GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69b)
It was around that same time I got a call at work from Elle. She hardly ever called so I was a bit concerned. She told me there was a ”block of dirt“ right out in front of our trailer. I tried to get her to explain what she meant but all I was able to get from her was there was this cube of what looked like dirt on a wooden platform right where I usually parked my car. Confused, I got Jo to cover for me and I headed home. It took a few seconds to realize that the ”block“ was sod. My yard was still nothing but dirt. I liked the idea but I wasn’t going to be the one to pay for it. I headed for the office and Dick, thank goodness, was there to explain. When the last of the new pads had been finished in the late fall it had been too late to plant grass. My yard was one of those. The ”boys“ hadn’t expected that the pads would get occupied so quickly but the new, longer trailers had been selling quite well and most of those grassless pads had been rented. The tenants had gotten together and complained so the ”boys“ decided to spend the money to sod the yards rather than plant grass and to listen to complaints. I was told that if I wanted to lay it myself that they’d take $15 off that month’s rent. In my mind $15 was $15 even though I didn’t have that much spare time. I was excited about the thought of finally having a yard for the kids to play in.
It was also right around that time that Jay was able to start the interviewing process for the vacant position. Civil Service rules stated that he could take any of the top three candidates on the list of those who had passed the test. As soon as I saw that first candidate walk through the door I had a feeling Jay would hire her. She had an air of professionalism about her in not only the way she was dressed but also the way she carried herself. It didn’t take long before Jay was introducing Lucy to us. She’d actually worked for Remington Rand. Of course I had to check out her butt. She was wearing a fitted wool skirt with a houndstooth pattern. I felt that if there hadn’t been a pattern on it I would’ve surely seen a VPL. I couldn’t wait for her to start. Neither could Jay but we had to wait until all the paperwork was processed.
I started laying the sod the first night I could. My next door neighbor came over to help and before I knew it there were five of us packing it down. I hadn’t seen much of Mac and after we finished up he waved me to the side. I wondered what was so private that he couldn’t say it out loud. I was shocked when he told me he wasn’t going to ”re-up“ for another tour of duty with the Air Force. All I’d ever heard from him was that he was a ”career man“. He told me that he’d signed up to work on the Alaska pipe line. I don’t remember the hourly wage he said he’d be paid but it was certainly eye opening. I knew his ultimate dream was to own a small flying service. He went on to say that he figured that after just three years he’d be able to put enough away to buy two planes and have a down payment on a house. His wife, Elise, would take the kids back to live with her parents saving a lot more money. He asked me not to tell anyone as he planned on having a party to let everyone know. As he walked away I wondered why he singled me out to tell ahead of the party. I also knew I’d miss him and that Elle would miss Elise.
One of the first benefits of having a lawn was that I now had an excuse to go over by the back of my neighbor’s trailer. I could now put up a fence to keep my kids somewhat controlled. Weather permitting, Saturday was wash day for them and I couldn’t wait to get up close and personal with the older teen’s panties. I’d seen them from a far for a couple of months and was looking forward to having the opportunity to seem them up close. The mother and younger daughter’s panties held no interest for me because they were both on the heavy side. Janelle, the older teen, certainly was a ”looker“ and I’d sort of witnessed her ”accident“ so I had a definite interest. My problem was that I had too many things happening almost at the same time.
The wheels of Government turn ever so slowly. Jay was hoping to put Lucy to work as quickly as Jo but there was some sort of hold up. It was mid April before she started. I remember smiling as I watched her walk through the door into the DP room. She looked like a model. Her black hair was pulled back and she had on a fitted charcoal gray skirt with a matching jacket. I can close my eyes and still see that visage. At the interview I’d not talked with her so when she spoke I was a little shocked. There was a trace of an accent but I didn’t know the origination. I can honestly say she was the class of the office right from the time she walked in. Prim and proper would be an apt description. It was hard to take my eyes off her. After introducing her to Jo and Linda I was a bit worried that she’d be discouraged by the loose way that we operated. The way Jay ran the DP department could be described as ”laid back”. She wanted to get started and Jo took over at that point in time. When Jay showed up I could see the relief in his face. The requests for new programs were piling up and he just couldn’t find the time to get to them. Leo, the Deputy Controller, had been bugging him about it. Jay and I couldn’t stand the man and we wanted to do everything possible to keep him out of our area. Jay was looking to Lucy to be the solution.
To be continued...
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69a)
March ended on a good note. Elle taught about 8 days for the month and with the playhouses Jay and I had built there was actually money in the bank that we didn’t owe. Lance had approached me on another one of his car deals so there was even more money to come. The end of March also meant the end of the calendar quarter which required extra reports meaning we’d be working late for a while. In spite of that the arrival of April brought some exciting things to the forefront.
For Jay it was the ability to hire another employee to help us all out. His plan to move Jo up a bit wasn’t going to happen, at least officially. The Civil Service Commission still hadn’t written job descriptions for the Data Processing department other than for Key Punch Operator. The only thing Jay was allowed to do was to hire another key puncher. Jo would still be classified and paid as a key puncher but would actually be doing the work of a DP Machine Operator. Surprisingly, when Jay told her about the "glitch" she didn’t complain. All Jay had to do was to interview women from the approved list. The problem was squeezing in the interviews on top of everything else that was going on.
On a personal level my 25th birthday was on Thursday that week. My grandfather insisted that it be celebrated at his house because he had a surprise for me. Of course hearing that that made time go by fairly slowly for me. I’m not sure which day it was that week I went to the bank during my lunch break. While there I ran into my cousin’s husband, Brian. For reasons that I still have yet to fathom the extended family on my father’s side was never really that close. I don’t ever remember having everyone together at one time. In any case, I was closer to my cousin Joan’s husband than I was to her. Brian was “blue collar”, through and through and a good guy. Joan was a college graduate and I always felt that she had a chip on her shoulder. I had the feeling she looked down on me as being somewhat inferior. In any case, Brian and I chatted in the lobby and once outside I saw he was driving Joan’s ‘55 Chevy Bel Air. I’d always loved that car. It was all black with red/orange and cream leather seats. I mentioned it to Brian as we parted and he mentioned that “they” were going to sell it. The “they” was the family farm and not Joan and Brian. I was a bit puzzled and he told me that when he and Joan had gotten married her parents gave them a new car and this car became a “lot” car. (A “lot“ car is one that is used on a farm to go from one area of the farm fields to another) Hearing the word ”sell“ really got my attention. I liked the ‘55 Chevy that I had but it wasn’t the Bel Air model and Joan’s black car was. All black and with the leather seats it was sharp looking. I asked Brian if he any idea what they were asking for it and he shrugged his shoulders saying it wouldn’t be much as there was rust over the headlights and needed tires, shocks and motor work. He told me to make an offer and he’d get back to me. Taking what he’d just told me into consideration I said I’d go $100. He waved good bye and said he’d call. I knew it wasn’t a smart move but the car, cleaned up, really was worth a lot more than $100. I decided not to say anything to anybody until I heard from Brian.
Thursday finally came and I really had no idea what the ”surprise’ for me was. My parents were there and after we ate my grandfather turned to me and told me how proud of me he was and that I was worthy of the envelope he handed me. It was a rather thick envelope and he told me to open it. There were a number of pages and on first blush they made no sense to me. I guess my puzzled look led to my grandfather explaining that he’d set up a trust fund for me when I was born. Now that I was 25 years old and had a family he felt it was time that I learned about it. It didn’t mean that much to me since I had no idea what a trust fund was. It finally started to “click” when he told me that I would be able to have access to the money it earned. As it turned out it was about $100 a month. I really don’t think I gave him enough thanks for it though as I hadn’t grasped the whole concept.
Brian got in touch with me over the weekend and the $100 offer was accepted. Ironically, there was a little over $100 immediately available from the trust so it wasn’t going to affect the amount in the checking account. When I told Elle she didn’t understand why I wanted another car even after I told her I could sell the blue '55 Chevy, fix up the black one and have money left over. The mind of a female has always puzzled me.
I told Jay about the car and he suggested that I switch motors since mine was somewhat "souped up". He agreed to help and since he had a block and fall set up at his place it made sense to go there even though it was some 25 miles away. After I took ownership of the black Chevy we decided to do it the weekend before Easter. Jay figured that if all went well we could do it in two days. Always up for a challenge when it came to working on cars, Jay was perfect for the job.
To be continued...
March ended on a good note. Elle taught about 8 days for the month and with the playhouses Jay and I had built there was actually money in the bank that we didn’t owe. Lance had approached me on another one of his car deals so there was even more money to come. The end of March also meant the end of the calendar quarter which required extra reports meaning we’d be working late for a while. In spite of that the arrival of April brought some exciting things to the forefront.
For Jay it was the ability to hire another employee to help us all out. His plan to move Jo up a bit wasn’t going to happen, at least officially. The Civil Service Commission still hadn’t written job descriptions for the Data Processing department other than for Key Punch Operator. The only thing Jay was allowed to do was to hire another key puncher. Jo would still be classified and paid as a key puncher but would actually be doing the work of a DP Machine Operator. Surprisingly, when Jay told her about the "glitch" she didn’t complain. All Jay had to do was to interview women from the approved list. The problem was squeezing in the interviews on top of everything else that was going on.
On a personal level my 25th birthday was on Thursday that week. My grandfather insisted that it be celebrated at his house because he had a surprise for me. Of course hearing that that made time go by fairly slowly for me. I’m not sure which day it was that week I went to the bank during my lunch break. While there I ran into my cousin’s husband, Brian. For reasons that I still have yet to fathom the extended family on my father’s side was never really that close. I don’t ever remember having everyone together at one time. In any case, I was closer to my cousin Joan’s husband than I was to her. Brian was “blue collar”, through and through and a good guy. Joan was a college graduate and I always felt that she had a chip on her shoulder. I had the feeling she looked down on me as being somewhat inferior. In any case, Brian and I chatted in the lobby and once outside I saw he was driving Joan’s ‘55 Chevy Bel Air. I’d always loved that car. It was all black with red/orange and cream leather seats. I mentioned it to Brian as we parted and he mentioned that “they” were going to sell it. The “they” was the family farm and not Joan and Brian. I was a bit puzzled and he told me that when he and Joan had gotten married her parents gave them a new car and this car became a “lot” car. (A “lot“ car is one that is used on a farm to go from one area of the farm fields to another) Hearing the word ”sell“ really got my attention. I liked the ‘55 Chevy that I had but it wasn’t the Bel Air model and Joan’s black car was. All black and with the leather seats it was sharp looking. I asked Brian if he any idea what they were asking for it and he shrugged his shoulders saying it wouldn’t be much as there was rust over the headlights and needed tires, shocks and motor work. He told me to make an offer and he’d get back to me. Taking what he’d just told me into consideration I said I’d go $100. He waved good bye and said he’d call. I knew it wasn’t a smart move but the car, cleaned up, really was worth a lot more than $100. I decided not to say anything to anybody until I heard from Brian.
Thursday finally came and I really had no idea what the ”surprise’ for me was. My parents were there and after we ate my grandfather turned to me and told me how proud of me he was and that I was worthy of the envelope he handed me. It was a rather thick envelope and he told me to open it. There were a number of pages and on first blush they made no sense to me. I guess my puzzled look led to my grandfather explaining that he’d set up a trust fund for me when I was born. Now that I was 25 years old and had a family he felt it was time that I learned about it. It didn’t mean that much to me since I had no idea what a trust fund was. It finally started to “click” when he told me that I would be able to have access to the money it earned. As it turned out it was about $100 a month. I really don’t think I gave him enough thanks for it though as I hadn’t grasped the whole concept.
Brian got in touch with me over the weekend and the $100 offer was accepted. Ironically, there was a little over $100 immediately available from the trust so it wasn’t going to affect the amount in the checking account. When I told Elle she didn’t understand why I wanted another car even after I told her I could sell the blue '55 Chevy, fix up the black one and have money left over. The mind of a female has always puzzled me.
I told Jay about the car and he suggested that I switch motors since mine was somewhat "souped up". He agreed to help and since he had a block and fall set up at his place it made sense to go there even though it was some 25 miles away. After I took ownership of the black Chevy we decided to do it the weekend before Easter. Jay figured that if all went well we could do it in two days. Always up for a challenge when it came to working on cars, Jay was perfect for the job.
To be continued...
Thursday, February 24, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68l)
Jay was not happy when I told him. Even the total amount of money involved didn't change his mind. He had to draw up a completely new set of plans and had to order more wood. It took almost all the next day for Jay to calm down enough to talk to me. We decided, weather permitting, to do it that Saturday. The address was in a new waterfront development. When we drove in I had a feeling the house we were looking for was going to be the biggest. I knew we were in the right place when I saw the white Jaguar. The three car garage was detached with a breezeway connecting the two buildings. Costas came out and showed us where he wanted it built and then drove off. A funny thing about houses built on the water... the “front” faces the water. That means the “back” of the house faces the street. He wanted it built right next to the garage so that it could be seen from the kitchen. It didn’t matter to Jay so we unloaded all the materials and started in. We used cement blocks for the footing and while we were digging them in this little girl came running up. I hadn’t had much experience with other peoples kids so I wasn’t prepared for her. To call her a brat would be kind. In a matter of minutes she had both of us frazzled. I could see Jay was about ready to pick his tools up and leave so I headed for the house. This old woman answered the door. I asked if the mother of the girl was available. In thinking about it now it was pretty funny because the woman didn’t speak English. Once I realized it I was trying to get her to understand that I needed to see the mother. After a few unsuccessful tries I called to the girl who was still harassing Jay. When she finally came I had her go get her mother.
I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Costas was easily 50+ years old. This woman looked to be about Elle’s age and she was gorgeous. Jet black hair, olive skin, big dark eyes and what appeared to be quite a body. I was almost as nervous as I was that night I met Costas. I explained that it was dangerous for her daughter to be running around while we were building the playhouse. She said that she’d take care of her for us. I remember telling Jay that he had to find an excuse to go to house to see her but he just rolled his eyes.
Being on the water there was a breeze but it was around 50 degrees so we were comfortable as we progressed. About mid morning I saw a teen aged girl leave the house and then I saw another car drive away. Costas hadn’t mentioned another child but with the age of his wife it seemed to me that she would’ve had to been a teen herself when the other girl was born. That gave the thought that she might be his second wife. Soon after that the old woman came out with a wash basket. The wash line was right next to the garage and between it and where we were working. I got my hopes up as I watched her start hanging clothes. But they were all male items... white shirts, boxers, T shirts and socks.
