16-11-2019, 07:28 AM
Update 01
My parents had a weird sense of humor! My name is Justin, and my twin sister is Rosemary. The last name? Thyme. I guess I should be grateful. They could have named me Sage or Parsley. Needless to say, those names were an albatross about our necks the whole time we were growing up. They didn't keep us from having friends, but the constant teasing grew old a long time ago.
I'm nothing special, just your run of the mill high college senior nerd/tech geek, slight of stature and build. I ran cross-country and the two mile in track, but otherwise was not in to sports all that much. Rosemary on the other hand was into volleyball and soccer, having played soccer since she was 5 years old. I started playing then, too, but I got bored with it early on. I was much more interested in taking things apart to see why they worked, which had disastrous consequences when I took apart our brand new projection TV, back when they were the new thing on the market.
Fortunately, the TV repair guy was able to put it back together. I hadn't broken anything. In fact, I had laid the pieces out so neatly it was easy for him. He let me watch what he was doing with the absolute promise I would never take apart anything else in the house. He saved my life when he told my father how neatly I had done everything, and promised to bring by some electronics that had been deemed unrepairable or unworthy of repair so I could tinker on them. I think I was eight at the time.
When I was twelve I started riding my bike over to his shop and he let me "work" with him on repairing things, and taught me how to read a schematic and to use electrical meters and other tools. By the time I was fifteen I could work on about anything, and had a room full of gadgets and an awesome sound system; All of which I had either rebuilt, or in some cases built up from scratch for myself.
I started building out sets for friends and selling them, which made me some nice pocket change, and a name for myself. Plus, I started working at Jim's Electronics as soon as I was legal at 16. Our college had a great Industrial Arts program, with a variety of course tracks we could follow.
Woodworking and Architectural Drafting didn't interest me, and the Electronics/Electrical classes were all very elementary to me, but I took them anyway, just because Dave Hulvey, the teacher was a cool guy, and he had a cute daughter. Mr. Hulvey knew his class was not going to teach me anything, so he allowed me to use the equipment and design and build my own computer as a class project, provided also helped mentor some of the other kids in the class. I pulled an A in the class with no problems, and came out with what at the time was a better computer than you could buy off the shelf. Some of the things I had in there didn't come out on the market for two years.
What really made me the hero as far as Janelle, Mr. Hulvey's daughter was concerned was when I rescued the Junior Class Play. On Thursday evening, right after college, during dress rehearsal the sound system blew, and there was no way to call someone in to work on it. Actually, the system was older than Methusaluh's housecat, and should have been given a good Christian burial a long time ago. It used TUBES for goodness sake! I was in the electronics room tinkering on my computer when Janelle came running in looking for her father.
"Where's Daddy, Justin?"
"He left early. Said he was taking your mother out tonight to celebrate their anniversary."
"Oh, no. I forgot! Now, what do we do?" She sat down in her dad's chair and held her face in her hands and started crying.
"Hey, now. What's the problem?"
"The sound system in the auditorium died. We can't go on with the dress rehearsal without sound, and we really need the rehearsal."
"Want me to take a look?"
"Can you do anything with it? Would you be allowed?"
I smirked. "With that old thing? I don't know, but I can take a look."
Janelle slumped her shoulders as she stood up. "I guess it can't hurt. You can't break it any worse than it already is." Slowly she walked out of the room as I gathered a few tools and followed a few seconds later. Walking behind her was never a chore anyway! I loved watching her ass move as she walked. She was so dejected I don't even think she was aware I was following, otherwise I would have been busted.
When I arrived in the sound booth/projection room of the auditorium Mrs. Sylvester was flipping switches and pushing buttons vainly trying to get some life out of the box somehow. "Hi, Mrs. Sylvester. Mind if I take a look at it for you?"
"Do you know anything about these?"
"Not much about one that old. Mostly I deal with electronics, but it can't be too hard to figure out the problem. If it is just a tube it will be no problem, if we have one around." When she stepped out of the way I knelt down on the floor and pulled the cabinet out to where I could get a good look at it. I already knew it wasn't a tube. The smell of burnt wiring was strong in the room. "Janelle, why don't you find a way to prop that door open? Breathing these fumes can't be good for us."
