TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141k)

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141k)

It was a pleasant surprise to find Elle in a good mood when I walked into the kitchen. In fact she was excited... almost giddy. I knew something had happened and it must’ve been good. The kids were eating and she shuffled me into the den to explain. When the older girls left for school they’d let one of the kittens out (Long story... don’t ask!). She ran out to see which way it had run and saw it in the opening in the hedge between our house and the neighbor’s. She had a weird smile as she continued. She said all she had on was her short nightie top and her short Summer robe. (I always liked it because it was supposed to have a tie type belt that had gotten misplaced some time ago. I also liked it because, even though it was cotton. it was almost transparent.) She said she slowly made her way in that direction. Just as she got to the opening the kitten darted away but she ducked through the hedge just to see where it was headed. Once on the other side she was shocked to see the principal at the foot of the steps to their kitchen... staring at her. Elle said she froze for a second before turning to return to our yard. But the principal yelled at her to stop. She did and turned around to see him headed in her direction. She said she was trying to get as covered as much she could as he walked up to her and boldly asked if she was ready to teach. She said she didn’t know if he was talking about right away or just what he had in mind so didn't say anything. It turned out that it was for the next two days. After a few seconds she told him she was and as soon as she gave him her answer he turned and walked away.

At this point she was laughing. She went on to say that as soon as she got back in the house she went into the bathroom to see what she looked like. She couldn’t believe she'd been talking to what could be considered her boss looking like she did. I just had to ask... was she dry? She laughed again and her answer was “Hardly!” I’m smiling as I write this trying to imagine what had gone through her mind dressed and looking like she did.

In any case, the incident got me off the 'hook' without much damage. I’d called to tell her I’d probably be late so that was a plus. I asked who was going to look after Kaye while she was teaching and she said she didn’t yet know. Her mother was committed for the next day and both Aurelia and Ginger said they couldn’t. There was no way I could do it so I was of no help... at least at that moment. Jean came into the room and asked if she could go next door for a few minutes to see Barbara. It was cooling off fast by then so Elle told her to put on slacks and a sweater. Elle then warmed up my supper while I looked at the newspaper. Within minutes I saw Jean and Barbara go past the window and heard the door open. It was the first time I’d actually seen Barbara since the incident at the sailing club. She was a bit shy when she saw me but, as I looked at her it came to me that she was the answer to Elle’s dilemma.. at least her mother was. I remembered that she was running a day care at the church.

After a visit over to her house it was worked out. When Elle had expressed the fear that with Kaye being so shy she might be a problem Phyllis suggested that she bring her right over so thy could get acquainted. I was watching TV when all of them returned. I motioned to Elle with my thumb to see how it went. She turned her thumb straight up. Another problem solved. I just wished the one at the bank could be solved as easily.

Elle was still in a good mood when we went upstairs to bed but wasn’t interested in any ‘wet play’. She was still talkative which gave me the opportunity to ask about the panties she’d loaned Barbara. She hated it when I brought up the subject of what kind of panties other women wore. But, as I said, she was still in a good mood and excited about the next day so all I got was a ‘look’ and the question as to why I wanted to know. My memory tells me I came up with something stupid like I wanted to be sure she hadn’t given her a pair of her stained panties. That brought forth another ‘look’ but she quickly replied that it had been a pair of her “fancy panties“ because they weren’t all stained. I gave a quick thought to asking which ones but thought better of it. In bed I couldn’t help but wonder what Barbara thought about wearing nylon rather than cotton. 

Even though it would be a week before the full Board meeting and the final decision as to when the conversion would occur I couldn’t stop thinking about talking with Gina. By lunch time I pretty much decided to approach her to set up a time and place. I gravitated to the bowling alley where we’d last met because it was outside of town and in a direction that few, if any, employees lived. I was trying to come up with a way to approach her that wouldn't bring attention to either of us when I saw Moira headed towards the back door. I was fairly sure she was on her way to meet with Gee the Board member who was an attorney. She was almost to the vestibule by the time I made my way through the gate to where Bret, Hobie and I worked. I wanted to catch up with her to offer support. She was waiting to cross the street to the municipal parking lot when I caught up with her. She was surprised to see me at her side but she immediately started in to thank me all over again. I wasn’t sure for what but it was appreciated. I asked if she’d share the results of her meeting when she returned and she readily agreed.

The last person I expected to see walking out the back door was Gina. She saw me and made a direct line to me. This was a bit funny in that, while in the bank building, we both were very businesslike. The look on her face was the one that I’d hired... smiling and at ease. She called me ”stranger“ as she walked up and I laughed. It was the perfect opportunity to suggest we talk. I got an immediate frown when I proposed it but when I told her it wouldn't be bad the smile returned. I told her that I’d be there around 5:15pm and she continued on her way.

I didn’t see Moira return but got a telephone call from her a little after 1pm. I could hear ‘hope’ in her voice. She didn’t go into much detail but thanked me for introducing Gee to her and said she’d catch up with me as soon as she heard from him. I was a bit intrigued. I was at a total loss for how divorces worked as I didn’t know anybody who’d gone through one. I figured I’d learn from her experience.     

To be continued...      

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141j)

TRANSITIONING... to Fall (Part 141j)

Moira seemed happy to see me as I walked into her area. I’d be hard pressed to call it more that a glorified storage closet because that’s what it had originally been. The need for employee space necessitated some compromises and, unfortunately, this was one of them. She did have a desk... a 3/4 one... sandwiched between two four drawer file cabinets. There was no room for a chair to sit in while talking with her so my position was almost behind her. The circumstances behind her hiring came quickly back to me and the whole situation had been poorly handled. I remembered that my first interaction with her had been to change the name on a savings account. She’d told me that her husband had run off and left her with two teen aged kids. Remembering that I just had to ask how things were going. That was a mistake... of sorts.

However, she was mature enough to know I was there on bank business and asked if she could defer her answer until later. Of course I said “Yes” and was then able to make the request for the data that I needed for Hobie. She told me that she’d bring it down to me as soon as she could. As I remember it took about an hour. After handing the report to me she just stood there for a few seconds finally asking if I’d have a few minutes after 5pm. I was perusing the material and wasn’t concentrating on what she’d just said so answered “Sure”. It turned out that the data didn’t really support the cost of having the service bureau enter the name and addresses into their system. That was a definite blow to my plan. There was no way I could massage it to make it look better so turned to Hobie and passed it on to him.

Because it was an added cost to an already signed contract any consideration had to be approved by the Board of Trustees. He didn’t say anything at first but then said he’d take a chance and present it to the Trustee’s who’d be at the mortgage committee meeting that afternoon. To get it approved would take a majority of the Board memebers and if all the mortgage committee members showed up and agreed to it they’d be one vote short. I took a peek at just who was on the committee for the month and immediately saw that Gee, the attorney, wasn’t. Knowing how Hobie and he got along I suggested that he could be ‘the ace in the hole’.  Hobie nodded his agreement and told me I’d just have to wait until after the meeting to find out.

While the mortgage meeting was going on I brought Bret up to date and also what I perceived might happen. I knew Hobie was a practical thinker and that he’d generally been in concert with the reasoning behind my plan. He’d even backed off on not wanting Gina to be the lead teller on it. I'd realized that I’d screwed up by not getting all the details down right from the beginning but also didn’t feel that he was truly upset with me. Talking with him reminded me that if we were to go forward on it I had to get with Gina before anything was announced. I’d pretty much tried to avoid her in casual situations since making the arrangement for her interview with her new employer. Of course I dealt with her countersigning checks and to solve customer problems and afterwards she’d give me a ‘knowing’ smile. That bothered me but I hadn’t said anything to her about it. However, if the date of the conversion plan was to be in December, we’d have to announce it to all the affected employees right away. If Gina were to hear her name announced as the leader without an explanation before hand it wouldn’t be good. So, now I had to figure out what to say and when to say it.

Bret had to get home to take over baby sitting duties so I waited by myself for Hobie after everyone else had gone. That is, everybody but Moira. It was about 5:15pm when I saw her come through the gate. I’d forgotten completely about her and my offer to talk. She was a fairly tall woman and, if pressed, I’d describe her looks as ‘interesting’, what with her red hair and freckles. I opened with “How are things going” and added “with work.“ hoping to avoid getting into her personal life. But, she ignored that and proceeded to tell her tale of woe. With her new job and her son working for the Summer, she’d been able to get by. But with both kids back in school all she could see was ever increasing debt. She hadn’t paid the mortgage for the month and knew it was pretty much impossible going forward unless her husband was located and was forced to pay child support. I was uncomfortable talking about such things and was about to brush her off when I saw Gee, the Trustee who was an attorney, walking across the lobby floor. I jumped up and hailed him, asking if he could spare a minute. Gee was one of those people who could come across as being nice even when under pressure. I introduced him to Moira and briefly explained that she was a new employee and needed some ‘direction’ on a legal matter. He graciously offered to hear her story but it would have to be the next day. Once they agreed on a time Gee turned to leave. I walked him to the gate and thanked him. He just smiled and I wasn’t sure why. Then I walked Moira to the door and as I was saying ”good night“ I saw tears. I hated tears but I knew it was her way of saying ”thank you“ to me.

