Pool_2

>> River Project <<

So what do you do with lifeguards and no pool to guard? Nothing. Well, there was the river project. It could use one guard... required by federal specs whose 16 million dollars was earmarked for the cleaning up of the Passiuk River, a major federal grant landed by Mayor Stone. "You go." Frank sent Mac. The PRBPTF, the Passiuk River Beautification and Purification Task Force was described, in detail, in the papers. Using hundreds of local unemployed men to work the river banks, and supervised by city engineering crews with new massive dredging and purification equipment, the river was to get a bottom to top clean bill of health. "Gee," Mac worried, looking at a map, "That's a lot of river to cover! And currents.. maybe one guard is not enough. Locals won't do. They are not swimmers, not at all." Despite Marcus' reservations, Frank fended off his requests for backup. "Won't need it. You're up to it. You, they'll leave alone." "Me, they'll leave alone?" His mind raced. "Who? Who's leaving me alone? What's that mean?" he thought to himself, caught off guard. But, then, OK. This WAS a grave responsibility. His was a future to be awash in responsibility. It may as well begin here. You couldn't name a better cause than cleaning up the environment. It would even sound good in a resume. Mac set aside his misgivings and went straight away to the library. "I need to know all about the river," he told the librarian, "depths, flow rates, places of old industry, old diggings and pipes, types of materials dumped, everything!" She was thrilled. Her calling, at last! This was an opportunity for her to make a difference. How little chance does an indoor person of frail build have to make such a difference? Her fascination unleashed her bookish fervor. Undoing the defile that