During our first week on the job at A.R.D. l took Dahlia and Reyann to visit the mine site. lt was noisy, dusty and not of much interest to them so we didn't stay more than a half-hour before heading back to Lovelock. Up to then, we had had no trouble with our old VW. But, as we were about a half-mile from where the mine access road met the main hiway, and in the presence of no other traffic in either direction, the car's windshield suddenly broke into 10,000 plus quarter-inch cubes covering us all. Reyann, sitting in the middle of the back seat, got the most of it, but on close inspection, was found to be fine. She had a bunch of scratches, a couple of which bled a little but was otherwise OK. None of us had any glass in our eyes.Thinking ourselves lucky,our next thought was that we should probably get a better car.
Later, after l had prepared the samples and put them on to cook,we walked the two blocks to downtown and visited a couple of used car lots. lt was about 8PM
then and since it was early June, it was still daylight. We were walking around one lot, looking at various offerings when we were joined by two Lovelock black-
and-whites driven by a couple of (presumably) Lovelock's finest. Of course, they were afraid that Lovelock's newest, registered ex car-thief (with the help of his women folk) was about to go active again. l was surprised that Lovelock had more than one police car and l would have expected Gordon Richardson to be driving one of the cars but Lovelock apparently had at least two cops in addition
to the Chief. The two officers were not as threatening as Gordon had been when l registered with him; they recommended that we do our car-shopping before closing time. We decided to do it in another town. We wound up, within the next few weeks, trading the old VW in on a new one, the first new car either Dahlia or l had owned.
Sometimes, after l had finished the assays and posted the results, l would walk to Lovelock's main street, which was also US highway 40, the predecessor of
Interstate 80, usually to visit the town's only real casino with bar and restaurant, Felix's. The owner, Felix Montell, was a very out-going guy. When he spotted a new face in his place for the second time, he would introduce himself
and buy the newcomer a drink and engage him in conversation. When he let them go, he'd direct them to the casino cashier's booth where they would get a
"Lucky Tenspot" that could be wagered at any table or slot machine or spent at the bar. l put my lucky ten on a crap table and watched it immediately vanish.On my way out, Felix wished me a good evening and we talked some more. He told me that he was in the early stages of building a new home for himself and Mrs. Montell. The casino was doing very well at that time (much
mining in progress at that time. A.R.D. was just one of many). He wanted to build a dreamhouse for the Mrs. while he had the monstrous cash flow. One thing we know about mining for sure: they all play out and are abandoned
eventually.
As it happened, l had liked to draft floorplans for dreamhouses almost from the first day l had had drafting tools. l had been working on such a design since just
before Dahlia and l got together. lt was circular, 100' in diameter, containing almost 8,000 square feet, though part of the area within the designed circle was not indoors. Of course, l told Felix about it and he invited me to bring it by, he'd
like to see it.
l stopped by a few days later with the far-from-complete drafting of the 7,854 sq. ft. round home (having two pools within the surrounding circular enclosure.)
The first thing he said when he saw it was "Wow". Then he was quiet for a couple of minutes, then said "Oh, no. That'll never work....That's no good...Oh no, Lizzy would never go for that" At that point, l gently but swiftly took back my drafting and re-rolled it. l said "Felix, this is an experimental design just to get an idea as to the desirability of circular houses and to learn what works and what doesn't. lt's not meant to meet your needs. Just off the cuff,though l gotta
figure a round house probably isn't going to work for you, however it's designed." He didn't agree and said he was thankful for my exposing him to the idea and he said he planned to take a stab at designing one himself. l encouraged that idea and told him l'd like to see what he comes up with. l would stay in touch.
Somehow we wound up keeping George's dog at the house we rented from him.
We called the dog "George", after his owner but also because that name contains three consenants which dogs hear better than vowels (which l'm told).
George was a very nice Norwegian Elkhound about three years old. A very good
looking dog and very nice with Reyann who spent considerable time with him in the tightly-fenced yard surrounding the house. One day, probably during our first week there, Dahlia asked me to bring Reyann in for lunch.Neither Reyann nor George were in the yard. As l scowered the yard in search of them no sign was seen. But after a few minutes of searching the fence line for some evidence of a breech, we saw it. George had apparently dug a ditch under the bottom wire of the fence in the soft earth, making space enough that both George and Reyann were able to pass under the fence. We both ran in the direction of their
tracks which went toward the nearby railroad yard office. Right away, we saw a man walking toward us at about the same speed that we were moving. Still about fifty feet away, he shouted "Are you folks lookin' for a Toddler?" Nobody
had seen George, he must have been well ahead of Reyann by the time she had put the fence behind her. He was probably out of sight before Reyann showed up at the yard office which was about 200 feet west of George's house.After we had visited a while with ours and Reyann's new friends, we returned home and l jumped in the car and cruised the local area (pretty much the whole town) but l
did not see George. We were residents of Lovelock for nearly a year after George ran away and whenever l was walking in that town l always thought of and looked for George, but l never saw him again.George White's main home was in the Excelsior district of San Francisco, about 340 miles from Lovelock. l
often wondered if George had done a "Lassie come home". Maybe he hitch-
hiked. l know, George was a male dog, but so was the dog that played "Lassie".
