MOVING AHEAD... changes(Part 96d)


More background: As mentioned above, Dolly’s father held a prominent position in the news gathering world and among his friends were some famous news reporters and writers. One of them, upon seeing her right after her birth, said something along the lines of her ”She looks just like a doll“. The story I’d heard many times over was after that when her father would get home from work he’d call out ”Where’s my doll?“. Then, after seeing the Broadway musical The Matchmaker and seeing the character Dolly Levi the ”y“ was added and she became Dolly. Her given name was actually Elaine but she didn’t really know it until she was old enough to go to school.
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Walking in and seeing her was a bit awkward for me. Because of her parents friendship with my parents over the years I had watched her grow from a baby to a young woman but she was always in the background. Ten years younger, she’d never been involved with me or my friends when I’d lived at home although Elle had baby sat her a time or two. Since returning to the area any ”sightings“ of her been casual at best and it had easily been a couple of years since I’d been in a position to see her up close enough to talk to her. The thing that struck me the most was how tall she was. She was standing in the kitchen, hair wet and with a beach towel wrapped around her when I walked in. However, my focus was on getting help to ”rescue“ my boat so I pretty much ignored her and went looking for my father. We went over to the garage and while we were standing staring at the mess, a car pulled into the neighbors driveway. Upon seeing a rather large, white haired man get out my father commented that he was the new Summer renter for the house. The owner had taken a job in Michigan and, although initially planning on returning for the Summer, found that he and his family wouldn't be able to. Within minutes two other cars pulled into the same driveway.

Long story short (yet again)... the older man, Big Al, a retired city fireman, had rented the house so his daughters (Karen and Jeanette) and their spouses and kids would have a Summer at the beach. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I watched the cars empty out. It was the answer to my problem. There were two guys who appeared to be my age. They say timing is everything and their arrival was perfect. After introductions I helped them unload their cars and they reciprocated by helping, with difficulty, move the boat.

Once that was done I wanted a chance to look at the women (naturally). Jeannette was blonde and about 5’ 3” tall. There didn’t appear to be much “on top” but she had a nice figure from there on down. I remember her shorts being both that and tight. Karen was at least 5’9“ tall if not more and was a brunette. For two who were supposed to be sisters there wasn’t anything that would indicate that as fact. The clothes that Karen was wearing were very loose so there was no way to tell how well she was endowed... if at all. Jeanette had two young boys and, naturally, the first thing they wanted to do was to go swimming. The oldest, who looked to be the same age as my Jean, had run right down to the beach and his mother had allowed him to go right in, clothes and all. One thing led to another and Jeannette ended up getting splashed. After a short time she’d just flopped down into the water herself.

I wasn’t there to witness that but I was the beneficiary of her actions after she walked around the back of the house. It seemed to me that her already tight shorts had shrunk while still on her because I could see the indication of elastic for the leg openings of her panties as she walked by. I fully expected that she would change her clothes but the only change I saw was that instead of a blouse she was now wearing a bandeaux. (I didn’t know that’s what it was called back then) I’d hoped to see her wet panties hanging on the clothes line before I left but had to settle on looking at her wet shorts instead.

My mother, always ”social“, made up some snacks for them to hold them over until supper. She insisted that I join in and I got to learn a little about all of them. By the time we finished I felt like I’d known them for years. I liked them and was anxious to bring Elle and the kids back to meet them. Needless to say, by the time I had the trailer ready for the boat and the boat over to the sailing club I was way late in getting home. I’d called to warn Elle and then my mother called when I left to back me up. The only thing that ”saved“ me was in telling her I’d met some nice young people with kids, (even though they were boys) and wanted her to meet them.

We’d gotten an appointment for Elle to see the urologist on that Tuesday afternoon. I would’ve thought that she would be excited in a positive way but all she did was fret the whole way in. Because she’d been a patient before the Doctor had a benchmark to work with. The whole afternoon was taken up with different tests, primarily to measure Elle’s bladder capacity and to see just how much liquid would cause her to ”spill“ (the term the urologist used). I didn’t see Elle for over two hours and when she was done we both met with the Doctor. She wasn’t ready to give us her final diagnosis as she still needed to see the x-rays. She told us that, preliminarily, it appeared that the muscles that held her bladder in place had either weakened or partially torn allowing it to drop so that the neck of it was ”spilling“ before the bladder filled. We already knew Elle’s bladder capacity was reduced because of scar tissue build up from when she’d had a severe bladder infection as a girl. That, added to the lowered neck was what was causing the almost constant ”dribbling“. Now we just had to wait. It wasn’t easy.

To be continued...       

MOVING AHEAD... changes (Part 96c)


I think the funniest part of this whole episode was in watching the two policemen try to figure out what to do. The woman continued to run to and fro screaming that she’d been cheated and wasn’t going to leave until we proved that she had failed. Finally, the two policemen got her cornered. Someone had picked up her clothes and handed them to one of the policemen and they got her to cover herself.

What we’d witnessed was a person having a nervous breakdown. In spite of the voyeuristic part of it it was not a pretty sight. It took some doing but I found out that she was a ”temporary“ and that exam was her third and last chance to pass and to keep her job. Sad!

BTW:  At work Annette continued to show that she was worthy of added responsibility. I got a telephone call from her mother one night and she was most appreciative of me having had faith in her. She admitted that she hadn’t wanted her to take the job fearing that it wouldn’t work out and she'd be hurt from the experience. I hated hearing that. I thanked her for the call and reinforced the fact that Annette was really a special individual and was capable of a lot more. I also told her that she should encourage her to do so.

Time wise, I was coming up on my one year anniversary working in the Civil Service department. All full time county employees were on a grade and step program as far as pay increases were concerned. The only ”promotion“ one could get was to take an exam for the next higher position. I can’t deny that I’d analyzed my situation within the department and the only possible opening for me would require Marty to leave or to become a Principal Personnel Technician and that would require that Wilson leave. There was only a three year difference in all our ages and both of them liked what they were doing as well as being ”married“ to the geographic area. I was relatively happy and when Mrs K called me into her office I couldn’t imagine why. As you’ve read I admired her for her ability to handle difficult situations as well as to not stand on precedence. She started off by telling me that I’d been doing a very good job. That was nice to hear but the tone of her voice told me that there was more to come. In short what she went on to say was that she felt I was capable of much more challenging things than the department could offer. Nervous, my first thought was that I was being fired. However, what she was indicating was that if I were to find another job that was a challenge she wanted to let me know that she wouldn’t stand in my way. At that point I was thoroughly confused... I was doing a good job but I could leave if I wanted.


As the middle of June approached I knew I’d be getting a call from Rex, the guy who was, for all intents and purposes, the property manager at the sailing club. I was his unofficial assistant and hadn’t touched base with him all Winter. I had my excuses at the ready with Elle’s health and the new baby heading the list. The work weekend where the members would ready the clubhouse and grounds for the upcoming sailing season was upon us and he desperately needed my help. I didn’t really want to go knowing that I had plenty of things that needed to be done at home but I said I’d be there.

It had been a good Winter as far as damage to the facility was concerned so it wasn’t a hard day. However, I learned that a number of things happened during the Winter that affected or were going to affect our racing community. At best, Rex calculated that we would be down to only seven boats racing on a weekly basis. Buddy (and Carol), Jimbo (and Ruthie) Cat (and Bret), Willie and Frank wouldn’t be spending their Summer locally. But more important to me was that some of the parents of the junior sailing/racing program had gone on the record as saying they wouldn’t allow their kids to get a Comet class sailboat (the official class boat for the club) as they were ”dangerous“. The junior sailing program was the life blood for the club. These dissident parents had formed a committee to find a better choice. In my mind that news didn’t bode well for the future of the Comet class.