Hobie was exiting the elevator as I returned. Never one for overt emotion, he walked calmly to his desk and seemingly ignored me. I couldn’t take the suspense so asked if it was a “go or no go”. His answer was that it was probably a “No”, and that two Board members were concerned that our “bottom line” (financially) for the year couldn’t “take the hit” so it was tabled for the full Board meeting the following Wednesday. All I could think of was that time was money and that it was also flying by. If they didn’t make the decision soon it would be impossible to get it done in this calendar year. I knew Hobie well enough not to push the subject any further so headed for the door.

To be continued...       

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141i)

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141i)

With lobby traffic slow I got Bret and we went up to the Board room. I brought him up to date and told him what we had to do in a very short time. I won’t bore you with the details (and there were a lot) but we worked almost non stop until 6pm. One of the things that came up was in deciding which teller should be the leader during the actual inputting of data. We’d barely started on that when Bret stated, unequivocally, it should be Gina. I didn’t even have a chance to speak. As I’ve previously written, Gina was my choice as well but I was the only one who knew she’d be leaving. I knew I couldn’t compromise her position so decided to agree with Bret and went forward in our planning with her in that position. However, I knew I had to meet with her soon to let her know what was coming.

I was totally consumed by the project and had completely forgotten about Barbara and her clothes... until I walked into the kitchen that evening and saw them still sitting on the end of the counter. There was no point in bringing them up so ate my warmed up dinner and went back to the planning exercise even though I tried not to bring my work home with me. The next morning I was out of the house before 8am and Bret was waiting for me when I got to work. After another intense day we met with Hobie around 4pm and didn’t leave the bank until almost 7pm. I was pleased with what we’d come up with and, for the most part, so was Hobie. His main concern was in our choosing Gina as the leader. His choice was Lorie which, based upon his affinity for her, made sense. However, it was Bret who spoke up to defend our choice. He brought up the fact that Lorie wouldn’t be able to devote all her time to inputting the data as she would still be processing every day transaction on our existing equipment. Once reminded of that he backed off and told us he’d call Bruce and Albie at the service bureau the first thing in the morning. Since this change would be something new for them to consider he wasn’t sure how they’d react. He told us he’d try to get at least a tentative acceptance for our latest change request. I also reminded him about the concern over equipment availability and his retort was “first things, first”.

My failure to call Elle about getting home late created the usual response... silence. I did notice Barbara’s clothes were no longer on the counter. In my mind it triggered the thought of just which panties Elle had loaned her to wear on Saturday. I was hoping to find Elle’s clothes lying on the bed when I walked into our bedroom but there was nothing there. My very next stop was Elle’s panty drawer. As explained in past posts, one whole drawer of the dresser was devoted to her panties. I’d carefully segregated the nylon from the cotton. The majority of the cotton ones were the well worn and stained Carter’s Spanky Pants that she primarily wore at night in her “package”. The nylon ones were separated by manufacturer except for those that Elle had deemed to be “fancy panties” and which she hardly ever wore. She had a mind set not to “ruin” them with pee stains so had me set them apart. Once I opened the drawer I could see one pair of nylon panties that wasn’t folded like the others and determined that they had to be the one that Barbara had worn. I picked them up and was pleased to see that they were, indeed, fancy with lace appliques, lace inserts over the leg openings and were made with nylon satin to boot. My memory told me they were a pair of Gotham Gold Stripe panties and a quick glance at the label proved I was right. My memory also told me that they were fairly old and one of the first of the really lacy panties I’d bought for Elle. That made me wonder how she’d come to pick them out as they should've been on the bottom. With her current mood...  being mad at me... I knew it’d be impossible to find out. Putting the panties safely back in the drawer I got to wondering what Barbara had thought of them being they were so radically different than the cotton Lollipop band leg ones she wore.

Once back downstairs I was faced with no supper at all. Whatever it had been it was no longer. A check in the refrigerator showed nothing resembling a dinner plate waiting to be warmed up. In fact, I didn’t see anything appetizing at all. In a way, I was mad too. I had a perfectly legitimate excuse and she wouldn’t listen to it. I had a brief thought of getting in my car and heading out to get a pizza (pizza delivery hadn’t been started way back then) but ended up settling for warming up a can of soup along with toast. If there was one good thing it was that my “offense” wasn’t so egregious that I was being banned from my bed.

My desk was located right in front of Hobie’s so I was in position to hear his part of his telephone conversation with the service bureau the next morning. He did a good “sell job” when making the request and, to my surprise, he wasn’t on the phone all that long. He knew I’d been listening so when he hung the phone up he got up and came over to my desk. Bret’s desk was directly in front of mine so I asked if he could be included. The short version was that they could accommodate us. However, because of other banks who were also converting to their service at the same time they wouldn’t be able to devote as many of their personnel to us as originally discussed. That meant they’d thrown the ball back to us.

A piece that had “fallen through the cracks” in my original plan to move the conversion date up to December was in getting the names and addresses of all our depositors on file. Doing the conversion after the first of the year didn’t require that information until deeper into the calendar year. Having the service bureau provide the IRS forms was the primary reason for moving to December and they had to have the names and addresses in their files to be able to do it.  I remember sitting there feeling embarrassed. In the original proposal made by the service bureau they’d agreed to input our name and address file at no cost to us, doing it at their convenience. Now, it would cost us money to have it done. Hobie told us we’d have to get the “numbers” of what it cost us to produce the forms ourselves the last time in order to be able to make that decision. That meant going upstairs to the accounting department to gather the figures. Bette, the department head sent me to Moira, the last lady I’d hired for the department. I hadn’t talked with her in a quite a while and felt badly for not having followed up with her.

To be continued... 

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141h)

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141h)

It was back to painting for me. I was in a position to see the opening in the hedge and to know if Barbara was on her way over to return Elle’s clothes and to pick up her own. The only thing was... she never did. I accomplished what I’d set out to do and that was to finish the South side of the house. I was admiring my effort when ”Big B“ showed up. I hadn’t talked with him and had left a message with his father. ”B“ thought I wanted to borrow his sailboat again and had brought the sails over. He laughed when I told him what I needed help doing.

When I’d picked up the new (to me) Sunfish sailboat I asked Rex how he stored his two boats for the Winter. He, like me, only had a two car garage and always kept one car in it.  He explained how he stacked the second boat, up side down, on top of the one on his trailer. The boat weighed 120 pounds and Elle was capable of lifting one end of it off the ground and carrying it for a short distance. But to do what Rex had suggested required that one end had to be lifted at least four feet off the ground to get it up on top of the other boat. When ”B“ picked up the back of it he actually had it up over his head and did it effortlessly. It was me who was struggling. I’ve mentioned in earlier posts that ”B“ was the strongest person I knew and he proved it again.

Elle was impressed as she watched and asked ”B“ if he wanted to stay for supper. We both enjoyed his company and he was good with the kids so I was pleased when he said he would. His staying got us caught up on Tina (Sabrina) and Martin. The date for their wedding had been moved to the Saturday right before Christmas. Elle and I hadn’t received an invitation but expected one. However, the date change would put it in conflict with the records conversion to the service bureau at the bank. I didn’t dwell on it because, even though it would be fun to get together with the ”unmarrieds“ as that came to an end, Elle and I weren’t that close to Tina and Martin and the conversion was my responsibility.

”B“ also filled us in on Bebe and Pete. Her parents had been denied the insurance money for the loss of their restaurant because the fire had been caused by their son making explosives in the building. They were both working at a restaurant in towards the city and Bebe was still living locally. She was engaged to Pete but no date had been set for a wedding. The real surprising news was that Jon (the milkman) had let it be known his sister was also engaged. The guy, supposedly. was an heir to a major corporation.  I’d never had anything to do with her with the exception of back when ”B“ and I were working on his stock car at the family Summer house during the Winter. She and some guy had come out to the closed up house for a tryst and we’d seen the evidence and had a bit of a ‘run-in’ with her. She’d seemed like a total bitch. ”B“ thought it funny that she’d picked up a rich guy and ‘bamboozled’ him into getting engaged to her. By the time ”B“ left it was late and Elle had gone to bed. 

I was tired and thought I’d go right to sleep but, for some strange reason I found myself thinking of Lisa and Martin’s wedding date. As I said, I wasn’t upset about missing it so I couldn’t figure out why it was on my mind. Then it came to me... doing the conversion at that time was going to be a monumental problem due not only to it being in the ”busy period“ at the bank but also the Christmas holiday. When that thought came to me it woke me up, completely, and I got up and went down stairs. I got a calendar out and studied it. I was mad that I hadn’t realized it before. By the time I’d worked up a new schedule it was after 3am but I still wasn’t sleepy. In my mind the only way the conversion would work with the least amount of what I’d deemed as ‘people problems’ (staff and customer) was the third weekend in December. But, that weekend presented another problem... availability of the new teller machines. I’d contacted the manufacturer about moving the original delivery date up and hadn’t yet received a confirmation that it was possible. This new change would move it up another week.

