Marantz and Pioneer

Spring, 1984

Nick mans his spot in the living room in front of the entertainment stand at a time when no one needs to hog the TV or complain about the music.

For most folks an outdoor TV antenna is just that, a way to bring in signals when the bunny ears won't do it. Jameson sits about 50 miles from the nearest full-power TV station, with most a bit further than that.

So when the Swansons first settled into their Cape Cod, Ned went ahead and put in a 40 foot sectional tower and secured it to the side wall at the apex of the roof. Being familiar with the staff at the local electronics retailer he was able to get the longest Channel Master plus a downlead amplifier. With the rotor normally parked northward they could get the Springfield-ish market channels, or turning the other way it would bring in those from Terre Haute. Sometimes in the mornings they would get the big Chicago guns, or those drifting in from St. Loo or Indy.

At times Nick could make a day out of chasing signals, running it all over the map whenever no one else wanted to watch, and when the signals seemed to come from a particular direction. Sometimes he would get Louisville and those down down by Evansville. Sometimes he could get one from Lafayette, Indiana, and even South Bend, and sometimes up into Michigan. A few times Rockford drifted in, and the Quads, and the grand prize was a Channel 12 from Milwaukee.

At some point Ned spent a bonus on a decent Marantz receiver and Pioneer speakers. This brought a wide, selective FM tuner into the mix and opened up a whole new world with the regional drift of signals. With the antenna toward Chicago he could pick up some of the ones from Sears tower just about any time, and there were very few quiet spots. He had a notebook just for this. The first pages were things as he could ID them, then the latter were attempts to organize by city or area, which the industry would just term a DMA. Naturally Tim gives him shit for geeking out but then Tim doesn’t seem to have purpose in life so who cares.

Eventually he got a low-power stereo for his room and hooked it to the antenna. Sometimes he could just lie there and listen to B96 out of the big town, with just a bit of hiss in the background. This was the soundtrack for the confident, well dressed people who went to parties, those who lived in a fascinating world. As a bug to a flame, Nick could bask in the energy that an equally confident major market Top 40 FM gave off, they were in the middle of it all, whatever that really means, if any one really knows. His parents say that WLS was the big deal at one point but Nick can’t even imagine AM having this kind of impact, with out that crisp (albeit compressed) stereo sound.

Nick had a scale of classifying stations on the FM dial, at least those that played some kind of rock. There were the ones that seemed to appeal to a more adult type, what we'd call Adult Contemporary or Soft Rock would go in the notebook as Rock I. Then the Top 40 is Rock II, since they are more daring and sometimes whip out the hard stuff or with edgy lyrics.

At the top of the scale were a few of the Rock III that were almost purely the hard stuff. Once in a while one of those would hit his room like a storm, as if the sound could hurt you if you took in to much or played it too loud. Tim had gathered a few tapes so far of bands like Triumph and Helix, even Iron Maiden, but to Nick these were still a bit much and he'd still run out of the room when Tim would crank it just enough to get yelled at from downstairs.

That hard guitar stings like a bee with nothing to lose, and the lyrical freedom, some say she do...some say she don't...some say she will...and some say she won't...does that have to do with the stuff that older guys like to do if they can lure a female into the back of their van at night? The sound is a lot like Rick Springfield but harder, but not as heavy as Quiet Riot that everyone keeps talking about.

Late one night one of the Rock II stations whipped out a pretty hard one, chorus goes Rock You Like A Hurricane, had the fastest guitar playing he had ever heard. How is that humanly possible, is it a tape trick of sorts? (For the record, NO, not a tape trick!)

There were some good ones that got obscured from local stations, since all Jameson had was a powerful Country Lovin' on FM 94 but actually 93.9, and then the easy listening, Sounds Of The Good Life, Stereo 102. The latter was the only thing his mom approved of after the station "we" support, the Christian WJLT up in Colton, which part of the church-school where some of his classmates ended up over the years. Although, the public classical stations seemed acceptable too but no one was really interested.

Some of the guys at school would rave about what they could pick up on AM at night, Boston, Minneapolis, Toronto, New Orleans and even Spanish stations that had to be way south. Whenever Nick tried AM, even on the Marantz he would just get a buzz. It seems he would be able to mess around with his own radio upstairs and pull those in, but all he could hear was a buzz, even behind the local 1280. His dad didn't know what would cause it, but then one night, Nick was messing with an old transistor radio in the den and turned off a dimmer switch they used on a lamp, and voila, the skies opened up.

Signals would drift in, sometimes over top of each other, then one would take over, then they both fade into the distance. There's be the old-time jazzy music, with the brass going WHUH WHUH-WHUH...WHUH...WHUH...floating in and out of the ether without a care in the world.

Time for a new notebook.

All said, it's more about the journey than the destination, and to some, even when there's nothing on, the signal is a bigger deal than the content.

Colluding

 Noreen picks up after the machine answers, just before 10 on Thursday night.

"Hey you...how'd it go?"

"I'm in. Filled out the paperwork and start in about a month."

"Nick I'm so glad, we need to celebrate."

"Tomorrow night?"

"You remembered me saying that."

"Hard to think about anything else."

"We can make that happen, I can pack sammiches if you want too."

"Sammiches are awesome, I can bring pop."

"Sounds like we're colluding once again. I'll tell you how to get here, it's just about half an hour, if you leave at, 6:30 is that ok?"

"It's perfect, i'll get to see your place."

"Well from the outside, for now, I need to clean it up."

"If you say so."

"Nick I've been living alone here for years and don't get visitors much, so it needs some work."

