THE NEXT PHASE... positive signs (Part 64c)

I stopped by Irwin’s desk the next morning and told him I wasn’t getting very far with Nina and asked if I could go talk with Jay, the programmer. It was sort of a Catch 22 for him in that Jay was not an official part of the Audit and Control department and he was concerned that I might be a distraction for him. He finally agreed. It only took a few minutes for Jay and I to bond. In fact I was a pleasant relief for him because it didn’t take long for me to realize that Nina and he did not see eye to eye. He showed me all the peripheral equipment for the computer and even introduced me to Linda and Donna. Then he gave me an overview of the whole process. In less than half an hour I learned more than I’d learned from Nina in a whole afternoon. He was careful not to openly criticize Nina but it was clear to see that his frustration was right below the surface. His biggest complaint was that she hadn’t spent any time learning the operation of the peripheral equipment such as the sorter, collator and printer and it was almost time for the first full test.

On the way home all I could think about was where I was going to get enough money to live on until I got paid by the County. The ”killer“ was that the rent was due by the 15th. I decided to stop at the office and see if Dick would let me wait until that Friday. I wanted to be up front about the situation. He looked up at me and with a smile reminded me that he owed me $1,100 for the camp trailer. I hadn’t looked at it that way. To me that money was a down payment on the new trailer that I wanted. As I was about to go out the door he stopped me and gave me $100 and said something like ”Now I only owe you $1,000“. That made me smile.

That night Elle and I sat down and basically counted out what we actually had to pay for and what could wait. Other than the $10 for the two Saturdays that I planned to work at the trailer park that was all I could count on. The big question was how much kerosene we had left and how much we would need. Night time temperatures were now in the 30’s so we set aside some ”untouchable“ dollars for that and decided we’d try to bundle up more at night. It was an uneasy sleep that night.

I went in a little early the next day to see if I could learn some more from Jay. He’d told me that he was always there at 8am when the building was officially opened. It was a good move. He actually showed me how each machine worked and let me run cards through each of them. When Nina arrived (about 10 minutes after 9am) she saw me in there with Jay and came right in without unloading all her ”stuff“ at her desk. Actually it was pretty funny as she had a big bag over her shoulder and looked a bit like a carpetbagger. She ignored me and asked Jay what I was doing. He dodged the direct question and answered by telling her that I was just ”curious“ since I’d had some exposure to some similar equipment. She turned to walk out but Jay reminded her that she was way behind on her training on the machines. Without stopping she walked away and yelled over her shoulder that she had to get her own work done first. I remember Jay standing there just shaking his head.

By this time I was getting a little concerned because no one was giving me specific direction. I felt like a ping pong ball being bounced from one area to another. It was back to Irwin’s desk again. I pleaded with him to give me some actual data to get a ”feel“ of what it was that I was to do when a payroll was completed. He made a phone call and a little while later a thin, short, wrinkled faced lady came in the room and was directed to where I was sitting. It was the printout of an earlier payroll done by the Treasurer’s office. At least it was something to look at and study. I stayed at my desk the rest of the morning, writing down my questions. At lunch break I saw Jay and asked if Nina ever came in. It was not the right question to ask at least at that moment. I decided to go back to my desk and observe.

Gina came into the room around mid afternoon to tell Irwin that the Controller was in his office. As soon as I heard that I looked up and saw Jay turn the corner by the counter and out of the office. About 10 minutes later he came back with the Controller and they stopped at Nina’s desk. A minute or so later I saw the three of them in the computer room. Jay was showing the Controller the various machines with Nina following closely behind. They were in there for maybe 15 or 20 minutes before the Controller left. Nina stayed. She stayed in the room with Jay until 5pm came when she walked out, picked up her big bag and her coat and left. I waited for a while until everyone was out of all the offices and headed into the computer room. When Jay saw me his face lit up with a smile.

The Controller had told Nina that her ONLY job was learning how to do the payroll... period, end of sentence. I asked him how it had gone after the Controller had left and he just shrugged his shoulders. Then I asked him if they would make the deadline for the test and he shrugged again. I asked what would happen if they didn’t get it done. This time he shook his head as if to say he really didn’t know. It was then I asked if there was something I could do to help out. Then he told me that he really didn’t know what would happen since the Controller told Nina it was her responsibility. He said that he, himself, could do it but a major part of the test was to see if Nina could do it. If I helped him it would look as if she was capable... and he was sure she wasn’t. Then I asked him if it wasn’t also a test of his programming. After a few seconds he agreed it was but he also said that he had to let Nina fail first. Then he asked if I could stay for a while and he’d give me more instructions on how the whole process worked. It was now close to 6pm and I knew Elle would be worried. I told him to come home with me and get a bite to eat and then I’d come back. (I know it’s hard to believe but there was no way to make a phone call out of the building after 5pm) He hesitated but finally gave in.

To be continued...