Janelle propped open the door as I opened the access panel. "You know, this system is older than I am! I'm amazed it still worked." I took one look at the charred wiring inside the box and closed the panel back up. "I'm sorry, but this system is dead. The capacitor overheated and caught fire, burning the wiring out. I'm surprised it didn't set off the alarm and sprinklers!"
Janelle slumped to the floor and started crying. She had finally won the lead role, and was devastated by the news. Without the sound system there was no way to go on with the dress rehearsal, and it was doubtful they could find another system and get it installed in time for the first performance Friday night. I started looking around at the sound board and what they had available and jotted down some notes on the back of a program the sound operator was using.
"If I can get a ride to my house I can get you back up and running for rehearsal tonight, and I can have a better system in place for you to use tomorrow night. Tonight will be rather jury-rigged, but it will let you rehearse."
Janelle jumped up from the floor and threw her arms around me. "Really, can you do that?"
"I'll need about an hour before I can have you going tonight, and then I'll need to work on it afterwards and during the day tomorrow. Can you get me out of classes, Mrs. Sylvester?"
"If you can get us operating classes will be no problem!"
"I'll drive you home, if that's OK, Mrs. Sylvester?" At her nod Janelle and I hurried out to her car, and she drove me home. I sat there basically tongue-tied, riding all alone with my crush, who I don't think even knew I existed before now. When we arrived I asked her if she would please come in with me and help me gather what was needed and to carry it out. I should have asked a couple of the guys to come along but I'm really glad I didn't. They would have been a help, but they also would have been in the way. Not that I was going to do anything. I was much too shy to try.
When we walked into my bedroom Janelle's eyes bugged out. "Whoa! Where did you get all this stuff? You've got more electronics than some stores!" She looked at me suspiciously at first.
"Most of it I have either rebuilt, or some of it I built from scratch. You like?"
She walked around looking, especially at my stereo set up. "What is all this stuff, anyway?"
"Well, there is a pre-amp, an amplifier, an equalizer, a receiver, turn-table, tape deck, an old eight-track I kept just for fun, a five disk CD player, a mixer, a couple of older game systems, a VCR, and a DVD player. The pre-amp, amplifier, and the mixer I built myself because I didn't like the sound quality of what I had. The speakers," I pointed up to the corners of the room and to the subwoofer against the far wall, "are custom. I built them myself for the room size and acoustics. I also designed my own surround sound to fit the room."
"It's amazing! I never saw anything like it! Can I hear it?"
"Quickly. We don't have much time if you want to have your rehearsal." I plugged in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, not because I thought she would like it, but because I wanted to show off the sound. "Here, sit at my desk. That is where the sound is best for right now. When I go to bed I adjust it to the other side of the room."
"You can do that?"
"Sure. It's not that hard."
"Right! That's why everyone has a setup like this!" The sarcasm fairly dripped as she spoke. Just then those famous opening notes boomed out and her jaw dropped open. As the first movement opened up and the themes were presented she looked at me in awe. "I feel like I'm in the orchestra pit itself! I don't really like classical, but I could like this!"
"Close your eyes and sit quietly now." I stopped the Fifth Symphony and slipped in the disk for Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. As the richness of the quiet tones poured from the speakers Janelle just melted into the chair. Since it is a fairly short piece I allowed her to just enjoy its beauty while I gathered other equipment we would need.
"That was awesome," Janelle whispered as the last notes faded from our ears. I, who am an audiophile, sometimes forget how good I have it, and to see someone I like so much overwhelmed by the beauty thrills me. "I wish I had a setup like this."
"We had better get moving if we are going to be able to have your rehearsal. Can you grab that box and carry it out? I'll carry out this equipment." It took me two trips to get out what I needed. Janelle followed me back in for the second trip, although I didn't need her to carry anything. When we stepped into my room she pushed the door closed and gave me a big hug and kiss that curled my toes. "I just wanted to say thank you for doing this for me. And thank you for sharing your music." She gave me another kiss, just a soft one this time, but it was very nice just the same. The feeling of her in my arms, and her soft breasts against my chest stayed in my memory and fueled my imaginations for a long time. All the work I was doing was well worthwhile for that kiss.
