What a great installment! It rang a number or bells in my hippocampus. When my now wife and I started living together, out of wedlock, my mother-in-law would tell people we were married "California style." When we bought our house we asked the banker if not being married was an impediment to getting a loan. He looked a bit surprised by the question, but the answer was an emphatic "if you have the income, no problem." I do have to take issue with the comment about heat in summer. Having grown up and spent my first 28 years in the northeast I agree about the humidity. There is nothing like a New York City subway in August, sans air conditioning, at 5:30 PM. But the lack of humidity, as we tend to have in Santa Clara county, only goes so far. I spent 4 days in Tucson once when the highs were around 120. It was certainly a dry heat, just as an oven is. Planes couldn't take off because the air density was too low. I have always maintained that cold is better than extreme heat as there is a limit to how much one can strip, but, given the proper clothing, one can withstand a lot of cold. Perhaps the adage that moderation is the best approach holds with temperature. But hot or cold, it's always good to be pickin' up those good vibrations.
Having spent some time in Antarctica, I agree about cold vs. heat, though I still prefer being a little too warm to being a little too cold. Arthritic joints will do that to you. An aside -- when John and I applied for our first major credit card, which must have been in 1974 or 1975, J was still working on his master's degree, and I was working full-time in the pre-press department of a printing company. My income far exceeded his stipend. We found we couldn't qualify, because, "The head of the household has insufficient income." We said, hey what gives, Nancy is the head of our household. The response was, "Only a man can be the head of a household." Thank goodness times have changed! Thanks for the comment, Rick. :-)
What a great installment! It rang a number or bells in my hippocampus. When my now wife and I started living together, out of wedlock, my mother-in-law would tell people we were married "California style." When we bought our house we asked the banker if not being married was an impediment to getting a loan. He looked a bit surprised by the question, but the answer was an emphatic "if you have the income, no problem." I do have to take issue with the comment about heat in summer. Having grown up and spent my first 28 years in the northeast I agree about the humidity. There is nothing like a New York City subway in August, sans air conditioning, at 5:30 PM. But the lack of humidity, as we tend to have in Santa Clara county, only goes so far. I spent 4 days in Tucson once when the highs were around 120. It was certainly a dry heat, just as an oven is. Planes couldn't take off because the air density was too low. I have always maintained that cold is better than extreme heat as there is a limit to how much one can strip, but, given the proper clothing, one can withstand a lot of cold. Perhaps the adage that moderation is the best approach holds with temperature. But hot or cold, it's always good to be pickin' up those good vibrations.
Having spent some time in Antarctica, I agree about cold vs. heat, though I still prefer being a little too warm to being a little too cold. Arthritic joints will do that to you. An aside -- when John and I applied for our first major credit card, which must have been in 1974 or 1975, J was still working on his master's degree, and I was working full-time in the pre-press department of a printing company. My income far exceeded his stipend. We found we couldn't qualify, because, "The head of the household has insufficient income." We said, hey what gives, Nancy is the head of our household. The response was, "Only a man can be the head of a household." Thank goodness times have changed! Thanks for the comment, Rick. :-)
Thanks for the hearty belly laugh about Mom’s “when is the wedding?” question! I remember that!
It was one of her best lines (of many). :-)
Thanks for more details! I remember those blue-purple American Express traveler's checks!
They were visually quite lovely, weren't they? :-)