ON AND ON... another month (Part 117a)

ON  AND ON... another month (Part 117a)

Approaching the first of May I was starting to get discouraged. Our “to do” list was growing and yet completed projects weren’t getting crossed off the list. I remember lying in bed and thinking back to when I lived with my parents. My father had the advantage of having my brother and I to help him do the maintenance on the house. I didn’t have any help... it was just me. With warmer weather the lawn needed mowing about every five or so days and it was a pain, both literally and figuratively. The slope on both sides of the driveway was a “bear“ and I’d slipped one night and pulled a groin muscle and that slowed me down on just about anything I needed to do around the yard. I had at least four partially completed projects... the hedge, Elle’s vegetable garden, finishing the screened in porch (I’d discovered that the door I thought went with the screens wasn’t the right one) and I still had to finish painting the trim in all the bedrooms. With the warm weather coming I had to take down the storm windows (they were the old fashioned type that weren’t self storing) and put up the screens. Elle had me take a few off on the first floor and when I did it became obvious that it had been a LONG time since any of the windows had been washed. Another project!

At least work was going rather smoothly. The two recent hires were doing well. Jaz, working with Lorie, was quick to learn the process and got along well with her. Laura, even a shy as she was, had become an object of attention of the men, especially Hobie. There wasn’t a day go by that I didn’t see him stop by her desk and chat for a minute or two. Liz, the auditor was happy to have her helper not be a ”drama queen“ like Laura’s predecessor had been. I commented to Bret that Laura had become like a daughter to her. Liz, married but childless, exhibited a lot more patience with her than with the people she audited. When upset she had a shrill voice that was very recognizable.

Laura was still coming to work and changing her clothes in the ladies rest room. I’d spoken to Trish a couple of times about her situation at home and she’d indicated that it was still a problem. Laura’d been working at the bank for almost two months and it seemed absurd that an eighteen year old girl was being treated like a child by her parents. I’d been trying to come up with a solution to the problem and seemed to be stymied. Since Hobie had taken an interest in her I finally decided to broach the subject with him. He was surprised... and agreed with me. He asked me to get Trish and we all went up to the Board room. I knew Trish was tired of all the drama and she wasn’t too pleased to have to go over it agian. After hearing the story he just sat back and looked out the window. Neither Trish no I knew what to say or do. Finally, Hobie asked Trish if she thought his getting involved would help. She just shook her head and said she didn’t think so as her uncle was very stubborn and that she’d been surprised when he gave in and let her go to work at the bank. Hobie sat there a few more minutes and said he thought it was worth a try.

Without drawing this out... the result was that Hobie got Laura’s father to allow her to have a ”clothing allowance“. When he told me about it I asked him what his thinking had been. His response was that for Laura to continue to work at the bank she needed to be dressed appropriately. At least it was start. When I talked to Trish about it I told her that it would take ”forever” to save enough to buy what she needed what with warm weather upon us. Trish agreed but didn’t offer any suggestions.

May also signaled that the stock car racing season was about to start up again. When I’d found the money in the closet I’d briefly fantasized that I could still keep the car and race it a couple of times. Reality was staring me in the face in that we needed the money and I certainly didn’t have to time to devote to it especially with the new sailboat. My plan had been to take the car to the first practice with a For Sale sign on it. However, it rained on the day designated for practice which meant I had to take the car on the opening night. Elle proved she knew how my mind worked when I hitched the race car to my car when she told me not to even think of racing it.

When I arrived at the track I had a couple of people ask me about the car but they were just “tire kickers” and not serious. One fellow that I recognized but didn’t know asked if her could try the car out on the track. I told him he could if he gave me $50 as a deposit. He hemmed and hawed about it for a few minutes and then pulled his wallet out. I held my breath the whole time he was on the track but he didn’t get into any trouble. After he climbed out he paid me the other $250 but he told me that he wanted me to drive it at least for that night. As soon as he said it I thought of Elle’s words... but immediately rationalized that she meant if it was still my car so said I would. There was one condition and that was that he be listed as the driver. I stayed out of trouble and finished way back. The last thing I wanted was to have the money for the car in my pocket and then wreck it. It was fun though and I knew I'd miss racing.

To be continued...