When we returned to the college I asked Mrs. Sylvester to have a table and some extension cords brought down to the front of the auditorium. I quickly set up a temporary sound control station and ran some cables to either side of the stage and placed a speaker at each side. "This is not sufficient for your performance, by any means," I told Mrs. Sylvester, "but it should be sufficient for you to rehearse. I have some other equipment I can bring back later, but I'm going to have to hang new speakers in the auditorium and run new cables. What is in here now is too outdated for me to use with my gear. If I tried to hook the old speakers up to my amps and turn any power through them they would blow, and the old cables have so much impedance the sound is bad. It is past time for it to be updated. Would it be possible to have a couple of the guys cut class tomorrow to help me run the cable and set things up? We're going to be close on getting it all done in time."
Mrs. Sylvester agreed to arrange for two of the actors to work with me each hour of the college day, and OK'd my request to buy the cable I needed for the sound. I know it was not in the budget, but she was getting free labor and expertise. Much of the equipment we would need I had already, and had refurbished it to better than when it was new. I wouldn't give it to them, but the price was much lower than what they would be able to purchase at much lesser quality. Mrs. Sylvester was a little concerned about OK'ing purchases without going through the normal process, so we left it that if the Board of Education did not want to buy the equipment after the performance I would remove it again, and all they would be out would be the cost of the cable. I was very confident they would not want to hire contractors to replace everything after I had already put it in place at no charge. The things a kid will do for a kiss from a pretty girl!
The rehearsal went very well, and everyone was amazed at the better sound coming from a jury-rigged setup with just two small speakers. Janelle kept going on and on about the system in my room, and how good it sounded. I had several people ask if I would build systems for them, so it looked like I would generate some good business from doing this good deed. I wished I had time to build out a balanced system for the auditorium, but that was not going to be possible. The time constraint was too great, and the expense would not be approved I knew. I could still provide a much improved system though that would serve the college well for a long time.
I had no intention of attending the performance Friday night, but after setting up the new soundboard and amplifier in the sound booth and showing it to Mr. Purdy, who ran the old soundboard, he just shook his head. "Justin, there is no way I can run a board like that. You've got more gadgets and do-dads on that board than Carter's got liver pills. You're going to have to stay around and run it until you can teach me what to do." I couldn't very well just drop it on them and then leave, so Friday night found me back at the college, as did Saturday night.
I will say this for Mrs. Sylvester: She publicly thanked me and Jim's Electronics for getting the sound system up and running, saving the show. She also recommended my services to anyone wanting special sound setups, which led to more phone calls for estimates than I could handle. Just-in-Thyme Custom Electronics was born as a result, which was not bad for a 16 year old kid. I never got another kiss from Janelle, though.
I'm a bit of a late bloomer, and while I've always been interested in girls, I never took the time to pursue them. I was so busy with college, running, work, and my business that girls kind of took a back seat. It was in the spring of our senior year that I got a wake-up call, and it was Rosemary that gave it to me. Although twins, we were definitely fraternal twins. We had so little in common that some didn't even believe we were related at first.
For one thing, she is the spitting image of Mom, less 23 years. To look at Mom you know Rosemary is going to look great at 41 also. She has red-gold hair that is naturally curly, but not frizzy like a lot of red-heads are. She doesn't have freckles either, but she does have piercing green eyes that seem to reach out and grab you. Years of playing soccer and volleyball have kept her in great shape. She is somewhat reserved and quiet, but yet friendly to everyone, and doesn't have an enemy that I know of. Not a great beauty, but not one you would want to put a bag over her head either. Just a normal girl.
Me on the other hand? I look like Dad. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but neither is it anything that will get me on the cover of GQ or any other magazine. I'm a tall 5'6" in my shoes, and I weigh a whole 128 lbs of wiry muscle. Running has kept me lean and fit, but I'm no prize that the girls are clamoring for either. My hair, instead of an attractive red-gold like hers, mine was a flat, dull, straight, brown.
