It Was Twenty Years Ago Today, Part IV

Resumes in hand - and an actual job lead clipped from the Sunday Star/Tribune (which, I didn't yet know, didn't put all of its job leads in the outstate edition), I set my date: Monday, October 14.

I had a couch or two to stay on. I had a company in the Twin Cities that was interested in talking with me when I got to town.

I had a goal!

I had nine days to kill before I could blow out of town, outside of work (which at that time was doing roofing and siding in the tiny town of Cleveland, North Dakota). But I had a little spring in my step that I hadn't had before my impulsive decision to move.

Did I mention that I had nine days to kill?

I spent part of it working on my car.

Of course, my car needed at least that long to be ready to go.

I was driving my first car at this point - a 1973 Malibu that I'd bought from my pal Rich Larson. I'd paid $125 and a case of beer for it. (Don't laugh - I think at that point North Dakota title transfer forms had space for things like beer and cattle along with money). It had been a "farm car" in Northern Minnesota (from whence Rich hailed). This was important; in the winter, Minnesota salted its roads, while North Dakota used some sort of chemical or another. As a result, fifteen year old cars in North Dakota were frequently pretty pristine, while Minnesota cars tended to get mottled with rust. The Malibu? Well, it has gotten me through a year and a half of college, and even a couple of trips to Fargo - 90 miles, no accidents or breakdowns. She ran great, but rust had eaten most of the side panels up to the two foot level. The driver's side door panel flapped in the breeze; if I got going much more than 20 miles per hour, it picked up a bit of an airfoil effect; I'm sure if I could have gotten it up to 150 it might have taken flight (and rolled me over clockwise, since the left door panel was either fine or completely rusted away; I can't remember).

But it had a 350, and it could still go plenty fast. Although the tires were bald and, not being much of a mechanic, the thing was pretty much running on faith.

I bought a couple of new used tires, changed the oil, and got 'er ready for the trip.