"I can help."

"Nick."

"What?"

"I can't ask you to do that."

"Aren't we a team these days?"

"Yes we make one hell of a team, but still..."

"I've got a lot of time before the lab gig starts, so-"

"Well we can talk about it later, for now I'm geeked that you'll be at the school. I should find out any day now but I get the feeling I might get two lectures in the fall."

"That'll be awesome - OH, are you watching TNG?"

"Shit, forgot, lemme switch on."

"I was also thinking..."

"Uh oh should I ask?"

"I'd like to meet your mom."

She's quiet for a few seconds. "Nick that's very sweet, she'd love to meet you I'm sure, we'll try to do that before you start the lab gig."

"Good, I'd just feel better." He can hear her softly sobbing. "Hon I didn't mean to upset you."

"Nick I'm not...this is just so sweet. I'm not used to having someone, it's just...wonderful, thank you for being there."

"Not sure where else I'd be."

She takes a deep breath, "alright, looks like we've got Feringis tonight, great. From what I heard they were supposed to be the new Klingons but they're too damn funny."

"Yeah they drive me nuts sometimes."

"I think they're supposed to."

They watch for a while, then during a commercial Noreen gives him directions, then Nick remembers,

"Oh I've been taping some MST3k for you."

"Nick I have no intention of watching those alone, you know that don't you?"

"That could prove interesting."

They watch a bit more then say good night, Nick grabs a dictionary to figure out that cool word she used.

Dean Sue

It's raining on Thursday morning as Nick tries to find the closest spot to the building, thankfully not hard to do in the off season. He fishes a hand-me-down umbrella from beneath the Cordoba's bench seat and heads in, donned in a clean pair of jeans and presumably clean tan and blue checkered button-up short-sleeved shirt. Goody had advised him to just wear what he'd normally wear to work, the apex of professional and comfortable.

He checks in with the receptionist just as Goody walks up, they shake hands and proceed into the Dean's office where he's greeted with another handshake. Sue Richards is one of those gals who seems a lot taller than her actual stature.

"Have a seat, gentlemen, would you like some coffee?"

They both decline, Nick was already a bit wired anyway.

"Very good, well Nick, we are very glad to have you join the faculty. Will you be up to teaching five or six classes this fall while Alfred and George are on sabbatical?"

Nick just raises an eyebrow, and after a couple seconds she winks and lets him off the hook, he can see Goody chuckle towards the other wall.

"Just having some fun with you Nick, we're very glad you are interested in watching over the electronics lab."

"Good one, Dean."

"Please, call me Sue. And this meeting is really just a formality, I believe you are aware of what it entails, the responsibilities?"

"I think so, we covered that a few weeks ago and it's seemed like the right thing to do."

"Well we do as well, Nick, it's an honor to have one of our top students on board."

"Thank you, Sue, that's very kind."

"Not at all. So...just to coordinate, I believe you could start, what is it, the...third...week in July, Alfred?"

Nick grins and can't resist, mumbles, "Alfred."

Goody chimes in, "yes that's when Brian is finishing up," then turns and fires, "Nicholas."

"I can see this is gong to be a good time with you two. Nick will you be wanting to start at that time? That's fine with us, or you could start a bit later into August if that works best."

"I'll go ahead and get started at the earliest date, been looking forward to it."

"Excellent," as Sue makes some notes.

Goody chimes in, "will you be moonlighting for Emmett?"

"No...no, I'm done."

"His loss is our gain."

Sue rejoins, "Nick I believe you worked previously as a tour guide?"

"Correct."

"Very good, so the office should have some of your info on file, but could you see them on your way out and take a letter? They may ask you to re-apply, and all that. If you can stick around a bit we can get that ready for you."

"That sounds great, and I really do appreciate this opportunity."

"Well again, we appreciate you and what you've accomplished here. It seems you'll have access to the lab, and other perks like being able to audit courses for free, just work it out with Alfred. Just keep the lab and students enabled and we'll be all set."

"That fits my understanding."

"Good, and I wanted to mention, just remember that you are not here to assist students but to assist the faculty. Of course you are free to assist students if you wish but don't hesitate to explain your role, and I believe instructors mention this in class as well-"

Goody affirms.

"Perfect, so Nick if you have any questions or concerns I'm sure you know to get with Alfred, but I have an open door policy with my staff Nick, just check with the desk out there and we'll talk as soon as possible."

"Sounds great, Sue, I appreciate that."

She smiles, stands up and reaches for a handshake, "Welcome aboard, Nick."

*****

He wanders around the lab a bit, still familiar but yet so much yet to explore. The VAX and PC labs are not open today. It would be nice to have a key to those but they are maintained by the business department.

Not sure what else to do, he bugs Goody about the VAX and asks if he would still have an account.

"Yeah you'd have staff access to whatever you need or can use, just talk to Jim Gordon. I believe it has a modem too but there's only a single line and they like it to just be used for quick things, you know, to check messages or whatever."

"Cool, just kinda curious."

"If you were wanting to do some programming I believe it has C and several other languages. You can always telnet into it from anywhere on the building network too."

"Yeah we did C on there, hadn't thought of the network, never got to use it before."

"Welcome to the machine, son. By the way, are you still talking to that young lady?"

Nick turns out the door, "You know I think the office has that letter ready, better go-"

"Get outta here, see you in a few weeks and call if you need to talk about anything."

"Will do, coach, thanks."