Within the first couple of months that the three of us shared Dahlia's apartment in Saratoga, l resumed the practice of oil painting. By the time we left there, l had completed four paintings, all thirty inches by forty inches. ln the first few months at Lovelock, l completed two more of the same size. My brother lrvin was an extremely good painter of non-objective art. He was an inspiration to me in my efforts to produce good work. He was also lotsa fun to be with. He had a
couple of un-sold works that he was willing to part with. l had some that l would like to sell as well. He suggested that we take a couple of days to visit some art dealers in Vegas who had bought works of his in the past. Maybe we could each sell some work and,at the same time,make up for a lot of partying together we had missed in recent years. We didn't sell anything and l didn't want to take any of my stuff back to Lovelock. A few weeks earlier the new Pershing County Hospital had opened in Lovelock and l had arranged to have my six paintings,
displayed in the main entry corridor with prices posted inside little hand-printed
cards that also contained some notes about the paintings. Nothing sold.Having
sold nothing for a long time, one can understand why l was willing to do a round-trip to Vegas and back in 2.5 days with a total of four hours sleep. So l wouldn't have to haul the paintings back home, my mom, who lived in Vegas at the time,offered to put the six paintings of mine and lrvin's two in her storage locker until l could pick them up.
On my return home, l was greatly surprised to find Paul Larch sitting at the kitchen table with Dahlia and Reyann. Paul was also a parolee who had done prison time at Soledad North. lt was a surprise to see him because when l had last seen him he was likely to be released within a few months from California
custody, but Florida had a hold on him for armed robbery and attempted murder,which could together amount to him spending the rest of his life in prison. When l left Soledad, l wished him well, but really never expected to see
him again. My first thought, when l saw him was that he had escaped somehow
between California custody and Florida custody. He was the full-bore kind of
offender that might try something like that. lt turned out that before California released him, his mother, then the CEO of Encyclopedia Brittanica, had arranged to pay someone in Florida's Attorney General's office $25,000 to drop the charges against Paul. Since parolees are not allowed to fraternize with one- another, his mere presence was un-nerving. Unbelievably,it turned out that Paul,
a certified genius, had already sought out my parole officer and got his permission for Paul and l to work together on a completely legal enterprise that
we had been thinking about since we were both at Soledad.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Employed 12 part 3
When we left the little town, we drove all night to Saratoga. Saturday morning
we packed our clothes and personal effects into her Jaguar and my Oldsmobile,
(a l954 Ninety-eight that l had purchased from a customer a few months before). Her apartment was furnished so we had no furniture to move and didn't
need to rent a truck.
While training with George, l learned he owned a house in Lovelock, also furnished, which was vacant. How convenient! lt was a two bedroom, two bath
located just two blocks from the center of Lovelock's downtown. Three twos make six and that is the number of domesticity which makes it a happy home (hopefully). We rented it for less than the rent paid for Dahlia's apartment in
Saratoga.
We returned to Lovelock by Sunday afternoon in my Olds. The Jaguar had a total break-down at Dixon and we sold it for parts. l think we got $600 for it.
That day was our first chance to see what we rented. lt was nice. George had built the place some years earlier and, while parts of it didn't make sense (one
of the bathrooms was equipped with a bronze-finished kitchen sink and the door to the other bath was stopped by the toilet about eighteen inches short of it's
full swing. But the place was tight, with no major mistakes and everything worked.
When l was in training with George, he told me that there was also a small building on his place, in which he had installed an assay lab. He suggested
that l talk to Jim Rowe about using it for doing assays instead of the lab at the
mine-site, which he said was much less satisfactory. And he said he wouldn't
charge A.R.D. an arm and a leg for the use of it.
