Off-farm Income

The summer that I turned 19 I did a solo road trip from California to Idaho to Montana and then back home again.  At some point on that trip for some, unknown reason, I found myself in the admissions office of Montana State University.  I got talked into filling out an application to attend college there and paid the $30 fee to apply. By the time I got home to my parent's house my mother was already holding an envelope with the Montana State University emblem where the return address goes.  She had a concerned look on her face, and she asked me what this was all about.  We opened the envelope together, and the letter said something to the effect of, "welcome to Montana State University".  This was back in the days when many of our land grant universities had plenty of space in classrooms and empty dorm rooms when the semesters began.  So, they were eager to accept students.  They must have accepted me and sent that letter the day that I filled it out! My mother and I went completely different directions emo