At home when I told Elle about the people who wouldn’t be racing and their reasons (babies for Carol, Ruthie and Frank) she wondered just how she, herself, was going to manage. That gave me the opening to mention that it wouldn’t be Bobbi who’d be crewing but her sister, Norma. Elle knew Norma but only from the fact that she like me, remembered her as a little girl. Since she didn't seem to object I let it go at that. I'd been putting off facing the fact that my boat trailer was unusable. For my birthday my parents (and grandfather) had purchased a new galvanized metal trailer to replace the old one. I’d been so involved with the race car I’d put off getting it ready to use and was now ”down to the wire“. After doing my good deed by taking my grandfather to the hospital I headed for my parents home to work on the new trailer.

I have to give some more "background" here... Some of my parents best friends were Summer residents of our community. One family had three kids and the youngest, a girl, had become my mother's "surrogate daughter". The mother ended up with lung cancer and had died in March. The father had a prominent position with a major news service (ie: Associated Press) and was required to be present at both the Democratic and Republican presidential nominating conventions and wasn't able to open up the family Summer cottage. The girl, Dolly, was devastated by her mother's death and, on top of that, was being denied being able to "go to the beach" as her father wouldn't let her stay alone at the age of 17. Upon hearing that my parents stepped up and offered to let her stay with them. I hadn't been informed of this when I arrived. 


As soon as I arrived I hitched the old trailer up and when I started to pull it out of the garage there was a loud ”crunch“. I got out and saw that, for all intents and purposes, the old trailer had collapsed with my boat resting against the wall of the garage. I knew I was in trouble. The boat would have to be lifted, by hand, off the old trailer and out of the garage and as far as I knew there was only me and my father. When I went across the street to fetch him I found Dolly in the kitchen. That was a surprise!

To be continued...

MOVING AHEAD... changes (Part 96b)

I knew from what Bobbi had told me that Norma was married and had a young son. I know the puzzled look on my face made her smile because without me asking she explained that her husband was away at some kind of Summer school and that she was going to spend the first two months of the Summer with her mother. I have to say that at that very moment I was conflicted. Here I was standing in front of a very pretty young woman who had just offered to be my crew and yet I knew very little about her. But as crazy as it sounds I wanted to know if she knew how to sail.

At that point she suggested that she get us some lemonade and that we go out on the gazebo that was out over the beach. I really didn’t know what to say or what to do so I did nothing. As she turned to go inside I know I had to have done a ”double take“ when I saw her backside. However, it had been a mistake when I thought I could see her panties through the material of her shorts as it was really the bottom part of her bathing suit. I wish I could remember the name of the type of material (it was some sort of synthetic knit that will reappear in future posts) but it was just unbelievable. When she reappeared she had the lemonade and a plate of cookies. It was like old times when her grandmother would feed me cookies and brownies when I delivered newspapers. I don’t know how I controlled myself walking out to the gazebo because not only could I see through the material but it actually clung to her butt cheeks. OH MY HEART!

We chatted a bit before she told me that she’d been taught how to sail by the same lady that had started me. The difference was that I joined the sailing club program where she didn’t. I asked why but she obviously didn’t want to answer and she looked down. In any case she’d done a lot of sailing after she met her husband. His family was heavily into the sport and had gotten her back into it. It was obvious she understood the basic concepts of sailing so my questions now focused on the fact that sailing/racing the type boat I had could be very physically demanding. I don’t remember her response and I’m sure my decision to say ”yes“ to her was based more on her looks (and see through shorts) than on her conditioning.

I’d spent way longer than expected and when I started to get up I happened to look at her crotch. At that time in my sexual development the term ”camel toe“ hadn’t come up but what I remember seeing was definitely a camel toe. As I drove away I remember thinking that I’d gotten a better VPL (even if it was just her bathing suit) from her wearing dry clothes than many when the clothes were wet. I also remember wondering what Elle was going to think when she saw Norma in person.

The changes that John and I’d made to the administration of the Clerk Typist exam had it running on an even keel. ”Manic Monday“ had pretty much disappeared. With warmer weather (and more acceptance of mini skirts) we were getting some good panty peeks. We’d had a few ”kooks“ to make things interesting but nothing to prepare us for Sally.

A little background... As I’ve explained there were lists of people who had passed both the written and practical portions of the test that were created for each municipality (ie: Village; town; school district) weekly. If there weren’t at least three people on a list a ”temporary“ could be hired with the caveat that that person take and pass the test within six months. They actually had three chances to pass it. There was no way for either John or I to know how many times a person had previously taken the exam. It was up to the clerical staff back at the office to determine eligibility and when we did the registration all we had to do was confirm that a persons name was on our list. One of the things that John and I had changed was to post the names of those who had passed and were eligible for the practical portion of the exam. No grades were posted so a name on the list didn’t signify any level of competence.

We were at the larger of the two venues where the test was administered and right after the list was posted this woman started screaming that she’d been cheated and that there was no way she could’ve failed the exam. I’d gone to lunch and John, as was his custom, had stayed to eat the lunch he’d brought with him. In any case, the woman became hysterical... screaming, crying and stomping around. John was usually very good with applicants who were upset with one thing or another but in her case he wasn’t getting through. She demanded to see her test and the answers and that was where I came in. I could see John was at about his limit and felt that I had to be firm with her and to just say ”NO!“. That did it. She started taking off her clothes. The other women who were there at that time (about two dozen) just backed away because it was clear that she was out of control. John went to call the police while I tried to get her to stop by yelling at her. All that did was to make her madder. After she got her blouse off she threw it at me and then started to take off her bra. Some of the women were yelling at her to not do that but it seemed to embolden her even more. In a period of just a few minutes she was topless and trying to rip away the waistband of her skirt, all the while just running to and fro. When Jack ran back inside she was stepping out of her skirt and slip showing off a pair of pale blue panties. The women who were watching were continuing to yell something like ”don’t do it“. By the time the police arrived she was buck naked.

To be continued...

MOVING AHEAD... changes (Part 96a)

The change in Elle’s condition markedly improved soon after she stopped breast feeding altogether. More energy and a better attitude certainly made my life easier. I didn’t want to “push“ too hard as far as sex was concerned but was pleased when she allowed me to ”play“ with her in her wet panties. The advent of June was the forebearer of some changes for us as far as Janice and Marge were concerned. Whereas Marge had been relatively available to help Elle throughout the Spring, her son was due home from college and she’d indicated that she wanted to spend time with him. On top of that she was expecting to host visits from relatives and their kids. Janice, although perfectly happy doing shift work where she had her days free had impressed her supervisors enough to warrant a promotion. Normally workers strive to gain just that but, as I’d indicated in previous posts, she was a bit different. The promotion (and a nice raise in pay) required that she commute to another facility about 35 miles to the West. Although she wasn’t sure she really wanted to make the change, she did.

The first major thing Elle and I tackled was getting an appointment with the urologist. The earliest we could get was the middle of the month. Elle and I’d discussed her continuing to substitute teach now that we had the third child and she wanted to and it wasn’t for monetary reasons. She’d really enjoyed her time in the classroom with the kids. However, she had steadfastly said she wouldn’t go to full time teaching until all the kids were in school full time and this was a way to accomplish this. With that in mind it was imperative that Elle be recovered from whatever procedure that would be undertaken so that she wouldn’t lose that much time when the schools reopened. With Janice’s unavailability and the prospect that Marge’s would be sporadic was an added, but not insurmountable, obstacle.

