THE NEXT PHASE... positive signs (Part 64d)

I guess you could say it was good and bad that Jay did come home with me. Of course there was some explaining to do with Elle but she responded nicely by whipping something up for Jay to eat. The good part was that it gave the two of us the chance to get to know each other on a personal basis. I learned that he was two years older than I was and that, very much to my surprise, he was married and had a two year old daughter. He got involved in computers as a sorter operator for the Social Security Administration in Baltimore. As a result of that job he got the opportunity to go to a Univac (a major competitor of IBM at the time) programming school. It also allowed him to come back home as Univac headquarters were located only 30 miles from there. But the biggest and best piece of information that I was able to glean from him was that he had been involved in stock car racing before moving to Baltimore. Before he was married he had owned a modified race car. (A few words of explanation... The class I’d been involved with had very strict rules as to engine size and allowed modifications. A ”modified“ race car had no engine restrictions and were faster.) I was very surprised to find out about his involvement in racing but was in awe of the fact that he had owned a ”modified“. Once we got into discussing racing Elle sort of backed away from the conversation. It had been my/our intention to get a bite to eat and then to quickly return to work. However, once the conversation turned to racing the clock was forgotten. It was easily after 8pm when we finally headed back. There was so much to do that, once back, we concentrated on the tasks at hand.

It was after midnight when we turned out the lights. Jay had gone over each and every step of the payroll process right from the time the biweekly payroll records were to delivered to Linda and Donna right through to delivering the printed paychecks to the Treasurer’s office with me writing down each and every step. On the way home I remember thinking that even though I’d had very little hands on time operating the peripheral equipment that I could actually do it. I wondered what would happen the next day.

True to her usual start time Nina walked in a bit after 9am. However, she did go straight into the computer room. I tried to keep an eye on her but it was hard. When she took her coffee break I slipped into see Jay. I didn’t have to say anything. The look on his face told the story. The only thing I said was that if he needed help to just come and get me.

At 5pm Nina walked out. I was into the computer room seconds later. I didn’t know Jay well enough to get an accurate ”read“ on the situation but it was obvious that he was frustrated. I asked if he was ready for some help and he said he was going home. I gave him my telephone number and told him to call if he wanted help or just have company if he did come back.

I worked at the trailer park on Saturday. Even though I was counting on the money I’d earn that day I was a bit disappointed that Jay hadn’t called. The whole computer thing was new and exciting to me and I wanted to get more involved. As it turned out I was just impatient. At around10am Sunday morning the phone rang and it was Jay. He’d thought about what I’d said concerning the ”test“ also being a test for him as well. He’d decided to go ahead without Nina and to get it done. Even though it put no money in my pocket I was excited. Elle wasn’t! She’d been ”mumbling“ about me being late for supper and also not having the car available when she needed it. I tried to explain my thinking but it clearly passed over her head.

At least what Nina had done had been done correctly. It helped in that we could just move forward. I know that Jay, if he’d been doing it himself, would’ve been quicker than with me helping but he was the perfect teacher. I got home around 9pm to a very unhappy Elle.

Monday morning I finally had something real to work with. The print out that we’d created the night before had to be ”proofed“ and that was my job. As I worked on it I couldn’t help but wonder what Nina was thinking, saying or doing. It was hard to concentrate as I thought about the situation. From the standpoint of the ”proof“, the numbers checked out with the numbers from the last real payroll developed by the Treasurer’s office. I let Jay know via phone rather than to go see him so as to not create any more of a problem with Nina than he already had. He just said ”Thanks“.

I stayed away from the computer room for the whole day. After everybody had gone I finally went in to see Jay. He had told her that he had run out of time and had to complete the test. But he told her that she was to do the ”test“ for the Police payroll all by herself and that it HAD to be done by noon on Thursday. He said he would answer her questions but that she had to physically do the whole thing. (Note: The full County payroll was for approximately 2400 employees. The police payroll was for 1300 employees. They got paid on alternate weeks) I asked what her reaction was and he just shook his head but wouldn’t comment. I knew enough to keep my mouth shut but I had the feeling that it wasn’t going to happen.

To be continued...