Page 32 - Gary's Book - Final Copy 7.9.2017_Active

I then did all the critical deliveries to the job site by truck. I learned how to catch
alligators in a pond by walking a dog near the water’s edge. I learned that most
Florida swimming pools had to be above ground level due to the six to eight-inch
water table. I learned to use the moon to guide our back-filling, thus the saying,

“Full moon, full hole.” I am sure you have experienced this in planting in your
yard. Brud saved big money on landfill and, in fact, sold some dirt to other
builders. That summer Brud purchased a new red Chevrolet Impala convertible
with red leather seats and a white top. It was “the car” for nighttime in Miami.

On September 5, 1959, I started classes at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri.
Still being short on funds, I worked at two service stations. I took the bus from
campus to work since I did not have a car. I joined the Sigma Nu fraternity, the

accounting club and the speech club.

I started dating Linda Hall, which was convenient since she had a car and lived
outside of town on a farm with horses. Her dad was a top surgeon in town. Several
times when I called her, I had talked to her dad on the phone, so when she invited
me to dinner at her house, he and I did not feel like strangers. That night at dinner,

Dr. Hall offered me a job of “sponging” for him three mornings a week from 4:30
a.m. till 7:00 a.m. This did not interfere with my class schedule, the money was
good, and it was a clean environment. Consequently, it reduced my social life to
weekends only.

Through contacts at the hospital, I started driving a funeral hearse to St. Louis and
Kansas City delivering dead bodies of people who were mainly killed in car

accidents in the area. Sounds crazy, but, hey, it paid the bills! Springfield, St.
Louis, and Kansas City basically form a triangle of about 250 miles. I enjoyed
driving, and long distances did not bother me. I still drive about 600 miles or more
a day when we go on trips. But those 250 miles sometimes were the longest and
spookiest driving with a corpse. [Chuckle, chuckle!]

I had visions of getting into the medical profession until when about six months

into sponging for Dr. Hall, he pulled me into the operating room hallway and said,
“Gary, this is not for you. I have watched you, and you become too attached to the
patients. You must treat them like a piece of furniture you are repairing and keep
your distance and take breaks.” Soon afterwards, I quit.

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