We’d gotten good enough at building the regular sized playhouses that by lunch time we would usually have all the sides up. This was taking a lot longer and we were both frustrated. Elle had made sandwiches for us and we were eating them while seated against the side of the garage and out of the wind. All of a sudden the old woman appeared again. While we were sitting there my prayers were answered. She hung up a few pairs of panties that I assumed might’ve belonged to the teen and then some that obviously belonged to the bratty kid . Then she hung up something that it took a few seconds for me to realize exactly what they were.
The first bikini bathing suit I’d ever seen was in the Summer of 1959. I’d not seen too many more in the two Summers since. Most of the women at the sailing club wore one piece suits if they wore a bathing suit at all. A few wore two piece suits and the panties portion looked almost like regular panties only with a multi color pattern on them. What I saw go up on the line was a pair of light green panties with most of the upper half missing. The crotch was still there but from the crotch line to the waist elastic there was probably no more than two inches of material. I looked at Jay and caught him watching the old woman as well. She pulled out a few more and they were also in pastel colors. It was the very first peek at bikini panties that either of us had seen. By the time the lady finished hanging that load of wash I even got to see my first colored bra.
In all the time I’d worked with Jay we hardly ever talked about women let alone what they wore. I was surprised when Jay mentioned the “skimpy panties”. I don’t remember exactly what he said or how he said it but it was something about how his wife would (or could) never wear anything like that. I remember him sort of laughing saying they’d never stay up on her. It was one of the few times he ever mentioned her. I agreed with him about Elle and the panties as well. I don’t know why I went on about Elle but mentioned that she had a “problem” and that they wouldn’t be too practical in her situation. He didn’t say anything so we let the subject drop.
It was almost dark when we finished up and were just putting the tools in Jay’s truck when Costas showed up. He walked up and the first words out of his mouth were to ask why it wasn’t painted. Jay, who was really tired as he had done most of the hard work, sort of spit back at him that it was because we weren’t painters. He stood there and even though I couldn’t see him all that well I could tell he was mad. I tried to temper the situation by reminding him that all I’d agreed to was to build the playhouse... period end of sentence. Costas stood there for a minute and then stormed off and I heard him say that it better be painted by the end of the next day.
It poured all day Sunday. I was sure I’d hear from him him on Monday since I knew he had my work number. But I didn’t. When Friday came to and end and I still hadn’t heard from him I decided that the matter was closed. That Sunday when I took my grandfather to the hospital and was at his house I saw the front page of the local newspaper. There was a picture of a car wreck and I thought I recognized the light colored car in the picture. I read the caption but the female name didn’t mean anything to me so I let it pass.
Early that Summer I found out that the wrecked car in the picture belonged to Costas and his wife had been severely injured. I also found out that he was involved in some illegal dealings having to do with shipping goods to and from Greece. The one thing that I knew was that the money I’d received from him, tainted or not, spent just like any other that I’d ever received.
To be continued...
Jay was not happy when I told him. Even the total amount of money involved didn't change his mind. He had to draw up a completely new set of plans and had to order more wood. It took almost all the next day for Jay to calm down enough to talk to me. We decided, weather permitting, to do it that Saturday. The address was in a new waterfront development. When we drove in I had a feeling the house we were looking for was going to be the biggest. I knew we were in the right place when I saw the white Jaguar. The three car garage was detached with a breezeway connecting the two buildings. Costas came out and showed us where he wanted it built and then drove off. A funny thing about houses built on the water... the “front” faces the water. That means the “back” of the house faces the street. He wanted it built right next to the garage so that it could be seen from the kitchen. It didn’t matter to Jay so we unloaded all the materials and started in. We used cement blocks for the footing and while we were digging them in this little girl came running up. I hadn’t had much experience with other peoples kids so I wasn’t prepared for her. To call her a brat would be kind. In a matter of minutes she had both of us frazzled. I could see Jay was about ready to pick his tools up and leave so I headed for the house. This old woman answered the door. I asked if the mother of the girl was available. In thinking about it now it was pretty funny because the woman didn’t speak English. Once I realized it I was trying to get her to understand that I needed to see the mother. After a few unsuccessful tries I called to the girl who was still harassing Jay. When she finally came I had her go get her mother.
I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Costas was easily 50+ years old. This woman looked to be about Elle’s age and she was gorgeous. Jet black hair, olive skin, big dark eyes and what appeared to be quite a body. I was almost as nervous as I was that night I met Costas. I explained that it was dangerous for her daughter to be running around while we were building the playhouse. She said that she’d take care of her for us. I remember telling Jay that he had to find an excuse to go to house to see her but he just rolled his eyes.
Being on the water there was a breeze but it was around 50 degrees so we were comfortable as we progressed. About mid morning I saw a teen aged girl leave the house and then I saw another car drive away. Costas hadn’t mentioned another child but with the age of his wife it seemed to me that she would’ve had to been a teen herself when the other girl was born. That gave the thought that she might be his second wife. Soon after that the old woman came out with a wash basket. The wash line was right next to the garage and between it and where we were working. I got my hopes up as I watched her start hanging clothes. But they were all male items... white shirts, boxers, T shirts and socks.
We’d gotten good enough at building the regular sized playhouses that by lunch time we would usually have all the sides up. This was taking a lot longer and we were both frustrated. Elle had made sandwiches for us and we were eating them while seated against the side of the garage and out of the wind. All of a sudden the old woman appeared again. While we were sitting there my prayers were answered. She hung up a few pairs of panties that I assumed might’ve belonged to the teen and then some that obviously belonged to the bratty kid . Then she hung up something that it took a few seconds for me to realize exactly what they were.
The first bikini bathing suit I’d ever seen was in the Summer of 1959. I’d not seen too many more in the two Summers since. Most of the women at the sailing club wore one piece suits if they wore a bathing suit at all. A few wore two piece suits and the panties portion looked almost like regular panties only with a multi color pattern on them. What I saw go up on the line was a pair of light green panties with most of the upper half missing. The crotch was still there but from the crotch line to the waist elastic there was probably no more than two inches of material. I looked at Jay and caught him watching the old woman as well. She pulled out a few more and they were also in pastel colors. It was the very first peek at bikini panties that either of us had seen. By the time the lady finished hanging that load of wash I even got to see my first colored bra.
In all the time I’d worked with Jay we hardly ever talked about women let alone what they wore. I was surprised when Jay mentioned the “skimpy panties”. I don’t remember exactly what he said or how he said it but it was something about how his wife would (or could) never wear anything like that. I remember him sort of laughing saying they’d never stay up on her. It was one of the few times he ever mentioned her. I agreed with him about Elle and the panties as well. I don’t know why I went on about Elle but mentioned that she had a “problem” and that they wouldn’t be too practical in her situation. He didn’t say anything so we let the subject drop.
It was almost dark when we finished up and were just putting the tools in Jay’s truck when Costas showed up. He walked up and the first words out of his mouth were to ask why it wasn’t painted. Jay, who was really tired as he had done most of the hard work, sort of spit back at him that it was because we weren’t painters. He stood there and even though I couldn’t see him all that well I could tell he was mad. I tried to temper the situation by reminding him that all I’d agreed to was to build the playhouse... period end of sentence. Costas stood there for a minute and then stormed off and I heard him say that it better be painted by the end of the next day.
It poured all day Sunday. I was sure I’d hear from him him on Monday since I knew he had my work number. But I didn’t. When Friday came to and end and I still hadn’t heard from him I decided that the matter was closed. That Sunday when I took my grandfather to the hospital and was at his house I saw the front page of the local newspaper. There was a picture of a car wreck and I thought I recognized the light colored car in the picture. I read the caption but the female name didn’t mean anything to me so I let it pass.
Early that Summer I found out that the wrecked car in the picture belonged to Costas and his wife had been severely injured. I also found out that he was involved in some illegal dealings having to do with shipping goods to and from Greece. The one thing that I knew was that the money I’d received from him, tainted or not, spent just like any other that I’d ever received.
To be continued...
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68k)
Long story short... he did and right after daybreak that Saturday Jay and Jo came by to pick Elle and I up. We’d taken the kids to Elle’s parents house the night before. It was about a 20 mile drive East to meet up with Andy and then he showed us a sneaky way how to get out onto the beach. I’d instructed Elle to make sure to wear a “package” because there would be no bathrooms where we were going. Since there were four of us in the cab of the truck Elle sat on my lap and I could feel the pads on my lap. Once on the beach we didn’t have to drive far to see the devastation. We saw as much as 30 feet of erosion and it wasn’t just sand. One of the first mansions (as opposed to beach homes located on the barrier island) we came to had the whole front of the house missing. It was a 3 story, brick and stone home. We could look right into the foyer and could see part of a spiral staircase. We could see into two of the bedrooms on the second floor and on the third floor there was a bed sticking out, just hanging there. It truly was a lesson of Mother Nature’s wrath at work.
Andy had told us not to stay too long as the National Guard would be patrolling and we might be stopped. As we pulled off the beach I felt my lap get a bit warmer. I knew exactly what Elle had done. None of us had eaten so we stopped at a diner for a bite. Elle and Jo got along really well which pleased me to no end. When we got back to the trailer Jay wanted to show Jo the playhouse. She’d heard us talking about them but hadn’t actually seen one. Elle was first out and when I followed her I could see that her plastic panties had leaked around the leg openings on her backside. She was halfway to the playhouse before I caught up with her. She quickly turned to see Jay and Jo right behind her. She looked at me as if to say “Too late” and kept on walking. In retrospect, I was proud of her. In today’s vernacular it was an “It is what it is” moment. I did get one peek of Jo’s panties when she had to bend way down to get inside the playhouse. There was one interesting thing and that was the waistband elastic. It wasn’t the same as on her panties I’d seen on the clothes rack when she’d borrowed Elle’s clothes. It was something else for my memory bank.
As I remember it, things continued to run smoothly at work for the next few weeks. I managed to get three more orders for playhouses and the first of them that we built proved to be memorable... for a number of reasons.(9) I was running a report with the printer when Linda called to me that there was a call for me. I got on the phone and this guy’s talking at me like I was supposed to know him. I didn’t recognize his voice and when I asked him for his name he gave me a smart ass reply. I was about to hang up when he finally said “Costas”. I’d never even heard that name before but now I was curious. It was obvious the guy had a way with words and he finally got around to telling me that he wanted me to build his daughter a playhouse. I told him I was busy at that time and asked him for his phone number. It was obvious that he was going to have the last word as he told me to stop by his business on my way home. I remember taking the phone from my ear and looking at it and thinking “who the f__k is this wise guy anyway?” but didn’t hang up. He told me that the business was on the same road as the trailer park so I gave in and told him I’d see him later.
I’d driven past his building over a hundred times and never really noticed it. No signage on the road and only a small paper sign in the window to let the public know it was a plumbing supply company. As I pulled in I saw a white Jaguar and an old box truck parked against a loading dock. I went up the stairs and inside all I saw were a few plumbing fixtures out by the window. I called his name and a few seconds later this short, dumpy, middle aged man appeared. He had one of those full mustaches that covered his whole upper lip. We shook hands and I followed him into this room with nothing but a desk, file cabinet and two chairs. Before I could open my mouth he said he wanted the playhouse to be at least 50% bigger than the one he’d seen at the trailer park (mine). I just shook my head and told him that I only made one size. He then said that he knew I charged roughly $120 for a playhouse. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills and peeled off two $100 onto the desk. I stared at them for a few seconds and shook my head again. I could see that didn’t go over too well. He started to say something but pulled a $50 bill out of the wad and put it on top of the others. Then he looked at me waiting for me to say something.
To say that I was uncomfortable in this situation is putting it mildly. There were too many questions about him in my mind but there was something in the back of my mind that was telling me to take the money and to not get him more upset. When I did he told me he wanted it built that Saturday. I was so nervous at that time I don’t know what to say but OK. I was perspiring I was so nervous. he said to me but I do remember being glad I was back in my car and headed home. He did give me the address before I left but I was worried that Jay would balk at doing it. To add to my discomfort I was also worrying about the consequences if it didn’t get built.
To be continued...
Long story short... he did and right after daybreak that Saturday Jay and Jo came by to pick Elle and I up. We’d taken the kids to Elle’s parents house the night before. It was about a 20 mile drive East to meet up with Andy and then he showed us a sneaky way how to get out onto the beach. I’d instructed Elle to make sure to wear a “package” because there would be no bathrooms where we were going. Since there were four of us in the cab of the truck Elle sat on my lap and I could feel the pads on my lap. Once on the beach we didn’t have to drive far to see the devastation. We saw as much as 30 feet of erosion and it wasn’t just sand. One of the first mansions (as opposed to beach homes located on the barrier island) we came to had the whole front of the house missing. It was a 3 story, brick and stone home. We could look right into the foyer and could see part of a spiral staircase. We could see into two of the bedrooms on the second floor and on the third floor there was a bed sticking out, just hanging there. It truly was a lesson of Mother Nature’s wrath at work.
Andy had told us not to stay too long as the National Guard would be patrolling and we might be stopped. As we pulled off the beach I felt my lap get a bit warmer. I knew exactly what Elle had done. None of us had eaten so we stopped at a diner for a bite. Elle and Jo got along really well which pleased me to no end. When we got back to the trailer Jay wanted to show Jo the playhouse. She’d heard us talking about them but hadn’t actually seen one. Elle was first out and when I followed her I could see that her plastic panties had leaked around the leg openings on her backside. She was halfway to the playhouse before I caught up with her. She quickly turned to see Jay and Jo right behind her. She looked at me as if to say “Too late” and kept on walking. In retrospect, I was proud of her. In today’s vernacular it was an “It is what it is” moment. I did get one peek of Jo’s panties when she had to bend way down to get inside the playhouse. There was one interesting thing and that was the waistband elastic. It wasn’t the same as on her panties I’d seen on the clothes rack when she’d borrowed Elle’s clothes. It was something else for my memory bank.
As I remember it, things continued to run smoothly at work for the next few weeks. I managed to get three more orders for playhouses and the first of them that we built proved to be memorable... for a number of reasons.(9) I was running a report with the printer when Linda called to me that there was a call for me. I got on the phone and this guy’s talking at me like I was supposed to know him. I didn’t recognize his voice and when I asked him for his name he gave me a smart ass reply. I was about to hang up when he finally said “Costas”. I’d never even heard that name before but now I was curious. It was obvious the guy had a way with words and he finally got around to telling me that he wanted me to build his daughter a playhouse. I told him I was busy at that time and asked him for his phone number. It was obvious that he was going to have the last word as he told me to stop by his business on my way home. I remember taking the phone from my ear and looking at it and thinking “who the f__k is this wise guy anyway?” but didn’t hang up. He told me that the business was on the same road as the trailer park so I gave in and told him I’d see him later.