Peolotonia

On Saturday night about half past ten, Nick is settled in with windows open, lights low, and had a full day helping Ned with some staining they finally got around to. Once again he's the good kind of tired, having bathed. The dial on the 25-watt Scott shelf receiver says 91.7 as it provides jazz at a sleeping volume.

He dials her number and it rings 3 times, then a recorded male voice, not Bart's but a different one says leave a message. Nick is usually thrown off by machines but figures he'd just take it slow and see what comes out. At the sound of the beep,

"Just me...had the jazz on and thought-"

Phone picks up, "Hey you."

"Well hello."

"Yeah I usually let that pick up, especially at night."

"Smart girl."

"If you say so."

"I know so."

"Well I'm not in the tub but I did turn on the radio, was doing some reading."

"I was on my feet most of the day, helped Dad with some woodwork he'd been promising my mom for a while."

"Well at least he's getting some use out of you for once."

"Hey you'd be surprised."

"Nick you never cease to surprise me."

"So how's our favorite jeep?"

"Believe it or not still sitting there like a lame duck, he had a big job in the shop already."

"Ahh."

"Yeah, he's been giving me shit about breaking it, told him I'll break his ass next time."

"Siblings."

"You can pick your nose but you can't pick your family."

Nick makes a snort, smacks his mouth,"Tastes like chicken."

"Alright you sicko, did you get to talk to your future employer yet?"

"Well I went against orders and checked his office, wasn't in yesterday so I'll try Monday."

"Suspense."

"Gotta have something to balance out the lazy hazy crazy days of sum-mer," with Noreen joining about halfway through the chorus there.

"I just hope it works out sweetie, I'm still excited for you."

"So I was wondering..."

"Uh oh."

"Oh relax, would you like to take a bike tour of my wonderful town?"

"Oooh, love to, but I don't have a bike."

"Well we have several, and we can mix and match parts to do whatever."

"Can I have a banana seat?"

"Only if I'm the banana."

"Hmmm."

"As for the bikes, we have a nice seat that has pads for the inner hip bones, very comfy, and my mom's old bike has one of those wide comfy seats."

"That might be the ticket - is it a speed bike with gears or the reverse-pedal to brake?"

"It's a coaster brake, no gears, I think they won it in a contest and she barely rode it."

"Sweet."

"Yeah we can adjust the height if needed then we can ride then I'll sniff your seat."

"Good lord..."

"Miss me?"

"Well I was missing you...but now I don't know."

"Could you come out in the morning when it's cooler?"

"Maybe."

*****

Noreen arrives Tuesday morning to find Nick in the garage cleaning up the old Hawthorne, chain is lubed and pedals are nice and spinny. She gets a big welcome and just as he notices her goosebumps, she says,

"Let's get going, but just one request."

"Anything."

"Can we not go past that parsonage today?"

They laugh, he promises, the bike is just right for her frame, they embark.

Although most of the commerce has grown out on the main drag, the middle of town has kept the usual mix of barber shops, a bakery, and a few other curiosities, but those will have to wait. They explore vacant school yards, play on the swings. Nick is a bit disappointed none of them have the big tiles like that campground, but doesn't feel like mentioning or explaining that.

The grain elevator is where it's always been, has a few tubs to load up, Nick had always subconsciously wondered whose money built those elevators. Farmers in ball caps roam about in pickups, as they always have. There's the stretch near the tracks with the nondescript buildings with garage doors, surrounded by high fencing to protect piles of half-rusted I-beams, weathered crates and classic cars showing more vegetation than metal. Seems someone should be welding in there but there never seems to be any activity. Rows of two-story houses with a brown exterior, people on plant-filled porches just staring or reading, a few kiddie pools with a few kiddies in and about, free of most concerns of the headlines.

No tour would be complete without a stroll past his old leaf-raking haunts, Mrs. H has moved out but they try Deke's place to no avail, seems he takes an extended trip this time of year, guess that's the perks of being somewhat retired.

They get to a city park which does have the tiles but there's too many people around. They ride along the riverside walk and stop to gaze a while, he leans on a tree and she on him.

After just over a couple hours they get back and head inside.

Irene greets, "How was it?"

Noreen pipes up first, "Well I'm not sore!"

Nick remembers the bikes are still standing in the garage and puts those away, then comes back to find them both on the couch just gabbing away.

"Hey why don't you go upstairs and play, I want to talk to your mom a bit."

Nick just looks at her. She smiles with an expectant plea. Outnumbered, he heads upstairs and flips on the PC, might as well see if anything's new with the chess club. He also flips on the Icom to see what's on the distant shortwaves, deep down he really doesn't want to hear any of the conversation downstairs, things will be a lot better the less he has to try and understand about it all.

The paper's BBS hasn't changed much since the last visit, although the chess club are holding an open night soon. Might be tempting at some point, nerds are nerds. That other private one rings busy. None of his games sound good, and the airwaves are sparse, but he finds some music from who knows where with a host speaking who knows what. He lies down.

"Hey..." Noreen perches next to him. "Oh you dozed off, I'm sorry babe."

"Must have."

"We're making sandwiches."

"Is it safe down there yet?"

"Stop it. I just remembered how hard it was on my mom, well, from what I gathered, I'm the youngest and all...but when boys get a girlfriend it can be hard on the mom. And I am a bit older and don't want her to think I'm trying to pry you away"

"Well I didn't hear anything."

One-beat kiss. "Well we didn't just talk about you. Did you know she's thought about going back into teaching?"

"Seriously?"

"You need to talk to her more, dork," then looks around, "so this is where it all happens."

"It hasn't happened here yet that I can recall."