Rosemary and I love each other, but we really don't have all that much in common, so we don't spend all that much time together. It wasn't until the week before our 18th birthday that I had an epiphany. It was on the Friday before our birthday on the next Tuesday, and we had no college because of a teacher's workday. Rosemary had a couple of her friends over in the afternoon to swim and sun. (Here in southern Arizona we keep our pool open all year.) I walked out of my room, where I had the music blasting, to get a Coke when Rosemary's door opened across the hall and Susie walked out in her bikini, headed to the pool. Now, Susie won't be seen on the cover of Sports Illustrated, or one of the inside pages either, but still, she was female, not ugly, and did I mention the bikini?
"Oh, Hi, Justin! Say, can you show me your sound system? I've wanted to see it since you fixed the system at college." When she put her hand on my arm I swallowed hard and just nodded. We stepped into my room, and she oohed over all the stuff. "Janelle told me you played a really beautiful piece of music for her and you had her sitting where the sound was optimized. She has been trying to match it ever since, but she can't. What did you play?"
"Oh, that piece. Yeah, Pachelbel's Canon. It's one of my favorites for when I want to sit and think. Sit here at my desk, and I'll put it on for you." She sat down in my desk chair and leaned back to watch as I put the CD into the player and reset the surround sound. One of the AC vents is right over the desk chair, and the AC kicked on right then. I noticed two bumps appearing on the front of her top from the chilled air. "Lean your head back and close your eyes. Just let the music envelope you." And let me stare at your pokies without being caught perving! I watched as the music washed over her, and saw her relax and go with the music, her nipples poking out the front of her bikini, and the thought struck me that three girls had been changing into their swimwear just right across the hall from me. What could I do to watch? I'd have to give this some real thought.
The music stopped, and Susie stood up with a dreamy look in her eyes. Pachelbel can do that to you if you really get into it. It's very introspective. The other girls came out of Rosemary's room just then, and Susie turned to leave with them, but stopped and gave me a hug and said "Thanks." Maybe I was on to something else. Two girls listening to my sound system, two hugs. Coincidence? Probably, but still a nice thought.
Rosemary and Stephanie looked into the room in passing, and I knew for sure Mom and Dad weren't home! There was no way Rosemary was wearing THAT bathing suit with them around! I said something about it, and Rosemary did a little pirouette in the hallway. "You like it? Good. I'll have to take it to the lake on Memorial Day, then."
"You're actually going to wear that in public?" squealed Steph. Rosemary just grinned and walked on down the hall. I know she is my sister, but WOW! I had to adjust myself just as soon as Susie got out of sight. I had been about half hard already from looking at her pokies, but Rosemary finished it off. Now I had to get thinking about seeing into her room. I know, I know, I'm creepy, but c'est la vie.
With the girls out of the house I snuck into Rosemary's room to see if I could get any ideas. While there I might have taken a peek at their underwear just to see what size bras they wore. Rosemary's is a 36C. Anyway, I didn't see anything special about the room, not that I really expected to. We didn't have an adjoining wall or any connection. I was just fishing for ideas. All I saw was the typical girl's room with posters of guys she thought were hot, makeup on her dresser, and a bunch of stuffed animals. She isn't geeky like me and isn't into technology or anything. In fact, all she had for music was a clock radio! She had an iPod with earbuds on her bed table, but that was it. Major contrast between our rooms, and that is for sure! Mine was packed with all sorts of technology. Somehow I had to make that work for.
I went back to my room and sat down at my desk with the internet open, but I just stared at the home page. I restarted Pachelbel and thought. What was there about her room, about her in general that I could use? She was an athlete, but still somewhat of a girly girl. It had to be something unobtrusive, something she would accept without thought or hesitation. How could I introduce technology in such a manner it wouldn't tip her off or that she wouldn't reject outright. I had offered to build her a stereo system of her own, but she was not interested. Her iPod and radio were more than sufficient for what she wanted. She had a laptop, but rarely used it other than for homework. Her posters were a non-starter for sure. What could you do with a poster?