I’d driven past his building over a hundred times and never really noticed it. No signage on the road and only a small paper sign in the window to let the public know it was a plumbing supply company. As I pulled in I saw a white Jaguar and an old box truck parked against a loading dock. I went up the stairs and inside all I saw were a few plumbing fixtures out by the window. I called his name and a few seconds later this short, dumpy, middle aged man appeared. He had one of those full mustaches that covered his whole upper lip. We shook hands and I followed him into this room with nothing but a desk, file cabinet and two chairs. Before I could open my mouth he said he wanted the playhouse to be at least 50% bigger than the one he’d seen at the trailer park (mine). I just shook my head and told him that I only made one size. He then said that he knew I charged roughly $120 for a playhouse. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills and peeled off two $100 onto the desk. I stared at them for a few seconds and shook my head again. I could see that didn’t go over too well. He started to say something but pulled a $50 bill out of the wad and put it on top of the others. Then he looked at me waiting for me to say something.
To say that I was uncomfortable in this situation is putting it mildly. There were too many questions about him in my mind but there was something in the back of my mind that was telling me to take the money and to not get him more upset. When I did he told me he wanted it built that Saturday. I was so nervous at that time I don’t know what to say but OK. I was perspiring I was so nervous. he said to me but I do remember being glad I was back in my car and headed home. He did give me the address before I left but I was worried that Jay would balk at doing it. To add to my discomfort I was also worrying about the consequences if it didn’t get built.
To be continued...
Sunday, February 20, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68j)
Elle had watched TV that afternoon to try and get an idea of how bad the storm was. She told me that there was considerable coastal erosion and a lot of homes had been destroyed from Delaware all the way to Cape Cod. Since the only two channels we got clearly were from another state she didn’t have any news as to how bad our local area got hit. Without electricity we’d not had hot water so I hadn’t taken a shower for two days. I decided I would after supper, hoping that Jo’s clothes might still be hanging in the tub. They were and, other than her wool coat, were dry. I made sure Elle was occupied with the kids when I shut the door. As I pulled back the shower curtain I could feel the start of a bulge. I quickly found what I was looking for but was somewhat disappointed. Her panties were plain nylon with no embellishments or label. They did have a nice satiny feel, much like the Plymouth panties I'd bought for Elle. I rationalized to myself that not everybody wore fancy panties. As I took my shower I started wondering again just what panties Elle had given her to wear. I had to wait until Monday to find out.
The weather was much better as we got up on Friday. Anxious to find out how much damage had occurred in our area I stopped to buy a newspaper on my way to work. The picture right on the front showed where the ocean had broken through the dunes to create a new inlet. I read the caption and was in total shock after I did. It said that the opening was right where Dave Garroway’s house had been. That was where Jay and I had been working only a few weeks earlier. The caption went on to say that five houses had been washed away in that spot alone meaning that the house where Jay and I were to replace the stairs was gone as well. I remember standing there just staring at the picture.
When Jay arrived at work I showed him the picture and the caption. He was as shocked as I was. He went on and looked at more of the pictures and read the stories. When he was finished I could see a look of disappointment on his face. But, as I’d learned earlier, when Jay got this way it was best to wait for him to speak. I delivered the checks to the Treasurer’s office and went about doing my follow up reports without hearing a word from Jay. It was early afternoon before he came up to me and said something along the lines of “I guess we’re only in the playhouse business now.” I didn’t understand especially since we’d just agreed to split time between doing the carpentry work on the barrier island and building playhouses. With a look of disgust on his face he picked up the newspaper and pointed to the picture, shaking his head. He explained that, basically, all his work out there was made up of little “nuisance” jobs that most builders wanted no part of. He'd gotten the jobs by word of mouth from people with whom he’d previously done work for. Now, the damage was so great that he knew he couldn’t handle it and the homeowners would be using large contractors. He was really down when we left that night.
My plan for the weekend was to clean up the debris caused by the storm. Rex, my sailing club friend who also lived locally during the Winter, had called to tell me that the sailing club had survived but had a lot of damage. All three stairways to the porch had been washed away. I wanted to go see it but I spent most of Saturday at my grandfather’s house. On Sunday we went to our parent’s houses and helped clean up there as well. On the way home we stopped to take a look at the sailing club. I wished that I hadn't. It was going to take a lot of volunteer work to get it ready for the upcoming season.
The Saturday and Sunday newspapers had many more pictures of the coastal damage. The barrier island was closed to the public including people who owned the damaged or destroyed houses and was being patrolled by the National Guard. President Kennedy had declared all the coastal areas from Maryland through Massachusetts a disaster area. The enormity of the storm was finally taking hold. Elle and I were lucky as there was no damage to our trailer or property at all. For the residents of the trailer park the damage was mostly to TV antennas. The tree that had fallen on the display trailer was the only real damage and totaled it. All in all we were pretty lucky.
Thankfully, work went fairly smoothly the following week. Jo returned Elle’s clothes, all washed and folded, on Monday. I chose to go home for lunch just so I could peek in the bag to see which panties Elle had loaned her. I was a bit shocked in that they were a pair of the fancy panties that I’d bought Elle quite a while back. I wondered why but thought better about asking her. It was interesting though.
The local shorefront damage continued to hold everyone’s interest. Jay, with his four wheel drive truck, was frustrated that he couldn’t get access to the beaches because they had been declared a disaster area. Andy, my friend from the trailer park, had been working as a heavy equipment operator for the local township and since the end of the storm he’d been assigned to working 12 hour days pushing sand up against the eroded dunes to, hopefully, protect them from further damage. After listening to him describe some of the damage to a few of the mansions East of us I asked him if there was any way I could get to see them. I’d told him about Jay and his truck and he told me that he had an idea that might work to get us access.
To be continued...
Elle had watched TV that afternoon to try and get an idea of how bad the storm was. She told me that there was considerable coastal erosion and a lot of homes had been destroyed from Delaware all the way to Cape Cod. Since the only two channels we got clearly were from another state she didn’t have any news as to how bad our local area got hit. Without electricity we’d not had hot water so I hadn’t taken a shower for two days. I decided I would after supper, hoping that Jo’s clothes might still be hanging in the tub. They were and, other than her wool coat, were dry. I made sure Elle was occupied with the kids when I shut the door. As I pulled back the shower curtain I could feel the start of a bulge. I quickly found what I was looking for but was somewhat disappointed. Her panties were plain nylon with no embellishments or label. They did have a nice satiny feel, much like the Plymouth panties I'd bought for Elle. I rationalized to myself that not everybody wore fancy panties. As I took my shower I started wondering again just what panties Elle had given her to wear. I had to wait until Monday to find out.
The weather was much better as we got up on Friday. Anxious to find out how much damage had occurred in our area I stopped to buy a newspaper on my way to work. The picture right on the front showed where the ocean had broken through the dunes to create a new inlet. I read the caption and was in total shock after I did. It said that the opening was right where Dave Garroway’s house had been. That was where Jay and I had been working only a few weeks earlier. The caption went on to say that five houses had been washed away in that spot alone meaning that the house where Jay and I were to replace the stairs was gone as well. I remember standing there just staring at the picture.
When Jay arrived at work I showed him the picture and the caption. He was as shocked as I was. He went on and looked at more of the pictures and read the stories. When he was finished I could see a look of disappointment on his face. But, as I’d learned earlier, when Jay got this way it was best to wait for him to speak. I delivered the checks to the Treasurer’s office and went about doing my follow up reports without hearing a word from Jay. It was early afternoon before he came up to me and said something along the lines of “I guess we’re only in the playhouse business now.” I didn’t understand especially since we’d just agreed to split time between doing the carpentry work on the barrier island and building playhouses. With a look of disgust on his face he picked up the newspaper and pointed to the picture, shaking his head. He explained that, basically, all his work out there was made up of little “nuisance” jobs that most builders wanted no part of. He'd gotten the jobs by word of mouth from people with whom he’d previously done work for. Now, the damage was so great that he knew he couldn’t handle it and the homeowners would be using large contractors. He was really down when we left that night.
My plan for the weekend was to clean up the debris caused by the storm. Rex, my sailing club friend who also lived locally during the Winter, had called to tell me that the sailing club had survived but had a lot of damage. All three stairways to the porch had been washed away. I wanted to go see it but I spent most of Saturday at my grandfather’s house. On Sunday we went to our parent’s houses and helped clean up there as well. On the way home we stopped to take a look at the sailing club. I wished that I hadn't. It was going to take a lot of volunteer work to get it ready for the upcoming season.
The Saturday and Sunday newspapers had many more pictures of the coastal damage. The barrier island was closed to the public including people who owned the damaged or destroyed houses and was being patrolled by the National Guard. President Kennedy had declared all the coastal areas from Maryland through Massachusetts a disaster area. The enormity of the storm was finally taking hold. Elle and I were lucky as there was no damage to our trailer or property at all. For the residents of the trailer park the damage was mostly to TV antennas. The tree that had fallen on the display trailer was the only real damage and totaled it. All in all we were pretty lucky.
Thankfully, work went fairly smoothly the following week. Jo returned Elle’s clothes, all washed and folded, on Monday. I chose to go home for lunch just so I could peek in the bag to see which panties Elle had loaned her. I was a bit shocked in that they were a pair of the fancy panties that I’d bought Elle quite a while back. I wondered why but thought better about asking her. It was interesting though.
The local shorefront damage continued to hold everyone’s interest. Jay, with his four wheel drive truck, was frustrated that he couldn’t get access to the beaches because they had been declared a disaster area. Andy, my friend from the trailer park, had been working as a heavy equipment operator for the local township and since the end of the storm he’d been assigned to working 12 hour days pushing sand up against the eroded dunes to, hopefully, protect them from further damage. After listening to him describe some of the damage to a few of the mansions East of us I asked him if there was any way I could get to see them. I’d told him about Jay and his truck and he told me that he had an idea that might work to get us access.
To be continued...
Friday, February 18, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68i)
They were gone for almost an hour. Five Corners traffic circle was now closed because of the flooding. The police created a detour but it could only handle one way traffic which added to the delay. I recognized the plaid blouse that Jo had on. I was a bit puzzled about the origin of the pants but liked the way they fit... tight across the rear. Jo, being at least 2 if not 3 inches shorter than Elle, had the cuffs rolled up. She had the look of a stereotypical farm girl. But what I really wanted to know was which of Elle’s panties she was wearing.
Other than for my payroll work not much had been accomplished. It was decided that we could all use a cup of coffee about then. We were halfway down the hall when the lights went out. It wasn’t pitch black but it was still pretty dark. There was enough light from the windows at the end of the hall so we continued on. As we walked on we saw heads popping out from all the doors wondering what had happened. We got our coffee and headed back. The only windows in the whole Audit and Control department were to the right in the Data Processing room and to the left in the office where the Auditors desks were located. When we walked in, the general work area was dark and empty. As we walked into the DP area we could see people standing by the windows. Without electricity there was nothing anyone could do so watching the rain was better than sitting in the dark. I recognized two of them with one being Leo’s (the Deputy Controller) secretary, Gina.
After a little “small talk” I discovered that she was a distant relative. Since moving back to the area I was learning that this was a fairly common occurrence. The other girl, GT, was the cute little blond that I’d noticed on my first days in the office. I’d never had an opportunity to talk with her as her duties had nothing to do with data processing. However, on this day she was in my area and I took the opportunity to chat with her. Shy, for sure, it was like pulling teeth to get anything from her. She’d graduated from high school in June and, having worked as an intern the previous Summer, was put on a “preferred” list after passing the clerk typist exam and hired right after graduation. She admitted that she was bored with her duties but wasn’t looking for a change. She was engaged to be married in a year and then would be moving anyway. Somehow we got to talking about family and couldn’t believe it when she told me that her grandfather was my grandfather’s best friend. Her grandfather was the one who had interviewed me for a job at the bank at the end of the Summer. For some reason she thought that was really important. I just smiled.
At about 2pm Leo arrived and told us we could go home. The County had been in touch with the electric utility and had been told that the earliest that power would return would be the next morning. I was concerned about the payroll. With no problems I had at least eight hours more to go but there was no point in staying. It took about 30 minutes to get home what with the detours because of the flooding. As I turned into the trailer park I saw this big tree lying on one of the trailers that were in the display area. I still had no real clue as to how bad the weather really was.
I walked in to find that there was no electricity there either. Elle said that my father had called earlier and told her that this was one of the worst Nor’Easter’s on record. In our geographic area strong coastal storms from mid August through November were traditionally called hurricanes. From December through March they were called Nor’Easters. The name came from the fact that preceding and during the storm the winds would come from the East. On hearing that from Elle I immediately called my father. He told me that there were reports that a whole bunch of homes on the barrier island had been washed into the ocean. He said that the dunes had been washed away in one place to make a new inlet from the ocean to the bay behind it. That news was shocking especially since Jay and I had been out there working only a few weeks earlier.
The family home was located right on the water and having lived through three hurricanes I knew that conditions were probably bad there as well. He told me that the tides were way high, covering the dock and were about to come over the bulkhead. He told me that their power was also out but they were using the generator that had been installed after the second hurricane back in 1954. Hearing that we had no power he wanted us to come and to bring the kids. I told him about the road across the river being closed and about the massive flooding along the roads and told him that we’d stay put.
We did but it did get cold in the trailer that night. The kids slept in their snowsuits and we slept in our clothes with coats piled on the bed over us. I think the temperature was around 50 degrees when we got up. Elle was making breakfast when it dawned on me that we could’ve gotten some heat from the oven. She didn’t want me to go to work but I knew the payroll had to be addressed in one way or another. Power was still off when I arrived but by mid morning our wing had lights. Jay and Jo made it in. Linda had run into a puddle on the way home the day before and her car wouldn’t run. Jay made the decision to concentrate on getting the payroll done and to get it delivered to the Treasurer’s office as soon as possible. We just about killed ourselves finishing it up. It was around 7pm. As we left the building Jo told me she’d have Elle’s clothes back on Monday after she washed them. With all the things going on I’d already forgotten that she had worn Elle’s clothes. As I drove home it came to me that Jo’s clothes must still be there. I could only think of one thing the rest of the way home... to see her panties.
To be continued...
They were gone for almost an hour. Five Corners traffic circle was now closed because of the flooding. The police created a detour but it could only handle one way traffic which added to the delay. I recognized the plaid blouse that Jo had on. I was a bit puzzled about the origin of the pants but liked the way they fit... tight across the rear. Jo, being at least 2 if not 3 inches shorter than Elle, had the cuffs rolled up. She had the look of a stereotypical farm girl. But what I really wanted to know was which of Elle’s panties she was wearing.
