February 1, 2008

Scanning +



Your tow truck driver on Halloween, 1993.


The day remains behind the drawn shades as I push to get the old journal volumes scanned. Sometimes the scanner moved things to tif instead of jpg, and I know I have to rescan that last batch of things into the computer.

As I flip the dusty pages, I relive the moments. His painting business, which was dependant on apartments, came to a halt when there were no apartments to rent. He laid off all his crews. We were both hit hard by the recession. No one was buying collectables either. We had three stores, and slowly we closed them one by one. He went out looking for a job…in any field as a manager. No one was hiring. I intensified my art work, changing the content and price to fit the times. No more abstractions…now I did genre drawings. The sketches of the neighborhood in a price you could afford grew to posters of the neighborhood.

He kept being turned down for jobs of any sort. He’d been a manager for a national paper company, and a much promoted regional manager for a worldwide printing press maker. Now the only job he could find was as a 28 dollar a day tow truck driver. Commission only. Nights. You couldn’t get any lower.





Pretty soon he was supervising again. After gaining his class A license, he was promoted into the big trucks and given the oldest truck in the fleet as a take home truck. Old two ton Bertha had a unique rake to pick up any size vehicle, and was blessed with a cab much larger than those on modern trucks. Often he would tow things he shouldn’t have because of Bertha’s capabilities. Once, he spiffed her all up and entered her in a tow truck beauty contest where she won first place in the working tow truck category. We had a good laugh over that one for she must have been the oldest applicant plus the one with the most mileage.

With a pith helmet painted with flames to match the trucks, he was gone from six in the morning to sometime in the evening. Then, as he was on call 24 hours a day, he would often be called out again after a quick bite to eat and gone again until midnight. Bribed by one of the bosses who said I could draw on the job, I took a job running one of the tow lots just so I could see what he looked like. Pretty soon, I was running all the lots and he picked me up after my lot was closed. They gave me permission to ride along, and finally I got to see what he looked like every day. Both of us became adrenaline junkies loving the excitement of the wrecks and drama of the unexpected and impounds. He wouldn’t do repo’s unless they called for the five ton. Repoing a single wide was a never dull or boring experience.





Saturday: leave early to go to Maria's house and take her the new Office 2007. Shopping and lunch too. We will be home late. Probably no entry. Have a great day all.

Duck: We stopped in briefly on our way to an art show at the Claremont Boys And Girl’s Club.

Me: Scanned photos and ephemera only. No text. Nope, the content will stay between the boards while I have access to the photos and doodles here on the computer. The photos and doodles are enough to drive me mad by themselves. In a way, it’s high stress reliving some of the drama such as losing our old truck twice.

G: Enjoyed his day, had a ball at the Club and beat one of Mohave’s teachers while paired with her current teacher. Both say she is a brilliant writer.

Today: G’s at work, and I am laundering while scanning. Waiting for the stove repair person 11 to 1. Dinner here at last. No visit Duck. A night at home.

4 comments:

  1. When I read the old entries in my journal it is as if times goes back, the memories are so alive. SOmetimes its nice.

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  2. Excellent story. My old journal entries are not half as interesting. Keep them coming...

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  3. I thought I'd missed these the first time around, but these are old posts? No? Anyway, I'm finding them fascinating. I love the drawings, too!

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