Chapter 19: Trouble in paradise
Things were progressing in our lives. Chris was walking and talking and Autumn liked to stand in her bed in the mornings. A lot of times when one of us went to check on her, we would find her standing there naked, she had learned to remove her diaper and 9 times out of 10 she was playing with her poo! Fun times.
We had made some friends here, George and Liz Semple lived across the street and also had small children. We had also gotten to know some others around us, mostly casual friends. Things were far from perfect here, but we got along, for the most part.
Debbie was changing. Partly because she was starting to grow up, but partly because her doctor had put her on the pill after Autumn was born. He said it would not be good for her health to have another baby. I guess I didn’t notice how much she had changed until it was too late.
For one thing, she had become a shoplifter. I didn’t really know it was going on at first, but when I found out I thought it was neat at first. She would steal something small and expensive from someplace like K-Mart and then return it for a refund to another K-Mart across town and say she lost the receipt. She also like to go to the little local grocery store near where we live and get stuff there as well.
As I said I thought it was neat at first, but then my conscience started to bother me. I knew it wasn’t right and so I confronted her about it. She had a good cry and said she would not do it anymore. Problem solved, or so I thought.
It was also around this time that problems at work led to me being transferred from the factory in Norwood down to Riverfront stadium. I was getting a bit tired of the whole security guard job and decided to seek employment elsewhere. Jobs were easy to get during the early 70’s and it turned out I had a choice of 3 different job offers.
I went with the one offered by Cincinnati Milacron, a large machine tool maker in the city as I thought it offered the best chance for advancement and benefits. Turned out not to be true. They stuck me in the foundry where the iron castings were bigger than I was and instead of using a small hand held grinder you used a jack hammer and chisel to clean them! I only lasted 3 days there.
But as I said, jobs were plentiful and I simply went back to my list of the 3 jobs I could have taken my choice of and accepted another one. This was a small firm on Spring Grove avenue which made lift trucks. These were the small hand trucks used for lifting pallets.
I didn’t care a lot for my first job there, but in no time at all the cut-off saw operator quit and I found myself learning a new trade. I actually enjoyed this job quite a bit, it involved cutting various pieces of metal to lengths specified in a bill of materials which came along for each new lift truck built.
I got along with everyone pretty well and even my supervisor was okay. But I found myself in need of a cash advance, which he provided and then I paid him back, but he said I didn’t so out the door I went, pounding the pavement once again. At least I was able to secure unemployment benefits so it was time for a break in my working career.
At first this seemed like a perfect situation, get to spend some quality time at home with my lady and kids, but for anyone who has ever had to do it, I’m sure they will tell you that you are better off working. Much better off. When you spend a lot of time with your wife like that, you tend to get on each other’s nerves a lot.
Sometime in between I was home sick and the car needed the oil changed badly. Debbie said she could do it if I told her what to do. She followed my instructions and once the job was done I told her to start the car to make sure the oil pressure builds back up. She did, but it didn’t. A rod was knocking. Great, things were just getting better for us all the time.
The car payment soon fell behind (who wants to pay for a car that doesn’t run), and the bank came and got it. Now we were completely without a mode of transport. At times like these in a person’s life, you really have to stop and reflect on what is happening. Here I was, jobless, we had started getting food stamps so at least we had food. No way to go and get it and friends quickly grew tired of running us from place to place, a new vehicle had to be acquired.
Vehicle #15
I forget where I even bought this at, but I remember the car very well. A 1965 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser wagon, beige in color. 
This actually served our little growing family very well while we had it. At least we once again had wheels, hard to live without them in the times we live in.
Debbie and I had good times and bad times, but as I said, I knew she was changing, but I had no idea of what was about to happen. Join me next time for all the sorted details.
For those who would like to follow the count, I will keep a running tally of my vehicle list here.
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