At first, my parole officer didn't want me to leave Len's employ any more than
did Eli. But, when he learned that l had, in a week's time, not only secured a new job (that increased my income 100%) making it possible for Dahlia to be a
full-time mother and homemaker, he said " You came to my case-load as a "high-expectancy parolee" due to your record while at Soledad but you are "very
high" in my book. l'm inclined to go along with you on this one. l wish you and your family the best."
Len was torn. He liked my work, but he really thought it would be "good for you and your new family, And hey! l might get lucky and find a replacement
superior to you. Good luck you guys". My Dad pointed out that l had been out of prison six months but had only visited him and his family three times. "Now we
won't see you at all for maybe a couple of years. But l do think this move will be good for you guys. l just hope this won't be a permanent move".
"Don't worry, Dad. l don't think l could live in Lovelock, or any one place
permanently".
Soon after we moved into George's house, l traded the Olds for a four-year-old
Volkswagen. lt was a little rough and noisy but reliable and economical. lt served us well for some months before we traded it in on a new 1962 VW.
After a day of doing assays in the shed at the mine site, l talked to Jim about my using the assay lab next door to George's house. He was for it. He said that A.R.D. had used it before and found it satisfactory. They had stopped using it at a time when the large ore body being extracted then was finished. The ore body
currently being worked, called Cole Canyon was a very large body and would require many samples to be assayed every day, consistent with the many railroad gondolas being shipped daily. When assays were being done at the mine
site, samples are taken at the end of one day and given to the assayer at the beginning of the next day. The results were available at the end of that day. Using George's lab, samples from a day's mining are delivered to the lab in the evening of the day they were mined. Assays were completed overnite and results were available the next morning by 5AM, one whole working day sooner.
This meant l would work swing shift (which l always liked).Actually George's lab
was so well set up and so easy to work in, that l usually finished the samples and had the results ready before 9PM. l once mentioned that to Jim and he said
"We don't care if you can do the day's assays in a couple of hours, so long as they are accurate. You aren't paid hourly; you are salaried and paid the same
amount for each day you work regardless of the hours worked. Sometimes it might be necessary for you to work more than eight hours in a day while receiving the same pay as you got for working less than eight hours. There was
no union contract there, but we were all paid very close to scale and we had all the big holidays off with pay. l had been on the job a little less than six months at Christmas, but l, like everyone got two weeks paid vacation and a cash bonus to spend on it. l was sold on A.R.D. from the start.
Since l was a convicted felon on parole, in a different state than the one in which l was convicted, l was required to register with the police chief in the town of my residence. Lovelock's PC,was a weekend cowboy wannabe, namedGordon
Richardson. Within the first twenty minutes of the first day we were Lovelock
residents l reported to his office in the Pershing County Courthouse and registered. He seemed pained by having to go thru the whole procedure; He wrote my name where it belonged on the form and l signed my name on the line he pointed to. You could probably guess what he said; You better behave yourself, me and my boys will be watching your ass, You get out of bounds one time; l'm gonna get on you like stink on turds. (probably a Mormon) You'll excuse me but l don't like cons and l will go out of my way to ruin your day if l
need to". Of course, none of that stuff starts until l'm caught mis-behaving. l
figured i'd be fine if l stuck to my plan.
Being the assayer for the Coal Canyon works of A.R.D. Mining was one of my very best jobs. Before 5PM the day was all mine for whatever l might want or need to do. The samples would arrive at 5:30 PM. Each sample, received as chunks of ore ranging from the size of a ping-pong ball to that of a basketball,
though not really round. The samples are collected from the top of loaded
railroad gondolas, filled by dump trucks that had carried the ore twelve miles
from mine to railhead. To sample: first, using a limber cotton rope (about 3/8"
to 1/2")X about 80' long. Tie knots in the rope every sixteen inches. Fasten one end of the rope to the left corner of one end of the gondola. Then pull the loose end of the rope to the right corner at the other end of the gondola and pull it tight and secure it. Then walk the length of the fitted rope, with your sample bag and choose every chunk of ore that is either touched by a knot (or is the nearest chunk to a knot. if not actually touching). Full gondolas cannot be shipped before the results of their assays are known. Our contract with the buyer required that the iron content in the ore be above a certain percentage and the phosphorous and sulfur content be below a certain percentage. That
accomplished,it travels by rail to Pittsburg,Ca. where it's loaded onto ships which carry it to our customer in Japan, who used it to make steel.