There was another problem that I’d put off thinking about. In drawing up the preliminary plans of who would be responsible for doing what among the tellers I was troubled by not having anybody that I felt comfortable in designating as a leader. Actually, I did have one but... it was Gina, but... she would be working for another bank at that time. I definitely remember leaning back in my chair and wondering if I hadn’t ‘shot myself in the foot’ when I’d arranged for her to meet with her new employer. I sat there thinking about it for a while and then decided to go to bed.

I was apprehensive when I got together with Hobie to go over my new plan. I think what had me the most concerned was that after I started laying it out for him was that he didn’t say anything. But it didn’t stop me. When I got through the ‘meat’ of it I asked if I was out of line and, more importantly, if he thought it was doable. Hobie smoked a pipe but not very often. Usually it was when he was troubled by something or other and he got it out right after I asked him.

It was at least five minutes before he spoke. He wasn’t mad but said he was concerned. It appeared to him that I hadn’t fully thought the process though when I’d come up with the idea of moving the conversion from after the first of the new year back to the end of the current year. Measuring his words carefully he instructed me to spend the next two days formulating a ”fail safe” plan. He’d go over it with me and then he’d present it to the service bureau. He assured me that he’d “take the heat” if they said anything. What was funny was that I wasn’t concerned about them. It was the equipment manufacturer. When I told him about that potential problem he said he’d “lean on them” (the service bureau) to make it happen. At that point I knew what I had to do.

To be continued...   

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141g)

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141g)

As you know it’s impossible to pee with a hard-on. I rationalized that I didn’t really have to go so put Barbara's clothes back on the seat and exited the bathroom. I’d made my way to the patio when Elle came out to ask that I mow the area in and around the wash line so that the mower exhaust wouldn’t stink up the towels when she hung them out. I wasn’t expecting her and hoped she wouldn’t see my bulge. It was a close call.

The back part of the lawn was finished when Elle came out to hang the towels. I was just about to go to the front lawn when I saw her also hanging the kids and her bathing suits. But she also hung out Barbara’s panties and shorts. I hadn’t given any thought to her doing that but it did plant a thought into my head. Mowing the lawn is a mindless task and as I finished up I kept thinking about Elle handling Barbara’s panties. I was almost positive that even when Barbara’s mother was using our clothes line that Elle never paid any attention to what had been hung up on it, especially the panties. I wanted to know if she’d noticed the double panel across the back... but knew I couldn’t bring the topic up without giving myself away. So... I spent the time trying to come up with a way to bring them up... but I couldn’t think of one.

With the Fall season almost upon us we were experiencing much cooler evenings and nights. As I’d learned when painting the house the weekend before it was best to stop painting around 4pm so the paint could set up before the dampness that came with the cooler temperatures set in. It was almost the same with clothes. Elle got her wash out on the line before 3pm and as we ate dinner I asked if she was going to bring it inside. She kind of hesitated before saying she’d leave it out because it wouldn’t be anywhere near dry. I was disappointed as I hoped that if she did I could come up some way to bring up the double back on the panties. It wasn’t to be.

Sunday turned out to be another beautiful day. I promised Elle that I’d go to the 10am church service even though it meant not getting back home until it was close to noon. She wanted me to go with her and the girls as it was their first day of Sunday school and the re-introduction of the 'meet and greet' after the service. As I’ve written before, my choice was the 8am service as it would leave me with most of the day free. BUT... with no more sailboat racing I didn’t have an excuse. By the time we got home it was actually afternoon. As we drove up the driveway I saw Barbara’s shorts and panties on the line and as soon as I did my mind started churning again. However, I still didn’t have a plan. That was frustrating.

There were two things I hoped to accomplish during the afternoon. Most important was getting the rest of the South side of the house painted. I’d only been able to get the second story done while on vacation and it was now a priority. The other project was getting the two Sunfish put away for the Winter. Elle felt that even with the chance that there would still be some nice weekends to come there would be little chance to take advantage of them. She felt school activities and other things the older girls were involved in would just make it too hard. I’d called ”Big B“ to give me a hand but hadn’t heard back so started in with the painting.

Timing is everything in life. I’d just started in when the phone rang. Walking into the kitchen I saw Barbara’s shorts and panties neatly folded and sitting on the end of the counter. After getting ”B“ to agree to come over around 5pm I headed back outside. I asked Elle if she had an old towel I could use to wipe up paint spatters and she threw me the towel she had in her hands. I had to lunge for it and caught it at the end of the counter. As I did my arm knocked Barbara’s clothes to the floor. The panties fell right there at my feet and, instinctively, I bent over to pick them up. When I stood up I was holding them and suddenly it came to me that I had my ‘opening’ to talk about them with Elle.

Elle was down at the other end of the counter by the sink. I stood there holding them and after a few seconds she asked what I was doing. That was what I’d been waiting for. I stood there kind of moving the panties around in my fingers and finally asked if she’d noticed anything different when she’d washed them. She gave me a quizzical look and started walking towards me. In the few seconds it took for her to get to me I’d managed to get the double panel between my fingers and handed the panties to her. At first she didn’t see or feel anything. I didn’t want it to be too obvious so said something about how they just felt so soft. She took them over by the open door to get a close look at them. Then, she made the discovery. I remember looking at her face and saw the puzzled look before she stated the obvious... there were two panels on the back of them. Trying to act surprised I said something like ”you’re kidding!“ and took them back from her to see for myself. When I did I took the opportunity to look at the crotch. There was some yellowing but it wasn’t as bad as Elle’s cotton Spanky Pants that she now only wore to bed. I still had the idea that Barbara had some sort of ‘problem’ going back to when I’d seen twice as many of her panties on the wash lines as her sister. Elle continued to stand there with the semi puzzled look still on her face. I was hoping she’d say something but it was me who asked what the purpose might be. She didn’t have an answer and that made two of us.

I thought the conversation, as limited as it was, was over at that point but Elle took the panties back and looked at the label. That was a bit strange as Elle had never paid attention to labels as I was responsible for all of her panties. I knew what she was doing but asked anyway. She was familiar with Lollipop panties as that’s what all the kids had worn since we’d visited Addie’s store (near where the service bureau was located) and actually, I’d bought some for her but she seldom wore them as we both preferred the nylon satin panties. She really surprised me when she said she really liked the feel of them. I smiled to myself before telling her to ask Barbara where she’d gotten them. I knew she wouldn’t know but at least it would start a dialog that might get an answer.

To be continued...      

TANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141f)

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141f)

When I beached the Sunfish and dropped the sails I was expecting Elle and Barbara to come down to the water to help put the boat back on the trailer. I saw Elle but didn’t see Barbara. Anne had been the last to sail so I sent her up to where Elle, Jean and Kaye were seated on the beach towel. I was a little mad that she hadn’t been waiting by the trailer since she knew we had to get Barbara home by 2pm. Rolling up the sail was always easier with help plus I needed both Elle and Barbara to lift the boat up and onto the trailer. I asked where Barbara was and she pointed towards the now boarded up sailing club. I asked why she was up there and she didn’t answer. Without Barbara I looked around to see if any of the people who’d gradually arrived at the beach might be willing to help me. Since I didn’t recognize any of them I looked for a guy who’d be strong enough to lift it so that Elle wouldn’t have to. It was mostly women with kids but there was a man flying a really big kite who was perfect. The problem was that he was alone and didn’t want to bring the kite down. That left me no choice but to get Barbara involved. When I told Elle she came up and whispered in my ear that Barbara had a problem. At that point I was getting annoyed and demanded to know just what her problem was.

It was obvious that Elle didn’t want to tell me but it didn’t take long for her to see I was getting madder. When I’d told Elle to dress for the situation (lack of facilities) I’d assumed that she would’ve told Barbara... but she didn’t. After we’d all eaten and I took the girls back down to the boat to go sailing again she asked Elle where the rest rooms were. Elle told me she felt really bad when she realized she hadn’t said anything to her. Long story short... after looking around and not seeing any obvious place for Barbara to go Elle suggested that under the clubhouse was probably best. As I’d described in any number of posts in the past, the clubhouse was actually located on the beach but sitting on small circumference cement pillars. They offered some privacy but not much and Barbara hadn't been all that happy about it. The clubhouse was at least 500 feet from where we’d settled in and she hadn’t made it. When she finished she went to the car and didn’t want to go return to the beach. Elle said she’d gone to see what was wrong and said Barbara was embarrassed and decided to stay by the car.

That being said I told Elle that, embarrassed or not, I needed Barbara at the boat. I watched Elle go up to the car and talk with her before she went around to the driver's side. When I saw her open the door and then sort of disappear for a quick second I knew she was getting the towel I kept under my seat for when Elle had a problem. Then I saw the two of them headed my way with the towel wrapped around Barbara’s waist. Believe it or not, at that moment I was more interested in getting the boat on the trailer and then up the beach to the parking lot.  As Barbara approached she didn’t appear to be the bubbly, smiling girl that I was used to. On top of that she wouldn’t look at me.