She lowers her voice, "I'll have you know I'm not going to deflower a young man in his poor mother's house."

"Well where then?"

Noreen grabs his thigh, Nick finds some ribs and she quickly folds his arm and puts the kibosh on further escalation, "get your (lowers voice into Queen's English) blooming arse down those stairs before I give you a proper what-for, " then flies out of the room before he can chime in.

Nick goes down there, finds a sandwich, piles on some chips and fishes out a dill slice. As the gals have already started back in, he turns to head upstairs,

"Sit!" Noreen commands in her usual tone. He hesitates a second then realizes this round is a wash, then plops at the other end of the table and digs in.

Irene is beyond impressed, "Honey we need you around here more often."

After lunch Nick is back at his desk with Noreen siting next to him on an old milk crate. He's fiddling through the bands on the Icom, finds a net on the 14 MHz segment and they listen a few minutes.

"They sound like they're on helium," she observes.

"Single sideband does that, it's like AM but without the carrier, the receiver basically has to reconstruct the signal."

"Why don't they use FM?"

"The idea is to use less bandwidth down on the lower frequencies. They only use AM on certain frequencies here and there, seems to be a special interest. But for local stuff they use FM, sometimes I listen to repeaters on a scanner."

"Oh we always had a scanner growing up, I kinda miss it."

"I'll have to see what's in Paps' stuff, haven't made it through it all yet."

She allows a pause. "Is it still hard to do?"

"Yeah it's different. I have his keyer here," and points to a side-swipe paddle key with a small metal box.

"So you're named for him..."

"Oh God she told you."

"Nick remember I saw your license, I knew your middle name."

"Maybe some other time you can help me go through the other boxes."

"It's a date."

She looks around and locates a guitar case, "what have we here."

"Yeah that's gotta be majorly out of tune."

Pretty soon she's strumming and trying to find at least one true pitch to go on. "Will she mind if I use the piano for this?"

"I always did."

Nick turns back to the PC and hears her plinking and picking through the lower strings, he decides to try some pinball. Before he knows it she's back through the door and situating on his bed.

"You'll make my pillow smell nice tonight."

"Shut up or I'll fart on it. Have you ever played a classical? They have those thick necks like a boat oar."

"Nope, just some electrics over at Duggard's and a couple pawn shops, shared that one with my brother."

Noreen strums a familiar tune, and after she kicks in with the arpeggio he blurts, "Oh, Yes...from Fragile I think, the instrumental by Steve Howe."

"Mmm hmmm, got this stuck in my head as a kid then bugged people to teach me."

"Not bad, for a fiddle player."

She pauses strumming and glares. "Show me what you got, hot shot," and hands it to him.

Nick heads to the woodshed for some 12-bar, then fumbles through Mary Had a Little Lamb on the low frets, a F-G bar-chord vamp with some pinky-notes that make it sound kinda jazzy, and then the riff from the Bangle's treatment of Hazy Shade of Winter.

"Don't quit your day job," as she reaches for the instrument.

She goes back to playing and him to his pinball. Eventually she sets it back into the case and takes her hair clip loose to re-secure things. He watches her do this and she sticks her tongue out.

"Can I try that game?"

He tries to get her to sit on his lap but she flushes a tad and makes him move, "you know what that gets us." In about three rounds she blows away his highest score.

"Lady luck."

"I ain't no lady."

"You're my lady."

This wins her over to putting her legs on his. "Nick I'm really glad we got to do all this today, thanks for asking me."

"Yeah it was nice."

She leans on an elbow, smiles that way she does and goes into thought mode.

"What's going on in that little blond head?"

"Um...there's a drive in about 15 minutes from where I live."

"Is that so. What's playing."

"They do some kind of matinee on Friday nights, if you're interested."

"When do I pick you up?"

She leans on him and they just sit there a while, to the tune of the music from who-knows-where.

Coffee Machine Coffee

Monday, January 21, 1991

Nick sits in a section of the wide hallways in the Tech building, in the rear part near the mechanical equipment labs such as hydraulics, testing, machining, and things he hasn’t needed to see. This is known as the smokers' lounge being one of the few indoor spots on campus designated to allow it, such as the snack bar beneath Gelding hall and he's noticed that some of the mech labs allow smoking as well, by default, given the open, ventilated space.

No lines or anything demarcate the smokers' lounge, it's evidently an honor system. Maybe you have to be within normal conversation distance of the chairs. That works.

There's one other occupant a few chairs away quietly reading a paper that someone left, no telling how old it is. Cork boards with announcements that Nick hardly reads are along the wall that heads to the front door, about 200 feet away. From this corner he can see the heart of the engineering technology labs, as his EET labs are to his left down the shorter hall toward another side corridor.

There's a snack machine and one of those Servomation hot beverage deals, the coffee had always smelled good so he gets a cup, it's 5:45 PM and he'll be around till almost 9. One of the required labs meets once per week for 4 hours and it's self-paced, so one is free to take a break whenever it seems best.

After a full quarter under the belt he's gotten a good taste of world life. Many of the folks in his GS classes are close to finishing up their degree, some working on two degrees. Seems it's about 4:1 non-traditional students, those who had been 10, 15, 20 or more years in a career and starting over, or else laid off from one of the nearby factories and getting incentives to pursue here.

This is when you realize all the things that adults never told you before. Most of the women talk about their families and come across as motherly or sisterly, at least to a young green fellow. Others make it clear they would be a sure thing, tell of their exploits with male 'friends', how some of the reciprocating machine tools remind them of a porn pic someone had brought in to work with the same model machine rigged with a phallus.