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My parents had a weird sense of humor! My name is Justin, and my twin sister is Rosemary. The last name? Thyme. I guess I should be grateful. They could have named me Sage or Parsley. Needless to say, those names were an albatross about our necks the whole time we were growing up. They didn't keep us from having friends, but the constant teasing grew old a long time ago.
I'm nothing special, just your run of the mill high college senior nerd/tech geek, slight of stature and build. I ran cross-country and the two mile in track, but otherwise was not in to sports all that much. Rosemary on the other hand was into volleyball and soccer, having played soccer since she was 5 years old. I started playing then, too, but I got bored with it early on. I was much more interested in taking things apart to see why they worked, which had disastrous consequences when I took apart our brand new projection TV, back when they were the new thing on the market.
Fortunately, the TV repair guy was able to put it back together. I hadn't broken anything. In fact, I had laid the pieces out so neatly it was easy for him. He let me watch what he was doing with the absolute promise I would never take apart anything else in the house. He saved my life when he told my father how neatly I had done everything, and promised to bring by some electronics that had been deemed unrepairable or unworthy of repair so I could tinker on them. I think I was eight at the time.
When I was twelve I started riding my bike over to his shop and he let me "work" with him on repairing things, and taught me how to read a schematic and to use electrical meters and other tools. By the time I was fifteen I could work on about anything, and had a room full of gadgets and an awesome sound system; All of which I had either rebuilt, or in some cases built up from scratch for myself.
I started building out sets for friends and selling them, which made me some nice pocket change, and a name for myself. Plus, I started working at Jim's Electronics as soon as I was legal at 16. Our college had a great Industrial Arts program, with a variety of course tracks we could follow.
Woodworking and Architectural Drafting didn't interest me, and the Electronics/Electrical classes were all very elementary to me, but I took them anyway, just because Dave Hulvey, the teacher was a cool guy, and he had a cute daughter. Mr. Hulvey knew his class was not going to teach me anything, so he allowed me to use the equipment and design and build my own computer as a class project, provided also helped mentor some of the other kids in the class. I pulled an A in the class with no problems, and came out with what at the time was a better computer than you could buy off the shelf. Some of the things I had in there didn't come out on the market for two years.
What really made me the hero as far as Janelle, Mr. Hulvey's daughter was concerned was when I rescued the Junior Class Play. On Thursday evening, right after college, during dress rehearsal the sound system blew, and there was no way to call someone in to work on it. Actually, the system was older than Methusaluh's housecat, and should have been given a good Christian burial a long time ago. It used TUBES for goodness sake! I was in the electronics room tinkering on my computer when Janelle came running in looking for her father.
"Where's Daddy, Justin?"
"He left early. Said he was taking your mother out tonight to celebrate their anniversary."
"Oh, no. I forgot! Now, what do we do?" She sat down in her dad's chair and held her face in her hands and started crying.
"Hey, now. What's the problem?"
"The sound system in the auditorium died. We can't go on with the dress rehearsal without sound, and we really need the rehearsal."
"Want me to take a look?"
"Can you do anything with it? Would you be allowed?"
I smirked. "With that old thing? I don't know, but I can take a look."
Janelle slumped her shoulders as she stood up. "I guess it can't hurt. You can't break it any worse than it already is." Slowly she walked out of the room as I gathered a few tools and followed a few seconds later. Walking behind her was never a chore anyway! I loved watching her ass move as she walked. She was so dejected I don't even think she was aware I was following, otherwise I would have been busted.
When I arrived in the sound booth/projection room of the auditorium Mrs. Sylvester was flipping switches and pushing buttons vainly trying to get some life out of the box somehow. "Hi, Mrs. Sylvester. Mind if I take a look at it for you?"
"Do you know anything about these?"
"Not much about one that old. Mostly I deal with electronics, but it can't be too hard to figure out the problem. If it is just a tube it will be no problem, if we have one around." When she stepped out of the way I knelt down on the floor and pulled the cabinet out to where I could get a good look at it. I already knew it wasn't a tube. The smell of burnt wiring was strong in the room. "Janelle, why don't you find a way to prop that door open? Breathing these fumes can't be good for us."