Other than for my payroll work not much had been accomplished. It was decided that we could all use a cup of coffee about then. We were halfway down the hall when the lights went out. It wasn’t pitch black but it was still pretty dark. There was enough light from the windows at the end of the hall so we continued on. As we walked on we saw heads popping out from all the doors wondering what had happened. We got our coffee and headed back. The only windows in the whole Audit and Control department were to the right in the Data Processing room and to the left in the office where the Auditors desks were located. When we walked in, the general work area was dark and empty. As we walked into the DP area we could see people standing by the windows. Without electricity there was nothing anyone could do so watching the rain was better than sitting in the dark. I recognized two of them with one being Leo’s (the Deputy Controller) secretary, Gina.
After a little “small talk” I discovered that she was a distant relative. Since moving back to the area I was learning that this was a fairly common occurrence. The other girl, GT, was the cute little blond that I’d noticed on my first days in the office. I’d never had an opportunity to talk with her as her duties had nothing to do with data processing. However, on this day she was in my area and I took the opportunity to chat with her. Shy, for sure, it was like pulling teeth to get anything from her. She’d graduated from high school in June and, having worked as an intern the previous Summer, was put on a “preferred” list after passing the clerk typist exam and hired right after graduation. She admitted that she was bored with her duties but wasn’t looking for a change. She was engaged to be married in a year and then would be moving anyway. Somehow we got to talking about family and couldn’t believe it when she told me that her grandfather was my grandfather’s best friend. Her grandfather was the one who had interviewed me for a job at the bank at the end of the Summer. For some reason she thought that was really important. I just smiled.
At about 2pm Leo arrived and told us we could go home. The County had been in touch with the electric utility and had been told that the earliest that power would return would be the next morning. I was concerned about the payroll. With no problems I had at least eight hours more to go but there was no point in staying. It took about 30 minutes to get home what with the detours because of the flooding. As I turned into the trailer park I saw this big tree lying on one of the trailers that were in the display area. I still had no real clue as to how bad the weather really was.
I walked in to find that there was no electricity there either. Elle said that my father had called earlier and told her that this was one of the worst Nor’Easter’s on record. In our geographic area strong coastal storms from mid August through November were traditionally called hurricanes. From December through March they were called Nor’Easters. The name came from the fact that preceding and during the storm the winds would come from the East. On hearing that from Elle I immediately called my father. He told me that there were reports that a whole bunch of homes on the barrier island had been washed into the ocean. He said that the dunes had been washed away in one place to make a new inlet from the ocean to the bay behind it. That news was shocking especially since Jay and I had been out there working only a few weeks earlier.
The family home was located right on the water and having lived through three hurricanes I knew that conditions were probably bad there as well. He told me that the tides were way high, covering the dock and were about to come over the bulkhead. He told me that their power was also out but they were using the generator that had been installed after the second hurricane back in 1954. Hearing that we had no power he wanted us to come and to bring the kids. I told him about the road across the river being closed and about the massive flooding along the roads and told him that we’d stay put.
We did but it did get cold in the trailer that night. The kids slept in their snowsuits and we slept in our clothes with coats piled on the bed over us. I think the temperature was around 50 degrees when we got up. Elle was making breakfast when it dawned on me that we could’ve gotten some heat from the oven. She didn’t want me to go to work but I knew the payroll had to be addressed in one way or another. Power was still off when I arrived but by mid morning our wing had lights. Jay and Jo made it in. Linda had run into a puddle on the way home the day before and her car wouldn’t run. Jay made the decision to concentrate on getting the payroll done and to get it delivered to the Treasurer’s office as soon as possible. We just about killed ourselves finishing it up. It was around 7pm. As we left the building Jo told me she’d have Elle’s clothes back on Monday after she washed them. With all the things going on I’d already forgotten that she had worn Elle’s clothes. As I drove home it came to me that Jo’s clothes must still be there. I could only think of one thing the rest of the way home... to see her panties.
To be continued...
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68h)
Jay and I managed to get into a pretty good routine at work. By multitasking and with occasional help from Jo my “compensatory time” had been substantially reduced, much to Elle’s liking. By the end of the first weekend in March Jay and I had built four playhouses. With my share of the money and the proceeds from Elle's paycheck for teaching two straight weeks we had our first checking account and I was feeling "flush". Even though Jay had gotten into the process willingly he let me know that he could make more money doing the carpentry work out on the barrier island. I offered a compromise in that possibly we could build playhouses one weekend and work on his stuff the other. He still had that job to do that we’d abandoned so I said I help him the following weekend. It never happened.
It was only a drizzle as I left the trailer on my way to work on Tuesday. By lunch time it was raining much harder and was pelting against the windows. It was a full County payroll that week and I was a little ahead of my self imposed schedule so left for home at 5pm. I knew Elle would be pleased because it meant I could occupy the kids while she fixed supper. As I went inside I noted that the yard had the look of a wading pool. We’d had a spate of below freezing temperatures and not enough warmer weather to thaw the ground. Since it couldn’t absorb the water it was now sitting on top of it and created large puddles.
Neither of us had the time to read a newspaper so we didn’t have that as a source of information. Elle had never been a big fan of daytime TV so the only time it was on was after the kids went to bed. It was rare for me to watch the late news and, as usual, we didn’t on that night. When I climbed into bed and waited for Elle to join me I was shocked to feel the trailer moving under me. I got up and went up to the kitchen (which was in the front) and looked out the window. As I did I saw what looked like a bucket full of water go flying by out on the street. It was quickly followed by another and then another after that. What I saw told me was that the wind was really blowing and that it was also raining harder. Later, when Elle got up for one of her bathroom visits I could hear the rain beating on the aluminum sides of the trailer. It sounded like someone was throwing very small pebbles against it.
As usual, the kids were awake at 7am. When I looked out into the yard all I saw was water. There was standing water on both sides of the street and it was still raining... hard. I usually didn’t wear a coat since from my door to the door of the County Center only took 10 minutes. However, with the strong wind and heavy rain I knew I’d be soaked if I didn’t wear something. The only thing I had was an old yellow slicker that Elle’s father had discarded and I salvaged. I looked stupid wearing it because he was a much bigger man than I plus I was wearing good pants and shoes and not work clothes and boots. When I arrived at the parking lot I really wished I had a pair of boots. The lot had many large puddles but what was especially troubling was that there was a huge puddle right in front of the door that most people used who parked in that lot. The door was really a fire exit and not meant for entry. Someone had figured out that it was much quicker to use this way in (and out) rather than go all the way around to the main entrance. Someone who arrived early would go and open the door from the inside and then put a stick in it to keep it from locking. Everybody from the Audit and Control department used it. As I approached I could see the water was up to the sill which meant that it was at least two inches deep. A number of people, mostly women, had hesitated before trying to walk through it. I decided to try it by walking on my heels. Not smart! I almost fell and ended up with water in my shoes. I was not happy!
It was quite a bit past 9am and Jay, Linda and Jo still hadn’t arrived. Out in the general work area only half the people were in. From DP, Jay was the first and he looked like a drowned rat as he walked in. He always eschewed wearing any kind of coat to work but he sure wished he had one. He said that there was heavy flooding on the roads. He’d had no trouble but, with his four wheel drive pick up truck, had stopped to help some stranded drivers. Linda was next in and she told us that the Five Corners traffic circle just down the road was flooded. She said it appeared that the river had overflowed it’s banks. When Jo walked in at around 10am we were all shocked. To start with she was crying. But she was literally soaking wet. Jay, in comparison, was dry when he walked in. Jo had gone to the door and, seeing the puddle, took off her shoes and just as she reached for the door handle someone pushed open the door and knocked her flat on her back and into the puddle. As she stood there her royal blue wool coat was dripping water from the hem. Not at pretty sight.
For reasons only known to Jo, she’d taken the spare clothes that she had at work for those few nights, home. It took me a few minutes to suggest a plan. Jo and Elle were about the same body size except for height. I called Elle and asked if it was OK to bring Jo home to find some clothes she could wear. Of course I wasn’t smart enough to tell her what had happened first so she was pretty leery of the idea until I finally explained. Jay, with his four wheel drive truck, offered to drive her to my trailer and I continued processing the payroll.
To be continued...
Jay and I managed to get into a pretty good routine at work. By multitasking and with occasional help from Jo my “compensatory time” had been substantially reduced, much to Elle’s liking. By the end of the first weekend in March Jay and I had built four playhouses. With my share of the money and the proceeds from Elle's paycheck for teaching two straight weeks we had our first checking account and I was feeling "flush". Even though Jay had gotten into the process willingly he let me know that he could make more money doing the carpentry work out on the barrier island. I offered a compromise in that possibly we could build playhouses one weekend and work on his stuff the other. He still had that job to do that we’d abandoned so I said I help him the following weekend. It never happened.
It was only a drizzle as I left the trailer on my way to work on Tuesday. By lunch time it was raining much harder and was pelting against the windows. It was a full County payroll that week and I was a little ahead of my self imposed schedule so left for home at 5pm. I knew Elle would be pleased because it meant I could occupy the kids while she fixed supper. As I went inside I noted that the yard had the look of a wading pool. We’d had a spate of below freezing temperatures and not enough warmer weather to thaw the ground. Since it couldn’t absorb the water it was now sitting on top of it and created large puddles.
Neither of us had the time to read a newspaper so we didn’t have that as a source of information. Elle had never been a big fan of daytime TV so the only time it was on was after the kids went to bed. It was rare for me to watch the late news and, as usual, we didn’t on that night. When I climbed into bed and waited for Elle to join me I was shocked to feel the trailer moving under me. I got up and went up to the kitchen (which was in the front) and looked out the window. As I did I saw what looked like a bucket full of water go flying by out on the street. It was quickly followed by another and then another after that. What I saw told me was that the wind was really blowing and that it was also raining harder. Later, when Elle got up for one of her bathroom visits I could hear the rain beating on the aluminum sides of the trailer. It sounded like someone was throwing very small pebbles against it.
As usual, the kids were awake at 7am. When I looked out into the yard all I saw was water. There was standing water on both sides of the street and it was still raining... hard. I usually didn’t wear a coat since from my door to the door of the County Center only took 10 minutes. However, with the strong wind and heavy rain I knew I’d be soaked if I didn’t wear something. The only thing I had was an old yellow slicker that Elle’s father had discarded and I salvaged. I looked stupid wearing it because he was a much bigger man than I plus I was wearing good pants and shoes and not work clothes and boots. When I arrived at the parking lot I really wished I had a pair of boots. The lot had many large puddles but what was especially troubling was that there was a huge puddle right in front of the door that most people used who parked in that lot. The door was really a fire exit and not meant for entry. Someone had figured out that it was much quicker to use this way in (and out) rather than go all the way around to the main entrance. Someone who arrived early would go and open the door from the inside and then put a stick in it to keep it from locking. Everybody from the Audit and Control department used it. As I approached I could see the water was up to the sill which meant that it was at least two inches deep. A number of people, mostly women, had hesitated before trying to walk through it. I decided to try it by walking on my heels. Not smart! I almost fell and ended up with water in my shoes. I was not happy!
It was quite a bit past 9am and Jay, Linda and Jo still hadn’t arrived. Out in the general work area only half the people were in. From DP, Jay was the first and he looked like a drowned rat as he walked in. He always eschewed wearing any kind of coat to work but he sure wished he had one. He said that there was heavy flooding on the roads. He’d had no trouble but, with his four wheel drive pick up truck, had stopped to help some stranded drivers. Linda was next in and she told us that the Five Corners traffic circle just down the road was flooded. She said it appeared that the river had overflowed it’s banks. When Jo walked in at around 10am we were all shocked. To start with she was crying. But she was literally soaking wet. Jay, in comparison, was dry when he walked in. Jo had gone to the door and, seeing the puddle, took off her shoes and just as she reached for the door handle someone pushed open the door and knocked her flat on her back and into the puddle. As she stood there her royal blue wool coat was dripping water from the hem. Not at pretty sight.
For reasons only known to Jo, she’d taken the spare clothes that she had at work for those few nights, home. It took me a few minutes to suggest a plan. Jo and Elle were about the same body size except for height. I called Elle and asked if it was OK to bring Jo home to find some clothes she could wear. Of course I wasn’t smart enough to tell her what had happened first so she was pretty leery of the idea until I finally explained. Jay, with his four wheel drive truck, offered to drive her to my trailer and I continued processing the payroll.
To be continued...
Monday, February 14, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68g)
I felt guilty about ”pushing“ Lance for the money he still owed me on the old trailer. I’d hoped that with Judy working that he’d start to send a few dollars my way. But, ever the entrepreneur, he’d been putting money away to buy another car to fix up and sell. He promised that I’d have my money by the time the baby came. I wasn’t so sure about that but there wasn’t much I could do but wait. So, I was quite surprised when he came knocking on my door one night. He told me he had a ”deal“ for me. That "news" didn’t thrill me at all.
Another one of his Air Force buddies had been transferred to Greenland. He’d tried to sell his car but couldn’t find a buyer. The guy was desperate and even though Lance didn’t have any money, told him that he’d sell the car for him. I think the amount was like $250. In any case, Lance felt that if he put new tires on it and cleaned it up with a wax job he could get over $400 for it. His problem was that he didn’t have the money for the tires and wanted me to buy them. Then, when he sold the car I’d get everything over the $250. I’d just obtained my first credit card and it was from Sears. I don’t remember the limit on it but it was enough to buy four cheap tires so we headed downtown to get them. Long story short, Lance was right about what he could get for a ”clean” car and his profit after paying me for the tires was around $40. That meant that he’d sold the car for more than $100 over what the guy wanted. I stored that information in the back of my mind for future use.
With the late nights and weekend work I’d not seen much of Jim, Andy or Mac. Elle saw their wives fairly often and they kept pushing her to get me to get together socially with all of them. Andy was off bowling most weekends but towards the end of February he had a free weekend so we all decided to get together. It ended up being at the local bowling alley. Because Andy bowled there regularly he got to know the owner and was able to wrangle free bowling for all of us. That worked perfectly for me, not that bowling cost all that much. Elle arranged for the older teen (Janelle) that was now living next door to baby sit for us. It was the first time I’d really seen her up close since late in the Summer and I was still impressed. Although very shy, she was quite pretty and had a very nice shape. Even though I only saw her for a few minutes before we left I was really checking her out.
Ironically, Elle and I had repositioned the living room furniture that day. The new TV and the stand that it sat on had been out in the natural traffic flow from the front to the back of the trailer. We determined that the best place for it was in the far corner from where the door was located. In that location you could see it from both chairs as well as the sofa. We were pleased.