To a high degree, the men are worldly and inspiring, in a lab situation they make one believe we can solve any technical problem that comes along. Quick with a joke and have been around, been there, albeit, sometimes offering advice no one asks for. Then there are some that look like they crawled out from beneath a rock or wondered out of the hills and can't find their way back.

Is this is what it's really like at Dad's plant? Some of them had worked there.

One of the non-trads had come to tech writing class in a suit, been interviewing but not finding much success, surprising to Nick since Dwight seemed like the cream of the crop: seasoned, confident, hard working, dependable; the affable yet capable everyman with qualities that seem unattainable. It's tempting to think that this is the way it will be: cold weather, cold world, few opportunities.

Nick is thankful for the ones that are about his own age, since he was an oddity in his high school it's refreshing to be funneled in with those more like-minded, granted, a lot of them have a more rural and farming background.

So he sits at the apex, leaning back, the halls converging at each end, one where he entered, one where he'll be for a while, then eventually, somewhere where the long hall's lines finally intersect, he'll start whatever. Wherever.

This is not some prestigious back-east institution whose importance never made sense to Nick. A school is a school. People are realizing their fulfillment here, some bound for leadership or other high-functioning occupations, at a school founded in the latter 20th century as the result of legislative action.

Yet the halls are timeless. Names and dates on the corkboard change, the walls go on.

The stories these walls could tell. They go on.

At unseen hours there must be crews that sweep these floors. They go on.

The perpetual fluorescent lighting which seems purposefully too dim for much reading, and sometimes you'll see folks nodding off through here, Nick has never seen those shut off, and he hates that this has to share image space with Orwell's Minitrue.  

Nevertheless, It goes on.

The stories told in and around these chairs, god how they go on. And on.

At work this past weekend, an affable fellow, Lucas, who's engaged to one of Nick's coworkers said he'd heard they were enlisting the draft, which he had half-believed. During a half-hour mid shift lunch Nick walked to Taco Bell, then while venturing through a quiet parking lot through a light snow had visions of riding in a transport truck with other GIs. It has the allure of adventure, to a point, but not the life for him. They hadn't even deployed Tim's unit yet, and was almost sure they don't conscript all siblings.

This didn't stick in his mind long, especially after the positive press over the weekend, SCUDS v. Patriots, seems there always has to be conflict in the world. It goes on.

The small cup of coffee has gone from sips to gulps to empty. Time to empty the bladder and get back to wire wrapping. Thankfully, for now, it goes on.

Daytrip V

The phone rings before either of them are close to awakening. Noreen picks up in the middle of the third ring.

"Hello...well it's about time...yeah it's the motel right off 258....right, on the main drag...lemme make sure..."

She puts down the receiver and hops over to look out the window. Nick is barely awake and still facing the wall.

"Yeah plenty of room to load up, we pushed it, easily, yesterday, from across the lot....OK, we'll be ready and then check out when you get here, we might - huh? Yeah, and we might run and get something to eat or whatever, if I can wake his butt up-"

"I'm awake," Nick groans.

"Well howbout that, OK, you know the way...alright, byes."

"Yayyyyy. What time is it?"

"Crap, yeah that might be helpful to know." She rummages through her purse and finds a watch, "looks like it's somewhere around 20 after 6. We better be ready to roll just after 7:30.

"Sounds about right. Coffee sounds about right. Is it daylight yet? If we take a walk I'll get a little hungry, unless we'll stop on the way."

"Yeah it's light enough to hoof it soon, lemme get ready then we can go whenever."

She disappears into the bathroom and Nick dozes off again, to awaken to feel her towel get whisked off the bed.

"OK I'm up."

"No hurry there."

"Well no use holding up the show, early to bed early to rise and all that."

Nick gathers up his things into his bag, including what's left of the shampoo for some reason, goes ahead and brushes the teeth. "I think that's everything, so we can grab n go."

This time she whips around and points a warning finger.

"What?" he asks knowingly, and gets a two-beat morning kiss.

"Ready for a stroll to get the blood pumping? We can always doze off along the way, Bart's not a big time yapper."

She's back in her suit, tank top and shorts, plus her watch, and keeps track of the hotel key again after they lock up. It's shaping up to be another nice morning, fewer clouds than yesterday.

They continue hand in hand and decide to try the little bakery behind the row, surely they are about open by now.

"You know..." Noreen purrs.

"Yes dear?"

"Well...when you were asleep earlier I got dressed out in the open."

"Damn."

"I know I promised but...it just was different to get to do that with someone in the room."

"Glad I could help. Do you know how to grunt or whistle?"

"You just put your lips together, and -"

Nick pulls her about and plants a good one on there, akin to the way they put the punctuation on graduation day nearly a week ago. They embrace for a good while in front of a vacant storefront while a couple early risers drive by in their own universe. After a quick squeeze they are back on their way. He finds his hand on her opposite hip and she doesn't bother to move it.

"I kept expecting someone to tell us to get a room."

She punches his ribs, "Ba-dum crassshh. I have to ask..."

"Anything."

"How sure are you, about us."

"Sure enough to know I'll call you before long."

They walk on a little bit before she replies. "The crazy thing is, we're, what, six years apart and both late bloomers, if you don't mind me saying."

"That's fair. Anyone else saying that I might mind, but I think you nailed it."

"Um, and if you don't mind, you last had someone in your life, what, a year or two ago?"