The assay is a simple procedure. Samples are first run thru a crusher that reduces the large chunks of ore to material no larger than a quarter inch.That material is run several times thru a splitter that reduces the sample amount by half with each pass. Then, part of that material goes thru a pulverizer, which
makes the sample a fine powder. l won't share the exact procedure of the assay since that was proprietary to A.R.D. l never understood why that was necessary
but l honor it. l can say l was told that the steel, made from our iron was used in the construction of high-rise buildings and automobiles.
All that was required of me relative to my parole(a year of which remained at the time of our arrival in Lovelock) was to complete monthly a simple report of my general situation. At the start, l received twelve blank parole report forms
and was told that when l completed and mailed the twelfth form, my parole would expire automatically, assuming l hadn't violated it somewhere along the way, and been sent back to prison.
The three of us liked our Lovelock home with it's close proximity to the job that supported us so well, and we liked exploring the desert in that part of Nevada, but Lovelock, itself we didn't like much at all. During the almost one year that
our home was there, we spent just two less than half our weekends visiting
San Jose and it's environs.
we packed our clothes and personal effects into her Jaguar and my Oldsmobile,
(a l954 Ninety-eight that l had purchased from a customer a few months before). Her apartment was furnished so we had no furniture to move and didn't
need to rent a truck.
While training with George, l learned he owned a house in Lovelock, also furnished, which was vacant. How convenient! lt was a two bedroom, two bath
located just two blocks from the center of Lovelock's downtown. Three twos make six and that is the number of domesticity which makes it a happy home (hopefully). We rented it for less than the rent paid for Dahlia's apartment in
Saratoga.
We returned to Lovelock by Sunday afternoon in my Olds. The Jaguar had a total break-down at Dixon and we sold it for parts. l think we got $600 for it.
That day was our first chance to see what we rented. lt was nice. George had built the place some years earlier and, while parts of it didn't make sense (one
of the bathrooms was equipped with a bronze-finished kitchen sink and the door to the other bath was stopped by the toilet about eighteen inches short of it's
full swing. But the place was tight, with no major mistakes and everything worked.
When l was in training with George, he told me that there was also a small building on his place, in which he had installed an assay lab. He suggested
that l talk to Jim Rowe about using it for doing assays instead of the lab at the
mine-site, which he said was much less satisfactory. And he said he wouldn't
charge A.R.D. an arm and a leg for the use of it.
At first, my parole officer didn't want me to leave Len's employ any more than
did Eli. But, when he learned that l had, in a week's time, not only secured a new job (that increased my income 100%) making it possible for Dahlia to be a
full-time mother and homemaker, he said " You came to my case-load as a "high-expectancy parolee" due to your record while at Soledad but you are "very
high" in my book. l'm inclined to go along with you on this one. l wish you and your family the best."
Len was torn. He liked my work, but he really thought it would be "good for you and your new family, And hey! l might get lucky and find a replacement
superior to you. Good luck you guys". My Dad pointed out that l had been out of prison six months but had only visited him and his family three times. "Now we
won't see you at all for maybe a couple of years. But l do think this move will be good for you guys. l just hope this won't be a permanent move".
"Don't worry, Dad. l don't think l could live in Lovelock, or any one place
permanently".
Soon after we moved into George's house, l traded the Olds for a four-year-old
Volkswagen. lt was a little rough and noisy but reliable and economical. lt served us well for some months before we traded it in on a new 1962 VW.
After a day of doing assays in the shed at the mine site, l talked to Jim about my using the assay lab next door to George's house. He was for it. He said that A.R.D. had used it before and found it satisfactory. They had stopped using it at a time when the large ore body being extracted then was finished. The ore body
currently being worked, called Cole Canyon was a very large body and would require many samples to be assayed every day, consistent with the many railroad gondolas being shipped daily. When assays were being done at the mine
site, samples are taken at the end of one day and given to the assayer at the beginning of the next day. The results were available at the end of that day. Using George's lab, samples from a day's mining are delivered to the lab in the evening of the day they were mined. Assays were completed overnite and results were available the next morning by 5AM, one whole working day sooner.
This meant l would work swing shift (which l always liked).Actually George's lab
was so well set up and so easy to work in, that l usually finished the samples and had the results ready before 9PM. l once mentioned that to Jim and he said
"We don't care if you can do the day's assays in a couple of hours, so long as they are accurate. You aren't paid hourly; you are salaried and paid the same
amount for each day you work regardless of the hours worked. Sometimes it might be necessary for you to work more than eight hours in a day while receiving the same pay as you got for working less than eight hours. There was
no union contract there, but we were all paid very close to scale and we had all the big holidays off with pay. l had been on the job a little less than six months at Christmas, but l, like everyone got two weeks paid vacation and a cash bonus to spend on it. l was sold on A.R.D. from the start.