Janelle propped open the door as I opened the access panel. "You know, this system is older than I am! I'm amazed it still worked." I took one look at the charred wiring inside the box and closed the panel back up. "I'm sorry, but this system is dead. The capacitor overheated and caught fire, burning the wiring out. I'm surprised it didn't set off the alarm and sprinklers!"
Janelle slumped to the floor and started crying. She had finally won the lead role, and was devastated by the news. Without the sound system there was no way to go on with the dress rehearsal, and it was doubtful they could find another system and get it installed in time for the first performance Friday night. I started looking around at the sound board and what they had available and jotted down some notes on the back of a program the sound operator was using.
"If I can get a ride to my house I can get you back up and running for rehearsal tonight, and I can have a better system in place for you to use tomorrow night. Tonight will be rather jury-rigged, but it will let you rehearse."
Janelle jumped up from the floor and threw her arms around me. "Really, can you do that?"
"I'll need about an hour before I can have you going tonight, and then I'll need to work on it afterwards and during the day tomorrow. Can you get me out of classes, Mrs. Sylvester?"
"If you can get us operating classes will be no problem!"
"I'll drive you home, if that's OK, Mrs. Sylvester?" At her nod Janelle and I hurried out to her car, and she drove me home. I sat there basically tongue-tied, riding all alone with my crush, who I don't think even knew I existed before now. When we arrived I asked her if she would please come in with me and help me gather what was needed and to carry it out. I should have asked a couple of the guys to come along but I'm really glad I didn't. They would have been a help, but they also would have been in the way. Not that I was going to do anything. I was much too shy to try.
When we walked into my bedroom Janelle's eyes bugged out. "Whoa! Where did you get all this stuff? You've got more electronics than some stores!" She looked at me suspiciously at first.
"Most of it I have either rebuilt, or some of it I built from scratch. You like?"
She walked around looking, especially at my stereo set up. "What is all this stuff, anyway?"
"Well, there is a pre-amp, an amplifier, an equalizer, a receiver, turn-table, tape deck, an old eight-track I kept just for fun, a five disk CD player, a mixer, a couple of older game systems, a VCR, and a DVD player. The pre-amp, amplifier, and the mixer I built myself because I didn't like the sound quality of what I had. The speakers," I pointed up to the corners of the room and to the subwoofer against the far wall, "are custom. I built them myself for the room size and acoustics. I also designed my own surround sound to fit the room."
"It's amazing! I never saw anything like it! Can I hear it?"
"Quickly. We don't have much time if you want to have your rehearsal." I plugged in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, not because I thought she would like it, but because I wanted to show off the sound. "Here, sit at my desk. That is where the sound is best for right now. When I go to bed I adjust it to the other side of the room."
"You can do that?"
"Sure. It's not that hard."
"Right! That's why everyone has a setup like this!" The sarcasm fairly dripped as she spoke. Just then those famous opening notes boomed out and her jaw dropped open. As the first movement opened up and the themes were presented she looked at me in awe. "I feel like I'm in the orchestra pit itself! I don't really like classical, but I could like this!"
"Close your eyes and sit quietly now." I stopped the Fifth Symphony and slipped in the disk for Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. As the richness of the quiet tones poured from the speakers Janelle just melted into the chair. Since it is a fairly short piece I allowed her to just enjoy its beauty while I gathered other equipment we would need.
"That was awesome," Janelle whispered as the last notes faded from our ears. I, who am an audiophile, sometimes forget how good I have it, and to see someone I like so much overwhelmed by the beauty thrills me. "I wish I had a setup like this."
"We had better get moving if we are going to be able to have your rehearsal. Can you grab that box and carry it out? I'll carry out this equipment." It took me two trips to get out what I needed. Janelle followed me back in for the second trip, although I didn't need her to carry anything. When we stepped into my room she pushed the door closed and gave me a big hug and kiss that curled my toes. "I just wanted to say thank you for doing this for me. And thank you for sharing your music." She gave me another kiss, just a soft one this time, but it was very nice just the same. The feeling of her in my arms, and her soft breasts against my chest stayed in my memory and fueled my imaginations for a long time. All the work I was doing was well worthwhile for that kiss.
