Beep. “Hi. This is Kelly from the Daily Herald at the U of O. You’ve done some typewriter repairs for us before. We’ve got a bunch of typewriters, like two dozen typewriters, that haven’t been serviced in a long time. So, would you be able to take a look at them and like give us an estimate for getting them all cleaned and stuff. Please call me. I’m Kelly. 346-9233. Thanks.”
Lou called back, set an appointment, and smiled to himself. This is like a month’s worth of work. With that work scheduled, he could ignore all the flakes who called. Sounded good to him.
The ADA office was already abuzz when Lou arrived that afternoon. Betsy and Pam from Off Center were there, and Planet and Percy. All of them were standing, excited and cheerful.
“Hey, guys. What’s up?”
“We just got word from Portland,” said Planet. “The case was dismissed!”
“You’re kidding. What happened?”
“The charge against all of us was criminal trespass. That’s the reason PGE gave to get us arrested. But our lawyers checked the property records. We weren’t even on PGE property, man!”
“No way.”
“Yeah. ‘Cause we blocked the gates, but we didn’t go inside. So it was all bogus. The judge threw out the charges against everyone. We’re free, dude!”
Betsy raised a fist. “Woohoo!”
“That’s so cool,” said Lou. “Let’s get word out. Can we do that?”
“You think we need a meeting first?” asked Planet.
“Let’s just do it,” said Betsy. “It’ll take days to get a meeting set up. Let’s pass word while it’s hot.”
“I’ll call the spokes to let them know, and they can tell their affinity groups. Portland will be doing their own press release. We should do a local one.”
“I can write something up,” offered Pam, “then run it by you all.”
“We should tell the Oracle.”
“And ask Switchboard if they’ll activate their Organic Alert,” suggested Percy.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“It’s how they get word out really fast. When someone calls Switchboard, for any reason, they’re also told the alert.”
“Cool. Yeah, see if they’ll do that.”
For the next hour, Planet, Percy, Pam, Betsy, and Lou called, wrote, typed, and generally ran around, doing what had to be done, charged by the news of their legal victory. Lou went over to Carl’s Typesetting to give him an update.
“Hey, Carl.”
“Hi, Lou. How’s it going?”
“All good. You already hear the news?”
“About ADA? Yeah, Betsy came by. Outta sight, man.”
“What’s new with you? Your baby’s, what, a year old now?”
“Fourteen months. Oh, man, she’s growin’ so fast. She’s walking now. She says a few words.”
“Does she say ‘Uncle Lou’ yet?”
“Hey, man, ya gotta come over more often to drive that home.”
“Tell ya what, when Apollo shuts down, I’ll have time to visit.”
“Yeah, and when the baby becomes a teenager, I’ll join ADA.”
“Deal. Check in with ya later.”
“Take care, man.”
Lou went out to the common area, got as comfortable as the old sofa allowed, and picked up a stray Oracle. He flipped through the longer articles, scanning the headlines for anything of local pertinence, and stopped at “In the Wind.”
In the Wind
by Sam Quinton
Dr. Feelgood: Blue Dove is mum on reasons for firing Dr. Dave last month. Rumors from ex-patients is he did too little good with too much feel (in the unwanted way). The new doc at the health clinic, Dr. Lupe Diaz, finished her residency in Portland, practices family medicine, and can provide bilingual care, something missing here for too long.
Big Pest: The Ram Jam ashram is again getting over-scrutinized by local authorities. This time it’s the county housing agency inspecting for mildew, wood rot, termites, asbestos and anything else to send the guru packing. ‘Random inspections’ says the agency. They should check for vermin at the county courthouse.
Mad Money: Some rumbles are happening at Willamette Evergreen Credit Union. The new boss, Phineas Sittentapper, hired last spring, is said to be good with money, bad with people. Micromanagement irks employees. Obscurity and late financial reports trouble the membership. Word is the Sittentapper likes his business trips, doesn’t like reporting on them. Demand more accountability.
-30-
Lou reread the paragraph about WECU. That’s where he opened the ADA bank account, based on its reputation for serving the community. It was meant to be more personal than the big banks, more caring of its depositors. He made a mental note to ask around. See what was true and not true. And be open to making a change.