Because I’d made an extra effort to meet Elle’s needs during the previous three months she let me do my car racing without much ”grief“. I won’t bore you with blow by blow details of it and will just say that after the first few weeks I’d exceeded my expectations. I still didn’t have a full time pit crew and never knew who would show up on race night. The guys on Rick’s (and sometimes Bags’) crew helped out when I really needed it. As an aside: I’d mentioned that ”Buddah“, one of the guys on Bags crew, had started to date Jan. He’d not brought her to the races because of her commitment to my grandfather each night. I suggested that he bring her early, actually before the races themselves started, just to give her a ”taste“ of what it was like. On the night he finally did bring her my ”take“ on it was that she thought we were all crazy. In any case, things were going well for them.

I’d made a couple of feeble attempts to get in touch with Bobbi about sailing with me for the first part of the season. By mid month I knew I had make a serious attempt which meant actually going to her house. Most Summer residents used Memorial Day weekend to open their cottages or houses up for the season. Worst case scenario was that I’d be ”attacked“ by her aunt Ali and subject to another ”sell“ job about bringing Elle and the kids to her store. I knew that if Bobbi wasn’t there and Ali was that at least my message would be conveyed. Even though I knew it was probably wishful thinking as I drove down the driveway I was hoping to see some panties on the wash line. I was halfway down the drive when I saw some white things blowing in the wind. Closer, I could see they were kids clothes. That was a real puzzle for me to contemplate as Bobbi was the youngest of Maggie’s three kids and Ali didn’t have any. I was even more perplexed when I didn’t see Ali’s car but only a cream colored Chevy station wagon that was similar to ours. I debated as to weather to knock on the door but decided that since I was there, why not.

In past writings I mentioned that Maggie had an older daughter that I only had some vague memories of. Because of conversations with Bobbi the previous Summer I knew her name was Norma. I certainly wasn’t prepared for what I saw walk up to the screen door. She was ”the girl next door“ pretty with blonde hair almost down to her waist. I’m going to say she was probably 5’ 4” or maybe a little taller. Through the screen door it looked like she was wearing a bra on top and it was certainly full.  After identifying myself she stepped outside and gave me her name. I could see that the “bra” was actually the top for a bathing suit. I couldn’t help myself but I had to look down as well. She was wearing a pair of white short shorts and I swear I could see right through the material to her panties. I don’t remember if I started a “bulge” or not but I do know my heart rate was certainly up quite a few notches.

I told her why I was there and how Bobbi had indicated at the end of the previous season that she’d love to sail with me. She apologized saying that neither Bobbi or her mother was there. Then she added that she didn’t think that Bobbi was going to be spending the Summer there because she was “in love“. As far as she knew Bobbi was going to stay at their Winter house and work at her father’s hardware store so she could be with her boyfriend. I couldn’t hide my disappointment and she picked up on it. It was an ”out of the blue“ comment when she asked if she could sail with me.

 To be continued...

ADAPTING...three is enough (Part 95f)

OK... Where were we?

Jean, our oldest, had her 5th birthday on Memorial Day. There still weren’t any other girls in and around her age living in the park and as we’d done in previous years some of the girls that were around her age at church were invited. Karen, the teen who ran the nursery at church and who’d babysat for us a few times was asked as well (but for pay). The kids liked and responded to her and with Elle still struggling felt it would be best. Back in those days birthday parties, especially for young girls, was an excuse to get dressed up in nice clothes meaning a dress, fancy socks and good shoes. Karen took it to heart and showed up in a cute Summer dress with lace around the arm openings and around the hem. I picked her up in the early afternoon with the party scheduled for 2pm. I think I paid her $5 and did so before we got back. She was really appreciative of it and I remember her thanking me profusely. She was a nice girl. Her job was to run the party games and keep the kids under control.

Elle’s mother was there but her ”specialty” was the cake and ice cream. I was there as the picture taker only. Including Jean and her sister Ann there were seven in total. Because four of them only visited during birthdays the play house was a big attention getter for them. As I remember it it was hard to get them back into the main yard for the party itself. After the treats were served and devoured Karen ran games (with prizes) and the party started to run down. I was inside putting the uneaten food away and wasn’t there to see what precipitated the commotion but when I stepped back outside I saw Karen on her back with most of the kids piled on top of her. Elle was yelling at them to be careful as they could (and did) get grass stains on their clothes. As I approached the pile I saw a lot of kiddie panties for sure but under the pile was what I was hoping to see... Karen’s panties. As the kids finally climbed off her I only got glimpses but when they were all off she rolled over and away from me totally exposing most of her pink pantied backside. Elle saw me staring and, much later, gave me a talking to about it. There was nothing I could say just as there was no way I could’ve avoided seeing what I saw without putting my hands over my eyes. It was worth the “heat”. If Karen had been embarrassed about it she didn’t show it. When I took her home we chatted, easily, about her plans for the Summer. It was a nice memory to have on top of getting a pair of Marge’s panties a few days earlier.

It was shortly thereafter that we had the first problems with the baby and after a few trips to the doctor it was actually a problem with Elle. Her breast milk wasn’t satisfying her and she was always hungry (read that as fussing). The doctor told us that to be on the safe side that we should give her pre packaged formula. Even with all the additional costs surrounding Elle’s operation and resulting medications we were just holding our own as far as money went. I quickly found out that formula wasn’t cheap. On top of that the baby had a hard time digesting the first brand we tried. It was very upsetting to see her unhappy which translated into Elle being unhappy which further translated into me being unhappy. I’m not sure when it was but one night after getting up to sooth the baby in the middle of the night she flopped back into bed mumbling “Three’s enough... three’s enough... three’s enough!”. I was barely awake but we ended up talking for a bit before falling back to sleep. However, and this was important... it was the first thing she uttered the next morning. This time I could see her face and she was deadly serious. We had both wanted a boy but when Kaye was born we had left it open as to trying again. At this point there was plain and simple... NO MORE! 

I know there was no way to plan for the need for Elle’s operation and the resulting costs which were not all monetary. The addition of the baby so soon afterwards had taxed her physical abilities but at this point in time her mental strength was being taxed as well. As for me I was struggling from the lack of sex. Our last physical sex had taken place at Christmas and my last “plug in” activity had been in February right before she found out she had to have the operation. It had been about four months and each time I’d suggested even a “plug in” she’d have an excuse why she shouldn’t, couldn’t or wouldn’t. The primary reason was that she was so tired and I could visibly see that but it was quickly followed by her incontinence. So, I figured that this was as good a time as any to tackle that part. We’d discussed it before but I couldn’t pin her down. I knew I was a little hard on her but I finally got her to commit to a visit to see Buddy and Carol's parents, the doctors who’d done the bladder procedure on her before we were married. She’d used the breast feeding as an excuse and now that wasn’t an issue any longer. At least when I left for work I knew that some progress had been made. The question was “how much?”.

At work, Sonny’s absence was causing problems. He was still in the hospital but no one knew how long it would be before he’d be released or if he'd be able to return. Mrs K had granted him a medical leave of absence for a year which meant that his position could only be filled on a temporary basis. Everybody who’d responded wanted a full time position. Even with Mrs K telling them that there was only a slight chance of Sonny returning the answer was always a negative.

On the positive side was the performance of Annette, the physically handicapped girl that had been hired to fill the receptionist position. I’d found her to be very bright and quick to learn and pointed it out to both Wilson and Marty. Being shorthanded we’d all had to do a better job of prioritizing our work. In my case I found there were some things that had been part of my position for a long time and I’d had no reason to question them. Under the circumstances I began to question why they couldn’t be done by someone in a lower position. I’d noticed that Annette would sometimes have periods of time where there were no phone calls or walk in applicants. I asked Wilson if I could pass off some of my mundane tasks to her. His initial reaction was negative. When asked "why?" his response was that they were part of my job description. His stance was similar to what I was beginning to face from my oldest daughter when she’d ask for something and would be told “No”. She’d ask why and I (or Elle) would answer was “because we said so”. Frustrated, I went over his head to Mrs K.