When we returned to the college I asked Mrs. Sylvester to have a table and some extension cords brought down to the front of the auditorium. I quickly set up a temporary sound control station and ran some cables to either side of the stage and placed a speaker at each side. "This is not sufficient for your performance, by any means," I told Mrs. Sylvester, "but it should be sufficient for you to rehearse. I have some other equipment I can bring back later, but I'm going to have to hang new speakers in the auditorium and run new cables. What is in here now is too outdated for me to use with my gear. If I tried to hook the old speakers up to my amps and turn any power through them they would blow, and the old cables have so much impedance the sound is bad. It is past time for it to be updated. Would it be possible to have a couple of the guys cut class tomorrow to help me run the cable and set things up? We're going to be close on getting it all done in time."
Mrs. Sylvester agreed to arrange for two of the actors to work with me each hour of the college day, and OK'd my request to buy the cable I needed for the sound. I know it was not in the budget, but she was getting free labor and expertise. Much of the equipment we would need I had already, and had refurbished it to better than when it was new. I wouldn't give it to them, but the price was much lower than what they would be able to purchase at much lesser quality. Mrs. Sylvester was a little concerned about OK'ing purchases without going through the normal process, so we left it that if the Board of Education did not want to buy the equipment after the performance I would remove it again, and all they would be out would be the cost of the cable. I was very confident they would not want to hire contractors to replace everything after I had already put it in place at no charge. The things a kid will do for a kiss from a pretty girl!
The rehearsal went very well, and everyone was amazed at the better sound coming from a jury-rigged setup with just two small speakers. Janelle kept going on and on about the system in my room, and how good it sounded. I had several people ask if I would build systems for them, so it looked like I would generate some good business from doing this good deed. I wished I had time to build out a balanced system for the auditorium, but that was not going to be possible. The time constraint was too great, and the expense would not be approved I knew. I could still provide a much improved system though that would serve the college well for a long time.
I had no intention of attending the performance Friday night, but after setting up the new soundboard and amplifier in the sound booth and showing it to Mr. Purdy, who ran the old soundboard, he just shook his head. "Justin, there is no way I can run a board like that. You've got more gadgets and do-dads on that board than Carter's got liver pills. You're going to have to stay around and run it until you can teach me what to do." I couldn't very well just drop it on them and then leave, so Friday night found me back at the college, as did Saturday night.
I will say this for Mrs. Sylvester: She publicly thanked me and Jim's Electronics for getting the sound system up and running, saving the show. She also recommended my services to anyone wanting special sound setups, which led to more phone calls for estimates than I could handle. Just-in-Thyme Custom Electronics was born as a result, which was not bad for a 16 year old kid. I never got another kiss from Janelle, though.
I'm a bit of a late bloomer, and while I've always been interested in girls, I never took the time to pursue them. I was so busy with college, running, work, and my business that girls kind of took a back seat. It was in the spring of our senior year that I got a wake-up call, and it was Rosemary that gave it to me. Although twins, we were definitely fraternal twins. We had so little in common that some didn't even believe we were related at first.
For one thing, she is the spitting image of Mom, less 23 years. To look at Mom you know Rosemary is going to look great at 41 also. She has red-gold hair that is naturally curly, but not frizzy like a lot of red-heads are. She doesn't have freckles either, but she does have piercing green eyes that seem to reach out and grab you. Years of playing soccer and volleyball have kept her in great shape. She is somewhat reserved and quiet, but yet friendly to everyone, and doesn't have an enemy that I know of. Not a great beauty, but not one you would want to put a bag over her head either. Just a normal girl.
Me on the other hand? I look like Dad. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but neither is it anything that will get me on the cover of GQ or any other magazine. I'm a tall 5'6" in my shoes, and I weigh a whole 128 lbs of wiry muscle. Running has kept me lean and fit, but I'm no prize that the girls are clamoring for either. My hair, instead of an attractive red-gold like hers, mine was a flat, dull, straight, brown.