Since l was a convicted felon on parole, in a different state than the one in which l was convicted, l was required to register with the police chief in the town of my residence. Lovelock's PC,was a weekend cowboy wannabe, namedGordon
Richardson. Within the first twenty minutes of the first day we were Lovelock
residents l reported to his office in the Pershing County Courthouse and registered. He seemed pained by having to go thru the whole procedure; He wrote my name where it belonged on the form and l signed my name on the line he pointed to. You could probably guess what he said; You better behave yourself, me and my boys will be watching your ass, You get out of bounds one time; l'm gonna get on you like stink on turds. (probably a Mormon) You'll excuse me but l don't like cons and l will go out of my way to ruin your day if l
need to". Of course, none of that stuff starts until l'm caught mis-behaving. l
figured i'd be fine if l stuck to my plan.
Being the assayer for the Coal Canyon works of A.R.D. Mining was one of my very best jobs. Before 5PM the day was all mine for whatever l might want or need to do. The samples would arrive at 5:30 PM. Each sample, received as chunks of ore ranging from the size of a ping-pong ball to that of a basketball,
though not really round. The samples are collected from the top of loaded
railroad gondolas, filled by dump trucks that had carried the ore twelve miles
from mine to railhead. To sample: first, using a limber cotton rope (about 3/8"
to 1/2")X about 80' long. Tie knots in the rope every sixteen inches. Fasten one end of the rope to the left corner of one end of the gondola. Then pull the loose end of the rope to the right corner at the other end of the gondola and pull it tight and secure it. Then walk the length of the fitted rope, with your sample bag and choose every chunk of ore that is either touched by a knot (or is the nearest chunk to a knot. if not actually touching). Full gondolas cannot be shipped before the results of their assays are known. Our contract with the buyer required that the iron content in the ore be above a certain percentage and the phosphorous and sulfur content be below a certain percentage. That
accomplished,it travels by rail to Pittsburg,Ca. where it's loaded onto ships which carry it to our customer in Japan, who used it to make steel.
The assay is a simple procedure. Samples are first run thru a crusher that reduces the large chunks of ore to material no larger than a quarter inch.That material is run several times thru a splitter that reduces the sample amount by half with each pass. Then, part of that material goes thru a pulverizer, which
makes the sample a fine powder. l won't share the exact procedure of the assay since that was proprietary to A.R.D. l never understood why that was necessary
but l honor it. l can say l was told that the steel, made from our iron was used in the construction of high-rise buildings and automobiles.
All that was required of me relative to my parole(a year of which remained at the time of our arrival in Lovelock) was to complete monthly a simple report of my general situation. At the start, l received twelve blank parole report forms
and was told that when l completed and mailed the twelfth form, my parole would expire automatically, assuming l hadn't violated it somewhere along the way, and been sent back to prison.
The three of us liked our Lovelock home with it's close proximity to the job that supported us so well, and we liked exploring the desert in that part of Nevada, but Lovelock, itself we didn't like much at all. During the almost one year that
our home was there, we spent just two less than half our weekends visiting
San Jose and it's environs.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Employed 12 Part 2
Len introduced me to Mrs. Taksaris (the lady with the Jaguar) Mrs. Taksaris said "l'm Dahlia. And this is my daughter, Reyann". (She had re-claimed the baby when l returned her car.) We talked for a few moments. She said that Len had told her that l was "good with cars". She wondered if l might take a look at a couple of irritating problems (beyond the brakes) that she was having. Being a single mother with a limited income, she wasn't able to pay me what l might expect for such work, but she would be happy to fix us a nice dinner in exchange for helping her to understand what the car needed. Well, even though l was staying with Dad and Teri, and Teri was then and to this day remains the very best cook l've ever known. So l wasn't in any real need for dinner, but l said that having dinner with her and Reyann would be a real treat. And since both
Dahlia and l had weekends off from our jobs, the next day (Saturday) would be
convenient.
As planned, l was at their home at about noon. Her car didn't really seem to need much, really. l adjusted idle speed and fuel mixture, checked the car's
underside, checked pressure of tires and drove it around a bit, mostly to give the brakes another test. They were still fine at that point. Before long we found ourselves at Gobbler's Knob, where we surprised Dad, Teri and Gorden. We had a nice visit. Reyann was a hit with the Gideons and they got on pretty good with Dahlia, too. They invited us to lunch, after which l dropped Dahlia and Reyann at
home. l needed to touch bases with Len over a couple of things that came up at Friday's closing. After we had that behind us, Len said Carl Danner, the Saratoga
Citizen's publisher had stopped there earlier and had asked Len to have me call him. When l did, he said he had a couple of friends who wanted to present me with a business opportunity and if interested, l should join them at Shorty's Bar
in half an hour. On arriving, l was introduced to Carl's friends, Arvin and Huilar.