For some reason it was harder pushing the boat and trailer back up through the sand than it had been going in the other direction. Once in the parking lot I went about hooking the trailer to the car while Elle and Barbara went to pick up the towels, toys and cooler. As I connected the safety chains I looked out at them as they finished picking up and I saw the towel fall away from Barbara’s waist. I immediately looked at her backside and I honestly couldn’t see an obvious discoloration. That puzzled me. Back at the car she stayed away from me so I didn’t get another look. I laid out towels on the seats for all of them as I knew the kids bathing suits were damp and, knowing Elle, she probably was damp as well. Barbara didn’t have much to say to Elle or I on the way home. Sitting between the kids in the back seat she confined her conversation to the kids.

As soon as we got home Barbara took off for the opening in the hedge into her yard. Elle wanted to get the kids washed up so took them inside while I unhooked the trailer. She asked me to collect all the towels and leave them on the patio table as she wanted to wash them later. I’d just deposited them and was about to go wash the salt off the boat when I saw Barbara make her way around the corner. Before she saw me I managed to get a quick glance at her crotch and, to me, it didn’t look that bad... at least not enough for her to have been as upset as she’d been. She was still acting distressed when she asked for Elle. I told her to just go inside and to give a call to her. Before I could ask if there was anything I could do she was inside.

I’d gotten the hose and was washing down the boat when I saw her reappear from the house. I immediately noticed that she was wearing a pair of Elle’s shorts. My immediate thought was that she would be wearing a pair of Elle’s panties and I was curious as to just which ones she’d given her. From past experience I knew that if I asked Elle about it she wouldn’t answer. I pretty much knew I’d have to wait until Barbara brought them back along with the shorts. Mowing the lawn was my main concern for the rest of the afternoon. All Summer I’d preferred to do it in the morning before it got too hot. Fall was only a week away and the afternoon temperature was decidedly lower so it wouldn’t be too bad but before I started I wanted something to drink. Elle was just finishing up putting things away in the kitchen when I walked in so I asked her about Barbara.
 
She'd found no one home and a note in the door. Her mother and sister had to go to the day care center at our church for some reason and when she went to get the spare key that was kept hidden under the kitchen porch it wasn’t there. She was to be picked up by some friends at 2pm and there was no way she could go as she was. So Elle helped her out. It was as simple as that.

I decided to use the toilet before starting on the lawn. I saw a towel and washcloth on the sink and some clothes on the toilet seat. As soon as I picked them up I knew they belonged to Barbara. It was her shorts and panties and they were all rolled up like she’d peeled them off. Staring me right in the face as I held them was the crotch of the panties and I saw a yellow stain that pretty much covered the whole crotch area. I touched it and it was still damp. I couldn’t resist taking a sniff and by then my penis was straining for relief.

To be continued... 

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141e)

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141e)

Knowing that we’d be going to the beach at the sailing club and that the building was closed for the season I told Elle to be ‘prepared’ for the lack of facilities. She chose one of her older skirted bathing suits that had separate panties that matched the print of the suit. I’d almost always been able to get her to wear a pair of nylon panties under them but had to really work on persuading her to do in on that day. Her reasoning was that we would have ‘guest’ in the person of Barbara and regardless of whether she peed through them or not I wouldn’t be able to ‘play’. In the end she backed off and I didn’t have to give up anything to ‘win’ the battle.

There was literally no one at the beach when we arrived. I unhitched the trailer and we all pushed it and the boat to the water’s edge. My girls wanted to show off to Barbara by rigging the boat by themselves. Aside from not being able to raise the sail all the way they did a good job. They got into a bit of an argument about who would be the first to sail but I put an end to that when I told them that I’d bought the boat for their mother and she was to take it out on the maiden voyage. Neither was happy with that but we stood there and watched Elle sail off all by herself.

There was very little wind which, for that area, was typical early in the morning.
Elle was gone for about 10 minutes and when she returned the battle over who would get to sail it next resumed. Barbara spoke up and told each of them to write a number from 1 to 10 in the sand. She told them she had written a number that was hidden by her hand and whoever got the same one or was closest to it would be the next to go out. If the idea had come from Elle or I I’m sure there would’ve been some complaining but because it was Barbara they accepted it. Jean won. Normally, at their age (8 and almost 7) they wouldn’t be allowed to sail all by themselves. Because the wind was so light I decided to let them at least try. I set parameters for both direction and distance and then let Jean go. I ran along the shore line just to be sure but she didn’t need any help. When it was Anne’s turn I was so sure that she wouldn’t need assistance that I stayed with the others and just watched. I remember thinking that she was, for sure, ‘a natural’ when it came to sailing.

As expected, the wind velocity started to rise as the sun rose higher in the sky. It’d only been about two weeks since Labor Day but I could feel that the water temperature had dropped noticeably. For some reason little kids don’t notice it as much as adults do. With the exception of Barbara, we were all standing in ankle deep water. I saw Elle do a “dip’ and then start to walk away and up the beach. I’d seen that a time or two before and I was sure that the cold water had triggered a ‘dribble’... or more. When Barbara saw her she headed in that direction. I was pretty sure Elle didn’t want that so I intercepted Barbara by calling her over to where Kaye, Jean and I were standing. Thinking quickly I asked what she thought about sailing. As we talked I looked over her shoulder and could see that Elle was now squatting and I, for sure, knew what that meant.

I was surprised by Barbara’s answer... that it looked like fun. I jumped on that and immediately offered to take her for a ride. I remember her shaking her head from side to side but with a smile. I kept on and used Anne, at less than 7 years old out sailing all by herself. I told her I’d been sailing almost 20 years so I really knew what I was doing and I wouldn’t let anything bad happen. I finished by saying that we’d stay close to shore where the water wouldn’t be over her head. I could see ‘the wheels turning’ so shut up about then. Elle rejoined us at that moment and, knowing that she hadn’t dipped her fanny into the bay and was wet from pee, felt a bulge starting. Not good timing!

Elle picked up the cause and tried to encourage Barbara to at least give it a try but she still refused. I had turned away and was standing in knee deep water next to the boat trying to hide my bulge. Kaye had been happily playing at the water’s edge and all of a sudden she jumped up and wanted a ride in the boat. That was unexpected and wanting to take advantage of the opportunity I grabbed her up and put her in the cockpit. Even though the bulge was showing a bit I knew Kaye wouldn’t notice. As we started sailing away I could hear Elle teasing Barbara about a three year old wanting to go sailing.

The newness of the sailing experience wore off quickly and Kaye wanted to go ashore to get something to eat. All of the others were around the beach towel and Elle was doling out the sandwiches as we approached. My eyes almost popped out of my head as Barbara bent over to get a cup from the beach bag. The band legs of her panties were very prominent through the knit material of her knit shorts as was the crotch line. It didn’t matter to me that I’d seen it before. It was still a thrill to observe it again. Kaye wanted to eat with Barbara so she took the place right along side of her. The other two girls sat in front of her like they were expecting to be told something important. Elle and I took places on the other end of the towel. I teased her a bit about her ‘leak’ and she slapped my arm and told me to ”shut up!“. After a minute or so she, speaking very softly, almost in a whisper, told me Barbara had explained why she was afraid of the water.

As a young girl she’d been pushed into a goldfish pond by her cousin. She fell in face first hitting her head. The boy ran away and didn’t tell anybody. The blow to her head had knocked her out and if someone hadn’t seen her there she would’ve drowned. The end result was she didn’t want to have anything to do with water after that. She wouldn’t even get in a bathtub and her mother had to wash her using a washcloth until she was about eight years old. After that she would take showers but the thought of being in water still scared her. That explanation pretty much told me we’d never get her into the water let alone a boat.

By the time we’d eaten, the noon siren from the fire house had gone off. The wind had picked up nicely, too much so for Jean and Anne to sail by themselves. I asked Elle if she wanted to go out with either of them and she said the water was too cold and for me to do it. I figured we had about an hour before we had to get Barbara back home so I spent it letting them take turns as the skipper with me as crew. I had a feeling that this would be the last sailing we’d do this year and it was sort of sad.

To be continued...  

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141d)

TRANSITIONING... to Fall (Part 141d)

Elle was certainly glad to see me back home. She claimed she ”didn’t sleep a wink“ the night before. The only ‘news’ she had was that Rex had called to say he had our new (to us) Sunfish sailboat and would really appreciate my picking it up (and paying for it) as soon as possible. As much as she and the kids wanted to get it right away there was no way to do it that evening. First of all, I didn’t have the money. Secondly, I was tired. It had been a stressful two days... in more than one way. I did promise that we’d do it the next evening.

Even though I was tired I didn’t sleep all that well. On my mind was the ‘bombshell’ that I’d exploded by asking if the service bureau could move the conversion up. I knew I’d have to brief Hobie and, if they could do it, I’d have to accelerate the order for the new teller machines as soon as possible. When the original order was placed the manufacturer had told us they ”expected“ they could meet our delivery date of mid December. Based on the date Bruce and Albie were working on for us we’d need them by the first of December. The main point I’d have to emphasize to Hobie was that it would save us money (using the ‘Time is Money’ theory) by not having to produce the 1099 forms ourselves. I rolled and tossed most of the night trying to come up with just how to present it all to him.