Rosemary and I love each other, but we really don't have all that much in common, so we don't spend all that much time together. It wasn't until the week before our 18th birthday that I had an epiphany. It was on the Friday before our birthday on the next Tuesday, and we had no college because of a teacher's workday. Rosemary had a couple of her friends over in the afternoon to swim and sun. (Here in southern Arizona we keep our pool open all year.) I walked out of my room, where I had the music blasting, to get a Coke when Rosemary's door opened across the hall and Susie walked out in her bikini, headed to the pool. Now, Susie won't be seen on the cover of Sports Illustrated, or one of the inside pages either, but still, she was female, not ugly, and did I mention the bikini?
"Oh, Hi, Justin! Say, can you show me your sound system? I've wanted to see it since you fixed the system at college." When she put her hand on my arm I swallowed hard and just nodded. We stepped into my room, and she oohed over all the stuff. "Janelle told me you played a really beautiful piece of music for her and you had her sitting where the sound was optimized. She has been trying to match it ever since, but she can't. What did you play?"
"Oh, that piece. Yeah, Pachelbel's Canon. It's one of my favorites for when I want to sit and think. Sit here at my desk, and I'll put it on for you." She sat down in my desk chair and leaned back to watch as I put the CD into the player and reset the surround sound. One of the AC vents is right over the desk chair, and the AC kicked on right then. I noticed two bumps appearing on the front of her top from the chilled air. "Lean your head back and close your eyes. Just let the music envelope you." And let me stare at your pokies without being caught perving! I watched as the music washed over her, and saw her relax and go with the music, her nipples poking out the front of her bikini, and the thought struck me that three girls had been changing into their swimwear just right across the hall from me. What could I do to watch? I'd have to give this some real thought.
The music stopped, and Susie stood up with a dreamy look in her eyes. Pachelbel can do that to you if you really get into it. It's very introspective. The other girls came out of Rosemary's room just then, and Susie turned to leave with them, but stopped and gave me a hug and said "Thanks." Maybe I was on to something else. Two girls listening to my sound system, two hugs. Coincidence? Probably, but still a nice thought.
Rosemary and Stephanie looked into the room in passing, and I knew for sure Mom and Dad weren't home! There was no way Rosemary was wearing THAT bathing suit with them around! I said something about it, and Rosemary did a little pirouette in the hallway. "You like it? Good. I'll have to take it to the lake on Memorial Day, then."
"You're actually going to wear that in public?" squealed Steph. Rosemary just grinned and walked on down the hall. I know she is my sister, but WOW! I had to adjust myself just as soon as Susie got out of sight. I had been about half hard already from looking at her pokies, but Rosemary finished it off. Now I had to get thinking about seeing into her room. I know, I know, I'm creepy, but c'est la vie.
With the girls out of the house I snuck into Rosemary's room to see if I could get any ideas. While there I might have taken a peek at their underwear just to see what size bras they wore. Rosemary's is a 36C. Anyway, I didn't see anything special about the room, not that I really expected to. We didn't have an adjoining wall or any connection. I was just fishing for ideas. All I saw was the typical girl's room with posters of guys she thought were hot, makeup on her dresser, and a bunch of stuffed animals. She isn't geeky like me and isn't into technology or anything. In fact, all she had for music was a clock radio! She had an iPod with earbuds on her bed table, but that was it. Major contrast between our rooms, and that is for sure! Mine was packed with all sorts of technology. Somehow I had to make that work for.
I went back to my room and sat down at my desk with the internet open, but I just stared at the home page. I restarted Pachelbel and thought. What was there about her room, about her in general that I could use? She was an athlete, but still somewhat of a girly girl. It had to be something unobtrusive, something she would accept without thought or hesitation. How could I introduce technology in such a manner it wouldn't tip her off or that she wouldn't reject outright. I had offered to build her a stereo system of her own, but she was not interested. Her iPod and radio were more than sufficient for what she wanted. She had a laptop, but rarely used it other than for homework. Her posters were a non-starter for sure. What could you do with a poster?
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