Chapter 3

The Adventures of Richard Garrettson

Chapter 3: The Kona Days

Vol I

Richard searched for other jobs to supplement his part-time exterminator income.  He put his resume on Monster.com and checked in with a few of his previous employers.  As he was talking to the manager of a country club he worked at in past summers, he remembered an offer he received while visiting his friends in Austin, Texas.  His friend, Sigmund Pickler (Sig Pi for short), owns a snow cone truck franchise and mentioned to Richard that if he was ever free, he could drive a U-Haul down to Texas carrying two freezers from up North for a nice little payday.  Not having any luck in his job search, Richard called Siggy to see if the offer was still on the table.

Not only was the offer still available, Sig told Richard that he could really use another driver for his fleet.    As great as the plan sounded, Richard knew that he couldn't make a this decision without talking it over with his girlfriend, Begonia.  To his surprise, she instantly loved the idea and agreed to travel down to Texas and learn the snow cone trade with him.

They were all set.  They packed up Richard's tan Corolla and hit the road.  With an overnight stop in Memphis, the twenty-three hour drive took two days.  They arrived at their new place, said hello to their new roommates, and went over to the warehouse to learn their new vocation.  The other members of the team included Richard's old friends Andrew "Bacon" Elgie, and Vin Hasty.  Richard and Begonia learned the basic principles of ice-shaving and flavor-pouring before going back to the townhouse for some much needed rest.  The real fun started in the morning.

Siggy put Richard and Begonia on the road together for their first day.  He taught them the right speed and pace to use around the neighborhoods and sent them out to bring in some money.  Richard loved it.  He was out and about in a strange new city, driving a snow cone truck and rocking out to religious songs that were remade using steel drums (to give them an island feel).  It was a fun job, he had three great new roommates, and his girlfriend was happy, things were going just fine.

He had to run to IKEA to get a cheap little desk so that though it all, he could keep drawing cartoons...