As I’ve written in previous posts I really liked and admired her. She was the only female department head in the entire County government which indicated she had to have been pretty "sharp". Her initial reaction was similar to that of Wilson but when I asked her to listen to my reasoning she allowed me to speak my piece. Basically I appealed to her common sense and that was that the girl was far too intelligent for the job she was doing. The only reason she was where she was was because of her physical limitations. Her brain was far ahead of that and I gave her some examples of her suggestions. When I finished I remember her leaning back in her chair and staring at me. It was a bit uncomfortable for a few seconds but then she leaned forward and, staring right at me said something along the lines of “I like the way you think.” Then she picked up the phone and had Wilson come in to the office where she told him that it would be OK for Annette to assume some additional duties as long as it didn’t detract from her primary position. I remember smiling inwardly as I watched Wilson stand there with a bit of a frown on his face. When I told Annette about it the look of appreciation on her face was worth more than money.

To be continued...

ADAPTING... three is enough (Part 95e)


Since the “cat is out of the bag”, so to speak, and you’ve seen Marge’s panties I might as well tell you how that came to pass.

=========================


I’ve mentioned a time or two that Marge was a godsend to Elle (and me) in helping her get some normalcy back into her life. Marge was a very private person and didn’t offer up a lot about herself or her husband. What information Elle got seemed to come in spurts. One of the things that the people who lived on the South side of the river had to deal with was interruptions with their electricity, especially after a thunder storm. One late afternoon in the latter part of June (I’m not sure exactly when) Marge was over visiting with Elle when a sudden storm came up. Elle had grown up watching her mother climb into bed and put pillows over her head every time there was thunder and lightning. Seeing her mother react that way it was logical that Elle would have some fear as well. However, after five years of marriage I was able to somewhat calm her fears. On this day she (as she described the situation to me) calmly gathered the kids up from the yard and headed inside as soon as she heard the first clap of thunder. Once inside she set about closing the windows but found Marge had followed her inside. She asked her if she wasn’t going to go home and do the same but Elle told me the look in her eyes was pure fear. Long story short... Elle went over and closed them... and after the storm had passed Marge told her about her long standing fear of thunder and lightning.

On one of the Summers when she was spending time in New Hampshire with her grandparents there was a fierce storm. Lightning struck the cabin next door and set it afire. Although no one was hurt it was very traumatic for Marge and continued on into adulthood. After Marge told Elle about it Elle told her to come on over anytime her husband wasn’t there. (BTW: Morris, her husband, was in charge of the construction of a petroleum tank farm that was under great criticism by the “locals”. Once the tanks started to take shape there was a group who was actively trying to stop it . There had been some sabotage and he’d been spending more time there especially after dark, leaving Marge alone.)

I was at the dining room table paying bills (my least favorite job!!) and Elle was reading to the kids before they went to bed not too long after that when we had another storm. Marge showed up at our door shortly after the first flash of lightning and it wasn’t long before the lights went out. That was interesting, for sure. Being dark, each flash of lightning would light up the room and there would be a squeal from where Marge was sitting. My kids were only a bit better. The storm passed quickly and the lights returned shortly after that. I remember Marge apologizing as she started out the door. She didn’t even get to the bottom step when she noticed that there were no lights over at her place. Still not over the fright from the storm she was back inside and asking if I’d go over to see what was wrong.

Back when I was working for the “boys” and doing repairs for the residents of the park it wasn’t uncommon to have fuses “pop” after a power outage. With her unit basically the same as mine I knew exactly where the fuse panel was so said I’d be glad to check it out. I know you won’t believe it when I say that I didn’t even have one thought of Marge’s panties as I walked down the hallway to the back bedroom... but I didn’t. The panel was located on the back wall of the closet on the left side. I pushed the hanging clothes aside and popped open the panel door and pretty much got a shock when I didn’t see any fuses. All I saw was a row of switches. I didn’t know what I was looking at. I headed back to our place and called Dick, one of the owners of the park.

Marge’s unit was basically the same as ours but newer and with a few embellishments. I already knew that it had an upgraded furnace that used fuel oil in place of  kerosene like ours used. I could tell Dick had a big smile on his face when he explained that the new units came with “breakers” in the electric panel in place of fuses. He told me to go back and to see which way the switch at the top of the panel was facing and to flip it. Marge was curious as to what was wrong and I really couldn’t tell her. I had to go back again but this time I asked if she wanted to go with me and she just shook her head indicating that she’d stay where she was until the lights came back on.

With an idea what the problem was I returned but this time I was more relaxed and I can’t deny that Marge's panties were on my mind. As I said our units were basically the same. However, just like with new models for cars, some of the changes were very minor. In ours there was a mini vanity right there at that end of the closet. In Marge’s they had filled the space with three small drawers. As I knelt down to get in the closet the drawers were right on my left. I figured that I could quickly check them out and the second one down was “pay dirt“ with three piles of neatly folded panties. Shining my flashlight on them I recognized the waist elastic of the top pair on each pile was the same as on the pair I’d seen at Elle’s mother’s house. I hesitated for a few seconds and then reached in and pulled out the second pile. I’m guessing here but there were probably six pair in the pile. I really have no idea why I thought taking the bottom pair would be the safest thing to do but that’s what I did. I stuffed them in my pocket, put the others back and then turned my attention to the closet.

Sure enough, just as Dick had told me, the top switch was pointed in the opposite direction from all the others. I flipped it and on came the lights. I did walk Marge back home and it was kind of weird with her panties in my pocket.

To be continued...

ADAPTING... three is enough (Part 95d)  

The downstairs bathroom was an ”add-on“ that Elle’s father created right after WWII when building supplies became available again. The house had been built in the 30’s with only one (upstairs) bathroom. As Elle and her brother grew older the need for another became evident. There was an open but covered back porch which he closed in as well. But, the size of the bathroom got short shrift. I’m guessing but if it was six feet deep by three feet wide I wouldn’t be far off. You walked in and there was a very small sink hanging from the wall that you had to get around and then there was the toilet. I’ve written in the past about joining Elle in there as we ”played“ with her peeing and, believe me, we barely fit. The window was very small and over the toilet and the only other light was a ceiling fixture with possibly a 40 watt bulb. To say the light in there was terrible is putting it mildly.

As I carefully picked Marge's panties off the hook they and her shorts were hanging on I felt something a little different. I immediately looked for the label and I could barely make it out... Adosi. I’d never heard or seen that brand before. I could also see a different treatment for the waist elastic but the light was so poor that I knew I had to get into better light for a much closer examination.

Elle’s mother had the baby but I had no idea where they were. I was afraid that she’d come looking for me so stuffed the panties into my pocket and went looking for her. The baby was fussing a bit so she was walking around the living room trying to soothe her. When I appeared she told me that Elle, Marge and the kids had headed for the right of way (ROW) beach. That annoyed me because Elle was more than welcome across the street at my parents beach but Elle’s mother was a bit jealous and had insisted they go to the ROW.  I figured the best thing to do was to go find them even though I still had the panties in my pocket.

Marge was in the water with the girls and Elle was sitting on one of the logs that had washed ashore in a storm. I asked why she didn’t have her suit on and she said she’d left it and a change of clothes on the sofa back home. In the rush to get going she’d overlooked them. When the girls saw me they rushed up wanting me to join them in the water but I didn’t have my suit either. However, my reason was that it was my choice. In the back of my mind I had the idea of possibly going down to Bobbi’s house to see if she’d sail with me during the season. As I fended them off Marge came out of the water and joined us. This was a bit of a revelation.

