Montana Didn’t Have Affordable Housing Back Then, Either

When I moved out on my own, there was no "affordable housing". Also no "rental assistance". That's why you had to have roommates. And I had a couple of interesting ones.

My first one was a guy named Tim. If you've known me for any time at all, then you've met him. He drinks beer. He plays cribbage. He pays his half of the rent on time. Great guy.

But along the way, there were some not-so-good ones. One summer I lived in a house with four other people. One guy who had the room closest to the bathroom had a pet snake in an aquarium. And every so often that damned thing would strike the glass when anyone walked by.

I had to put up a guy for a few weeks when his wife kicked him out. Relationship tip number one: If you're gonna cheat on your wife, make sure the new gal's husband doesn't work for the phone company and can set up a recorder on their phone. Or just don't cheat in the first place.

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Then I had a gal that I'd known for most of my life. She just needed a room for a couple of weeks. But when I came home she had completely rearranged my furniture and some things on my bathroom shelves; she had to go.

But probably the worst was the guy who was living in his car. His cousin knew me and asked if I'd take him in until he could get on his feet. I did. Then he took a car stereo I had in the house. And he also left me with about a $500 phone bill.

And that's when Mark started to make more money. No more roommates.