We had a good time but, conscious of the cost of the baby sitter, we opted to leave before midnight. When we got home we found Janelle asleep in the chair by the door with the TV still on over in the corner. She was all bundled up in her coat and Elle quickly noticed that the room seemed cold. She shook Janelle awake. I was standing just inside the door when she, startled, jumped up. As she did I couldn’t help but see a dark stain on the seat of her tan pants. Once standing, she quickly turned to face us and appeared to not be just shy but now, nervous. Elle asked about the kids and was assured that they had been good while I figured out just how much I owed her. I handed her the money and Elle told her that I’d walk her home. I remember the look on her face. It was almost panic. She insisted that she was OK to just walk next door but Elle, just as forceful, insisted that I was going to do it. Trying to be polite I opened the door to let her out first. She deferred to me and I waited at the bottom of the steps for her. It only took a minute to get to her door. Once there she climbed the steps sort of sideways and then, at the top, turned to face me. As she turned to step inside I got another glimpse of the dark spot on her butt. That was the confirmation of what I thought I’d see when we first got home. She’d wet herself... and on our new furniture. I was sexually excited but also upset as I walked back home.
As soon as I walked in the door I put my hand on the seat of the chair where she’d been sleeping. Elle asked what I was doing. Before I could answer I had the proof I was looking for. The cushion was damp. It wasn’t noticeable to the eye because the material was a patchwork mix of various fairly dark colors. I explained it to Elle while standing there with a soft bulge in my pants. Hearing it, she was quite upset about it. I told her it was no big deal as she’d probably wet it herself before too long. She did not appreciate that comment, at all, and I paid for it later when in bed.
The trailer was cold but he temperature on the thermostat read around 75 degrees. It had been set for the mid 70’s and as I pushed the lever up I heard the heat finally come on. I was puzzled, for sure. Elle, mad at me, got ready for bed while I, still unsure why it was so cold in there decided to stay up for a while to make sure the heat stayed on. By the time I went to bed Elle was asleep. I lay there awake for a bit longer listening to the heater blower running.
The next morning everything was fine. I thought that possibly the fuel filter had water in it. I was outside and in the process of changing it when I saw the mother from next door hanging two pair of panties and a pair of tan pants on their wash line. Final confirmation! Watching her do that I felt a bulge start. Finishing up with the filter I tried to think of a reason to go over to that side of the yard but it was all muddy so had to hope that I’d get more chances in the future. BTW: The cause of the coldness in the trailer was that when we put the TV in the corner we put it right under the thermostat. The heat from the TV registered as being the room temp so the heat was off when the TV was on. We moved the TV!
To be continued...
I felt guilty about ”pushing“ Lance for the money he still owed me on the old trailer. I’d hoped that with Judy working that he’d start to send a few dollars my way. But, ever the entrepreneur, he’d been putting money away to buy another car to fix up and sell. He promised that I’d have my money by the time the baby came. I wasn’t so sure about that but there wasn’t much I could do but wait. So, I was quite surprised when he came knocking on my door one night. He told me he had a ”deal“ for me. That "news" didn’t thrill me at all.
Another one of his Air Force buddies had been transferred to Greenland. He’d tried to sell his car but couldn’t find a buyer. The guy was desperate and even though Lance didn’t have any money, told him that he’d sell the car for him. I think the amount was like $250. In any case, Lance felt that if he put new tires on it and cleaned it up with a wax job he could get over $400 for it. His problem was that he didn’t have the money for the tires and wanted me to buy them. Then, when he sold the car I’d get everything over the $250. I’d just obtained my first credit card and it was from Sears. I don’t remember the limit on it but it was enough to buy four cheap tires so we headed downtown to get them. Long story short, Lance was right about what he could get for a ”clean” car and his profit after paying me for the tires was around $40. That meant that he’d sold the car for more than $100 over what the guy wanted. I stored that information in the back of my mind for future use.
With the late nights and weekend work I’d not seen much of Jim, Andy or Mac. Elle saw their wives fairly often and they kept pushing her to get me to get together socially with all of them. Andy was off bowling most weekends but towards the end of February he had a free weekend so we all decided to get together. It ended up being at the local bowling alley. Because Andy bowled there regularly he got to know the owner and was able to wrangle free bowling for all of us. That worked perfectly for me, not that bowling cost all that much. Elle arranged for the older teen (Janelle) that was now living next door to baby sit for us. It was the first time I’d really seen her up close since late in the Summer and I was still impressed. Although very shy, she was quite pretty and had a very nice shape. Even though I only saw her for a few minutes before we left I was really checking her out.
Ironically, Elle and I had repositioned the living room furniture that day. The new TV and the stand that it sat on had been out in the natural traffic flow from the front to the back of the trailer. We determined that the best place for it was in the far corner from where the door was located. In that location you could see it from both chairs as well as the sofa. We were pleased.
We had a good time but, conscious of the cost of the baby sitter, we opted to leave before midnight. When we got home we found Janelle asleep in the chair by the door with the TV still on over in the corner. She was all bundled up in her coat and Elle quickly noticed that the room seemed cold. She shook Janelle awake. I was standing just inside the door when she, startled, jumped up. As she did I couldn’t help but see a dark stain on the seat of her tan pants. Once standing, she quickly turned to face us and appeared to not be just shy but now, nervous. Elle asked about the kids and was assured that they had been good while I figured out just how much I owed her. I handed her the money and Elle told her that I’d walk her home. I remember the look on her face. It was almost panic. She insisted that she was OK to just walk next door but Elle, just as forceful, insisted that I was going to do it. Trying to be polite I opened the door to let her out first. She deferred to me and I waited at the bottom of the steps for her. It only took a minute to get to her door. Once there she climbed the steps sort of sideways and then, at the top, turned to face me. As she turned to step inside I got another glimpse of the dark spot on her butt. That was the confirmation of what I thought I’d see when we first got home. She’d wet herself... and on our new furniture. I was sexually excited but also upset as I walked back home.
As soon as I walked in the door I put my hand on the seat of the chair where she’d been sleeping. Elle asked what I was doing. Before I could answer I had the proof I was looking for. The cushion was damp. It wasn’t noticeable to the eye because the material was a patchwork mix of various fairly dark colors. I explained it to Elle while standing there with a soft bulge in my pants. Hearing it, she was quite upset about it. I told her it was no big deal as she’d probably wet it herself before too long. She did not appreciate that comment, at all, and I paid for it later when in bed.
The trailer was cold but he temperature on the thermostat read around 75 degrees. It had been set for the mid 70’s and as I pushed the lever up I heard the heat finally come on. I was puzzled, for sure. Elle, mad at me, got ready for bed while I, still unsure why it was so cold in there decided to stay up for a while to make sure the heat stayed on. By the time I went to bed Elle was asleep. I lay there awake for a bit longer listening to the heater blower running.
The next morning everything was fine. I thought that possibly the fuel filter had water in it. I was outside and in the process of changing it when I saw the mother from next door hanging two pair of panties and a pair of tan pants on their wash line. Final confirmation! Watching her do that I felt a bulge start. Finishing up with the filter I tried to think of a reason to go over to that side of the yard but it was all muddy so had to hope that I’d get more chances in the future. BTW: The cause of the coldness in the trailer was that when we put the TV in the corner we put it right under the thermostat. The heat from the TV registered as being the room temp so the heat was off when the TV was on. We moved the TV!
To be continued...
Saturday, February 12, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68f)
Elle was not only surprised to see me (us) but was very excited about the project. Jay had previously created some rough plans. Elle wanted a ”crooked“ house where each side wall was a different height and the roof was at an angle. He had an idea of what she wanted and had sketched it out. After Elle fed us lunch we started in. Other than for helping Jay on a few weekends I had no carpentry experience and was worried that I’d be more of a hindrance than help. Following Jay’s directions I managed to hold my own and by the time darkness fell we had everything done but putting shingles on the roof and addling the "gingerbread" (trim). I was pleased but Elle was ecstatic. Elle offered to feed Jay supper but he declined. Elle was in the best mood I’d seen her in for quite a while and I hoped that it would lead to some much needed "amour" after the kids were in bed.
I hate to admit it especially after writing the last sentence but, while watching TV I fell asleep. I was awakened by Elle’s soft voice calling me. I must have been dreaming because when I opened my eyes I wasn’t sure where I was. I heard Elle’s voice again and followed the sound to see her standing in the hallway. She was like a vision... standing there wearing the filmy gown that my mother had given her for Christmas and her panties. It only took a few seconds for me to be totally awake. It was such a pretty sight I asked if I could take a picture. The camera was on the table and had the first color film that had just come out. Because she was in such a good mood she said "yes". I took one and wasted no time before going to her and gave her a hug and then followed her down the hall. The bed had already been turned down and I quickly undressed. I climbed in first with Elle climbing on top straddling my hips. As she lowered herself onto me I could feel the wetness of her panties. I was liking this... A LOT! She would usually give in to my desire for her to be in wet panties but recently only after I pretty much had to plead with her. It didn’t take long for the lights to go out and for us to get down to ”serious business“.
I puttered around with the playhouse on Sunday letting Jean, my oldest, have some initial fun with it. While out there an older resident of the park stopped by and asked about the house. He liked it and when I told him that a friend and I had built it he wanted to know if we could build one for his granddaughter. I didn’t know what to say but told him I’d get back to him. It got to me thinking though.
I hadn’t been in the office on Monday but for a few minutes when there was a call for me. It was Dick, from the trailer park, asking where the playhouse had come from. When I told him that Jay and I’d built it he said he wanted one for his kids. Jay still hadn’t arrived so, like with the man on the previous day, I told him I’d get back to him. At this point the ”wheels“ in my mind started turning.
Jay arrived about fifteen minutes late and by then I had done some quick calculations. I knew I owed him about $40 for the wood and supplies we’d used. It had taken us around five hours to build the basic house and to finish it would take approximately three hours. Based upon the hourly rate Jay was charging for the weekend work ($5.00 an hour) I calculated that we should charge $120 for a play house with all the ”gingerbread“ and, if anyone wanted less, we could adjust the price to accommodate them. My thoughts were running wild and I calculated that we could each make $40 per house and if we could do two in a weekend I’d have $80 cash in my pocket. That was about 80% of what I was grossing per week working for the County. To say that I was excited is putting it mildly!
Jay wasn’t as excited as I was but was certainly interested. By lunchtime we had two confirmed orders. I was already spending the money. We did manage to get the special report done and on time. Jo had done a good job and we decided that we would continue to steer her towards the new position that was in the DP budget. For reasons known only to Jay at the time he decided not to mention the new position to Jo. I thought it was a little unfair but he was the ”boss“.
I’ve spent a good bit of time writing about things at work. There were other ”happenings“ that affected Elle and I that had been evolving since the start of the year. The 55 foot trailer that was right next door had not been occupied since we moved in. One day Elle heard a knock on the door and it was the mother of the teen girls that we’d occasionally used as babysitters. When Elle opened the door she was greeted by a ”Hi neighbor!“ from the lady. She told Elle that they had purchased the unit and would be moving in right away. When I heard about it that night all I could do was smile (to myself) as the older daughter was a ”looker“ and I’d already seen her panties. I couldn’t wait to get a look at their wash line.
Elle had become somewhat of a ”favorite“ to be called in to teach on short notice and was averaging about one day a week. In early February she was offered a temporary position for two weeks. She wasn’t sure she should take it but, together, we felt that if she turned it down she’d drop down on the ”call list“. The money wasn’t that great but it all added up. Alice, the neighbor who had been taking care of our kids without pay said that now that her husband had finally arrived from Texas (he was an engineer on the lunar module program) that it was too much for her to do on a daily basis. The lady next door was more than willing. We offered to pay her but she said she didn’t want anything. However, she did mention that one afternoon a week she volunteered at the hospital and that the older daughter would be home to care for the kids. She didn’t ask that we pay her but it certainly was a hint. It didn’t bother me... at all. I liked the idea of becoming more acquainted with her and her family.
To be continued...
Thursday, February 10, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68e)
By the time we left for the night Jay had tested the program and Jo and I had pulled all the boxes of punch cards that were needed. All that was left was to extrapolate the actual cards that were needed on the sorter and to run them through the computer. We had two choices; do it after work on Friday or come in over the weekend. Jo said it made no difference to her. Jay and I hadn’t been able to do any of his pending carpentry jobs for a couple of weeks due to bad weather. The forecast was for halfway decent weather for the weekend so we decided to stay Friday night. Elle wasn’t happy because she wanted me to baby sit the kid so she could do the food shopping without them. The younger of our kids was now 16 months and was now a handful making shopping a nightmare. I thought she was going to scream when I told her. The ”salve“ was that I’d be bringing some cash home by working with Jay on the weekend.
We’d had a computer problem and because of it the daily work was running behind. We didn’t get to start on the special report project until it was after 7pm. Jay went out to get something for us to eat and while he was gone, in keeping with what Jay had told Jo, I let her do the sorting of the cards while I watched. She was still in her good clothes and Jay called her out on it when he returned. He’d gotten us sandwiches and sodas. Jo decided to change before eating. I didn't really think much about it but was surprised to see Jo grab her clothes and head behind the computer. The food was on Jay’s desk/table and I was standing there reaching for it when I remembered the previous night. I looked up and saw the reflection of her stripping out of her blouse, skirt and slip in the window. As she did the bulge in my pants started growing. She was stepping into her pants when Jay finally noticed. When he did he let out a ”wolf whistle“. When he did that she looked into the windows and realized that we’d been watching her. When dressed she came running out with the same half smile that I’d seen the night when we caught her working in her slip. This time, however, she came running at Jay calling him names, swinging her arms and fists at him in kind of a whirlwind motion but still with that smile on her face. Jay was laughing at her which only made her more animated. Even if she hit him she wasn’t going to hurt him so Jay just let her flail away for a minute or so. I just stood back and watched. Finally Jay made his move, ducking under her swinging arms and grabbing her by the ribs. He quickly turned her around so her back was up against his stomach. She continued to swing and finally Jay squeezed her ribs. That did it. It was obvious that she was very ticklish. She immediately screamed and pleaded for Jay to stop. He told her it was now ”his turn“. She was laughing hysterically and squirming back and forth. She managed to get turned back around to face Jay. When she did he just picked her up and planted her on the table thus ending the whole thing.
It took a few minutes for her to catch her breath. With a very big smile she proceeded to chastise us both for being ”peeping Toms“. She asked if we’d seen her the night before and Jay was telling the truth when he said ”no“. I admitted that I’d seen the last bit when she was getting dressed. However, at no time did the half smile leave her face. We ended up eating right then and there. It only took a few minutes and then it was back to work. Jay helped Jo off the table and as I was picking up the remnants of our meal I saw something that gave me an instant hard on. On the table, right where Jo had been sitting, there was a small elongated wet triangle. She’d wet herself a bit while Jay was tickling her and, from the way she just walked away, didn’t even know it.
