Chapter 9
I handed the phone to my wife. Ann called her Mrs. McCartney. My wife objected saying: "My name is Filipina but everyone calls me Fil." Ann offered to take us out to dinner tomorrow night. My wife accepted and Ann asked her to choose a nice restaurant where we could all talk. The two chatted happily for about ten minutes. I was surprised, actually shocked, by this. Then it occurred to me that these two are friends over many lifetimes at the level of soul. It got me thinking about how strongly the soul can interact with the personality.
My wife passed the phone to me.
College choice.
Ann filled me in on her Friday. She met with Dr. Schmidt's friend and they had a wonderful talk. He asked her to just call him Ivan. She said that he really is an amazing person and Dr. Schmidt is right when he told me that he is a 'really nice guy.' He had passed her papers to the department head and they had several long discussions about how to recruit her.
She continued: "He called the university president and set up a meeting for us at 2:00 pm. We were supposed to get fifteen minutes.
"He took me on a tour of campus and bought me a very nice lunch in the faculty dining room. While at lunch Ivan spotted the head of the philosophy department and waved him over saying: "Here is a young lady you really need to meet." We had a very nice conversation and I came away with another firm supporter. He really lit up when she described the book she has started on the spiritual and philosophical ramifications of quantum physics.
"We met with the president and Ivan did a marvelous sales job on my behalf. The president asked me a number of questions and seemed pleased with my answers. It ended up with my being offered a special doctoral program. Basically: I'm going for two doctorates: physics and philosophy. I get to take those final exams that I want for credit, without concern for prerequisites, starting this semester. I do have to pay for the courses but that's OK with me. I will receive intermediate degrees as I meet the requirements for them. I am free to choose extra courses as I wish to qualify for those degrees. The president was firm on one point: I will need to live in a dorm for one school year, starting next fall. I do get to have a car on campus and I get to keep full rights to any and all inventions I have made or will make in the future. Ivan will be my faculty advisor. Our meeting ran forty minutes.
"Afterwards Ivan and I walked over to the admissions office and filled out paperwork. Then we walked over to the security office and I was given a student ID and a parking sticker."
She concluded with: " I'm in. This feels right."
After I hung up Fil said: "She seems really sweet."
I replied: "She is really sweet."
Saturday
Saturday was just as busy for Ann. First she scanned the real estate section of the phone book. She let her intuition run as she selected an agent. She called her and they made an appointment for that afternoon, meeting for lunch.
Ann was aware that her SUV was just to big for most of the campus lots. She needed something smaller. She decided on both small and fun. Then she went on line and located all the local Mazda dealers. She also looked up all there was to be known about Miata pricing.
She then drove to the closest and looked over the new Miatas. She then asked if they would be willing to accept a $500 profit on a clean deal for cash on a new Miata. They said yes but then tried to finagle a higher markup. She stuck to her guns and got her price. She would finish the transaction and pick up the car next week.
She had lunch with the real estate lady and explained that she wanted an office with attached living quarters. Describing what she wanted in office space as two or three offices and room for a lab. She also explained that her mother and sisters might come for extended visits so she wanted space for them as well. She wanted to lease with an option to buy but would buy now if that is what it would take. The agent argued that someone in Ann's position had very little chance of getting a mortgage. Ann explained that she would not need one. At first the agent seemed resistant to the idea but she finally concluded that Ann was very serious.
It was then that a light bulb went off in the agents head. There was a property that had come on the market a year before the might be what Ann wanted. The agent went on line and found it was still available. It had been a law office with housing above. It had been owned by two lawyers who died in quick succession. Another law firm bought the practice but did not want the building.
The agent called the listing office and they all met at the property. In many ways it looked like a large house. There were some differences however: The driveway turned into a large parking lot behind the building; There were two front doors, one at the right front corner of the building and another about ten feet away. Each door had an intercom.
We talked later and Ann described the tour: "We entered the left of the front doors. This opened into the foyer of the law office which was a sitting area in front and a receptionist's or secretary's desk toward the back. The suspended ceiling was twelve feet high. Just in front of the secretary's desk a hall ran off to the left. There were four doors on the left of this hall and three on the right plus an open area on the right between the second and third door, as well as a door at the very end.
The first door on the left opened into a large conference room. The conference table and chairs were still there and would seat 12 people. There were another dozen chairs along the walls. Nice chairs.
The next door opened into another room with a small table and several chairs but this room featured floor to ceiling bookcases on both side walls. Each side wall had a wheeled ladder on tracks for access to the upper shelves. There were also bookcases under and around the front windows.
The third door opened into a long narrow storage room. The fourth door opened into a smaller conference room which also had an outside door, basically a fire exit.
The three doors on the right side of the hall each opened into a large office. Each still had a desk, chair, guest chairs and a table. There was an intercom box on each desk.
The open space was a kitchenette area with a full size refrigerator, a small counter with a sink and cabinets and a table with a microwave and coffee machine on it. There was a door at the back of this area that led to a narrow hall with an elevator on the right and an outside door.
The last door at the end of the hall was a small half bath.
Most of the walls were paneled. It was nice wood.
After exploring this we returned to the foyer which had three additional doors. One at the back went to the parking lot. We went through the front of the two doors on the right side of the foyer. This led to stairs to the second floor.
The stairs went to a large living room with a free standing fireplace in one corner. The living room had a railing overlooking the stairs. Beyond the living room was a small dining room. Beyond that was a very nice kitchen. Most of the appliances looked fairly new and there was lots of cabinet and counter space. The elevator went to the kitchen. Along the front of the building were three nice size bedrooms and a full bath with shower. The last bedroom had its own bath with a Jacuzzi tub for two and a bidet. Past the kitchen was another small bedroom.
The second floor ceiling was normal height.
"The bedroom in front of the living room had stairs to the attic which was fully floored and had an air conditioner air handler and ducting as well as the elevator mechanism. There was still lots of usable storage space.
"Returning to the foyer we went through the last door which led to the basement. The basement was divided in two by a wall with a large door. The front half was concrete but the back part was carpeted. The area around the clothes washer and drier was tile. It was clear that this was a dry basement. There was a second air handler in the basement in addition to the furnace and water heater. The elevator opened into the carpeted side. There were a number of storage cabinets along both sides of the dividing wall. There was also lots of empty steel shelving, two wheeled carts and a hand truck.
"We took the elevator back to the first floor. It measures about 5 by 6.
"We went outside and walked around the building. The siding was aluminum and looked fairly new or at least well maintained. The door at the elevator had an arrow pointing toward the foyer door and a label: "Use other door." There was a two car garage facing the parking lot. On the other side of the parking lot was a stair down to the basement and behind that was a slab with two air conditioners. The parking lot had twelve spaces.
"We looked at the lot next door which is mostly woods. It is part of this property.
"By the way it is within walking distance of campus."
Ann told the agent that she was very interested but wanted her partner to look it over too. They arranged to possibly meet again on Sunday.
Ann meets my wife.
Ann drove to our house and we all went in my car to a small restaurant out in the country that is one of Fil's favorites.
Ann and Fil really hit it off. We enjoyed a great meal. We went back to our house and Fil invited Ann in.
Fil inviting Ann in was totally out of character for Fil. The way this was unfolding was mind boggling to me.