As I’ve mentioned, Marge was in her late 30’s but her face looked much younger. She usually wore what could best be described as ”dowdy“ clothes seldom showing much ”form“. Even though her bathing suit was a skirted cotton one, the fact that she was wet made the material cling to her body. There really WAS something there! As I was recognizing this I remembered that I had her panties in my pocket. That, in itself, was a ”rush“ but also reminded me that I wanted to get a really good look at them and had to get them back before she returned. Standing there with all of them I looked at the log where Elle was sitting. Even though she had her legs together it was obvious by the discoloration of the log she was sitting on that she’d just peed. There were probably three other family groups there on the beach and I was concerned about them seeing what I was seeing. However, seeing the glistening flow of her pee running down the side of the log did start a bulge. Elle appeared to be resigned to the fact and made no effort to hide it or to want to leave. I chose that time to head off to do my ”inspection”.

When I got back to Elle’s house I found her mother still holding the baby but both of them asleep. I, anxiously, headed for the back yard with my hand firmly wrapped around the panties. There was a small white enameled table there and I spread them out on it. I knew I was pretty much protected from detection by the hedge to the neighbor’s house and that the loose stones on the driveway that would signal anyone approaching. In spite of my preliminary discoveries (label and unique waist elastic) I was really excited by what the fully exposed panties showed. There was a very distinct staining in the crotch area that was very much the same as Elle’s nylon panties. I’d have to say that it excited me... a lot! I’m talking about an area about an inch or more above the front crotch line and at least two inches above the rear line. I’m not talking about fresh stains because there were some of those that I would classify as “dribbles”. Those made me pick them up and look closely at the crotch. In doing that I discovered something else unique. The inside layer of material wasn’t nylon but had a “fuzzy” look and feel to it. I knew that among all of Elle’s panties there were a few that were like that but at that moment I couldn’t remember which ones they were. As I handled them I was impressed by the feel of the material. I looked closely at the label to see if they were made of something different. The label itself was impressive in that it was embroidered. On the back it read “100 o/o Nylon”. They definitely weren’t the Nylon satin tricot like the Plymouth and Rogers panties and they seemed a little heavier. I held them up to the light of the sun and found they appeared to be more opaque than most of the other panties that I’d held in my hands and pretty much determined that was what made them feel so different. That led me to the waist elastic. Up to then I’d only seen two waist elastic treatments for nylon panties. The most popular was where the elastic was laid out on top of the material and then sewn on. The other was what I eventually learned was called “tube” elastic. In that case the same material as the panties was sewn in a way as to make a tube and the elastic was then inserted into it with the ends sewn together. I’d purchased some Kayser panties for Elle that were like that and I’d also seen Van Raalte panties that were made that way. For these panties the elastic was encased in the material but then was sewn in. I’d seen this done on some of the heavy cotton panties that I’d come across including the ones that the sailing twins had worn when I first met them. All in all I was very impressed with the panties.

As I picked them up and returned them to the bathroom there were two goals I had in mind. The first was to get a pair of Marge’s panties and the second was to find out where she bought them. At that moment they both seemed impossible.

To be continued...   

ADAPTING... three is enough (Part 95c)

I didn't stay and left with Jay. While I was putting the wheel in the car I looked over to where the woman had been hanging clothes. It was one of the most beautiful sights I'd seen in a long, long time. There had to have been more than two dozen panties on the line closest to where my car was. All were white but there were three different sizes. I tried to remember the general size of the woman but because size wasn't my main interest when looking at her I wasn't sure. In any case there were more of the middle size panties and as best I could tell they were mostly nylon. I was concerned that Jo might look out the window and see me staring at them so didn't stay all that long. Driving away I hoped that I'd be back at some time in the future.

I'll admit that I was probably more nervous before the races that night than I could remember. Jim, the neighbor who'd helped me in the pits the year before had some excuse as to why he couldn't go that night. Cal, the other pit crew member from the previous year told me he'd show up at the track. I was short handed and really needed another person so, with all other choices explored, settled on my brother. It was certainly a let down from the previous year when I had Eric to guide me.

The first time I stepped on the accelerator all the way I could see the difference from the previous year. All that power created a brand new problem for me. When I got to the end of the straightaway and into the turn, the car didn't want to. I almost hit the fence and that didn't do anything for my confidence. I made a few more laps and pulled in. Luckily, I'd been able to park my car near Rick and Bags. I went over to them and asked Bags how his car was running. You would've had to have known him to understand him but he pronounced that he was going to win the feature race (for our class of cars). I wanted to laugh but didn't. He'd never driven a race car in a race and he was already proclaiming himself "the best".

One of Rick's crew had been watching when Bags and I were on the track and he made a comment that it looked like I had myself "a handful". I told him that I didn't understand how the car could feel so different than the previous year since I'd done nothing but change the motor. He offered to come take a look at the car. Well, I HAD changed something more than the motor... the tires. He saw something as we walked up to the car. I'd let Eric set the car up the previous year and should've paid more attention. When I put the new tires on along with the new wheel I'd completely screwed up the set up and had the wrong size tire on the right rear. The guy told me to switch the tires around. As I took them off I watched as he measured the circumference of each and after he did told me where to put each one. It was a lesson learned. Back on the track for the second practice the car handled much better and I felt a lot better.

I won't bore you with details but I qualified for the main event and ended up with a top ten finish. Bags finished right behind me but his radically different car garnered all the attention after the races were over. Bags just reveled in the attention. While that was going on I noticed that Alicia, his girlfriend, was showing off her "curves" to anybody who cared to look. Sitting on the tail gate of someone's pick up she had her legs tucked up under her chin and even though the light wasn't all that good I could see a few patches of white under her butt cheeks. As I mentioned earlier she was definitely a "tease".

Elle was feeling much better although still not back to normal. Her incontinence on top of her tiredness due to the trouble regulating her thyroid medications had kept her pretty much close to home and, in her terms, she was going "stir crazy". She'd offered to take our new neighbor, Marge, to her mother's house to let her see and to take advantage of the bay and beach. When I got home from taking my grandfather to the hospital she informed me that she was up to it. It caught me by surprise but it didn't take long to get in step with her plan as I remembered my thoughts about possibly getting to see Marge's panties. It was the first trip for the baby, now almost two months old, other than to the doctor's office. Getting everything together for the baby and loading it into the station wagon was a real reminder of just how much work it was to have a baby, especially with two other young children. I can vividly remember my thinking that this would definitely be our last.

Right from the time that Elle had told me about wanting to invite Marge I'd hoped that she would be dressed in clothes for our trip. That way I'd possible get a chance to get a peek at her panties after she changed into her bathing suit. My wish came true as she appeared out in front of her unit wearing a pair of dark yellow shorts. I couldn't wait to get to get there.

Even though it was only a half hour away, Elle had ”leaked“ by the time we got there. Marge was very aware the incontinence problem so that didn’t bother Elle. Actually, I think it bothered Elle’s mother more than anyone. In any case, I got all the baby ”junk“ unloaded and then looked around for where Elle and Marge were. Elle’s mother had the baby in her arms as she told me that Elle and Marge had walked down to the beach. I asked if they had changed and she wasn’t sure. Taking a quick look into the bathroom I saw the yellow shorts. Payday!

To be continued...  
   

