I was finished with the walk and standing by my car when I placed the call, "Harvey, do you have the offer ready for me to sign?"

"It's ready, but I think you should make a lower offer. One of my sources says that they are in a jam on that property. Its something about all this bailout and TARP stuff. Somehow they are jammed up on commercial loans, but money is available for homeowner loans. Since you are going to live in the house, it is a chance for them to get a toxic loan off the books. The payoff on that loan was 42,400. I think if you offer them 45 and still try the closing cost payment, you have a pretty good shot. You might have to agree to their holding the mortgage though."

"As long as the rates are the same, or close I can live with that. So how long will it take to hear back?"

"I'll have the papers ready by noon, You come by and messenger them to the bank for me. If they can get the man in charge to take a look, we might know today. More likely tomorrow or the next day. It could go into next week. These guy are under the gun so they might be in a bit of a hurry these days. Handling toxic assets is a real problem for the banks right now. All the banks have a lot of foreclosed property around. Lots of it worth less than the balance of the loan. Yours would be a real success story, so they might move on it quickly."

Win, lose, or Draw, Harvey's 500 bucks was going to be money well spent. "Okay Harvey, I'll be there at noon."

I went home for a plain egg sandwich on a hamburger roll. I would have at least put tomato on it if I had any left. I was going through tomatoes at a frightful pace. Over breakfast I used the laptop and wireless router to check my bids on Ebay. I found that I won a new film scanner for just under a hundred bucks. I knew that with that purchase, I could buy the other items needed for my new hobby from on online photo store. The scanner was the one expensive piece of equipment and that wasn't all that much.

I felt pretty good about myself as I went about my morning search for interesting things on the Net. I had a new place to live that would cut my expenses and a hobby planned that wouldn't bankrupt me. I expected even then that I could cut back my living expenses enough to survive on the small pension if I had to. I was beginning to enjoy finding ways to economize. I did miss eating out, but I had lost five pounds the first week of eating my own cooking. It was a good start on what the doctor expected.

I picked up the papers from Harvey, then delivered them to the bank. The receptionist took them without a word or a smile. It didn't appear to be a good time to work in the credit department of a bank.

I spent the balance of the afternoon napping, then spent the evening watching old canceled TV shows on the Web. It looked as though there were thousands not to mention all the current ones being played over the Net. It was after midnight when I finally dropped into bed.

It was raining again when I awoke the next morning. I forced myself to go to the mall to walk. I really did not like walking there but it was a necessary chore. After I finished what I felt was two miles, I sat down to make a call to Harvey. I was reaching into my pocket when it rang. I hoped that the call was from Harvey with good news.

"Sergeant Abba, this is deputy chief Wilson."

"Sure I know you chief, what can I do for you." I find that it is always best to be on the offense, even when you have no idea what is going on."

"Well frankly we need talk about your future with the department."

"Why, I haven't even had my follow up visit with the Doctor?"

"The department's consultant has seen your tests and treatment. We need to discuss his findings."

"This is rather quick isn't it?"

"A little more than usual, but we need to move on. Police work isn't like a grocery store. We can't sit around in limbo."

"We have been sitting around in limbo for the last twenty years that I have worked there."

"I know, but times are changing," he took a deep breath. "So can we do this tomorrow after lunch?"

"I don't see why not." I really wanted to hold off till I knew more from the doctor. Of course the city had a point. The damage and the treatment were a pretty good indication of the prognosis.

After the call I had a second thought. They obviously didn't expect me to return to my old job. They had made a decision whether to offer me a less than active duty position or to push me out of the plane. It was up to them either way, I had very little say in their decision. The only say I had was in my decision. If they offered me a desk, I had to decide if I would take it. The disability pension was better than the one I would get if I just took early retirement.

Well that would be interesting. I wondered if they would offer me a job hoping I would take retirement instead. I decided, on the spur of the moment, that I would take the job for a couple of months, if they offered me one. It would be a good lesson for them.