Since my job that night was to supervise her running of the sorter and collator I hoped I’d get a chance to check it out. All the empty trays were stacked on the floor and when she bent over to pick one up I stepped back and there it was, plain as day, for me to see. It wasn’t bad enough to be seen while just standing there but every time she bent over I made a point of looking. It certainly made what was a boring night for me, exciting!
We finished up everything but the printing of the report itself that night deciding that since nothing was scheduled for the printer Monday morning it could be done then. When we left, Jay and I confirmed the time we’d meet up the next morning for the repair job out on the barrier island. As much as I like working in DP I was ready for a break. The sun was up and I anticipated a good work day. Once at the site we had a change of mind. The wind was blowing at least 20 miles an hour and right in off the ocean. It was strong enough to constantly blow the sand at us. Jay feared that once we built the stairs the two of us weren’t strong enough to raise them up to the deck in that wind. We sat in the truck, disappointed, but at least inside the cab we weren’t being sand blasted. After a few minutes we headed back. On the way I remembered the play house that I’d asked him to help me with. I asked if we could go do that instead. My problem was that I didn’t have the money to buy the wood. Jay had an account with a lumber yard near where he lived and told me we could just charge what we needed and I could pay him when the bill came in. It sounded good to me.
To be continued...
By the time we left for the night Jay had tested the program and Jo and I had pulled all the boxes of punch cards that were needed. All that was left was to extrapolate the actual cards that were needed on the sorter and to run them through the computer. We had two choices; do it after work on Friday or come in over the weekend. Jo said it made no difference to her. Jay and I hadn’t been able to do any of his pending carpentry jobs for a couple of weeks due to bad weather. The forecast was for halfway decent weather for the weekend so we decided to stay Friday night. Elle wasn’t happy because she wanted me to baby sit the kid so she could do the food shopping without them. The younger of our kids was now 16 months and was now a handful making shopping a nightmare. I thought she was going to scream when I told her. The ”salve“ was that I’d be bringing some cash home by working with Jay on the weekend.
We’d had a computer problem and because of it the daily work was running behind. We didn’t get to start on the special report project until it was after 7pm. Jay went out to get something for us to eat and while he was gone, in keeping with what Jay had told Jo, I let her do the sorting of the cards while I watched. She was still in her good clothes and Jay called her out on it when he returned. He’d gotten us sandwiches and sodas. Jo decided to change before eating. I didn't really think much about it but was surprised to see Jo grab her clothes and head behind the computer. The food was on Jay’s desk/table and I was standing there reaching for it when I remembered the previous night. I looked up and saw the reflection of her stripping out of her blouse, skirt and slip in the window. As she did the bulge in my pants started growing. She was stepping into her pants when Jay finally noticed. When he did he let out a ”wolf whistle“. When he did that she looked into the windows and realized that we’d been watching her. When dressed she came running out with the same half smile that I’d seen the night when we caught her working in her slip. This time, however, she came running at Jay calling him names, swinging her arms and fists at him in kind of a whirlwind motion but still with that smile on her face. Jay was laughing at her which only made her more animated. Even if she hit him she wasn’t going to hurt him so Jay just let her flail away for a minute or so. I just stood back and watched. Finally Jay made his move, ducking under her swinging arms and grabbing her by the ribs. He quickly turned her around so her back was up against his stomach. She continued to swing and finally Jay squeezed her ribs. That did it. It was obvious that she was very ticklish. She immediately screamed and pleaded for Jay to stop. He told her it was now ”his turn“. She was laughing hysterically and squirming back and forth. She managed to get turned back around to face Jay. When she did he just picked her up and planted her on the table thus ending the whole thing.
It took a few minutes for her to catch her breath. With a very big smile she proceeded to chastise us both for being ”peeping Toms“. She asked if we’d seen her the night before and Jay was telling the truth when he said ”no“. I admitted that I’d seen the last bit when she was getting dressed. However, at no time did the half smile leave her face. We ended up eating right then and there. It only took a few minutes and then it was back to work. Jay helped Jo off the table and as I was picking up the remnants of our meal I saw something that gave me an instant hard on. On the table, right where Jo had been sitting, there was a small elongated wet triangle. She’d wet herself a bit while Jay was tickling her and, from the way she just walked away, didn’t even know it.
Since my job that night was to supervise her running of the sorter and collator I hoped I’d get a chance to check it out. All the empty trays were stacked on the floor and when she bent over to pick one up I stepped back and there it was, plain as day, for me to see. It wasn’t bad enough to be seen while just standing there but every time she bent over I made a point of looking. It certainly made what was a boring night for me, exciting!
We finished up everything but the printing of the report itself that night deciding that since nothing was scheduled for the printer Monday morning it could be done then. When we left, Jay and I confirmed the time we’d meet up the next morning for the repair job out on the barrier island. As much as I like working in DP I was ready for a break. The sun was up and I anticipated a good work day. Once at the site we had a change of mind. The wind was blowing at least 20 miles an hour and right in off the ocean. It was strong enough to constantly blow the sand at us. Jay feared that once we built the stairs the two of us weren’t strong enough to raise them up to the deck in that wind. We sat in the truck, disappointed, but at least inside the cab we weren’t being sand blasted. After a few minutes we headed back. On the way I remembered the play house that I’d asked him to help me with. I asked if we could go do that instead. My problem was that I didn’t have the money to buy the wood. Jay had an account with a lumber yard near where he lived and told me we could just charge what we needed and I could pay him when the bill came in. It sounded good to me.
To be continued...
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68d)
Because the whole Data Processing department had been created without a lot of foresight, there were MANY things that needed to be corrected. But, as with any governmental entity, the ”wheels turn slowly“. Shelving for the used punch cards had yet to arrive. We had to put them somewhere and the South wall was the only out of the way place that could be found. All the cards that had been used were boxed, marked and stacked there. The wall of boxes were at least five feet high and probably twelve feet across. It was a daunting task in that Jo had to get down to the floor to read the information on the lower boxes. Jay was at his table/desk and I was running the sorter. Jo was across the room and I was only occasionally able to see her as she walked between some of the peripheral equipment. We’d only been at it for a short time when I heard Jo curse. It wasn’t like her at all. Jay asked if she was OK and she said she was. A few minutes later she did it again.
Jay and I both got up to go see what was wrong. She was standing next to the wall of boxes holding the side of her skirt. Squatting down onto her haunches she’d popped the waist button. Trying to continue without it she then popped the zipper. When we saw her she had this silly grin on her face. Then she asked what time the cleaning people came in to pick up the trash. I thought it was a strange question to ask at that particular time. Around the first of the year Jay had made a request that the janitors make the Audit and Control department their last stop. When working late we often filled the trash containers and that made it difficult to work around on the following mornings. We’d been there as late as 11pm a few times when they arrived so that’s what Jay told her. She then told us to stop gawking and go back to what we were doing and shooed us away. I, for one, was puzzled but did what she asked.
A few minutes later I looked over by the wall and saw what looked like a ghost in that when I got a glimpse of Jo all I saw was white. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on. Jo had taken her skirt off and was now working in her slip and blouse. I’ll admit that I wasted more than a few minutes trying to think of a reason to go over there to get a close look... but I couldn’t come up with a plausible one. Jay didn’t know and I didn’t say anything. A little later I was setting the tabs on the printer when Jay decided to see how Jo was doing. I heard a little squeal and then a familiar sound... Jo’s nervous little laugh.
I could hear her tell Jay to ”go away“ but giggling as she did so. Then Jay called me which was followed by a very loud ”don’t you dare!“ from Jo. I couldn’t resist. She’d been partially hidden by a decollating machine and as soon as I turned the corner I saw her stooped over a bit with her arms crossed over her groin area. I think what struck me the most was that she had a sort of smile on her face. I really couldn’t see much because she was facing us. It was like she was embarrassed but also liked the attention. After a few seconds she cocked her head and I saw a sincere look on her face as she quietly said ”please...“. I did turn around and Jay quickly followed. As we walked back to the work area I could see a smirky smile on his face. Jo called out that she’d continue to work as long as we didn’t come over and look at her. Jay called back that it was a deal.
We quit around 9pm. Jay had the program written and Jo had most of the needed boxes identified. Jay figured that he could wire the program board while Jo finished up with her part of the job and I physically pulled the boxes the next night. When Jo reappeared she had her skirt on but was holding it up with both hands. Jay helped her on with her coat and suggested that she bring some ”work clothes“ to change into the next day to avoid a similar problem. I remember her laughing as she nodded her head in agreement.
Jay approached me the next day to ask my opinion on letting Jo get involved in the actual running of the new program. She’d expressed her desire to learn as much as she could about data processing to both of us. In just the short time she’d been working there she’d showed that she was smart and quick to learn. Jay told me that there was money in the budget to hire another person after the first of April. He thought that if Jo got the opportunity to learn how to operate our present equipment that she could qualify to fill it. I told him I thought it was a good idea.
After everyone else had left for the day the three of us got together and outlined the ”plan“, including letting Jo get more involved. I don’t think Jay could’ve gotten a more positive response. Jo started bouncing up and down and giggling like she’d just been given a promotion. She had taken Jay's suggestion and brought clothes more appropriate for the work she was doing. Because of an after hours incident in one of the ladies bathrooms during the Summer, they, as well as the ones for the men, were locked at 5pm. John had been able to get a key for the men's room. On the days when Jo had worked late he would walk her down there when she needed to use the bathroom and then "stand guard" for her. But, on this night he wanted to get the program board wired and tested as soon as possible so when Jo asked he suggested that she could just go behind the computer to change. She made a bit of a face but quickly took her clothes and headed that way.
The County Center building was completed in 1958 and most of the locals hated it. It was a sprawling complex, predominantly glass. It looked like a glass puzzle and the local newspaper once called it a labyrinth as it was hard for the public to find their way. The windows went from about 30 inches off the floor all the way to the ceiling. Because the windows in our space faced to the Northeast we got very little direct sun so there were no curtains. One thing that I’d noticed was that when it got dark the windows became mirror like in that they reflected everything in the office. I was not thinking of that when Jo disappeared behind the computer. I’d gone out to get a carton of paper and as I walked back into the room I saw Jo’s reflection behind the computer. It took my breath away in that, although not all that clear, I could see that she was in just her bra and panties. I stopped in my tracks and watched her put on her shirt and then step into the pants she’d brought. It was a very nice surprise and I kept it to myself.
To be continued...
Because the whole Data Processing department had been created without a lot of foresight, there were MANY things that needed to be corrected. But, as with any governmental entity, the ”wheels turn slowly“. Shelving for the used punch cards had yet to arrive. We had to put them somewhere and the South wall was the only out of the way place that could be found. All the cards that had been used were boxed, marked and stacked there. The wall of boxes were at least five feet high and probably twelve feet across. It was a daunting task in that Jo had to get down to the floor to read the information on the lower boxes. Jay was at his table/desk and I was running the sorter. Jo was across the room and I was only occasionally able to see her as she walked between some of the peripheral equipment. We’d only been at it for a short time when I heard Jo curse. It wasn’t like her at all. Jay asked if she was OK and she said she was. A few minutes later she did it again.
Jay and I both got up to go see what was wrong. She was standing next to the wall of boxes holding the side of her skirt. Squatting down onto her haunches she’d popped the waist button. Trying to continue without it she then popped the zipper. When we saw her she had this silly grin on her face. Then she asked what time the cleaning people came in to pick up the trash. I thought it was a strange question to ask at that particular time. Around the first of the year Jay had made a request that the janitors make the Audit and Control department their last stop. When working late we often filled the trash containers and that made it difficult to work around on the following mornings. We’d been there as late as 11pm a few times when they arrived so that’s what Jay told her. She then told us to stop gawking and go back to what we were doing and shooed us away. I, for one, was puzzled but did what she asked.
A few minutes later I looked over by the wall and saw what looked like a ghost in that when I got a glimpse of Jo all I saw was white. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on. Jo had taken her skirt off and was now working in her slip and blouse. I’ll admit that I wasted more than a few minutes trying to think of a reason to go over there to get a close look... but I couldn’t come up with a plausible one. Jay didn’t know and I didn’t say anything. A little later I was setting the tabs on the printer when Jay decided to see how Jo was doing. I heard a little squeal and then a familiar sound... Jo’s nervous little laugh.
I could hear her tell Jay to ”go away“ but giggling as she did so. Then Jay called me which was followed by a very loud ”don’t you dare!“ from Jo. I couldn’t resist. She’d been partially hidden by a decollating machine and as soon as I turned the corner I saw her stooped over a bit with her arms crossed over her groin area. I think what struck me the most was that she had a sort of smile on her face. I really couldn’t see much because she was facing us. It was like she was embarrassed but also liked the attention. After a few seconds she cocked her head and I saw a sincere look on her face as she quietly said ”please...“. I did turn around and Jay quickly followed. As we walked back to the work area I could see a smirky smile on his face. Jo called out that she’d continue to work as long as we didn’t come over and look at her. Jay called back that it was a deal.
We quit around 9pm. Jay had the program written and Jo had most of the needed boxes identified. Jay figured that he could wire the program board while Jo finished up with her part of the job and I physically pulled the boxes the next night. When Jo reappeared she had her skirt on but was holding it up with both hands. Jay helped her on with her coat and suggested that she bring some ”work clothes“ to change into the next day to avoid a similar problem. I remember her laughing as she nodded her head in agreement.
Jay approached me the next day to ask my opinion on letting Jo get involved in the actual running of the new program. She’d expressed her desire to learn as much as she could about data processing to both of us. In just the short time she’d been working there she’d showed that she was smart and quick to learn. Jay told me that there was money in the budget to hire another person after the first of April. He thought that if Jo got the opportunity to learn how to operate our present equipment that she could qualify to fill it. I told him I thought it was a good idea.
After everyone else had left for the day the three of us got together and outlined the ”plan“, including letting Jo get more involved. I don’t think Jay could’ve gotten a more positive response. Jo started bouncing up and down and giggling like she’d just been given a promotion. She had taken Jay's suggestion and brought clothes more appropriate for the work she was doing. Because of an after hours incident in one of the ladies bathrooms during the Summer, they, as well as the ones for the men, were locked at 5pm. John had been able to get a key for the men's room. On the days when Jo had worked late he would walk her down there when she needed to use the bathroom and then "stand guard" for her. But, on this night he wanted to get the program board wired and tested as soon as possible so when Jo asked he suggested that she could just go behind the computer to change. She made a bit of a face but quickly took her clothes and headed that way.