ADAPTING... three is enough (Part 95b)

I decided to take advantage of the time at my parents so went over to the garage to start gathering the pieces of my sailboat together for the upcoming racing season. Even though Elle had told me that she wouldn’t be crewing for me at least for the first part of the season, seeing the boat got me motivated. She'd been breast feeding the baby and had already seen how too much exertion would cut back on the amount of milk she produced. Her goal was to make it for four months if she could. I hadn’t put much thought into the sailing season choosing to focus on the race car. Seeing the boat again I immediately thought about asking Bobbi if she’d crew for me. As soon as I did I got a bit excited.

However, there wasn’t enough time to go down to Bobbi’s house especially if her aunt, Ali, was there and I didn't want to take a chance on that. There was still time to get in touch with her before the season actually started. Satisfied that I'd collected all the necessary parts and pieces for the boat I went back over to the beach. As I walked around the side of the house I couldn’t believe it when I saw Jan in swimming. It took a few seconds to realize she was still in her clothes. She’d changed into a pair of light tan shorts and a sleeveless blouse before we left my grandfathers house and I could see that's what she still had on. I asked my mother what was going on and she smiled and said that she’d egged Jan on to just go ahead and to get wet. She added that the temptation was just too great for her. I watched as she dog paddled around just hoping that I’d get a good VPL what with the wet shorts clinging to her butt. But my mother ruined that by going down to the water’s edge with a beach towel for her. By that time it was close to when we had to leave. I knew she’d brought her uniform but also knew her underwear was going to be wet when she put it on. I couldn’t wait to see how that worked out.

Walking down the path to the car I couldn’t tell. I was puzzled, for sure. We made it to the hospital in plenty of time. I figured that by sitting in the wet panties that it would show through her uniform but it didn’t. The only thing I knew was that she wasn’t wearing band leg cotton panties as the VPL on her lower hip showed but one thin line for the elastic. I was stumped and disappointed.

Taking Jan down to my parents gave Elle an idea on how to thank Marge for all the help she’d been giving to her. She’d decided to take her to her mother’s and give her a taste of one of the nicest parts of the area. Marge had told her that when she was a young girl and up into her early teen years she’d spent her Summers with her grandparents in New Hampshire. They lived within walking distance of a lake and she told Elle that she absolutely loved the water. When WWII came along the Summer trips ended. She got married to a soldier right after high school and soon had a son. She’d ended up living in Alabama, no where near the water but had missed it. When Elle told me about the idea I was all for it. The first question I had was "When?" and the second was would I be with them when it happened. I quickly figured that would be a good chance to finally check on Marge’s panties.

Preparing for opening night for the race car I bought two new racing tires called “slicks“ (called that because they had no tread). After mounting them I put one on the car and spun the wheel. I knew something was wrong as it appeared to wobble a bit. I checked it as best I could but couldn’t find what was wrong. Even though it was almost dark I decided to take it up to Rick’s barn. When I got there it seemed like an after race party as there were more females there than guys. Almost everybody had a beer in their hand. The two girls that stood out were Alicia, Bags’ girlfriend, and Rick’s sister. She was a little "pudgy"  but she nicely filled out her blouse and shorts. I guess the best word to describe them is ”tease“. Even though Alicia and Bags were going together I caught her flirting with another guy right after I arrived. In observing Rick's sister it seemed that she was playing the field. Interesting!

I explained my problem and one of the crew guys took it over to Rick’s car and put it on. He spun the wheel and immediately proclaimed that it was bent and should be thrown away. That wasn’t good news as I only had four racing wheels. I asked if they had one they could spare but the wheels they used were bigger than what I used. Bags said he wanted to help out but didn't want to give up his only  spare. As I was trying to figure out what to do I remembered that Jay had casually mentioned that one of his old race car buddies was building racing wheels as a sideline. As I left the barn all I could do was hope that Jay still had some ”pull“ with him and he could help me out.

On Friday Jay was really busy but said he'd make a phone call to the wheel guy. I fretted about it until it was almost time to go home when I got a call from him that the wheel would be at his house in the morning. I hadn't been to his new quarters so got the directions vowing to get there early in the morning. Early it was... for me. It was about 7:30am. Pulling into the driveway I saw a woman hanging clothes. She was wearing what I remember being called a "house coat" which was nothing but  a short, very light cotton robe. I watched her dig into her wash basket a couple of times and noticed that the coat wasn't buttoned. When she bent over I could see she was wearing panties but was braless. It appeared that she was ignoring me. I wanted to continue to watch but I knew she'd eventually see me so I got out and went to Jay's door. He hadn't seen me pull up and was just about to leave for one of his weekend carpentry jobs. It was a bit awkward for a few seconds but he stepped back and invited me in. As I stepped over the threshold I saw Jo darting across the room. My memory says that she had on a T shirt but it really looked like she didn't have panties on. I was a bit embarrassed and I think Jay was as well.

To be continued...

ADAPTING... three is enough (Part 95a)

I’d forgotten how much work a baby could be. It’d been 3 1/2 years since our last one. Actually, because I’d been working with the horses and put in such long hours I didn’t spend all that much time, at least while I was awake, at home. With Elle not up to “par“ I’d been very involved with all three of them. Truthfully, it was an eye opener for me and gave me some appreciation for all that Elle had to do. It was about mid May that Elle was up and about but not at full strength but it was enough for me to get away for the police agility exam that had been postponed by a week and the day was perfect for it.  

Because of the large number of applicants who had passed the written portion the location was split between two schools with about 350 for each. Each prospective patrolmen had to do five different physical events with the cumulative score deciding who passed and who didn’t. It was a long day. I was a bit worried about Elle and wanted to bring her a present. One of the things that she really liked was fresh strawberries. It had been a surprise to find out that Rick’s family grew them on their farm. I thought all they grew was vegetables. On the way home I took a quick trip up to their farm stand. An added treat (at least for me) was seeing Rick's sister who manned the stand. While there I ran into Bags who was getting some for his mother. He asked how I was coming on getting my car ready for opening night. I told him how I’d gotten behind because of Elle’s operation and the new baby. I didn’t think much about our conversation but that night I got a call from him. He said that he could get some of his crew together the following day and would come and help me get the car ready. I was excited.

Elle, more or less, knew that I’d be spending time working on the car so it wasn’t a complete surprise to her when I told her where I was going.  After taking my grandfather to the hospital on his usual Sunday visit I headed East to Crash's house. Bags brought three of his pit crew and we finally got the car to Crash’s house. I took a lot of ”grief“ from them because of the ratty condition of the car. I’ll admit it looked worse in daylight than at night at the track. It didn’t take long to switch out the motors what with four of us working. I was really excited when we started the motor for the first time but I’m sure the neighbors didn’t appreciate it though. When we were cleaning up Bags suggested that I tow it to to Ricky’s barn. He’d seen some broken welds and was concerned. I’d been hoping to get home at a reasonable hour not wanting to tax Elle's strength too much. But Bags was right and safety was important.

At Rick’s I had to put up with more ”grief“. Rick was willing to do the welding (for free) and after he’d finished he made a comment that bothered me. He said that the car wasn’t really worth the effort. In my heart I knew he was probably right but when you don’t have much money you do with what you have. Today it would be... It is what it is... The guys asked if I was going to go to the open practice the following Sunday. I still needed tires and had deftly hidden away about $40 of the money that my grandfather had given me at Christmas. However, running practice laps would only wear them out. I didn’t even know about it and told them I’d think about it.

It was after 6pm when I got home. Marge greeted me telling me that Elle and the baby were sleeping and she’d fed the kids. I knew I was in for a little ”heat“ when she woke up but I rationalized it by knowing that the car was basically ready to race with the exception of the tires. I sucked it up and thanked Marge profusely. As she went down the steps I took a good look still hoping for at least a VPL. No such luck!

