FINISHING OUT THE YEAR... Conversion (Part 147A)

FINISHING OUT THE YEAR... Conversion (Part 147a)

I've concentrated on writing about Peggy for the last two weeks of December. However, while that was taking place there was LOT happening in the matter of the upcoming conversion. Bret and I spent a lot of time making sure the staff was ready for the big weekend as well as a lot of time on the phone with the data center. As I mentioned in one of the previous posts, our new teller machines had been delivered and were being stored in a warehouse owned by a trustee. It was mandatory that they be delivered to the bank, connected and tested before we started the actual conversion. What made it a horror story was that we still had to wait on customers while this was going on. The equipment manufacturer, Burroughs, had two technicians assigned to us (one being Robbie, our old NCR technician) and the service bureau sent the #2 person in their processing center. Even though I felt our tellers were adequately trained I had asked Albie if he could send Gracie, the lady who trained me and also had spent a day with our staff, as ‘insurance’. We had so many people there you almost needed a score card. I wont bore you with all the machinations necessary to get the new machines in place and the old ones removed. Even though the tellers left shortly after 6pm that Friday night, Bret and I along with the technicians stayed until after 10. All machines checked out and were in place as we left. The next step was data input.

All seven tellers plus Lorie and Jaz were to be there at 8am that Saturday. With the two borrowed teller machines and our own it was projected that by 8pm we’d have close to 60% of the account data entered. In doing the planning I had my fingers, arms and legs crossed that it would be enough time. Albie, at the data center, had told me to plan on ‘down time’ with the telephone lines and I hoped I’d figured it right. Because the next day was Sunday we only had eight hours to get the rest of the entries made. The data center was only available to us from 10am to 6pm so there was a lot of pressure to get it all done. Monday, New Years day, was set aside to do the checking of the journals that the data center would produce after all the data was entered. For that exercise I had Liz, the Auditor, Laura, her assistant and Bette, the head of the accounting department coming in as well as the others at 10am. It was a lot to expect from them but the ‘reward’ was both monetary as well as additional time off. I’d calculated it as approximately double pay.

All machines were in operation with data entry by about 8:30am. Lorie, who was to fill the newly created chief clerk position (over Gina who I’d wanted) was charged with establishing break times for everybody including lunch and supper. At that point I was able to survey the ‘crew’ and check out just what they were wearing.

Starting at window number one there was nothing of interest to see except it was the very first time I saw Cara wearing pants. As soon as I did I knew why she chose to wear dresses. She was a big boned girl with wide hips. Not fat by any stretch of imagination, I could see why the drape of a dress would/could hide her hips. Next was Alice, the newest teller, who was wearing nondescript tweed pants. Unfortunately, that defied me the ability to see a VPL. Letitia was next and... well Letitia was Letitia with absolutely noting to even consider. Next in line was Lillian. She loved dark blue and that went for dresses, skirts and now, pants. I pretty much knew she wore bikinis based on all the peeks I’d observed in the past. Because of being so thin the pants just hung on her and it was another case of no VPL. Janet had worn slacks a few times and I was convinced that she wore a girdle. There were no lines at all, not even on her butt cheeks. Peggy was the ‘prize’. As I’ve mentioned she needed to lose a little weight but had reached a point where she was trying to wear some of her pre pregnancy clothes. Wearing a pair of bright red knit pants the VPL was almost vivid. What made it perfect for me was that I could tell she was wearing a pair of the new SansSoucie panties that I’d gotten for her. She didn’t have to bend over at all to see that beautiful ‘diamond’ shape on her backside. Jaz also chose to wear a pair of knit pants. They were a taffy like color and were also a mite tight. A while back she’d volunteered to stay late to help get the daily postings caught up. On that night I’d seen one of the best ‘camel toes’ I’d ever seen. Her job that day was to see that the ledger cards, after the data had been entered, were returned to the proper bins so she was always on the move and, unfortunately, there was no real opportunity for a real VPL. Then there was Lorie.

After a ‘rocky’ start to our working relationship. we’d been at  a ‘neutral’ position for quite a while. I had to accept Hobie’s decision to make her chief clerk but it had cost me Gina. It wasn’t Lorie’s fault and I didn’t hold it against her. Her position as the bookkeeping machine (computer?) operator had her in my department but her job had a narrow definition and required little supervision. Most of the time I’d see her sitting at the machine and had little chance to really ‘observe’ her when it came to VPL’s or peeks. I really can’t remember if I’d ever seen her in pants but on this morning there she was in a pair of light gray pants... certainly a possibility for a VPL. What made it appealing was that she’d pulled her hair back and had a completely different look than I was used to. I’d always considered her to be a bit attractive but because of our ‘frosty’ relationship really didn’t give her much thought. Now, in a different situation with a different look, I was thinking there might be a chance for something interesting to see.

To be continued...