The County Center building was completed in 1958 and most of the locals hated it. It was a sprawling complex, predominantly glass. It looked like a glass puzzle and the local newspaper once called it a labyrinth as it was hard for the public to find their way. The windows went from about 30 inches off the floor all the way to the ceiling. Because the windows in our space faced to the Northeast we got very little direct sun so there were no curtains. One thing that I’d noticed was that when it got dark the windows became mirror like in that they reflected everything in the office. I was not thinking of that when Jo disappeared behind the computer. I’d gone out to get a carton of paper and as I walked back into the room I saw Jo’s reflection behind the computer. It took my breath away in that, although not all that clear, I could see that she was in just her bra and panties. I stopped in my tracks and watched her put on her shirt and then step into the pants she’d brought. It was a very nice surprise and I kept it to myself.
To be continued...
Sunday, February 06, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68c)
It was a hectic week with a lot of late night effort. With the new appropriations accounting programs being run I had to be judicious in planning my access to the computer. Jo, with her formal keypunch training, quickly proved to be a more competent operator than Linda. With just a little gnashing of teeth, Jay managed to switch Linda back to the “proof” operator. Jo continued to stay late even though there were only a few instances where actual keypunching was required. She would just stand there watching Jay and I go about our business, asking questions whenever there was a lull. Jay and I really liked her attitude. Always willing to do whatever we asked. It was such a change from her predecessor, Donna, that even Linda made some positive comments about her.
By mid month Jay had worked out the “bugs” in his appropriations accounting program and he and I had a good handle on how to best share the computer. Jo continued to stay late when we did and, on occasion, her presence was a big help. She continued to absorb just what Jay and I were doing and asked intelligent questions without getting in our way. At least in our area (Data Processing) everything was going well. It wasn’t that way in the general Audit and Control area.
Leo, the new Deputy Controller, decided he needed to “make a statement” to become “relevant” (his words). The first week of January he reorganized the work area both physically (desks) and jobs (people). I felt sorry for Irwin. Early on I’d learned from him that the Deputy position was mostly “window dressing” and a “political plum”. He’d been in the department for almost 20 years and was, realistically, the one who oversaw the daily operation. Here was Leo, a mostly absentee figurehead with little to no accounting knowledge or experience, deciding who was to do what. All the women, with the exception of Nina, his mother in law, were upset. Only Nina had anything to do with payroll and, to avoid me, dealt only with the keypunch operators. With bill paying now being done by Data Processing Jay had more interaction with the women in the general work area and he was constantly getting an ear full. He told me all they did was complain.
Back before the end of the year I’d worked with Jay on some of his weekend carpentry jobs. It was cash money and very helpful in paying bills. We had to stop because we had so much to do at work but by mid month Jay felt it was under control and we could get back to it. Before Christmas he’d shown me one fairly large job (two weekends if the weather cooperated) and was anxious to get back to it. Elle didn’t mind me being away while doing this because it was spendable cash that I was earning. It was out on a barrier island and the “fun“ way to get there was to ride on the ocean beach in his 4 wheel drive truck. A couple of storms had washed away one of the two stairways to the house as well as to wash away a few of the posts used to hold up the deck. Jay had purchased the wood for the stairs and we concentrated on that the first weekend. In the course of conversation he told me that the owner was a somewhat famous TV personality, Dave Garroway. This was his Summer home and he was trying to sell it. I recognized the name as the person was one my grandfather liked to watch on morning TV. I remember being anxious to tell him that I’d worked on his home. The weather, even though cold, allowed us to finish the work on the second weekend. An ”extra“ was that Jay was approached by another homeowner to similar work for him. I didn’t particularly like working out there with the wind off the ocean off freezing my butt but cash money certainly warmed my pocket.
If there was a negative to the Garroway job it was that Jay had to wait until the job was finished to get paid. That meant I had to wait as well. But, to lessen the pain of that Jay said he was putting a ”surcharge“ on the bill and I’d be getting $25 for each day. The thought of $100 cash all at one time was certainly a nice ”carrot“. To make it more palatable to Elle, I promised to give her $25 of it to do whatever she wanted with it. That made her smile. The other $75 would pretty much pay for the new TV and antenna.
Having Jo working with us was a joy. Her ”can do“ attitude even made Linda more productive. She continued to come to work dressed ”to kill“ with tight skirts, heels and nice blouses. I certainly enjoyed the occasional VPL’s that I was lucky enough to observe. On rare occasions I even got a peek at the ”magic triangle”. There were hints, at least to me, that there was something “brewing” between Jay and Jo. When we weren’t “under the gun” the three of us would go to lunch together and it was always fun with plenty of laughs.
Other than listening to the grumbling by the women in the general work area, things continued to go well in the DP area. That is until the middle of February, a few days before the monthly Board of Supervisors meeting. Right before we were to leave for the day the Controller came into the room and requested a special report. Jay, knowing how to “play the game“ told him that he could produce it. What he didn’t tell him was that it would’ve been a ”no brainer“ if it had been requested back when he was writing all the programs for the project. To get it done in the time required was going to entail a lot of extra work.
There were two major parts to getting it done. The first was that Jay had to write a completely new program on top of everything else he had to do. The second was that the information needed to produce the report was buried in the stacks of processed punch cards that were lined up in boxes against the south wall of the room. Jo, as expected, volunteered to stay late. The three of us got together and Jay outlined a plan of attack. Jo was assigned the task of identifying which boxes of cards were needed to be pulled. I, to free up the computer, was to get started on the work that was scheduled for the next day. Jay would start writing the program.
To be continued...
It was a hectic week with a lot of late night effort. With the new appropriations accounting programs being run I had to be judicious in planning my access to the computer. Jo, with her formal keypunch training, quickly proved to be a more competent operator than Linda. With just a little gnashing of teeth, Jay managed to switch Linda back to the “proof” operator. Jo continued to stay late even though there were only a few instances where actual keypunching was required. She would just stand there watching Jay and I go about our business, asking questions whenever there was a lull. Jay and I really liked her attitude. Always willing to do whatever we asked. It was such a change from her predecessor, Donna, that even Linda made some positive comments about her.
By mid month Jay had worked out the “bugs” in his appropriations accounting program and he and I had a good handle on how to best share the computer. Jo continued to stay late when we did and, on occasion, her presence was a big help. She continued to absorb just what Jay and I were doing and asked intelligent questions without getting in our way. At least in our area (Data Processing) everything was going well. It wasn’t that way in the general Audit and Control area.
Leo, the new Deputy Controller, decided he needed to “make a statement” to become “relevant” (his words). The first week of January he reorganized the work area both physically (desks) and jobs (people). I felt sorry for Irwin. Early on I’d learned from him that the Deputy position was mostly “window dressing” and a “political plum”. He’d been in the department for almost 20 years and was, realistically, the one who oversaw the daily operation. Here was Leo, a mostly absentee figurehead with little to no accounting knowledge or experience, deciding who was to do what. All the women, with the exception of Nina, his mother in law, were upset. Only Nina had anything to do with payroll and, to avoid me, dealt only with the keypunch operators. With bill paying now being done by Data Processing Jay had more interaction with the women in the general work area and he was constantly getting an ear full. He told me all they did was complain.
Back before the end of the year I’d worked with Jay on some of his weekend carpentry jobs. It was cash money and very helpful in paying bills. We had to stop because we had so much to do at work but by mid month Jay felt it was under control and we could get back to it. Before Christmas he’d shown me one fairly large job (two weekends if the weather cooperated) and was anxious to get back to it. Elle didn’t mind me being away while doing this because it was spendable cash that I was earning. It was out on a barrier island and the “fun“ way to get there was to ride on the ocean beach in his 4 wheel drive truck. A couple of storms had washed away one of the two stairways to the house as well as to wash away a few of the posts used to hold up the deck. Jay had purchased the wood for the stairs and we concentrated on that the first weekend. In the course of conversation he told me that the owner was a somewhat famous TV personality, Dave Garroway. This was his Summer home and he was trying to sell it. I recognized the name as the person was one my grandfather liked to watch on morning TV. I remember being anxious to tell him that I’d worked on his home. The weather, even though cold, allowed us to finish the work on the second weekend. An ”extra“ was that Jay was approached by another homeowner to similar work for him. I didn’t particularly like working out there with the wind off the ocean off freezing my butt but cash money certainly warmed my pocket.
If there was a negative to the Garroway job it was that Jay had to wait until the job was finished to get paid. That meant I had to wait as well. But, to lessen the pain of that Jay said he was putting a ”surcharge“ on the bill and I’d be getting $25 for each day. The thought of $100 cash all at one time was certainly a nice ”carrot“. To make it more palatable to Elle, I promised to give her $25 of it to do whatever she wanted with it. That made her smile. The other $75 would pretty much pay for the new TV and antenna.
Having Jo working with us was a joy. Her ”can do“ attitude even made Linda more productive. She continued to come to work dressed ”to kill“ with tight skirts, heels and nice blouses. I certainly enjoyed the occasional VPL’s that I was lucky enough to observe. On rare occasions I even got a peek at the ”magic triangle”. There were hints, at least to me, that there was something “brewing” between Jay and Jo. When we weren’t “under the gun” the three of us would go to lunch together and it was always fun with plenty of laughs.
Other than listening to the grumbling by the women in the general work area, things continued to go well in the DP area. That is until the middle of February, a few days before the monthly Board of Supervisors meeting. Right before we were to leave for the day the Controller came into the room and requested a special report. Jay, knowing how to “play the game“ told him that he could produce it. What he didn’t tell him was that it would’ve been a ”no brainer“ if it had been requested back when he was writing all the programs for the project. To get it done in the time required was going to entail a lot of extra work.
There were two major parts to getting it done. The first was that Jay had to write a completely new program on top of everything else he had to do. The second was that the information needed to produce the report was buried in the stacks of processed punch cards that were lined up in boxes against the south wall of the room. Jo, as expected, volunteered to stay late. The three of us got together and Jay outlined a plan of attack. Jo was assigned the task of identifying which boxes of cards were needed to be pulled. I, to free up the computer, was to get started on the work that was scheduled for the next day. Jay would start writing the program.
To be continued...
Thursday, February 03, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68b)
When Jay and I got back from our break there was Jo waiting for him. I watched as they shook hands and then she sat down and talked with Jay for a few minutes. Then she got up and went over to the second keypunch machine and sat down. Linda was at the primary one and they chatted with Jay for a few minutes. Then I watched her take a big pile of cards from Linda and start to do the keypunch checking of them. I was puzzled. I had to go through a whole waiting period before I was allowed to start work and here she’d just walked into the office and was now working. I got Jay’s attention and had him come over to where I was. He laughed telling me that she wasn’t getting paid until the following week but had volunteered to help. He shook his head, sort of in disbelief, and said “why not?”.
That Friday was the last day of the year. I spent my whole day doing prep work for the next week’s payroll because Monday was New Years day and the office would be closed. Jay and I had worked out a schedule to put time in over the weekend. He was still behind on the final testing of the appropriations accounting program and I had to run my quarterly end reports in addition to the payroll. We were working on the timing schedule for each of us to use the computer when Jo came over to tell Jay that she still had a pile of cards to check. It was 5pm and it was not what he wanted to hear. But, before he could say anything I heard her say that she could stay if it was OK. I remember processing that little bit of information and together with the fact that she wasn’t going to get paid for the work she’d already done, wondered if she were “for real”. All three of us stayed until after 8pm and, to make the day completely unbelievable, as we walked out Jo offered to come in over the weekend. I headed for home wondering if she was really too good to be believed.
Saturday went well as Jo finished all the keypunch checking for Jay’s test. When she was finished she asked if she could hang around and watch what we were doing. I had persuaded Elle to bring us lunch. It was the first time she’d ever seen the office. Even after Jay gave her the “tour” she still had no idea just what it was that I did except for “playing” with cards. She didn’t stay long as the kids were restless (bored).
While we were eating we got some background on Jo. She was twenty years old and the youngest in her family. She had a brother and two sisters. Her parents ran a restaurant and all her siblings worked there. She started when she was 12 years old and since finishing high school her goal was to “escape” it. One of her friends had gotten a job as a keypunch operator at the electric utility company and told her how much she liked it. The computer manufacturer (Univac) had it’s corporate headquarters not that far away from her home and ran keypunch operator classes. Jo had finished in October and had seen the County Civil Service announcement for keypunch operator. She took the test and had just been notified that she was on top of the list. We did ask her what her parents thought about her leaving them and the restaurant. She just rolled her eyes and issued what was becoming her “trademark”, a little nervous laugh. Jo left at about mid afternoon and Jay and I stayed until dark deciding to come back on Sunday.
Elle wasn’t too happy with me working the whole weekend, especially since I wasn’t being paid for it. Jay and I were keeping a record of the extra time we spent because we were supposed to get “compensatory time” for it. I felt somewhat guilty but I really liked the challenge of what I was doing and liked working with Jay. From a purely selfish standpoint, the one thing that bothered me on that Sunday was that the National Football League championship game was on and I’d really wanted to see it on our new TV. The game was between the NY Giants (my favorite team at the time) and the Green Bay Packers. Jay was able to get a radio to play inside the building (all the metal used in the construction effectively blocked most radio signals) so that, somewhat, appeased me. In a way I wished I hadn’t been able to hear it as I remember the Giants got beaten very badly.
Again, we worked until dark. I’d been able to get my reports processed and printed but Jay still had work to do. As we left I told him I’d come in at about noon on New Years day to see how it was going for him. As I left the trailer I told Elle I’d only be gone a short time. Again, it was after dark when we finished. I know Jay appreciated my help but I also knew Elle would be upset. Of the many things that I’d talked to Jay about one was on the possibility of him designing and helping me to build a playhouse for my kids. Jay, very much like me, didn’t know how to say “no”. As we left I reminded him of that and asked if he’d stop by and let Elle know. I hoped that it would take some of the “heat” off me for having worked the whole weekend. He did and his presence made my night a little more tolerable. Now we just had to find the time to do it.
I got in early on Monday to work on payroll and was surprised to find Jo already there. I don’t remember what time it was but it was refreshing to see her there. The rest of the women in the general work area would kind of “hover” outside the doors to the office until almost 9am and then come in together. I just couldn't understand their thinking. I noticed immediately that Jo was dressed as nicely as she’d been for the interview. I wont go as far as to say that most of the other females didn’t dress nicely, (there was a dress code: skirts or dresses for the women and coats and ties for the men) but, with the exception of the two younger females, the best way to describe their appearance was “frumpy”. Jo looked great... another tight fitting skirt with the hem just above the knee and a frilly white blouse. (NOTE: Mini skirts were just appearing on the fashion scene but had not reached our rural area. A skirt or dress above the knee was, for most males, a sight to behold.) What I noticed was that the color of her skirt was decidedly lighter than the one she’d worn on Friday which, early on, provided me with a nice VPL (visible panty line). I liked what I was seeing!
To be continued...
