THE NEW YEAR... changes ahead (Part 78c)

Saturday, I helped my neighbor finish erecting his new patio room. He had never been one for chatting but this day was a bit different. In fact he was quite "chatty". He told me that he'd hoped to have had the room finished by Christmas as he'd bought Millie a dryer for Christmas. I was surprised as my observation of Alvin was that he was a "cheapskate". My first thought on that was it would mean the end of being able to view Janelle's panties on their wash line.

He also voiced a fear that the company he was working for was going to transfer him and a number of fellow long term employees to their Texas facility. He said the reason for it was to discourage employees from staying with the company hoping that they would refuse and resign. That way they wouldn't have to fund their retirements. Elle had told me that Millie, his wife, had mentioned this possibility a time or two but had dismissed it as she viewed her as a bit of a "worry wart". As I worked with him I wondered what he would actually do if he really was told to report to Texas.

That night Elle got a call from Alice, her tennis playing friend from up the street. I heard Elle ”gasp" and then saw her take one of the dining room chairs to sit in by the phone. I couldn’t see her face and wondered what was up. I knew it was serious as Elle was not a “talker” and yet she sat there for quite a while. When she finally hung the phone up she said that Alice (and her daughter) were leaving and going back to Texas. They had ended up in this location because her husband had been (supposedly) transferred. However, he’d ended up spending almost half his time back in Texas. Alice had just found out that when he was back in Texas he had a “playmate” to keep him company. There was a lot more but I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time and certainly don’t remember it now. In any case, Elle was saddened by the news for not only herself but also for our older daughter.

I went to Rena’s hospital on Sunday room filled with trepidation. Even though I’d been told it wasn’t all that bad it was hard to tell by looking at her. Both her eyes were blackened and she had a bandage from the top of her head to down under her left ear. Her left arm had a cast on it all the way down to her fingers and there was some sort of contraption holding it up. There was a blanket covering her lower extremities so I couldn’t see anything in that area. I remember her trying to smile when she saw me peeking into the room. Even though her jaw was OK, it was hard for her to talk as it, too, had been bruised. I was really uncomfortable so only stayed for a short time using my having to get back to my grandfather as an excuse. I was really saddened by her plight.

There was some good news at work the following week. The new tape drive was delivered. It was really a case of “good news/bad news”. Jay had been hoping and praying that it would’ve gotten there in December so that we could’ve started the new year using it without having to do a lot of re-entry work. The bad news was that we had to send people to be trained on how to use it. There was a choice of going into the city for basically two days of training or going to the manufacturer's corporate headquarters (about 45 minutes away) for four nights of training. Doing it that way would mean the county would have to pay overtime, something that Leo, the deputy Controller was dead set against. The January schedule was already crowded because all the year end reports had to be run as well as the normal work. Normally, it would’ve been Linda and Lucy, the keypunch operators, to go but, as I’ve mentioned, Linda was a nine to fiver and not a moment more. Jo, still classified as a keypunch operator, was the next choice. Jay, naturally would have to go and it was finally decided that he and Jo would go to the city, together, for their training. When that was announced there were some discrete smiles around the room, especially Andre and I. Lucy had agreed to do night training even if she didn’t get the overtime she would be due. All that had to be done was to find out when.

It was about mid month when they received word that there were openings for them. Jay was absolutely salivating about how much more productive we would be once the new machine was up and running. In thinking about it while writing this I’d say he was a “cheerleader”, getting us all amped up. Maybe I was too much of a realist in that I was looking ahead and knowing everything that we were currently producing would have to be re-entered. I knew it would be a while before the benefits would trickle down to us.

It was about the same time that I found out that Lance (and Judy) would be leaving. I seldom drove down the road our old trailer was located on but on this day I’d decided to come home for lunch. The ”boys” were moving a trailer on the back road so I had no choice. As I drove by I saw a FOR SALE sign in the front window. I stopped and found he was being sent to Greenland for his next tour and Judy wouldn’t be able to join him. They were actually packing up their belongings when I knocked on the door. Judy was taking the baby and headed home to her parents. Lance told me that the “boys” said they would buy their trailer if it wasn’t sold by the time Lance shipped out. I wondered how much of a “haircut” Lance would have to take if that’s what played out. On top of Alice’s plan to leave this was another “downer” for Elle.

To be continued...