New Digs

As soon as Karina got back to Dallas with her new husband she started looking for a bigger place to live... Yeah - the apartment in Oak Lawn was was a one bedroom and there were four of us so it was a bit crowded :-)

Of course, money was also a problem... Karina was no longer a "kept woman" and Bernie (her ex) wasn't too eager to help out given that she had just gone off and gotten re-married... Her new husband was penniless... And that left me...
During the time I'd been with the McDaniels I had still been getting child support payments from dad and I had hardly spent any of it. By mid June of 1972 my bank account was up to roughly $400 (about $2200 in 2012 dollars). I was planning on saving until I could afford a better car but Karina decided otherwise. Since she "needed" money it was obvious I had to give her all of mine. (That was 40 years ago, and yes - I'm still pissed off about it.)

The Dallas area was undergoing a lot of growth at the time so it wasn't very hard to find a bigger place. It was in a brand new complex that had just opened up in Addison, Texas (just north of Dallas) and the rent was quite reasonable. We got a 2 story, 3 bedroom, 2 bath unit (furnished) right on the pool for something like $210 a month. So my $400 was more than enough to cover all of the "move in" expenses.

Aside: I cannot believe how much that area has changed. Back in 1972 the road leading north to Addison from the LBJ freeway had stop signs. That little road has since become the Dallas North Tollway and it is lined with high rise office buildings for miles.
The apartment complex was (is) on the north side of Verde Valley Lane between the Tollway and Montfort Drive. (It used to be a single big complex but has since been divided into smaller ones.) Our unit was near the east end. (If you check Google maps you'll see kind of an odd shaped looped driveway with a pool right in the middle. We were in the building between the pool and Verde Valley.)

Another aside: I probably shouldn't admit this, but one of my most enduring memories from that apartment is of the woman next door. She drove a 69 Buick GS and left it parked on Verde Valley right outside my window (so I saw her frequently). She looked to be in her mid-30s and of Italian heritage (long black hair)... Very physically fit - moved like a dancer... She usually wore skirts that were quite short but loose fitting (flared?) so they kind of swished around her upper thighs as she walked... Yeah -"sexy" doesn't begin to describe it...  But I digress :-)

I remember hearing that the apartment complex had been built as a tax shelter for some investors. I'm not sure about that, but the "fit and finish" definitely left something to be desired. For example: The openings between the rooms were edged with badly warped lumber. There were wicked curves in a couple of spots... Then the first time we used the dishwasher we discovered that the drain wasn't hooked up - and it didn't take long to realize that one of the toilets was hooked up to the hot water...

The plumbing issues were quickly fixed, but we had a much bigger problem: The monthly rent was twice the amount of my child support, so somebody had to get a job. Karina's husband Mike scored a telemarketing gig (at some outfit that employed disabled people) but he quit after a couple of days. (Apparently it wasn't very enjoyable.) Karina was rather unhappy about that.

So, once again - it was up to me.