When I met with him he did, thankfully, fully support me. I spent the whole morning meeting with him and other key officers who would be directly involved. The whole while these meetings were going on I was wondering when Bruce and Albie would call to confirm their ability to accommodate the new conversion date. When it got to be noontime and we still hadn’t heard from them I really started to get worried. The call came in mid afternoon. It was ”doable” but would take a lot of work. When I talked with Albie about it I realized that we’d benefit from the timing of it. The conversion would take place the week before Christmas, traditionally, one of the slowest periods of lobby traffic which meant we'd have fewer transactions to double post. By the time I left to go home I was ‘drained’... but I’d promised Elle and the kids that I'd go pick up the new sailboat. Actually, I'd almost forgotten to withdraw the cash for it but remembered before all the cash boxes were locked in the vault.

To accelerate supper Elle had made up a tuna fish salad. I gulped mine down and, after taking our original Sunfish off the trailer, hitched it up and we headed for Rex’s house. There were three boats on the front lawn. I didn’t know which was ours and when the kids got out of the car went over to the one with red stripes across the foredeck. Approaching it I sure hoped it wasn’t ours. Rex had told me the one he had for me was only a month old and had hardly been used. The one the kids were climbing on had quite a few ‘battle scars’.

Rex soon appeared and stopped at the one with the green stripes. If I’d been paying attention I would’ve known as it had two dagger boards and two rudders in the cockpit as Rex had described. A quick inspection showed little wear. For all intents and purposes, it was a new boat... and I was getting spare sails and parts as well. Rex helped me load it on the trailer and we were off. Back at home the girls wanted to know when we were going to go sailing in it. I told them I didn’t know and then Elle sort of sabotaged my plans for the next day when she said we’d do it in the morning. Then they wanted to put the sails up right away while the boat was still on the trailer. The green stripes on the hull gave the color of the sails away... they were green and white. We had just raised them when Barbara appeared from behind the garage. She was looking for Jean and Anne to see if they wanted to do some cheering before it got dark. By the time she got to the boat the girls had climbed aboard and were pretending to be sailing. When the girls saw Barbara they wanted her to climb up with them. I’d had to lift my girls up onto the deck and Barbara wasn’t all that much taller than they were and when she made an attempt she didn’t make  I told her I’d give her a boost. She was facing me and I put my hands under her arm pits as she made a sort of a jump and I was a bit surprised at her weight. Once up on the deck she had to spin around on on her fanny to get her feet into the cockpit. As she did I got that split second peek up the leg openings of her shorts that I was hoping for.

Anne tried to explain the parts of the boat to Barbara. It was funny watching a girl of almost seven teaching a girl twice her age about sailing. What was interesting was in seeing Barbara actually paying attention. When I did I teased her and told her that she not only needed to learn how to swim but should learn to sail as well. When my girls heard me say that they started pleading with Barbara to go sailing with them. I knew she’d decline based upon what she’d told me (that she didn’t know how to swim and was afraid of the water) when I’d asked her to go on our first sailing picnic using ‘B’s’ boat only two weeks earlier. When she did Elle stepped up and told her she should at least go with us when we took the boat on it’s ‘maiden voyage’ the next day. Hearing that the girls were all over her, pleading with her to go. She didn’t immediately say she would but she didn’t say “no” either. Once everybody was back on the ground Elle and I ‘worked’ on her and got her to say that if we could do it and have her back home by 2pm she’d go. We told her she didn’t have to actually go sailing but that we’d be on the beach and she could play and watch the kids while we were out sailing.

Elle had told Barbara to wear a bathing suit even if she didn’t know how to swim but Barbara only laughed and told Elle she didn’t own one. At that Elle suggested she wear clothes that wouldn’t get ruined if they got wet. We were ready to leave at 9am but Barbara wasn’t there. I sent the girls to see if she was coming. A few minutes later they all returned and I did a bit of a ‘double take’ when I saw Barbara. She was wearing a pair of pale blue knit shorts that had some white spots on one side. She saw my look and laughed, explaining the Elle had told her to not to wear anything “good”. It only took a few seconds to realize the spots were due to Clorox getting splashed on them as Elle had done the same to some of the older girls clothes. But there was something else... they looked like they were a size too small.

To be continued...

TRANSITIONING... into Autumn (Part 141c)

TRANSITIONING... into Autumn (Part 141c)

It was hard for me to concentrate when we got to the processing center as I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of Gracie finding a pair of her panties missing when she did her wash. I actually reached a point where I was trying to figure a way to go back to her house. But, realistically, that wasn’t going to happen. When we took a break for coffee I made an excuse to go to my car. There, I put the panties under the seat in with the spare panties I always kept for Elle in case of an ‘emergency’. Once back inside I felt relieved... at least slightly.

After our break it was George, the man who produced all the print out reports of transaction activity, who took over and I said good-bye to Gracie. I probably breathed a sigh of relief as I walked down the hall to his area. All the practice material I’d entered the day before with Gracie was now before me on printed pages. I was amazed that the same data could be formatted in so many ways. We worked together until about noon when Albie showed up and said it was time for lunch. The previous day I'd eaten in the cafeteria right there at the center but today I was being treated to a ‘real’ lunch. We went to the same restaurant that the banking association that my bank belonged to held their monthly meetings from September through June. I really liked their food and knew exactly what I’d order without seeing a menu. It turned out to be a ‘working lunch’ and not all that social. Albie wanted to go over the rough outline of the conversion process with me so that there would be plenty of time to address concerns before we began the actual process.

He had a printed calendar of events to review with me. I remember looking at it and thinking that it was going to be daunting. It would take place during our ”busy period“ right after the first of the new year and where we would be handling the most customers. However, I didn’t say anything. There was one point he made that took some of the pressure off both me and our staff and that was the service bureau would provide three of their employees to assist us with one being Gracie. He spent a lot of time emphasizing the importance of running a dual system and it would take at least three days where both systems matched until we could shut our old equipment down. I honestly don’t know why hearing the words ”shut down“ triggered a very negative thought... the IRS form 1099R that we had to provide both the government and the depositor the information on how much interest was earned on each and every account.

In the two years I'd been involved it had been a slow and tedious process using our bookkeeping machine (computer?) and took the whole month of January to get it done. I (and everybody else) had forgotten all about them when we were in negotiations with the service bureau. When the thought came to me I went into a mini panic. I remember interrupting Albie to ask if there was some way to do the conversion before the end of the year thinking that with all the automatic reports their system was capable of the 1088;s would be a 'snap'. Albie was one of those perpetually positive people and in the short time I’d known him he exuded what could almost be described as obnoxious confidence. However, the look on his face after I asked that question was anything but. There were quite a few  ”umm’s“ coming from his mouth as he tried to process the question.

Long story short... after quickly finishing lunch we headed back to the center to meet with Albie’s boss, Bruce. For over and hour there was a parade of people coming in and out of the room. I called Hobie to bring him up to date and he readily accepted the fact that he’d forgotten about the 1099’s. I could tell he felt badly... as did I even though I’d not been a part of the negotiations. All I could do at that point was sit and listen. At about 4pm or so they told me there was no point in staying and that as soon as they could come up with a plan they’d be in touch.

One of the things floating around in the back of my mind had been to find out why the cotton Lollipop panties that Barbara wore had a full double panel across the back. Elle and I had bought all three of our girls their Lollipop underwear from a store in the general area of the center that was owned by a woman (Addy) who had Summered just down the beach from where my parents lived. It was primarily a children’s clothing store. Being close I’d been hoping to find a few minutes to stop there, say ”hello“ and see if she could explain the extra layer of cloth. Being excused early gave me the opportunity I’d hoped for.

Addy was surprised to see me. It’d been quite a while since I’d last seen her. Elle had commented in passing that she could use a few more undershirts and panties for the older girls. Anne, the middle daughter, had caught up to her older sister in size. They both were wearing the same size panties and undershirts and when Elle couldn’t do the wash because of weather she was running short. So, when I walked in to the store that was my reason. Addy, the penultimate salesperson, suggested that I buy some the next size larger as well, ”to be prepared“. I knew from experience that she wouldn’t let up until I gave in so agreed. While she was getting them together I casually asked about the double back panel. I clearly remember her stopping and looking over at me as if I was crazy. That told me I had to come up with the reason for asking.

I’m usually pretty good at coming up with a quick answer but on this I was a bit vulnerable. Addy knew I had bought Elle some of the ladies Lollipop panties for Elle in the past without her but Elle had made an original purchase so I figured that didn’t seem untoward. Addy’s question was where had I seen them. I stayed pretty much to the truth and told her that we had new neighbors and Elle had let them use our washing machine and clothes line until they got settled. I told her that one day it started raining with their clothes still on the line and Elle had taken them in. When she did she saw the panties with the full back panel. I remember Addy having a bit of a doubting look on her face as she said that she was unaware of any Lollipop panties like that and even stopped putting my order together to go get the catalog. After a quick flip through the pages she gave me a look that said she couldn’t find anything like what I’d described. The mystery continued.

To be continued...

