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Thu. 5/15/97
Didn't get to write a lot about Decatur. Small town. Not much to say about it.
It's the kind of place that has two main roads—one running north-south and the other east-west. The downtown had a deserted air. The [name omitted] plant seemed to dominate the surroundings. The factory loomed in the background, the town crouched at its feet. I noticed a couple of old, distinguished-looking buildings, built-in solid-looking gray stone that might have been municipal or county buildings. There was a nice park with a statue, but no people. I was told most Decatur-ites live in the suburbs, places built around various malls. My first night in Decatur, Jonathan and I had dinner at the Lone Star Steakhouse near a mall. After that, I stuck with the motel, more out of a lack of time and desire to drive than anything else.
I haven't described the plane trip. I jotted a few notes on that in my day planner, which are at home, of course. (I'm in Ocean City.) Let's just say that the turboprop ride from St. Louis to Decatur was somewhat lively, at least during takeoff and landing. During takeoff, the plane seemed to skitter and twitch its way down the runway. Liftoff seemed to come at the last possible moment. The ride was uneventful, but landing was preceded by a sudden, stomach twisting drop in altitude. Whee.
I regret to say that I missed out on the "quart-sized" milkshake at the Steak and Shake, nor did I enjoy the funky disco beat of Sassy, who perform every Wednesday night at the 36 West Lounge at the Holiday Inn. On Wednesday, we had a tornado warning, complete with warning sirens. A torrential storm blew through, with heavy rain, followed by high winds, sustained at least 25 to 30 mph our power went out for a while. That was the exciting part of the trip.
The IRS finished up Thursday evening, so I arranged an earlier flight out of town. The weather was bad. Rain and high winds. The flight out of Decatur was delayed a half-hour, then another hour and a half. Then, they switched me to United going through Chicago (I was on TWA, through St. Louis). I got home at around 5:15 or 5:30. At least I got overtime out of it
After Decatur, I spent another week at [name omitted]. Almost a week, actually. I took Friday off. Now I'm in Ocean City. We came here yesterday, and we're staying until Saturday morning. We went bike riding this afternoon, and saw the Shorebirds playing the Charleston Alley Cats this evening. There's an auto show (?) in town—old cars from the twenties to the seventies. We're going to go tomorrow. I love those cars of the 60s—Mustang, Camaro, and GTO.
I almost forgot! About Social Security. They called while I was en route to Decatur. Andy Young gave Rick a number for me to call to arrange an interview through someone named Marilyn. I called her from Decatur. Marilyn said everyone would be out of the office by the time I got back, so she'd probably call to set something up in the next week or two. I called last Monday, just in case. Of course, everyone had just returned and nothing was set up yet. Simmer down, Mack, you'll get there. The job (possible job) was all I could think about in Decatur. It kept me going.
Thu. 5/22/97
I had an interview at Social Security today. They have one position. They didn't say how many people were being interviewed, and they didn't say how long before they'd make a decision. They said they'd like to hire at the entry level. This is all very encouraging (not).
I accepted a 3-day assignment with [name omitted]. Perhaps my last. I don't know if I feel like doing phones anymore. Well, it's a "living", of sorts.