"Sheesh, yeah, that was when I started on campus. She worked at the snack bar, where we talked, but ended up quitting and I think she moved over to Indiana, family stuff. It wouldn't have really worked but, you know."

"What was she like?"

"Well, quite beautiful, she had asked me to help out with some things at her house and we ended up watching a movie I rented. It got pretty...interesting, then we talked about it later, but then I couldn't get a hold of her for a while, then things got busy with classes and I wasn't going to ask about her where she had worked, she just wasn't there anymore."

"Was she your first?

"In some ways yeah, we had that one night, and she was older - and I mean, slightly older than my parents."

"Wow, Nick..."

"Well I never really had much interest in girls at school, we didn't have much to talk about, and Rosie and I just clicked."

"Did it hurt?"

"It was confusing, when it just faded out like that, but then it became clear that things would have gotten, you know, weird or awkward, maybe she knew that too and didn't know how to say it."

"Well she was lucky."

"I'm lucky now."

They walk on and find the bakery already open and serving, coffee smells great, they get a bag full of fresh goodies and head to a bench to consume.

He asks, "Who was your last interest?"

"Nick it was probably a guy I met through my freelance writing gigs, he would call me once in a while but I could never tell what he wanted. I'm not sure if he even knew, we would talk about going out then he'd never ask, and I wasn't going to. He didn't really stir anything in me, so I eventually just stopped answering and returning his calls, and that was that."

"I could have been that guy, to someone else."

"Now it just feels like I'm in a whole new season, a renaissance, professionally and otherwise. Nick you know I don't have expectations for us, just hopes, and I don't know what shape or form, just...just know I look forward to more."

"More will hit the spot."

They gaze for a while, Nick caresses her hair, then he stands and takes her hand, they start back.

The walk lasts just as long as their coffee, then MST3k is somehow back on the TV again, She has the curtain pulled back. Nick calls home like a good son, then before long a red full-ton pickup rumbles in towing a two-wheel hauler. "Our chariot awaits."

They grab their stuff and head to the truck and Noreen throws it onto the truck's passenger floor. Bart introduces himself to Nick with a firm handshake, he's a tall, tan, boisterous king of the backwoods with a hard-working build.

"You boys get that thing ready and I'll go settle the room."

"Don't worry, dude, she's always this bossy."

Before long they are pulling out of the lot, windows down, Bart holding a lit Swisher Sweet between two left fingers, never minded the smell of those, but Noreen insists on opening the back pane to keep clear of it. She doesn't hesitate to put her legs on his and sit facing the window and they settle in.

"So did you two kids just talk last night?"

"No we got down with whips, chains and Great Danes."

"Hey you're too young for that shit."

A couple intersections along, Bart tries again, "So Nick, see that rig there holding up those stop lights, how it stretches out over two lanes?"

"I reckon I do."

"So, uh, if you were to drop your breeches how would things compare to all that?"

"Well, maybe in colder weather..."

That's as far as he gets before Bart explodes into a fit of coughing guffaws and eye rubbing and the whole bit. "Son you're all right and sis you're all set to go with this'n, Lord, almighty."

Somewhere in all that Noreen just shakes her head and pleads not to encourage him.

From here they pick up to highway speed, Bart asks, "Did you guys hit all that construction yesterday? Hell of a mess."

Noreen answers, "No, nothing, they must have just started."

"Oh Nick, you should have seen this critter back in high school, with the lime green hair, wanted to be a Talking Head."

Noreen: "So I idolized Tina back then, even got a bass for Christmas that year but Mom couldn't stand it, even on low, just set her off so I put it away."

Nick: "Are there any pictures?"

Noreen: "What? You say you wanna walk home?"

Nick licks her nose.

Gradually things quiet down save for the low big-block rumble and rush of the wind. Nick is just about to doze off again when she whispers,

"Do you have any idea what I was thinking about last night."

"English accents?"

"It has nothing to do with the English language...more body language..."

"You may have to teach me that language."

"I think you have already taught me more than I can teach you, but I'm willing to try...I'll try anything, give you anything..."

"Noreen you know I'm just glad to be here with you."

"I know you are, but...(sighs)...we've proven we can behave and respect each other's space, and when a man can do that, you have absolutely no idea...the effect that has on me..."

"Well, it seems neither of us are in a hurry, I hope I'm not holding you back-"

"Nick...(kisses his cheek)...Nick you've treated me with immeasurable respect, you know when to say things, when to listen, and...you just...sometimes a girl runs out of words, and then...."

"Body language..."

"So do you have any idea...Nick until we met three years ago I had thought I had dried up...do you know what i mean?"

"Interest?"

"Think what you were playing with in the water yesterday...."

"Oh..."

"Yeah that...back then I had just started feeling tingly here and there, but I didn't have anyone in mind, then I saw you that night, you did what you did and it hit like a tidal wave..."

"Well, I remember...if I can say it..."

"Say it...."

"I remember it sounded sloshy down there, when you were, you know..."

"Nick it was a freaking mess down there, sloppy, slippery, slidey..."

"Wet banana."

"Oh I'd get your banana wet alright."

"I'm still not used to the idea that girls...women really like that kind of thing."

"Nick if it's the right guy then we want it ten times, a hundred or thousand times more..."

"That's not fair."

She muses, "you're sweet for saying that but fair or not, I could really put you through the paces if you don't watch out, those boxers, I wanted to reach in there and get it ready and jump on and ride, just ride, and bounce and ride into the sunset."

"Ride 'im cowgirl, but I wouldn't have lasted long."

"Then I'd ride your face."

"That would work."