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141b)

TRANSITIONING...  to Autumn (Part 141b)

Since I’d been late in arriving, we were running behind. When Bruce and Albie came in to check on us we were both surprised to find that it was after 5pm. There was a lot more that I needed to be exposed to before the next day and Bruce asked Grace if she was willing to stay a little longer to try and get me caught up. As I described her earlier, she had an easy way about her and willingly agreed to stay as long as I was willing. Then, Bruce asked where I was staying. That was a shock. I’d figured on driving in and back both days. When I told them that they said it was a waste of precious time and that I should stay over. I’d told Elle that I’d be home but didn’t know at what time. The first thing I knew Grace was offering to put me up for the night. She explained that her home was known as ”Gracie’s rooming house“ and got a laugh from both Bruce and Alfie. I took it to mean that she’d done this sort of thing before. I protested at first saying I didn’t have a change of clothes or toothbrush but it was no use.

Alfie offered to get something to eat and I called Elle. She wasn’t happy at all! Since we bought the house she’d never slept there alone.It wasn’t long after that before we were back to the task at hand... exposing me to all the nuances of data transmission. It was well after 7pm when Gracie finally had had enough noting that I wasn’t focusing. She was right. I’d been up since 5:30am and it had been a long day. Gracie and I’d only chatted briefly and I really didn’t know much about her. As we shut everything down she told me her husband was a construction foreman and that she had one son in college. I’d be sleeping in his room as he’d just returned to school. I asked how often she did this and she just laughed. There were no motels in the area and the only hotel was 5 star and didn’t take walk-in guests. She went on to explain that she had an ‘arrangement’ with her ‘bosses’ and would get her ‘reward’ in the form of bonuses. It sounded good to me.

She lived within minutes of the operations center and when we got there her husband had the grill fired up and we ate again. It turned out to be an interesting evening. When I told them where I lived they got excited. Their son had spent a few weekends there visiting a friend. The friend’s family was their neighbor, just a few doors down. I almost couldn’t believe it because I knew them. They insisted on calling them up but no one answered. Another case of it being a small world.

By 10pm I was yawning and fighting to stay awake so Gracie showed me to her son’s room. It was very obvious that he was an athlete based upon the pictures, trophies and awards scattered around the room and on the walls. Gracie hadn’t given much in the way of background only saying that he wanted to be an architect. She supplied me with towels and even a new toothbrush and telling me that she’d knock on the door at 7am. She wanted to be at work by 8:30am.

I didn’t know what the ‘arrangement’ with Bruce and Alfie was but as I lay there in bed started thinking of something I could get for her as a thank you. Even though I was in a strange bed I was asleep in no time at all. The next thing I knew I heard a truck starting up outside my window. I looked at my watch and saw it was 6am. I couldn’t go back to sleep so decided to go take my shower. As soon as I opened the door I could smell bacon. I followed the smell to the kitchen and saw Gracie in a light cotton housecoat at the stove. I startled her when I said ”Good morning.“ She turned towards me and as she did I could see the housecoat wasn’t buttoned... and I got a quick glimpse of her panties. It wasn’t long enough to get a real look at them but I thought I saw a some sort of print across the front of them. She quickly closed the coat and offered me breakfast. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had bacon and eggs. Because of the mess that frying bacon made Elle had stopped cooking it. Gracie told me that she made them for her husband every morning. I remember telling her that he was a lucky man. While we ate she asked me if I’d had a train set when I was a boy. The answer was yes and she smiled. I wondered why but didn’t have to wait long to find out why.

She pointed to a door and told me to go down the stairs while she showered and dressed. I turned on the light and was halfway down the stairs when i saw something that, to me, was unbelievable. It was a colossal model train layout that covered over half the space of the basement. When I was about 12 my father had taken me into the city to see a Lionel model train display. That was the only one bigger than the one I was staring at. I don’t remember but I’d be willing to bet that my mouth was hanging open as I walked up to and around it. He had everything... miniature people, realistic looking trees, roads and buildings. The last part really intrigued me as the ones I had were all plastic and looked it. He’d built a small raised platform to operate it all from and I saw three transformers as well as other controls. I walked over and up on to it. I could see the whole layout and as stood there I wished that I’d known about it the night before.

When I turned to get down I saw a washer and dryer under the stairs. I started to climb the steps and as I did I could some clothes piled on top of them. I backed down the stairs and ducked under them. I summoned the nerve to take a quick look and was I ever glad I did! I quickly found confirmation of what I thought I’d seen the night before when I got a look at Gracie’s panties when she was showing me the ‘guts’ to the teller machine. The dimples I thought I’d seen were... dimples... and the whole pantie was covered with them. The material appeared to be cotton but I wasn’t sure because of the way the ‘dimples’ made them feel. On top of that I saw that the front panel was embroidered with small colored flowers. I hadn't been wrong earlier. I’d never seen any like them. I made a swipe with my hand through the pile and found three more pair. I pushed them back into the pile but I balled up the pair I’d been looking at and stuffed them into my pocket. When I got to the top step I was sticky with perspiration and glad I hadn’t showered yet.
                               

'Dimple' panties

'Dimples' up close

I waited for a few minutes before Gracie reappeared. It only took a few minutes for me to shower and get fully dressed. In the bathroom I got to look closely at the panties and was disappointed that there was no label. It was clear that they’d been worn. There was a fair amount of discharge in the crotch and a touch of a ‘skid mark’ as well. I folded them up, put them in my pants pocket and took my shower. The whole time I was in there my heart was beating like a jackhammer. I wondered how I'd be during the day with Gracie
so near.

To be continued...

TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141a)

TRANSITIONING... into Fall (Part 141a)

Sunday was spent at church, painting and cleaning up. With painting being a mindless exercise I found myself thinking about returning to work. With all that had transpired during the week I’d rarely given it a thought. The most pressing thing was the training I’d have to go through for the upcoming conversion of the bank’s ledger card system over to the service bureau and computer. I’d put off doing it prior to vacation and now had to face it full on. I was really excited about what it would be like once the new system was fully operational but had some fears about ‘glitches’ getting the ledger information over to the computer. There was only one way to go... forward.

Seeing sandbags piled around the cellar entrance as I pulled into the parking area was a reminder to me of just how high the tides had been during the storm. The bank building was actually built into the riverbed. The river was located right at the back part of the parking lot and every time we had an Easterly storm there was a concern that the cellar might get flooded. I’d only seen the need for the sandbags once since I’d started at the bank but, remembering how high the tide had been at my parent’s house, it made sense.

Hank was there to greet me as I walked up to the door. Inside, the only teller at her station was Gina and I got a ‘knowing’ smile as I passed by. I was pleasantly surprised to see Trish at her desk as she was a true nine to fiver. As soon as I walked through the gate to my desk, she followed. Turning to look at her it was obvious she had something to tell me. Far from the days after I started at the bank and could hardly get her to acknowledge me, I’d been ‘elevated’ to being one of the first to hear the ‘latest'. In thinking about it now as I’m writing this I remember being somewhat shocked. However, after having written about some of the events leading up this point, and having it all fresh in my mind, I probably shouldn’t have been. The ‘news’, such as it was, concerned Laura and Joanie. Laura was going to be moving in with Joanie and her parents. My first thought concerned Laura. I remember wondering why she would put herself in such a situation what with Joanie’s mother being an invalid and her father being an alcoholic. But Trish , probably seeing the look on my face, quickly explained the reasoning behind it.

Laura had been renting a garage apartment from the lady who’d just retired from the accounting area. When the lady retired Laura was told the house and property would be put up for sale and that she should start looking for another place to live. I knew all of that but hadn’t kept up with the situation. When Joanie came to sit in for Trish while she was on vacation, she’d become friends with Laura. I was pleased as I felt they were good for each other but this, to me, was beyond comprehension. In any case, when Laura told her that she was going to have to move Joanie offered to have her live with her. As they were both lonely and shared some of the same interests they began to pursue it further. As an added incentive Laura wouldn’t have to pay rent only having to put some money in for food. As Trish was telling me all of this I kept glancing over at Laura. I think my first words to Trish were ”I hope it works!“

Next was Bret’s ‘blow by blow’ description of the mini panic when the rising tide  got up to the main part of the parking lot. I’m not going to say that I would’ve picked up on it sooner than that but, by the time they did, it was almost too late to get sand and bags to build a ‘dam’ around the cellar entrance area. Some water did get in but they were able to keep it from doing any real damage. Bret added that they only had three tellers and about a dozen customers on Wednesday. Other than that it was just a slow week, one of the reasons I’d chosen it for vacation time.

Hobie had the real ‘news’. Pressured by the service bureau to get started on the training he committed me to spending Wednesday and Thursday at their facility. He’d been given an outline of what was planned for me and it looked like it would be two very busy days. I spent almost all of that Monday going through the mail and responding to it. Tuesday was gathering the detail of all our product offerings (accounts) and the rates of interest paid on each to review with the service bureau’s programming staff. In so doing I even found there were things I wasn’t aware that we offered. By the time I left for home my head was ‘swimming’.