As it turned out I wouldn’t have been able to have gone to the practice. As mentioned earlier, my grandfather was starting to fail. One of the things he liked to do in the Summer was to go to ”The Cottage“ (it was what he called my parents house), sit in the shade and get cooled by the breeze off the bay. He hadn’t done it yet this season and when he asked if I’d take him after seeing my grandmother I didn’t have the heart to say no. When we got back to his house I didn’t expect to see Jan’s car. She’d done one of those split shift deals and didn’t have to be back at the hospital until 4pm. Initially, I was concerned about taking him because of his ever increasing limitations. Upon seeing Jan I impulsively asked if she go with us thinking she'd be my "insurance" if he had a "spell”. Jan had never seen my parents house and I knew she’d love seeing the beach and the water. I had to persuade her but wore her down. She did make a point of the fact that she absolutely had to be back at the hospital by 4pm. I promised she would. I told her to get her bathing suit and couldn’t believe it when she said she didn’t have one. I thought of going home so she could borrow one of Elle’s but time was getting to be a factor. I’d lose a total of one hour going and coming and as it was we’d only have about 2 hours so skipped the bathing suit. I did tell her that she couldn’t wear her uniform though. That got a smile out of her.

I called Elle and my parents and told them of the plans. I thought Elle might have a problem with it but she thought it was a nice gesture for both Jan and my grandfather. My mother was pleased to see us and quickly made up some “treats” as my grandfather called them. Jan was really impressed with the location and made a comment that now she really wished she’d had a bathing suit. I did too... but for a different reason. If she’d brought one there was the chance to inspect her panties.

To be continued... 

INTO THE FUTURE... with hope (Part 94e)

The next five to six weeks were a virtual blur, especially as I sit here and trying to remember it all and putting it in a time line. So... I’m going to give a synopsis and do a sort of fast forward.

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The race car had to wait. The baby was fine and showed no effects from Elle’s thyroid operation. The problem was Elle. After the operation the doctor thought he had the dosage of her meds regulated. However, the birth of the baby created a hormonal imbalance that had her all messed up. It made coming up with the right amount difficult. After she finally left the hospital someone had to be with her constantly. I’ll bet I made a dozen trips to the doctor with Elle during the first three weeks she was home. It took over a month for her to get back to feeling somewhat normal. One positive was that she’d only gained about 25 pounds during the pregnancy and was back to wearing her regular clothes within the month. She’d hoped that her incontinence would get better but it wasn’t, at all. We started talking about looking into a follow-up procedure for her soon after she got home.

Sonny was moved from the critical care section of the hospital he was in and was able to have visitors. With looking after Elle on a nightly basis made it almost impossible to get over to see him. The reports coming back from those that had were not good. It would be a long time, if ever, before he’d be able to walk again. I vowed to visit him as soon as Elle felt comfortable.

The new program that Jay had created to create computer generated lists for the Clerk Typist exam was a big success. I was so excited about its success that I wanted to have all competitive list become computer generated. Because so much attention had been put on the Police exam which had just been completed, Mrs K asked me to limit it to just that one. However, she didn't say "no" to the idea of doing it for all exams which was a good sign. Even though I had fit in well with the Civil Service office and liked the people and the work my heart was still in the Data processing department so Mrs K’s request was welcomed by me, for sure.

It was into April before all the police exams had been scored (over 1200 by hand). The next phase was the physical agility test. I don’t remember the number who had passed the exam but we had to run the tests at two separate schools. It was supposed be the first Saturday in April but, as the song goes ”April showers bring May flowers“, we had a mini monsoon and Mrs K deemed it unfair to run the tests under those conditions.  Because I’d made arrangements for Elle to have someone with her (I don’t remember who) for the whole day I decided to head to Crash’s house and try to finish up the motor. The season was due to start Memorial Day weekend and from being way ahead of schedule back in March I was now getting worried that I wouldn’t make opening night. We did what we could but really needed the car so that the new motor could be installed but that had to wait.

Marge, the new neighbor, turned out to be a life saver, stepping up to pitch in to help out at a moments notice. It took some ”doing“ but I was finally able to find out about what her husband did. The Town Council had made a somewhat secret zoning change that would allow a ”tank farm“ to be created. There were to be up to six giant petroleum storage tanks built to warehouse home heating oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel. Once the word was out the community was up in arms. Marvin, Marge’s husband, was there to oversee the construction of the tanks and was trying to keep as low a profile as possible. In spite of seeing more and more of Marge, I still had no real ”peeks” or clothes line views. Disappointing!

My grandfather had experienced a couple of “bad spells” and my father had decided that someone was needed to be with him during the day in addition to Jan at night. When told about the need, Cammy, my grandmother’s daytime nurse, said she could get her mother. The critical times were from 8am to noon and from 5pm to 9pm. I was aware that Jan and Brig were getting more and more serious. When she had first started she had expressed her willingness to be available seven nights a week. Having witnessed all the extra things she did for my grandfather firsthand I'd told my father that she should be entitled to some monetary compensation over and above the room. He resisted but I insisted. It made me feel good to “win” one over my father.

One of the many things I learned while working with Jo on the “lists” project was that Jay’s father had died. If you’ve read much of this blog you’ll remember that Jay was not one to share information on his personal life. After she told me she followed it up with an admonition not to say anything about it as he’d know she “spilled the beans“. Another thing I learned was that he and Jo were living together and her mother was having a ”fit“. Their plan to get married got put on hold because husbands and wives could not work together in the same department. The pay increases and Jo’s promotion were too good to walk away from so this was the best arrangement they could come up with. Jay had continued to find carpentry projects and stumbled onto one in which he’d been asked to convert a 2 1/2 car garage into an efficiency apartment. Jay did it and his ”pay“ was one year free rent. As Jo said, it wasn’t utopia but it would do for now. 

To be continued...  

INTO THE FUTURE... with hope (Part 94d) 

When it came time to bring Elle home the doctor had a really serious meeting with me. It became obvious that I hadn’t grasped how serious the operation was and how much effort was going to take to get her back to good health. He said a number of things that hit me upside my head just like a 2x4 would. First of all was that without a thyroid Elle would have to take a medication that would replace what the thyroid gland produced. The problem with that was there was no specific recommended dosage because each person’s system produced a varying amount. He said he was just guessing with the initial prescription and would have to monitor Elle weekly until such time he was satisfied that she was stabilized. A second concern was that he couldn’t be sure how the meds would affect the baby. There was the possibility that they would have a negative effect on her and she would have to be monitored closely as well. Only time would tell. The third was that he didn’t really want to release her but Elle had pretty much demanded it saying that she’d been away from her kids for five days and she wanted to be with them. At that point he looked right at me and said I would have to make sure that Elle did nothing but rest for at least a week, if not more, regardless of what she said. He definitely got my attention.

Elle’s mother stepped up and agreed to come to look after her and the kids a few days during the weeks that followed. On the days she couldn’t make it Janice took her place. The new neighbor, Marge, volunteered to make supper on the days that Janice was there (she was definitely NOT a cook!). On a personal basis, the situation caused me to spend a lot more time at home on the weekends. Basically, the only time I was away was to do grocery shopping and to take the kids to Sunday school and my grandfather to the hospital. All thoughts of the new motor and the race car were put aside. In a way it was a trial run for when the baby was born. With everything else that was going on the doctor had moved the expected birth date up to April first. For reasons that only a female would understand, that upset Elle. She didn’t want to have an April fools day baby. 

