $600 for it and I didn’t see any cosmetic problems. It looked like it was well maintained. The miles were low for the year so I am sure it wasn’t ridden than much. I told the seller I would write him a check for the full amount right there if he would take the time to teach me to ride. I have never ridden before and decided I wanted to learn. Besides commuting on the bike would be much cheaper than taking the truck everywhere. He agreed and I wrote the check. We walked the bike the four blocks over to the high school parking lot. For the next two hours I got a basic education on riding a motorcycle. I loved riding that bike.

So for the next two weeks all my spare time was spent reading up on motorcycle laws and studying for my state motorcycle endorsement on my license. Two weeks later I took the written and riding portions of the test. I passed them both easily. Within a couple of weeks I had the endorsement on my state license.

I bought two new helmets for the bike and the first person who got to ride the bike with me was my landlady. At first she was apprehensive and after a few miles she was really getting into it. I would be incorrect to say she was bored by riding. She was always asking, “Are we going riding this afternoon?” It was humorous, she created quite the scene when we rode up to church and both got off the motorcycle. She started tongues wagging when she wore pants to church and had come there on a motorcycle. It was purely scandalous I tell you.

Mrs. Jorgeson wanted to match me up with her grand daughter who lived in Oregon. She said we would be perfect for each other. So one day I rode home from a day of teaching at the university when there was a strange car in the drive with Oregon tags. The mysterious grand daughter was evidently here. I had just taken off my helmet when Mrs. Jorgeson and her grand daughter came out of the house. They came over and I about gagged when she came near. The grand daughter was in dire need of a bath. She was was wearing cut off bib overalls as shorts. Her legs were in need of a razor. She raised her arm so she could brush her unruly mop off of her face. Her armpits were a thicket that could have hidden all sorts of critters. Then and there I decided I wanted no part of her. I said hello and said if they would excuse me but I was going to head on up and get a shower. I felt nasty after riding home from work and mostly being near the grandaughter.

The granddaughter spent two days with her grandmother before she headed home to Oregon. I knew I would probably have hell to pay for avoiding the grand daughter. I was willing to pay it. On Sunday it rained so I drove us to church in the truck.

After church Mrs. Jorgeson looked over at me while we were driving home and said, “I am sorry I tried to fix you up with her. She has changed since she moved to Oregon, If she wasn’t my own family I would have asked her to leave as soon as she got here. Now I have to air out the house to get rid of the BO smell.” After that not another thing was said about her visit.