Carl went on to the rest room (to avoid being a witness?) Arvin did all of the talking. Huilar provided support of a positive nature with hand-claps,"Yessiree
Bobs", and"You better believe it"s times nine. They offered to cut me in for half
of some "job" they had discovered if l would help them plan and execute it. While my first thought was that someone, maybe my parole officer, maybe even
Len, was testing me, to learn just exactly how straight (or not) l really intended
to be. But l approached it as if it were a real offer; basically, l told them it would be a mistake for them to partner with me, seeing as how my complete history as a criminal was one of total failure, ending in nearly two years prison time.
They would do well (better, at least) to look elsewhere for a partner. Almost any
dick off the street is a better bet. "And finally, unless a partner has more invested in the job than the others, no one should get a larger percentage of the take than the others". The following Monday, l asked Len if he knew Arvin and
Huilar. He did. They were regular customers. Since l never saw them again, after
our meeting at Shorty's, l have to figure that they took me at my word. (And
avoided me like the plague.
Saturday Night! Dinner with Dahlia and Reyann. L will never forget that night;
At dinner, Reyann talked my leg off and kept me quite amused. l was still laughing when Dahlia said "OK Reyann it's well past bedtime for you". She put
Reyann to bed and re-joined me on the couch. That night, l guess my behavior
was in line with that of someone who hadn't been really close to a willing woman of attractive mien for way too long. Especially for a hetro male, barely
three years out of his teens.
Neither of us found our life's love that night, but l think we did find each other
tolerable, perhaps (in some ways) even likable. Overall, we got along pretty well
and spent a gang of years together. A few days after our surprise visit with the
the Gideons, there was a knock at Dahlias door at about eight in the evening. lt
was Dad and Teri. They figured that l might need a change of clothes and some
toiletries, since it was very near two weeks from the last time l spent the night with them. (l don't know why l hadn't taken care of that, earlier. Distracted, l
guess. Since Len provided me with three uniforms though, l had plenty to wear.
lt was a little embarassing; Dahlia and l had not said anything about me moving in with her, but no one had suggested that l go home either. l thanked them for bringing my stuff and promised to bring Dahlia and Reyann for another visit, soon.
Dahlia and l decided to invite her parents and mine to Thanksgiving Dinner at
Dahlia's apartment. that would communicate, to both families the fact of our
intention to cohabit without the need of formal announcement. that worked out better than either Dahlia or l expected, although there were a few bumpy spots;
at one point, Dahlia's mom, Mary opined that my dad might have been one of the Okies, fleeing the dust bowl who regularly reduced the population of her chicken coup (in the 30s). ln the years that Dahlia, Reyann and l were together,
that Thanksgiving 1961, was the only time our parents were in each-other's
presence.
At tax time 1962, during one of Mary's visits, she joked that Dahlia's tax return
was so large that l might want to marry her for her money. l don't think Dahlia or l had thought about marriage before that, but we thought a lot about it after that and on Feb. 22,that year, we each took the day off, drove to Pacific Grove, where a Justice of the Peace married us, while the Judge's daughter and a
Monterey County DeputySheriff witnessed the event
ln early April, we took a week off to visit my stepdad, Eli my mom, Zella and their three kids, Ross, lrvin and Marie. My main motivation for the trip, besides
spending time with family was to find a new, better-paying job. One that paid
enough that we would need only one income and Dahlia could become a full-
time mother and home-maker. Once we were all packed and ready to go, and
actually on the road out of town, the brakes that wouldn't reveal their flaw some
weeks earlier, now failed completely. They would still bring the car to a stop, but
they wouldn't then let the car go again. Thankfully, we were only about five blocks away from Len's. l called him. He came right away and fixed the problem,
which l had never encountered before (or since).
Owing to his unique position in the North-Eastern Nevada business community,
Eli knew everything that had happened there, everything that was happening, there, and everything that was planned and about to happen. He would also know the key men in all of the businesses involved. He was happy to tell me
that his little town,(my characterization, not his) had survived the exit of most of the influence and financial input in recent years due to the immense growth
in a large area around the little town. But when l asked him what , for me in the boom, he demurred. "But you're doing fine where you are; Dahlia tells me
that you pretty much run the station now, l'd bet you will run it before long.
