Corcoran Story - Chapter 1 - Dana

So here we are in Sunset Valley.

Given druthers I'd have chosen a bigger city, but the job offer came from Sunset Valley Fire Department.

Joe prefers a smaller town anyway. That dude is so laid back he gave up a free ride at MIT to geek out at Antioch. Of course, we wouldn't have met otherwise. Between their offering a Women's Studies major and their student run fire department where women had a real chance to excel, I wouldn't have been anywhere else.

I love fighting fires! There's no adrenaline rush like it. I'm usually a control freak, but when it's just the fire and me, I'm totally in the moment and in the zone.

I'm making friends with Agnes. She's awfully uptight but we women have to stick together.

Hazing in the firehouse is alive and well, laws or no laws. It may be it's about female or it may be about noob, but so far there've been bouillion cubes in the showerhead...

 

Chads in the firetruck's A/C vent, flour in the pillowcase and a dead mouse in the turnout boot. This is just in the first week! Who knew a college fire department would be so much more mature than the pros?

Worst of all, there was dog food in my chili!

Now I'm sick as a dog.

 

Ruh-roh! It wasn't the dog food after all.



There was that night Joe and I watched the stars.

Agnes warned me about that.

It's not the end of the world. We were going to get married sooner or later, when we could afford some massive parties and a wedding trip.

So it was sooner. We splurged on a wedding party with a cake.

Joseph Michael Corcoran, do not even *think* of smashing that cake in my face!

He wouldn't. Joe-Joe is the finest! Even though he's no more ready for a baby than I am, it's as though this was his idea from the beginning.

He's been teaching himself to cook. I've been craving pancakes all through my pregnancy, so he kept at it until they were just right.

We've been saving up for a computer forever. We bought a crib instead. By the way, the little pink bundle of joy is Nellie, named for Joe's grandmother.

If it's not one thing, it's another! I don't know how we're going to make it until I go back to work. There have been days when leftover wedding cake was all that stood between us and hunger.

The occasional odd job keeps us going.
 

We bought some toys for Nellie.

And, at long last, the computer! Joe is elated. Chess and astronomy have taken a back seat; meals and sleep have nearly fallen by the wayside.

Notwithstanding that his lifetime dream is to be a chess legend.

And to discover dozens of stars. So far, there's been ALGOL, BASIC, COBOL, DML, ECL and Fortran.

Back to work at long last!



Oh no! Not again! Yes we were being careful!

But, well, there was this chess opponent.

It didn't look as though their minds were altogether on chess.

Hussy, do not even think about inviting my husband to watch the stars!

There was this incident involving a pipe wrench.

Joe-Joe and I made up.

And we didn't even get the dishes done!