Around this time, the Greatest (Marquette) Summer came to an end and life in Milwaukee/Marquette was easing into a rather decent Fall. Normally, I could never wait for college or high school to start because I missed my friend and/or I needed to escape from the monotony of home.
Not so in 1989 because as the Spring semester was winding down, I wisely remembered all the painful lessons I learned from the previous Summer. I may have come pretty close to starvation (Helen prevented it, ask her how) but I had a damned good time since I wasn’t under the yoke of my parents’ incessant nagging, meddling and litanies of bullshit. For 1989, I was more prepared on the essentials and while insuring I’d get to participate in the leisurely activities of Summerfest, GenCon and drinking beer at Jose and Phil’s pad. Here were the highlights:
- With Dad’s generosity, I had the cash to cover a deposit on a one-bedroom place at Strack One (13th & Kilbourn) and I swung that temporary place until I could move in on June 1. The landlady also reduced my monthly rent for painting some of the other units in my spare time and I think she let me sublet a room to a mutual friend of Jose’s while he completed a six-week Summer school course.
- In the income department, I lined up a job with PE’s paint crew and ORL before classes ended. This worked out beautifully too. PE paid almost a buck more than minimum wage and through my new friend Doc I got to bank all of my ORL hours until I needed them. So I would get paid for my 40 hours a week painting and when we all got terminated in late July (we were playing Pictionary with the first coat in the hallways of O’Donnell), I got to cash in those hours I had saved up working at Schroeder’s front desk. After GenCon, I cruised through the remainder of August by being the daytime front desk clerk at O’Donnell before the new Freshmen moved in. In short, money was never a problem this time, especially when I wasted the $200 on a Nintendo.
- Phil and Jose were subletting a place at Carmel Hall which gave me a social outlet when I wasn’t working. Phil had a car which helped us all save money through our weekly pilgrimage to Pick n’ Save on Capitol Drive. As an epilog to that link/story, I recently discussed it with Phil and he had no recollection of stealing candy yet admits he probably did this to mess with Jose and me.
- I made a new my new lifelong friend Doc through Schroeder Hall which was an added bonus.
- Deb and Neal were around too. These were friends I made during the Summer of 1988 and they both got me back into gaming, namely through Neal’s monthly RoleMaster campaign set 1500 years before The Hobbit.
- I knew how and when Summerfest and GenCon operated so I wasn’t caught as flatfooted on attending or enjoying those festivities. Too bad the bands were pretty weak at the former, other than the big Alternative show at the Marcus, the Rock Stage didn’t have squat and I only bothered to see Paul Shaffer at the Jazz stage.
As the above bullet points illustrate, the Summer of 1989 had some rockin’ attributes. What made it better and more memorable was having a girlfriend! After the Mojo Nixon show, my relationship with Carrie shifted over to the romantic kind. I didn’t plan on our friendship ever evolving into anything further because she graduated in 1987 and we only got together when I had a spare concert ticket. But life always has that unpredictable element which continues to surprise me. Carrie and I got off to a great start that Summer: We scored tickets to see that big Alternative show starring PiL, the Sugarcubes, New Order and the Violent Femmes; We saw Batman on opening night; We hung out at each other’s apartments; She shared an apartment with four other ladies yet had her own room with a TV and VCR. When I turned 21, we could go to clubs and bars together instead of drinking at home or parties. Carrie barely communicated with my friends which I should’ve taken as the omen of friction to come but the novelty of our her “elevated” status blinded me to such warnings at the time. I still have no regrets about my years with her. I could never imagine 1989 being one of the high points of my life without her participation.
There were so many fantastic memories and as it wound down, I was a bit bummed to see it end this soon…for a change. However, I was looking forward to school starting up because it would get me closer to my degree and I thought the good times weren’t going end as the seasons and my schedule changed. This proved to be an accurate prediction through Christmas.