Jay was true to his word and wrote the program to produce the Civil Service Clerk Typist ”lists“ using the computer. I got Mrs K to approve a test of the program using an existing list that had been double/triple checked for accuracy and it passed. It was fun working with Jo again but the due date for the revisions on the Police exam was right there upon me. I had to step back and let Marty finish up as different municipalities were demanding valid lists. However, the door had been opened for working with the DP department and I was looking forward to it.

The other PT’s including Wilson and Marty were the guinea pigs as far as testing out my revisions on the Police exam. Even though the test wasn’t to be given until the third Saturday of the month (March), the office had over one thousand applicants with almost a week to go before the cut off date. Supposedly, the Police department was planning on the largest class of rookie patrolmen in the history of the department. There was a lot of attention being given to the exam which made me a bit nervous. When they finished and the test was scored they gave me the thumbs up. As far as work was concerned I was definitely on a positive roll.

The Saturday of the test was the first day that Elle was on her own. The doctor had been playing with the dosage of her meds and, based upon what Elle had told him, was somewhat satisfied with the results. She was definitely looking forward to having the baby as her pregnancy had become a definite burden following the surgery. I had spoken with the new neighbor, Marge, to find an excuse to stop in after lunch to make sure she was doing OK. Speaking of Marge, I was disappointed in that I had yet to see any ”unmentionables“ hanging on her wash line. Although not really pretty she had a ”girl next door“ look about her. I was really looking forward to seeing some panties on her line. Another thing was that her husband seemed to be invisible in that I’d rarely see him or his car. Elle had tried to get some information from Marge but she just let Elle’s questions slide by. It was strange.

The Police exam was an eye opener. Six schools were used. I got assigned to the one closest to home because of the situation with Elle. Teachers from each school were hired as monitors and each of us from Civil Service "ran" the program. Even though the exam was only two hours didn't get home until late in the afternoon. Marge was there and it was the first time I'd gotten even a hint of a VPL. That meant there really was hope.

Much to Elle’s relief, baby Kaye arrived at 2:30pm on March 31st and there would be no April fools day baby. When Jan heard that the baby had arrived she managed to switch with one of the nurses in the nursery. When Elle saw her walk in the room she thought she was just coming for a visit. When she found out that she would be one of the daytime shift nurses it made her very happy. It made me happy as well. I hadn’t seen her but for a few minutes a few times since Christmas. I didn’t have to wait long to get a VPL and it showed she was wearing band leg panties. It was what I expected. I remember wondering when, if ever, she wore the fancy Rogers panties. I knew from when Elle had worn hers that I’d be able to tell just by the size of the crotch line in the back. Of all the panties Elle had the Rogers had one of the widest and, for sure, the longest (from front to back) crotch. 

Because of the thyroid operation and what effect Elle’s meds might have had on the baby it was decided that she should stay for five days. As far as costs were concerned it didn’t make that much difference as, under the new health care coverage, it was included. The hard part was making sure that the kids were cared for and happy. They, of course, missed Elle but they’d seen Janice and Elle’s mother enough not to have a major problem with the situation. Right after the baby was born Elle’s mother picked them up and took them to her home for that weekend which meant that for the first time in about six weeks I’d have some time to myself. It wasn’t a hard decision what to do with it... RACE CAR! 

To be continued...   

INTO THE FUTURE... with hope (Part 94c)

As February arrived Elle’s pregnancy continued to go without much trouble (other than her incontinence) and she continued to respond to calls for her to substitute teach. I’d guess it averaged about twice a week. Janice (Jan’s sister) continued to babysit the kids. She’d usually arrive around 8:30am and eat breakfast with the kids. One of the things she enjoyed doing was to give updates on Jan’s ”love life“, as she called it. I got the definite impression she was jealous. Brig (Buddah) still hadn’t gotten a full time job so a lot of the time that he and Jan spent together was just ”parking“.  Regardless, I was happy for her.

At work, Annette had quickly allayed Mrs K’s fears about her mobility. That, and the fact that she actually had a personality, won everybody over in short order. The PT’s no longer had to answer mundane phone calls or get up from what they were doing to hand out flyers on job openings. Her acceptance within the workplace pleased me to no end... and certainly pleased her. 

In the month that I’d been working with Sonny on the revision of thee Police exam I’d been able to partially break through the ”barrier“ that he’d built up around himself causing him to be called SD (strange duck) behind his back. Without going into the boring details suffice it to say that I found he had a real interest in ice hockey. Unmarried and unattached he’d go to all the home games of a regional hockey team. Out of the blue he asked if I’d like to go to a game with him. I’d had an interest in hockey when I lived in the city but hadn’t paid much attention after moving back home. I was smart enough to realize though, that for Sonny to invite me was a big step and decided to accept even though it’d be a tough ”sell“ to Elle. Long story short... I enjoyed the game and his company and it was time well spent. I honestly believe that it showed in the increased productivity of our work on the Police exam that followed. Sonny even talked of inviting me again.

He lived in a rented apartment in a town about fifteen miles East of the County Center. The road he had to travel was known to be dangerous. There were three lanes but the center lane was not a turning lane. Heading East, for the first five miles there were two lanes. Then, quite abruptly, it changed so that Westbound had two lanes. The lines on the road indicated the change but, at night they were hard to see. Signage on the sides of the road also indicated the change but this was a period in time where reflective signs were considered too expensive. At night, at speed (50mph) they were impossible to see. On a regular weekday night with no snow, sleet or rain, Sonny got hit, head on, by a delivery truck.

Sonny was dependable. I don’t remember him ever being late even when it snowed. So it seemed strange when he didn’t show up and there was no call. Calls were made to his apartment with no response. A couple of us were concerned but nothing concrete came of it. When the office still hadn’t heard from him the next day Wilson went to Mrs K. She was amazing. It seemed like she knew everyone not only in town but also the surrounding townships. Using her resources she was able to find out about the accident and where he was. When she told the PT’s about it she told us that she was still working on getting his condition. It was quitting time before she did. Sonny was alive but just barely. In the ICU he’d been given last rights. It was depressing news. Through one of my racing contacts I was able to locate where they’d towed his car. Even though it was dark when I saw it it was hard to believe he’d survived. The left front wheel was pushed back into the cabin of the car as was part of the motor. It really shook me up.

That was the first negative thing of the new year. The second had to do with Elle. It was in early February when the nurse at the school where Elle was teaching that day walked up to her and asked if her doctor had commented on the ”bulge“ on her windpipe. When Elle said ”No“ the nurse told her to call him as soon as she got home. As you can imagine Elle’s effectiveness for the rest of the school day was gone. Again, long story short... Elle had a growth on her windpipe. It was deemed serious enough for surgery to be scheduled almost immediately even though she was into her eighth month. The tumor was benign but it had gotten into her thyroid gland and the gland had to be removed. She came through the operation without a hitch but the recovery time in the hospital was almost four days. The kids stayed with her parents and, back in those days, visiting hours were limited so I continued to work and got to see her at night.

One unexpected benefit was that I was able to get to work on the new motor. Her recovery stay included the weekend so I got a lot done. ”Crash“ estimated that it would be running in just a few hours if the race car was there. Here it was only the middle of February and I was almost ready to go (race). It was a good feeling. 

Working with "Crash" on a Saturday I got the added benefit of seeing the wash line. There were two distinct sets of panties right out behind the garage for ready viewing... one set was bikinis and the other was full briefs. I already knew who the bikinis belonged to. Bikinis were still fairly new to me so I spent more time looking at them than the others. It was a pretty sight to see especially in the bright sunlight. Getting a few fleeting glances of Alicia (the daughter) just added to my delight. The only thing that would’ve made it perfect was to get to see the panties up close and personal but I knew there was still time.

To be continued...