The service bureau was about an hour and a half away from the bank. I knew that from the trips I’d made when doing the initial research. However... I’d not made the trip during ‘rush hour’. I left my house at around 6:30am figuring on arriving at 8:30am. Adding the 15 minutes from my house to the bank and then the heavy traffic the trip took about 2 1/2 hours. The service bureau ‘big wigs’ were waiting (impatiently) for me. I was met by the vice president, Bruce, and his assistant, Albie. Also there was George, the man who was responsible for producing all the transaction journals we would need in place of our existing ledger cards. The last one was Grace, the lady who would oversee not only my training but, when the time came, that of all our tellers.

After handshakes and greetings I was turned over to Grace. She was a pleasant looking woman around forty years old. She had an easy way about her and, as I was about to find out, the patience of Job. She led me into their training facility where she introduced me to the new style teller machine. She knew the ‘ins and outs’ of it like she’d been the one to design it. I was overwhelmed right from the start. I had to slow her down and plead for her to ”speak English“. After a laugh we were able to communicate fairly well. She wanted to focus on what I’d be able to do in the way of minor repairs without having to call for repair service. She winked when she told me that I wasn’t to tell anybody from the manufacturer about what she was showing me.

Being mechanically inclined that part was fairly straight forward. When she took the cover off to show me the processor which was underneath I got something I certainly wasn’t expecting. To point out some of the key components she got down on her haunches. Thoroughly engrossed in what she was talking about and pointing towards what I learned was a ‘mother board’ she had spread her legs creating a nice open pathway to her crotch. Very thankfully she wasn’t looking at me when she did. She was on one corner of the machine and I was on the other not more than two feet way. Her skirt was short enough to let a fair amount of light in and what I saw was something I’d never seen before. Her crotch seemed to have, for lack of a better description, dimples. After seeing that I lost all concentration on what she was talking about. The peek lasted for maybe ten seconds but it was long enough that I would’ve bet money on the ‘dimples’.

To be continued...

WINDING DOWN... Summer (Part 140o)

WINDING DOWN... Summer (Part 140o)

I decided to dedicate the weekend to getting some of the house painting done. The second floor needed attention and that meant working from a ladder, not my favorite place. I really had to force myself to get focused. Early Saturday morning Barbara appeared at the kitchen screen door wanting to know if she and some new friends she’d met at school could use the back yard to practice some cheering. Even though her father and I’d cleared some of the fallen tree away from her yard there wasn’t any part of their lawn clear enough to do what they wanted. Of course Elle said it was OK. I’d been in the cellar getting paint when Barbara arrived and all I saw was her walking back to her yard. She had on what Elle called a playsuit... a pair of blue plaid short shorts with a halter top attached. Under the halter was a sleeveless top. When Elle told me what was about to happen I gave a brief thought to changing my mind as to where to paint... but didn’t.

I had the ladder up against the house and the paint can opened when Barbara, her sister and three other girls made their way thought the opening in the hedge and into our yard. I recognized one of the others as being the younger sister of Susan (from the ’panty house’ in the neighborhood) who had done some baby sitting for us. The other two were strangers to me but one was wearing a pair of white knit shorts that, to me, looked a bit small. As she walked towards me I could see a ‘camel toe’ and that got my attention... in two ways. I knew that Susan had talked about going to college to be a pharmacist so asked the sister where she’d decided to attend. She said she was at the University of Connecticut so she could be somewhat close to home. I remember looking at the girl and seeing a resemblance. By then my kids were now outside and pestering them to cheer with them. Elle then joined the group and herded our kids over to the lawn swing to get them out of the way telling them that they would be watching a show. I knew I wanted to watch it as well but couldn’t.

As I said,  being on a ladder is not one of my favorite places to be. I could hear the girls laughing as they tried different things. One thing I learned from listening to them was that Mo and Barbara had taken some kind of gymnastics at their previous school and had used some of what they’d learned in their cheering routines. They were trying to show their new friends just what to do and, from the sounds they were making, not making much progress. I made a few attempts to turn my head far enough to see just what it was they were doing but it was no use. When I’d gotten done what I could with the ladder where it was I had get down to move it. I was hoping to see some activity from them while I was off the ladder but they were huddled together on the ground working on just what they were going to do next. I got to see a bit of a DP (down pants) from the one girl I hadn’t really gotten a frontal look at but that was all. It was while I was up on the ladder again I heard Elle suggest they all go out to our front yard where they would actually have more room to do the things they were trying to do. That didn’t make me very happy because now, when I went to move the ladder, I wouldn’t get to see them at all.

All in all they were probably in our yard for an hour at the most. I was just finishing up with the painting I had to do using the ladder when I saw them leaving through the hedge. I could turn my head far enough to see that. The next phase of painting for me had me standing on the roof over the patio. I’d been looking forward to having my feet on something solid and was figuring on this section being fairly easy to work on. I’d been painting for a bit when I heard Elle’s voice through the open window. It was hard to see her through the screen. She stood there not moving for a few seconds before I heard her say “Well????” with a questioning tone in her voice. I had no idea what she wanted. Finally, I could see her hand pointing to her crotch. Making a concerted effort to see it I could make out a small stain. I could feel something starting to come to life as I asked her what had happened. All she’d say was she’d laughed too hard but added that if I could take a break she had something for me.

I didn’t know exactly what she had in mind but since she offered I wasn’t going to decline even if it wasn't convenient. I had to get down off the roof plus my hands were covered with white paint so I was a bit concerned that I was taking too much time. She was still upstairs but no longer in the hallway. I found her sitting on the toilet but she still had on her bermuda shorts. Walking up to her I shrugged my shoulders as if to ask why she was sitting there. She just gave me a silly smile and opened her legs up as an invitation. There was no hesitation on my part and I didn’t have to wait to get what I’d come for.

I was on my knees in front of her as I rubbed her crotch. The length of the legs on the bermuda shorts was too much for me to even think about trying to get inside so I had to be satisfied to just feel the warm wetness of the shorts. I remember mentioning to her that she didn’t seem to go all that much. She told me that when she’d leaked it caught her a bit by surprise as it hadn’t been all that long since she’d been to the toilet. I certainly wasn’t complaining as I'd take anything she was willing to give.

She had things to do and reminded me that I did too. As she stood up I had a vision of a picture. Of course she said “No!”, complete with the exclamation point. But I wasn’t about to give up. I wanted more from my investment in the new love seat out in the garden so tried that angle. It didn’t work but it did put a thought into her head. I had mentioned that the original fountain had crumbled and there was a void in the middle of the garden. After saying "No" a second time she asked if I’d seen the bird baths at the store the night before. I hadn’t... she had! I didn’t know what it was going to cost but as I ran down the stairs I knew I was going to get my picture.
                             

I went back to my painting until the noon siren went off. I was ready for a break. While we ate she said that she had some errands to run and, with a big smile, said it would be no trouble to go pick up the bird bath while she was out. I wasn’t sure I wanted her to be picking this thing out without me but I really had to get back to the painting. The only way knew I’d have some control was to give her some money and tell her that would be it. Because of the storm we hadn’t done some of the things that would’ve cost money so I had more cash than usual. Actually, that was a problem in itself because all I had were $20 bills. I remember taking a deep breath as I handed one to her.

To be continued...

WINDING DOWN... Summer (Part 140n)

WINDING DOWN... Summer (Part 140n)

There was electricity but it was still raining when we awoke. However, my father had been right when he predicted that the rain would end in the morning and the sun would be out in the afternoon. There was so much to do in the wake of the storm that I did something that I never did. I actually made a list. It took me from noon on Wednesday until supper time on Friday to get it all done.

I don’t know why I felt I had to tackle the neighbor’s fallen tree first but I did. When the rain stopped I started there. The chain saw made fairly quick work of cutting the limbs off but wasn’t big enough to take on the trunk. I had just finished up doing what I could when Bill arrived. As I’d mentioned in a previous post, handy he wasn’t. However, we did make a clear path from his driveway to the kitchen porch steps by the time we were done.

Overall, the storm didn’t do all that much damage. Driving around I could see it was mostly nuisance stuff like small tree limbs, twigs and leaves strewn around yards. I had to go get our Sunfish sailboat from over at Rex’s house and while I was there he roped me into going to the sailing club. The wind, water and waves had destroyed the racks we’d built to store all the Sunfish boats which meant I had to take mine home. The officers of the club had decided to close it up early (Normally, the clubhouse itself would be open on Saturdays and Sundays through September) because the septic tank had been filled with sand during the flood tides. They felt it was a waste of money to dig it out knowing that Winter storms would only fill it in again. So, Rex and I nailed the storm doors on over the regular ones to get the message across to anyone showing up wanting access.

I got “B’s” sailboat pumped out all the way and after doing it helped Dave, the marina owner, retrieve a couple of boats that had slipped their moorings and had ended up in the marshes. A trip to both Elle’s mother and my parents was also in order. My father’s dock had lost all the handrails and the tree stump was still embedded under it. After I told him I had the use of a chainsaw that took care of the rest of Thursday.