"Nick you would drown under there, god...have you ever seen an orange juicer, the kind where you push the orange onto it over a glass..."

"I'd love to be your juicer."

"Oh I could grind on you for hours, we'd stick to everything, just remember if you get too close it might squirt you in the eye."

"I have an eye that might squirt back."

"Your eye can squirt anywhere, inside me, outside me, I'll take you in my mouth and then have something of yours to keep."

"There's lots of cream in the filled stick."

"Mmm I want your cream. I could have jumped in the shower with you last night, sucked all the cream out of your stick, or maybe, I'd drop the soap and pick it up for you, let you do what you want..."

By now she's fidgeting with his shirt, he presses on, "I love your cupcakes, with the candy on top, seems nice and chewy."

"I want your cream all over my cupcakes, chew on the candies, squeeze my cupcakes, give 'em everything you-"

Bart fires up, "HAND CHECK!"

Nick raises up his hands, Noreen just holds up a middle finger. She readjusts to get her mouth closer to his cheek.

"Where were we...oh, yeah...your beard is always just right, I'd let you rub it all over me."

"I'll rub it in your beard, down in the promised land."

"What else you gonna do in the promised land."

"I hear there's some great pie there."

"Honey I got all the pie you'll ever want, fresh and tangy."

"Like a grapefruit, might get a squirt if I'm not careful."

"I'll squirt in your mouth if you're not careful."

"Fair is fair, you can squirt anywhere anytime."

"You have no idea how bad I want you inside me, right now, if we were alone, you'd be all mine, I'd melt all over you."

"I'd eat your cupcakes and pie first, I'd eat you all over, even around back."

"You can have around back whenever you like, but you know what I really want."

"I really want you to squirt for me."

Right about then they hit a series of bumps and the truck slows down, Nick opens his eyes to see the construction crews ahead. The flagger is waiving them through, more bumps, more bumps, Noreen gasps and he things he felt something against his left leg, like a twitch, and it had gotten pretty warm down there. After a couple miles they clear the work area and she's sound asleep, Nick tries to settle in place despite the dire need to readjust his hardware.

After a couple short dozes, Bart asks, "Are we dropping Nick at the schoolyard?"

Noreen stirs and clears her throat, "Yes."

They take a turn toward familiar skies.

She gradually stretches and comes alive, and Nick realizes he's picking up a slightly sour, earthy aroma he hadn't known for over three years, almost too subtle to detect.

A bit too soon they are pulling up next to the Cordoba, Bart motions, "Does it rock?"

"Not bad for a 318 but needs love."

"Bring it our way sometime we'll see what's what."

Nick grabs his things and exchanges a up and down hi-five with the driver, "Catcha down tha road."

"Later days."

Nick forgoes the better lays part given the circumstances. He and Noreen step out next to the truck. "Did you get your keys," she motions to the poor jeep.

"Yeah all set. You look tired."

"Just very....relaxed."

They hold a gaze, she says, "You go home and tell your mother that you were the perfect gentleman, and-"

HOONNNNNNNNNK

Noreen turns to the open door, "FUCK OFF!"

She closes her eyes and draws breath with the look of about to murder a fool, then pulls it together,

"Nick you were beyond my wildest dreams, seriously, tell your mom I said that, you are wonderful and she should be proud."

"I will. Do you have a lot to do today?"

"Just get home and try to salvage these shorts," as she subtly brings his left hand to meet with the promised land, which feels like an oven-fresh buttery roll. She raises an eyebrow coyly.

Nick's eyes get huge once he puts it all together.

She grabs a two-beat smooch. "Do like I told ya," then smacks his ass, hops into the truck, slaps the dashboard, "Home, Jeeves," as she pulls the door shut.

He just steps back and watches as the truck goes into gear, she turns his way with a commanding look, points at the car, at him, then the road.

As they drive off he gets into his car, well rested, feeling more human than ever, starts it up, fastens his seatbelt, thinks a minute, takes a long whiff of his hand, then drives over to the other lot to see if Goody is around.

Daytrip IV

 Nick dials home after Noreen checks in with her sister-in-law.

"Hi...yeah...turns out her brother is at a drag race and won't get home till later. Yeah Noreen figures he'll come to rescue the jeep and we get to ride along...yeah, we checked in and then walked to a KMart...oh about, less than a mile, got some toiletries and then grabbed something to eat...yes I'm minding my manners and no I haven't been making body noises, sheesh. She's just over there reading one of those auto trader things they had at the desk...oh, yeah, says she's gonna find a jeep that runs..."

Noreen just shakes her head and tries not to laugh.

"She's geeked that we get to watch Start Trek later...yes she knows I'm the bigger geek, alright... do you want the number? OK lemme see..."

Nick hangs up, "Think I'll hit the shower."

"Don't drop the soap," then watches her turn away and cover her mouth.

He enters the bathroom to find she had hung up her swimsuit on the hook that came with her mermaid T shirt, and he can't look away from it, until he realizes it's been a long-ass day, he's the good kind of tired, takes a long soak and uses half of the remaining half of the little shampoo bottle.

After drying off he has to ask her to fetch the boxers, she tosses them so they land about three feet from the door. He uses his towel to reel them in, then emerges wearing those plus his T-shirt. "You make one hell of a roommate you know that?"

She finally explodes laughing, to the point of tears and buries her face under an arm.

He spreads out his beach towel on the further bed and fires up the ol' tube, finally settling on reliable NBC Thursday Night Musty TV, deep in the throes of summer reruns. They had been running the wall AC on low and he asks if they still need the noise, she says try it off for a while, so far so good, might be OK with the sun going down. 

