Adam's Run - Daily Life

Sophomore year of college we had decided to get an apartment, we loaded up the Scooby Do van with our stuff and blew of Greg.  It wasn't hard, I think it only took two trips to get all our stuff over there.  The main selling point was the pool, even though it was more expensive than we could really afford and farther away than we'd like.  At the time, the van was still running and we were young and dumb enough to think it would keep doing that forever. :)

At first, we had Sam as a roommate but that only lasted about three months and then we were blissfully left alone.  Poor, hungry, silly, sexy, we lived in the L5 building at first before migrating over to the O building for cheaper rent.  We got in trouble for hanging up laundry from the tree outside our apartment and we would go back and forth on the garden thing for a while.

The complex had a gate entry, where the guy would barely look at our sticker and then wave us through.  It also had a back gate that wasn't guarded and it was the easiest way to get to the Supermarket, right behind the complex.  Lots of stairs.  The 'office' was down by the pool and I had to take our rent check down there every month and stand for like... fifteen minutes before someone would acknowledge my presence, why they didn't just have a dropbox... who knows. 

During the school season, we would keep our bikes out on the porch (L building) and at O building against the inside wall, coming into the house.  Depending on how harsh the weather we'd ride in snowsuits carrying backpacks together, most days.  Our schedule usually meant that we'd be leaving the house at different times but I always hung out till after dark to ride home with you.  In the black night, past homes, and pools of street lights.  Past big mansions, the Elkins Train station, through the neighborhood rat warren, past our old bank, past various school activities fields with long chain-link fences and then plunge down the big hill toward the house.  Sometimes we'd race but my bike was faster and I was heavier... but you'd win occasionally.  Your beaten leather jacket flapping in the wind as you laughed and jammed on the brakes.

We'd cover the windows with blankets when it got really cold and huddle under the cheap comforters from Modells.  There was a particular one you hated, crimson red and micro-suede.  There was a hunter green knit blanket that I couldn't stand touching, it was the first to get hung in the window and became our Christmas chair decoration for a few years.  We'd work on homework and projects that could be completed at home and brought in a backpack.  Most of the time we'd simply work till late at the school and leave the art there for the next day. 

So many bad meals... lol, we were not very good cooks.  You cooked most nights, but we took turns.  We have never been good about doing dishes, especially without a dishwasher.  We almost always went to the grocery store together, the Superfresh, nearly every day.  Walking past the family dollar (where we got the half busted Dirt Devil vacuum and various clothes), the Video store (where we rented movies and video games frequently), we'd check the bank balance and then try to do three days of shopping on what we had.  We used to eat a lot of crap but steak was cheaper then, hamburgers, salad, the occasional shepherd's pie, taco nights, a lot of breakfast food and soups.  Pack lunches because we couldn't keep eating the crap in Pennel Hall's cafe (although their breakfast sandwiches were on point).

Remember our first half-bottle of Absolute Citron?  I got hammered and numb after two shots, just slid off that old, broken, couch from my Nana and sat on the floor.  I think I was watching PHL 17 Star Trek Voyager or DS9 at the time.  Remember when I went on a Hawaii Five O jag?  Every day at lunch, if I was home, I'd be watching Jack Lord and Danno solving crimes in paradise.  We used an areal for TV, because we couldn't afford cable.  Eventually, we got internet, but it was dial-up and nearly free so the quality sucked.  You bought your first computer, a Gateway (with the cow box) because you're smart and save money.  I became your official IT guy, fixing all the problems we had with it, playing games and surfing the net. I played a lot of Playstation games and you watched them, cheered for them, helped me solve puzzles.  You did a lot of scrapbooking, doodling, painting when the mood took you or a project demanded it.  We had a lot of quiet moments together in peace, that was the defining thing about it.  We were at peace, without anyone to bother us.

The summers were when we would really have a good time.  You'd picked up a lot more hours in front of the cam (first a little eyeball cam, then the camcorder) and I was chief in charge of fun.  We'd play in the pool, almost everyday.  Tossing pennies while you dove for them and I'd race you or pull you back.  We would take loooooooong walks to the Library or the Post Office.  We frequented the Burger King because it was good and we were collecting the Pokemon spinners.  In fact that was when we were both playing Pokemon red, blue and yellow.  There was a store over there... it began with an M and it wasn't Modells but you loved it.  We found steak knives and strange things there.  Sometimes we'd hop the bus down to Olney and check out the thrift store and then get out of dodge before the sun went down.  Sometimes we'd hop the bus and ride allllllllllll the way up to the Willow Grove Mall or Jenkintown to hangout in the Barnes and Nobles.  We were always together and always talking, and always laughing.  We were independent and didn't need anyone, hiding from our parents and everyone else that sucked in our own little impoverished world.