ANOTHER YEAR... another month (Part 153a)

ANOTHER YEAR... another month (Part 153a)

Aside form being annoyed at having to deal with Jerry every day, things were going well at the bank as February started. Jaz, in taking Janet’s place, had fit in well both with the other tellers and the customers. Peggy was happy at the drive-up and with the school savings program. Alice showed up a few times wearing a pants suit and, as soon as 3pm came and the lobby was empty, off came the jacket and if I concentrated, was able to discern a nice VPL. Lorie was doing very well as chief clerk and I had to admit to myself that I’d been wrong about her. Having worked closely with her for the month I’d come to realize that she was another who would’ve benefited from a college education. She and Mala (who was now working in the accounting department), because of their parents philosophy about education, never had the opportunity. Speaking of Lorie, after seeing panties on the wash line at her house that one night, I made a point of taking the long way home on a couple of occasions. I don’t remember how many times I did before seeing any. Winter time and being night don’t add up to a high percentage of seeing wash of any kind. I actually parked in the same place as when I’d first discovered them and could definitely see two different sizes and the smaller ones had to belong to Lorie. I didn’t have a plan to do anything more than look but it was a fun thing to do.

I’d managed to get to see my friend Cliffy to give him the money for my share of his father’s racecar. He told me that he and his wife, Beth, were going to host a meeting of the others when they got back from Daytona Beach, Florida. Cliffy had won the track championship at the local track he raced at the year before and it gave him a starting place in one of the races held there each February. He was going back to help a fellow driver in one of the races this year. I was getting ‘itchy’ to get back into racing and was looking forward to making plans for the upcoming season.

Signing up for an American Express card turned out to be a learning experience. Even though I was working in the banking business, the type of bank I worked for didn’t offer credit cards of any kind so I knew absolutely nothing about how they worked. I was not prepared when they told me I’d have to pay a monthly fee just to have the card. The reason I chose American Express was that it was the one I’d always seen my father use. I told Bret about my plight and he said the bank his father worked for had Master Card credit cards and they charged one $12 fee per year. What was even better was when I told him what I needed it for... golf clubs and a guitar. I remember his eyes lighting up and then blurting out he knew where I could get both. His father had given up golf because of arthritis in his wrists and didn’t know what to do with his clubs. He assured me that the price would be reasonable but even better, I could try them out first. On the guitar, his sister had tried to learn a few years back and gave up. When she moved away she’d left the guitar with Bret’s parents and his mother was complaining about it taking up needed space. It was like I’d hit the lottery even though I didn’t know how much money I’d have to spend.

Bret insisted that I follow him to his house that evening to pick the items up. While there I asked his father about getting a credit card. He told me it would take about a week to ten days. That told me I had some time because my real need for it wasn’t until Elle and I headed for Florida. As for the golf clubs he told me $25 but before I had a chance to speak he changed his mind and said $20 would be just fine. Bret interjected at that point to ask his father if I could try them first. I remember him laughing and was reminded of a laugh that a good Santa Claus might make. I took it to mean that I could.

While this negotiation was going on Bret’s mother was no where to be seen. I hadn’t called Elle to tell her I’d be late so I was anxious to leave. As I got to the door with the golf clubs she appeared from the kitchen holding a very dusty guitar case. Moving towards me she almost pleaded with me to take it... for free... just to get it out of her pantry. She added that she didn’t know if it would even work as it had been at least five years since it had been out of the case. She told Bret to take it out to the car for me with a big smile on her face. At the car I turned to thank Bret’s parents but they’d stayed in the house. As I said, it was like a lottery win for me.

Naturally, Elle wasn’t happy when I appeared at the kitchen door because I hadn't called. But, when I put the guitar case on the floor a big smile appeared. She had the guitar out of the case before I even got my coat off. Not knowing anything about guitars it looked good to me. The finish on it still shone but when she went to pluck the strings it was another story. Two broke as soon as she touched them. It made sense that it would need new strings... a small price to pay. I told her about the golf clubs but since dinner was already late she made me wait to show her.

Bret hadn’t told me how long it had been since his father had played but a look at the clubs (the irons) told me it had been quite a while. I spent over an hour working on them to make them at least presentable when I showed up for the next session at school. The last one had four women show up which was a lot better than the previous one. When signing up I’d noticed two that were both decent looking and had the potential to give off some nice VPL’s. I made a point of getting a position next to and a bit behind one of them. The instructor was teaching us how to use a ‘driver’ and had two groups going at the same time. On the walls behind the basketball backboards they’d hung heavy pads to keep the basketball players from crashing into the hard walls. The plastic wiffle balls we used would hit the pad and fall to the floor. After hitting eight or nine of them he’d blow a whistle to signal time out to pick the balls up. It was just what I was waiting for.

To be continued...