Nick just closes his eyes and lets the TV become noise of familiar cadence, the day is now its own rerun, he feels like he's known her all his life, or at least for every day of the past three and a half years, same span as the tribulation preachers preach about. He thinks he dozes off a couple times. He looks over and she had found a handout in the motel office that had a blank back page, she seems to be drawing and in her own world. Good for her.

He hears the Cheers cold opening and repositions to give it a college try, hadn't seen many of these. In the early years the Diane character drove him nuts most of the time, now he is starting to understand why, having a similar caliber of babe on the next bed, she just gets under your skin in all the right ways, keeps you guessing, and when you untie one knot you find another inside it and you can't wait to start all over again. 

Thinking out loud, he says, "I wish we'd grabbed candy bars or something."

"I think there's a machine close by, I'll go with."

Between his loose change from the day and cajoling a dollar bill they each got a Snickers.

"What are you drawing?"

It's the face of a rugged looking man, white and eastern, maybe Siberia. Thick brows and mustache. 

"Boy he'd kick your ass soon as look at ya. Is that Big Brother?"

She looks up at him, "No more than I'm Julia."

He picks her up and jostles her around, they embrace, she says, "Did your mom sound OK with all this?"

"Yeah she was having fun with it."

"You know, with you out of the house there's no telling what they'll be up to..."

Nick winces, "Please-"

"Maybe even in your bed."

He reaches for his forehead.

"OK I'm gonna get sleep ready before TNG."

He pinches her bum, "Make it so."

Nick throws away his Snickers wrapper and takes a drink of water since he'd already brushed, good thing for those wrapped plastic cups they leave in here. He secretly hopes the tap water doesn’t come from the lake.

He plops back down as she emerges from the bathroom and kills her light. He's hesitant to look. All of a sudden she's standing next to his bed with her towel, "Scooch."

"What are you doing?"

"We're gonna watch Star Trek, right?"

He just looks at her for a second, then gets up to move his towel. After they get situated he realizes he can no longer bend to see the screen, gets up and grabs a pillow from the other bed, then lies straight. 

She must have thought this a good idea and follows suit. Night Court is finishing up, never one of his favorites but, hey, Markie Post. It seems these last seasons have gotten a lot better than when he was in high school, some of those were embarrassing to watch with the 'rents.

When he reaches for the remote to switch channels she grabs his left arm and puts it beneath her head so she can put her back against him and see the screen. 

The cold open starts, she says, "Ahh, the Crystalline Entity." Nick had remembered one of the early ones dealing with it. About three commercials in he hears her doze off. His arm is thankfully not falling asleep too but he's not used to this, kinda needs to move it a tad, but this is not the time.

Eventually she stirs and flips around, head on his shoulder. Funny how if she were across the room he'd have a hard time not ogling, but this somehow takes the view of her legs, and the bralessness, not to mention soft buttocks beneath the long mermaid shirt out of the equation, it makes her a someone again. 

About the time that the visiting scientist completes her plot to destroy the entity, she lifts her head up, looks at the screen, "Sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep."

"That's usually the best sleep you'll get."

"I know, but -"

"Noreen, this is as good as good as I've ever had it."

She just looks at him, plants a kiss, holds a gaze, then finally, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Is it OK if I call you babe?"

"Um, yeah. I guess I let it slip a couple times today."

"Thank you." She then touches his face, then snuggles back onto his shoulder. 

TNG wraps up, bum-bum-bum-bum. "Well it's pretty much reruns or bad news at this point. I'm ready to call it a night if you are."

"Turn it off if you want." So he does, and she repositions so she's just holding his left arm.

"Noreen."

"Yes."

"Did you ever intend to sleep in the other bed?"

"Go to sleep."

He drifts off fairly quickly, then awakens, has to pee already, does that, back down in his spot and lies facing the back wall this time. This is still strange in a way, but good company has it's way of transcending just about anything. He drifts off again.

"BANG BANG BANG" on the door. They both jump up, she whispers, "shit." 

Another round of bangs. She gets up and a few seconds later the bathroom light comes on. She fiddles for her knife, and Nick unplugs a lamp and stands with it in front of the bathroom door, his heart pounding in his throat. 

Next there's an unintelligible voice from behind the door, then a cough. 

Noreen whispers, "some goddamn drunk."

Nick rolls his eyes. The sound of dragging steps, more slurred speech. After a couple of quiet, seemingly endless minutes a car pulls up, then a clear voice, "Hi there Charlie, made it this far tonight did we?"

Another voice, "get him over here in case he has to yack."

"God I hope he doesn't yack," Nick says to her as they stand down the alert. 

She uses the bathroom as he goes back to his original position, this time with pillows surrounding his head.

He faintly hears a flush, then shortly thereafter, "You OK?"

"Yeah, that was a bit much though."

She pecks his cheek, spoons in behind him and rubs his forehead and part of a temple. Once his breathing slows down she rests her hand on his head and they drift off. 

Nick awakens at one point with an understandable log in his boxers, but it's mostly just that time of the night, plus the fact that he had an accompanied discharge yesterday, almost as intense as their original encounter, and it seems lucky boy always expects an encore at a certain point thereafter. 

He can think of voices he's heard, asking why you don't just go for the gold. After a few distraught minutes he concludes, shut the hell up, this is the gold.

She's sleeping soundly and he finds that reassuring, soothing. After the hydraulic situation calms down Nick has he best sleep he's had since the month-long holiday break before last Christmas.