When Jay and I got back from our break there was Jo waiting for him. I watched as they shook hands and then she sat down and talked with Jay for a few minutes. Then she got up and went over to the second keypunch machine and sat down. Linda was at the primary one and they chatted with Jay for a few minutes. Then I watched her take a big pile of cards from Linda and start to do the keypunch checking of them. I was puzzled. I had to go through a whole waiting period before I was allowed to start work and here she’d just walked into the office and was now working. I got Jay’s attention and had him come over to where I was. He laughed telling me that she wasn’t getting paid until the following week but had volunteered to help. He shook his head, sort of in disbelief, and said “why not?”.
That Friday was the last day of the year. I spent my whole day doing prep work for the next week’s payroll because Monday was New Years day and the office would be closed. Jay and I had worked out a schedule to put time in over the weekend. He was still behind on the final testing of the appropriations accounting program and I had to run my quarterly end reports in addition to the payroll. We were working on the timing schedule for each of us to use the computer when Jo came over to tell Jay that she still had a pile of cards to check. It was 5pm and it was not what he wanted to hear. But, before he could say anything I heard her say that she could stay if it was OK. I remember processing that little bit of information and together with the fact that she wasn’t going to get paid for the work she’d already done, wondered if she were “for real”. All three of us stayed until after 8pm and, to make the day completely unbelievable, as we walked out Jo offered to come in over the weekend. I headed for home wondering if she was really too good to be believed.
Saturday went well as Jo finished all the keypunch checking for Jay’s test. When she was finished she asked if she could hang around and watch what we were doing. I had persuaded Elle to bring us lunch. It was the first time she’d ever seen the office. Even after Jay gave her the “tour” she still had no idea just what it was that I did except for “playing” with cards. She didn’t stay long as the kids were restless (bored).
While we were eating we got some background on Jo. She was twenty years old and the youngest in her family. She had a brother and two sisters. Her parents ran a restaurant and all her siblings worked there. She started when she was 12 years old and since finishing high school her goal was to “escape” it. One of her friends had gotten a job as a keypunch operator at the electric utility company and told her how much she liked it. The computer manufacturer (Univac) had it’s corporate headquarters not that far away from her home and ran keypunch operator classes. Jo had finished in October and had seen the County Civil Service announcement for keypunch operator. She took the test and had just been notified that she was on top of the list. We did ask her what her parents thought about her leaving them and the restaurant. She just rolled her eyes and issued what was becoming her “trademark”, a little nervous laugh. Jo left at about mid afternoon and Jay and I stayed until dark deciding to come back on Sunday.
Elle wasn’t too happy with me working the whole weekend, especially since I wasn’t being paid for it. Jay and I were keeping a record of the extra time we spent because we were supposed to get “compensatory time” for it. I felt somewhat guilty but I really liked the challenge of what I was doing and liked working with Jay. From a purely selfish standpoint, the one thing that bothered me on that Sunday was that the National Football League championship game was on and I’d really wanted to see it on our new TV. The game was between the NY Giants (my favorite team at the time) and the Green Bay Packers. Jay was able to get a radio to play inside the building (all the metal used in the construction effectively blocked most radio signals) so that, somewhat, appeased me. In a way I wished I hadn’t been able to hear it as I remember the Giants got beaten very badly.
Again, we worked until dark. I’d been able to get my reports processed and printed but Jay still had work to do. As we left I told him I’d come in at about noon on New Years day to see how it was going for him. As I left the trailer I told Elle I’d only be gone a short time. Again, it was after dark when we finished. I know Jay appreciated my help but I also knew Elle would be upset. Of the many things that I’d talked to Jay about one was on the possibility of him designing and helping me to build a playhouse for my kids. Jay, very much like me, didn’t know how to say “no”. As we left I reminded him of that and asked if he’d stop by and let Elle know. I hoped that it would take some of the “heat” off me for having worked the whole weekend. He did and his presence made my night a little more tolerable. Now we just had to find the time to do it.
I got in early on Monday to work on payroll and was surprised to find Jo already there. I don’t remember what time it was but it was refreshing to see her there. The rest of the women in the general work area would kind of “hover” outside the doors to the office until almost 9am and then come in together. I just couldn't understand their thinking. I noticed immediately that Jo was dressed as nicely as she’d been for the interview. I wont go as far as to say that most of the other females didn’t dress nicely, (there was a dress code: skirts or dresses for the women and coats and ties for the men) but, with the exception of the two younger females, the best way to describe their appearance was “frumpy”. Jo looked great... another tight fitting skirt with the hem just above the knee and a frilly white blouse. (NOTE: Mini skirts were just appearing on the fashion scene but had not reached our rural area. A skirt or dress above the knee was, for most males, a sight to behold.) What I noticed was that the color of her skirt was decidedly lighter than the one she’d worn on Friday which, early on, provided me with a nice VPL (visible panty line). I liked what I was seeing!
To be continued...
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68a)
I had a long list of things that needed to be done when I got up that Tuesday morning. Realistically, the most important should’ve been doing the payroll at work. However, to satisfy Elle I headed to the appliance store first. I knew that John got there way before the store opened to the public so went right to the back door. He was sitting at a cluttered desk, writing. I asked him what he was doing as I’d expected to see him at his workbench, fixing a TV. When he looked up I could see frustration on his face. He was preparing the month end bills and he let me know it wasn’t his favorite job. I asked when he could deliver the new washing machine and he gave me one of those looks that told me it wasn’t the right time to ask that. I backed off on that topic but asked if I could put a TV antenna on my “tab”. He slowly pushed away from the desk and without saying anything reached above his workbench and pulled down a box. As he handed it to me he mumbled something about not being cut out to be a bookeeper. All I wanted to do at that point was to get out of his hair but hearing the word “bookeeper” I immediately thought of Judy. She’d been the bookeeper for her uncle’s farm implement store back in Iowa. I immediately told him about her. He showed some interest but before getting to the point of asking how to get in touch with her he reminded me that his mother was expected back in April. I actually remember smiling as I told him she was pregnant and that she probably wouldn’t be able to work after that anyway. He handed me the phone and told me to give her a call. When I heard her voice answer and told her why I was calling I heard nothing but silence. I had to ask if she was still on the line. I put John on with her and then took off for work.
Everybody seemed to be in a good mood in the office with smiles all around. It was a holdover good attitude from the three day holiday. In the DP area one reason was that Donna, our resident sourpuss keypunch operator, wasn’t in. Whenever she was out of the office, be it on a break, lunch or a day off, the air seemed to be lighter. On this day the “give up” on her absence was that there was a lot of keypunching to be done. Jay had always been able to get permission for Allie to fill in as the “checker” with Linda moving over doing the primary keypunching. When Jay went to Irwin he was turned down. It was both year end and a short work week and he had things that he needed Allie to do. That left Jay in a real bind. He was in the final stages of testing the new appropriations accounting program that was scheduled to go “live” as of the first of the year. Her absence didn’t really affect me as I had all the keypunched changes for the week and had already started processing the Police payroll.
The “news” came from none other than Nina, the resident gossip queen. Linda, on her return from her break, was stopped by Nina and was told that Donna was transferring to the Treasurer’s office to work in the same area as her mother. Linda told us that it had been confirmed by the older lady, Hazel, who’d been transferred into the Audit and Control department from the Treasurer’s office when it officially assumed the payroll function. Jay was livid. Usually, he was almost too laid back. He got up and headed straight for the Controller’s office. When he returned he didn’t say anything. On the rare occasions when he was upset I’d learned to wait until he spoke. I’d come to work prepared to work a little late and when everybody left for the day Jay told me that the “bitch” (Donna) had completely blindsided him. She was still, officially, an employee of the Audit and Control department until the transfer was official but was on “sick leave” and still considered a DP department employee. What that meant was that, technically, Jay wouldn’t be able replace her until the transfer was completed... but that wasn’t going to be the case.
Evidently Jay spelled it out for the Controller that if we didn’t have another Keypuncher immediately he wouldn’t be able to implement the appropriations accounting to done by the computer on the first of the year. It got his attention and even though it wasn’t “kosher”, Jay was told he would be able to interview and hire a new keypuncher as soon as qualified applicants could be contacted. The Controller was going to “pull strings“ to get it done.
When I got home Elle had some news for me. Judy had gotten the job at the appliance store and was to start the next day. Elle said she was VERY appreciative for my help and gave me one of those questioning looks as she did. I had some news for her in that I had a TV antenna. Anxious to see what our new TV was like, I jury rigged it so we got at least one channel. Even with less than optimum positioning, the picture was far better than we’d been used to. For us, at least, things were continuing to go well.
The first keypunch operator applicant showed up for her interview on Thursday. Jay didn’t really have a desk, preferring to work at a table in the middle of the work space. So this sad looking woman came in and was interviewed with machines running all around her. She didn’t stay long. When I asked Jay why he said that she wasn’t interested. She told him that things were ”too chaotic“ for her to handle. The next one showed up on Friday, right at 9am. It was certainly a lot less ”chaotic” at that time of day. I saw her standing in the doorway and pretty much knew that Jay would be interested. She was well dressed, young, fairly attractive and had a big smile on her face, the total antithesis of Donna. Looking at her from across the room she didn’t appear to be nervous at all. I went over and introduced myself and quickly found out that wasn’t the case at all. Her name was Josephina but asked to be called Jo. I took her to the table, provided a chair and told her Jay would be in soon. I went back to my work but couldn’t take my eyes off her. She kept crossing and uncrossing her legs. She was wearing a tight fitting, straight skirt and I tried to position myself in such a way that I might get a glimpse of the “magic triangle” but it didn’t happen. When Jay arrived, about fifteen minutes late, I heard her issue a couple of nervous laughs. Jay only chatted with her for maybe ten minutes, at the most, before he got up and led her out of the office. He was back quickly and walking into the room gave me a thumbs up signal. That was a very good sign for a lot of reasons.
To be continued...
I had a long list of things that needed to be done when I got up that Tuesday morning. Realistically, the most important should’ve been doing the payroll at work. However, to satisfy Elle I headed to the appliance store first. I knew that John got there way before the store opened to the public so went right to the back door. He was sitting at a cluttered desk, writing. I asked him what he was doing as I’d expected to see him at his workbench, fixing a TV. When he looked up I could see frustration on his face. He was preparing the month end bills and he let me know it wasn’t his favorite job. I asked when he could deliver the new washing machine and he gave me one of those looks that told me it wasn’t the right time to ask that. I backed off on that topic but asked if I could put a TV antenna on my “tab”. He slowly pushed away from the desk and without saying anything reached above his workbench and pulled down a box. As he handed it to me he mumbled something about not being cut out to be a bookeeper. All I wanted to do at that point was to get out of his hair but hearing the word “bookeeper” I immediately thought of Judy. She’d been the bookeeper for her uncle’s farm implement store back in Iowa. I immediately told him about her. He showed some interest but before getting to the point of asking how to get in touch with her he reminded me that his mother was expected back in April. I actually remember smiling as I told him she was pregnant and that she probably wouldn’t be able to work after that anyway. He handed me the phone and told me to give her a call. When I heard her voice answer and told her why I was calling I heard nothing but silence. I had to ask if she was still on the line. I put John on with her and then took off for work.
Everybody seemed to be in a good mood in the office with smiles all around. It was a holdover good attitude from the three day holiday. In the DP area one reason was that Donna, our resident sourpuss keypunch operator, wasn’t in. Whenever she was out of the office, be it on a break, lunch or a day off, the air seemed to be lighter. On this day the “give up” on her absence was that there was a lot of keypunching to be done. Jay had always been able to get permission for Allie to fill in as the “checker” with Linda moving over doing the primary keypunching. When Jay went to Irwin he was turned down. It was both year end and a short work week and he had things that he needed Allie to do. That left Jay in a real bind. He was in the final stages of testing the new appropriations accounting program that was scheduled to go “live” as of the first of the year. Her absence didn’t really affect me as I had all the keypunched changes for the week and had already started processing the Police payroll.
The “news” came from none other than Nina, the resident gossip queen. Linda, on her return from her break, was stopped by Nina and was told that Donna was transferring to the Treasurer’s office to work in the same area as her mother. Linda told us that it had been confirmed by the older lady, Hazel, who’d been transferred into the Audit and Control department from the Treasurer’s office when it officially assumed the payroll function. Jay was livid. Usually, he was almost too laid back. He got up and headed straight for the Controller’s office. When he returned he didn’t say anything. On the rare occasions when he was upset I’d learned to wait until he spoke. I’d come to work prepared to work a little late and when everybody left for the day Jay told me that the “bitch” (Donna) had completely blindsided him. She was still, officially, an employee of the Audit and Control department until the transfer was official but was on “sick leave” and still considered a DP department employee. What that meant was that, technically, Jay wouldn’t be able replace her until the transfer was completed... but that wasn’t going to be the case.
Evidently Jay spelled it out for the Controller that if we didn’t have another Keypuncher immediately he wouldn’t be able to implement the appropriations accounting to done by the computer on the first of the year. It got his attention and even though it wasn’t “kosher”, Jay was told he would be able to interview and hire a new keypuncher as soon as qualified applicants could be contacted. The Controller was going to “pull strings“ to get it done.
When I got home Elle had some news for me. Judy had gotten the job at the appliance store and was to start the next day. Elle said she was VERY appreciative for my help and gave me one of those questioning looks as she did. I had some news for her in that I had a TV antenna. Anxious to see what our new TV was like, I jury rigged it so we got at least one channel. Even with less than optimum positioning, the picture was far better than we’d been used to. For us, at least, things were continuing to go well.
The first keypunch operator applicant showed up for her interview on Thursday. Jay didn’t really have a desk, preferring to work at a table in the middle of the work space. So this sad looking woman came in and was interviewed with machines running all around her. She didn’t stay long. When I asked Jay why he said that she wasn’t interested. She told him that things were ”too chaotic“ for her to handle. The next one showed up on Friday, right at 9am. It was certainly a lot less ”chaotic” at that time of day. I saw her standing in the doorway and pretty much knew that Jay would be interested. She was well dressed, young, fairly attractive and had a big smile on her face, the total antithesis of Donna. Looking at her from across the room she didn’t appear to be nervous at all. I went over and introduced myself and quickly found out that wasn’t the case at all. Her name was Josephina but asked to be called Jo. I took her to the table, provided a chair and told her Jay would be in soon. I went back to my work but couldn’t take my eyes off her. She kept crossing and uncrossing her legs. She was wearing a tight fitting, straight skirt and I tried to position myself in such a way that I might get a glimpse of the “magic triangle” but it didn’t happen. When Jay arrived, about fifteen minutes late, I heard her issue a couple of nervous laughs. Jay only chatted with her for maybe ten minutes, at the most, before he got up and led her out of the office. He was back quickly and walking into the room gave me a thumbs up signal. That was a very good sign for a lot of reasons.
To be continued...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)