Really, Lanny you always were as good a service station attendant as l ever had working for me. Hell, you were my best station employee at twelve years old.
You'll own your own station in a few years, l'd bet on it". Hey, l didn't blame him
for not wanting me in his town. My most recent pass through Elko County not
only hit his wallet hard, but embarrassed him in the extreme. But l could not let
his negative attitude get in the way of my new family's well being.
My step-brother,lrvin, then twenty years old was Eli's oldest child. From the day
that he was born, l was his biggest fan and he liked me too. When Eli's council
was to become the best service station attendant at Len's Richfield, l talked to Irvin about filling me in on the companies that might have openings in the state
and who are the people that run the places and know Eli. He was able to give me four company names and also the names of the top guys in those companies. One was A.R.D. lnc. a mining company then working on an ore body
near the town of Lovelock. l chose it because it's about 200 miles west of That Little Town in Elko County,thinking that taking a job that far from Eli's home base would less threatening. l was interviewed by Jim Rowe,A.R.D. partner and mine superintendent of the Lovelock works, and close friend of Eli for about 25
years. Jim hired me without so much as a verification call to Eli or anybody else.
He then told me l would spend the week in that little town, that we thought we
had put in our past, because training because training for a new assayer (which
would be my new job) was provided by the company's Chief Assayer, George
White at ARD's main assay office in the little town. After that week, though, l
would do the assays at the Lovelock mine.
At first, l thought l should look for another job at one of the other prospective
employers on the list Irvin had given me. But Dahlia and l discussed it and she
thought we could just avoid Eli and company while we were in town (only a week, after all), She thought that when Eli, some months down the road, got the reports of my exemplary assaying he'd be glad l had taken the job. She was
right; We saw him a few times that week and he had nothing negative to say and on Friday of the training week, Eli came by near noon and took George and l to lunch at Chin's. Leaving, he wished me the best on my new job!
Dahlia and l had weekends off from our jobs, the next day (Saturday) would be
convenient.
As planned, l was at their home at about noon. Her car didn't really seem to need much, really. l adjusted idle speed and fuel mixture, checked the car's
underside, checked pressure of tires and drove it around a bit, mostly to give the brakes another test. They were still fine at that point. Before long we found ourselves at Gobbler's Knob, where we surprised Dad, Teri and Gorden. We had a nice visit. Reyann was a hit with the Gideons and they got on pretty good with Dahlia, too. They invited us to lunch, after which l dropped Dahlia and Reyann at
home. l needed to touch bases with Len over a couple of things that came up at Friday's closing. After we had that behind us, Len said Carl Danner, the Saratoga
Citizen's publisher had stopped there earlier and had asked Len to have me call him. When l did, he said he had a couple of friends who wanted to present me with a business opportunity and if interested, l should join them at Shorty's Bar
in half an hour. On arriving, l was introduced to Carl's friends, Arvin and Huilar.
Carl went on to the rest room (to avoid being a witness?) Arvin did all of the talking. Huilar provided support of a positive nature with hand-claps,"Yessiree
Bobs", and"You better believe it"s times nine. They offered to cut me in for half
of some "job" they had discovered if l would help them plan and execute it. While my first thought was that someone, maybe my parole officer, maybe even
Len, was testing me, to learn just exactly how straight (or not) l really intended
to be. But l approached it as if it were a real offer; basically, l told them it would be a mistake for them to partner with me, seeing as how my complete history as a criminal was one of total failure, ending in nearly two years prison time.
They would do well (better, at least) to look elsewhere for a partner. Almost any
dick off the street is a better bet. "And finally, unless a partner has more invested in the job than the others, no one should get a larger percentage of the take than the others". The following Monday, l asked Len if he knew Arvin and
Huilar. He did. They were regular customers. Since l never saw them again, after
our meeting at Shorty's, l have to figure that they took me at my word. (And
avoided me like the plague.
Saturday Night! Dinner with Dahlia and Reyann. L will never forget that night;
At dinner, Reyann talked my leg off and kept me quite amused. l was still laughing when Dahlia said "OK Reyann it's well past bedtime for you". She put
Reyann to bed and re-joined me on the couch. That night, l guess my behavior
was in line with that of someone who hadn't been really close to a willing woman of attractive mien for way too long. Especially for a hetro male, barely
three years out of his teens.