Friday was dedicated to my own house and yard. Cleaning up the leaves and twigs so that I could mow the lawn was first. It had been almost two weeks since the last cutting and with all the rain it had really grown. It took more than twice the regular time to get it all done. With the Sunfish sitting on the trailer in the driveway I was constantly reminded that I’d have to find a place in the garage to store all the gear... and probably even more when the new Sunfish arrived. When I’d finished the lawn I took some time to figure out where to put all the things we’d been accumulating AND, the Sunfish gear. I couldn’t come up with anything so took a break for lunch.

Elle was off grocery shopping and had left me a sandwich. I’d not taken much time with the mail over the week and saw a flyer for the local Agway (farm and garden supply) store. There was a picture of a steel shed right on the front and as soon as I saw it knew I had a solution to my space problem. I had to go to the landfill with all the stuff I’d collected from around the house and yard so decided I’d go from there to the store and check out the shed. It was 4’ by 6’, not all that big, but I had a place for it in the far back yard. I ‘bit the bullet’ and took it home with me figuring I could put it together some night. But, have you ever bought something and not wanted to use it right away. The rest of the afternoon was taken up erecting the shed. By supper time I’d had enough even though I still had to put in a floor. Not satisfied with just putting it up I went to the garage and brought some things out to see just how they’d fit. The kids bikes and the lawn mower were real ‘space grabbers’ in the garage and I was pleased at just how much room was available with them no longer there.

Walking towards the house I looked up at it and felt a bit guilty in that I’d not made one iota of progress on painting that side of it. Other than some time for sailing, that project had started out as the focus for my vacation time and I’d done none of it. Even with that disappointment, I still felt good about the shed and the space I’d created in the garage. Elle and the girls had already eaten by the time I made it inside. She wanted to know how I’d made out so invited her to come out to see it. I remember her hesitating as she reached the screen door but then she continued on. With everything that had happened during the week I’d not had much time to think about ‘pee fun’ and, as we made our way to the back yard I had an idea.

When our house was built the owners made a formal garden complete with a fountain and irrigation, very unusual for the 1930’s. The next owner was a farmer and for him and his family, the garden was a ‘time waster’ and just let it go. When we bought the house it was obviously neglected and overgrown by weeds. The fountain was just a pile of rubble and the wooden garden seat was broken. Elle set out to resurrect it but I’d put a monetary restriction on her. By the end of August it was starting to show ’life’ and Elle wanted to replace the seat as the first major purchase. I didn’t have a problem with it and had started looking in the Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs with her. The wooden ones were a little pricey so we backed off on that. When I was at the Agway store to look at and buy the shed I saw a couple of cast iron love seats the were on sale. I didn’t really pay much attention, focusing on the shed. But, it came to me that if I were to buy one for her she’d ‘reward me’.

There were two way to get out the the new shed and one was through the formal garden. She didn’t question why I’d led her that way and when we got to where the fountain used to be (now removed) I stopped her. I pointed to where the old wood seat had been and proceeded to describe the love seat that I’d seen. She knew what I was talking about because they were also shown in the catalogs. She wasn’t really thrilled when I told her it was white but when I told her the price and told her that I could paint it any color she wanted she smiled. I think it was one of those “a bird in the hand” type things. When I told her that the store was open until 8pm and that we could go get it after I ate it sold her. But the reason we’d come out there in the first place was to look at the new shed and how much it held.

Before I reminded her of that she’d started moving back towards the house. I grabbed her arm and she turned back towards me. She said she really “had to go”... which is pretty much what I’d thought as we left the house. I wouldn’t let her go and she gave me one of her ‘looks’. That was when I reminded her about the love seat. She looked back towards the house and then relaxed and moved behind the overgrown azalea bush. Even though it was going to cost me $30 for the seat, my plan had worked. Back inside I convinced her to leave her wet panties on and to wear a dress when we went to get the seat. I could tell she wasn’t thrilled about that but she didn’t say anything and I knew it was going to be a good night when we got home.

To be continued...               

WINDING DOWN... Summer (Part 140m)

WINDING DOWN... Summer (Part 140m)

I just knew it was a mistake to have offered to help the neighbor cut up the tree that had fallen and blocking their kitchen door. I figured it would only be a matter of time before someone would come over and knock on our door so, already out in the weather, I decided to go to “B’s” father and to borrow his chain saw. It would save me a trip later. He had always been a ‘talker’ and this day was no different. I got the saw and was on my way in about a half hour which I felt was fairly good. I still had Elle’s grocery shopping to do as well as to pump out “B’s” sailboat and it was getting late. The rain had let up a bit in it’s intensity but the wind was still fairly strong as I made my way across the market parking lot. Inside I found mostly bare shelves and few employees. I corralled one to ask what was going on. Because of the severe weather following the holiday weekend deliveries were delayed. I could see unopened boxes in the aisles but no one was re-stocking the shelves. I made an attempt to get the things on Elle’s list but it was mostly a waste of my time.

The next stop was “B’s” boat. However, when I tried to turn in to the marina I was greeted with a saw horse blocking the way. There was a limp cardboard sign attached to it saying that the driveway was impassible due to the high water. Just past the entryway was a gravel driveway to a couple of houses off in the woods so I pulled in there. My shoes were already wet so started walking over to the boat. I was amazed at just how much rainwater had fallen since I’d left in the morning. The new pump made for quick work getting it down to the floorboards. I didn’t worry about getting it all out knowing I’d be back in the morning. But, since hand pumping is a mindless task I got to wondering just how Elle’s mother was making out with the high water. I could almost see the roof from where I was. I pretty much remembered that the cellar had a sump pump and as long as there was electricity it would be OK. With the thought in mind I decided to win some ‘brownie points’ by going the rest of the way down the road to her house. She was glad to see me since she’d been alone since early Monday morning. Elle’s father was at his fishing boat and had been there over night. She expected that he’d stay on this night as well. I called Elle from there and although not happy was glad to hear from me and was appreciative that I’d stopped by to check on her mother. That triggered the thought that I better go across the street to see my parents or that  would become a problem that I didn’t need.

The view of the bay from there showed waves braking over the dock. I also noted that most of the handrail was missing and that a large tree stump was wedged under the dock itself. My father volunteered that the storm would be over by the next afternoon. I remember thinking that this was no way to spend my vacation time.

I’d been right about the neighbors. Bill, the new principal, had come over as soon as he got home from school. Elle reported that all he wanted was to be able to get into the house through the kitchen door. Because I’d not gotten some of the food that Elle wanted it was going to be slim pickings for supper so I decided to head next door with the saw. I was pretty wet, again, and I figured that it’d only take a few minutes to cut the few branches away that were blocking the door. Thankfully, “B’s” father had shown me a sure fire way of starting the saw and, as expected it only took a few minutes of cutting to clear the path to the door. I was just finishing up when the kitchen door opened. It was Bill and he thanked me profusely. All I wanted to do was go home but he had some questions about what to do without electricity. I told him, that in his case, he’d have to get an electrician to hook him back up as there was power to his garage. I reminded him not to flush the toilets as the water pump wouldn’t work. The look on his face told me that my advice was too late.

While talking with him I made an effort to see if Barbara was there and if she was still in her nightie. With no real light I couldn’t see much. I was about to leave at that point when Phyllis, his wife appeared. She was the last person I wanted to see at that moment. However, she really surprised me. Without the usual ‘edge’ in her voice she offered up the fact that she had food in the refrigerator that would go bad if it wasn’t kept cold. I didn’t know if she was offering it to me or what so just stood there. But she continued on by saying that she’d share it with us if we would allow her to cook it at our house. My first reaction was ‘here we go again!’ with her asserting her wishes on me. She continued by saying that she and her girls would do the clean up and Elle wouldn’t have to do much at all.

I was processing this whole scene when my stomach growled as if to say “don’t be stupid... it’s free food and we don’t have much, if anything, to eat ourselves“ I told her I’d go ask Elle and headed home. The only concern Elle had was where we’d put everybody with seven of them and five of us. Elle smiled and immediately said ”the dining room table!“ as it only got used for eating at Christmas.

It turned out to be a wonderful meal as well as a good time. Phyllis had brought back a whole batch of honest to goodness German sauerbraten from her weekend visit with her relatives. My girls weren’t overwhelmed by it but they managed. All in all it was very pleasant and, other than Phyllis bossing her kids around a bit, very easy going. Bill and I got to chat a bit while the older girls and women cleaned up. I got to ask him some of the questions that had never been raised at the school board open meeting. He was very candid and opined that Wally, the Board president, could be difficult to deal with but he felt he had the students best interest at heart. He volunteered that one of the very first things that would take place the following school year would be almost all new text books for the high school. That had been one of the issues raised by the ‘group' when Elle and I first got involved with them and the school.

Since they had no electricity and it was getting dark we invited them to stay with us for as long as they wanted. Barbara, who looked a lot better than she’d looked that afternoon, and her sister played games with the kids allowing the adults to get to know each other better. When Elle told Phyllis that her mother had come from Germany when she was but 18 years old it was like we’d become part of her family. It was amazing. Phyllis wanted to meet Elle’s mother as soon as she could so they could talk about where all their relatives had originated. It was close to 10pm when they left. I did ask if there would be school the next day and Bill’s answer was “Yes... as long as there was electricity”.

To be continued...