Neither of us found our life's love that night, but l think we did find each other
tolerable, perhaps (in some ways) even likable. Overall, we got along pretty well
and spent a gang of years together. A few days after our surprise visit with the
the Gideons, there was a knock at Dahlias door at about eight in the evening. lt
was Dad and Teri. They figured that l might need a change of clothes and some
toiletries, since it was very near two weeks from the last time l spent the night with them. (l don't know why l hadn't taken care of that, earlier. Distracted, l
guess. Since Len provided me with three uniforms though, l had plenty to wear.
lt was a little embarassing; Dahlia and l had not said anything about me moving in with her, but no one had suggested that l go home either. l thanked them for bringing my stuff and promised to bring Dahlia and Reyann for another visit, soon.
Dahlia and l decided to invite her parents and mine to Thanksgiving Dinner at
Dahlia's apartment. that would communicate, to both families the fact of our
intention to cohabit without the need of formal announcement. that worked out better than either Dahlia or l expected, although there were a few bumpy spots;
at one point, Dahlia's mom, Mary opined that my dad might have been one of the Okies, fleeing the dust bowl who regularly reduced the population of her chicken coup (in the 30s). ln the years that Dahlia, Reyann and l were together,
that Thanksgiving 1961, was the only time our parents were in each-other's
presence.
At tax time 1962, during one of Mary's visits, she joked that Dahlia's tax return
was so large that l might want to marry her for her money. l don't think Dahlia or l had thought about marriage before that, but we thought a lot about it after that and on Feb. 22,that year, we each took the day off, drove to Pacific Grove, where a Justice of the Peace married us, while the Judge's daughter and a
Monterey County DeputySheriff witnessed the event
ln early April, we took a week off to visit my stepdad, Eli my mom, Zella and their three kids, Ross, lrvin and Marie. My main motivation for the trip, besides
spending time with family was to find a new, better-paying job. One that paid
enough that we would need only one income and Dahlia could become a full-
time mother and home-maker. Once we were all packed and ready to go, and
actually on the road out of town, the brakes that wouldn't reveal their flaw some
weeks earlier, now failed completely. They would still bring the car to a stop, but
they wouldn't then let the car go again. Thankfully, we were only about five blocks away from Len's. l called him. He came right away and fixed the problem,
which l had never encountered before (or since).
Owing to his unique position in the North-Eastern Nevada business community,
Eli knew everything that had happened there, everything that was happening, there, and everything that was planned and about to happen. He would also know the key men in all of the businesses involved. He was happy to tell me
that his little town,(my characterization, not his) had survived the exit of most of the influence and financial input in recent years due to the immense growth
in a large area around the little town. But when l asked him what , for me in the boom, he demurred. "But you're doing fine where you are; Dahlia tells me
that you pretty much run the station now, l'd bet you will run it before long.
Really, Lanny you always were as good a service station attendant as l ever had working for me. Hell, you were my best station employee at twelve years old.
You'll own your own station in a few years, l'd bet on it". Hey, l didn't blame him
for not wanting me in his town. My most recent pass through Elko County not
only hit his wallet hard, but embarrassed him in the extreme. But l could not let
his negative attitude get in the way of my new family's well being.
My step-brother,lrvin, then twenty years old was Eli's oldest child. From the day
that he was born, l was his biggest fan and he liked me too. When Eli's council
was to become the best service station attendant at Len's Richfield, l talked to Irvin about filling me in on the companies that might have openings in the state
and who are the people that run the places and know Eli. He was able to give me four company names and also the names of the top guys in those companies. One was A.R.D. lnc. a mining company then working on an ore body
near the town of Lovelock. l chose it because it's about 200 miles west of That Little Town in Elko County,thinking that taking a job that far from Eli's home base would less threatening. l was interviewed by Jim Rowe,A.R.D. partner and mine superintendent of the Lovelock works, and close friend of Eli for about 25
years. Jim hired me without so much as a verification call to Eli or anybody else.
He then told me l would spend the week in that little town, that we thought we
had put in our past, because training because training for a new assayer (which
would be my new job) was provided by the company's Chief Assayer, George
White at ARD's main assay office in the little town. After that week, though, l
would do the assays at the Lovelock mine.
At first, l thought l should look for another job at one of the other prospective
employers on the list Irvin had given me. But Dahlia and l discussed it and she
thought we could just avoid Eli and company while we were in town (only a week, after all), She thought that when Eli, some months down the road, got the reports of my exemplary assaying he'd be glad l had taken the job. She was
right; We saw him a few times that week and he had nothing negative to say and on Friday of the training week, Eli came by near noon and took George and l to lunch at Chin's. Leaving, he wished me the best on my new job!
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