REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133h)

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133h)

The amount of the raise was a surprise but I didn’t feel as good as I should’ve. Hobie’s last comment about all raises for the officers being reduced bothered me. It was flattering to know that I’d been recommended for more but something or someone had made the Board reduce the amount. As I gathered my things up I suddenly remembered that my car wasn’t in the parking lot... it was on the side of the road three miles out of town and out of gas.

Back in those days most businesses, including gas stations, closed by 6pm. After thinking about it for a minute I ended up calling my friend James. I knew, for sure, that his service station was closed but I was hoping he’d come to my rescue with not only gas but a ride to my car. Sympathetic to my plight, he said he’d be at the bank in about a half hour. It was past 7pm at that time and I’d really not eaten anything of substance all day. I called Elle, told her of the raise hoping that would mitigate my lateness. I didn’t go into the details of the car or the rest of my day though. It was a day to remember but not for all the right reasons.

It took a little time on Thursday to ferret out all the other happenings at the Board meeting. The new branch application was progressing and they approved two potential sites. The demographics for each were being done by a professional company and the hope was that work would be done by the next meeting. Hobie said that they hoped that if all went well it might be in operation by the following Summer.

The State banking examination report was reviewed and the Board elected not to challenge any of the recommendations. However, the idea of re-hiring Mala and to put her into the accounting department was floated. Hobie said that Joe objected saying that she didn’t meet the criteria of ”an experienced accounting person“ as requested in the report. Since the majority of the members were familiar with her from when she was teller, a motion was made and approved to move ahead. I smiled when I heard that more from seeing Joe get rebuffed than having Mala back. Hobie told me to contact her and to set up a meeting with Bette (in charge of accounting) after the ”busy period“. Trish overheard our conversation and I caught her smiling as it had been her idea.

The day went by rather quickly with the ad agency having to provide a couple of ‘proofs’ of the Pennysaver ad for approval and with me trying to track down the missing tool kits. That last part had me frustrated as I was never sure the person on the other end of the line understood me. I wasn’t sure but she sounded like she was Asian.

In the back of my mind was the thought of there being another school board meeting that night. The talk about the old principal was dying down which was a good thing. I’d not had time to try to find out the purpose of the meeting but, driving home, figured I’d follow up on it before going to bed. Elle greeted me with the news that Ginger was home and that she’d been over to see her. Other than a reaction to the anesthesia she said Ginger came through ”with flying colors“. I knew Elle had pretty much rejected the thought of having the same procedure but asked anyway. I remember her smiling and shaking her head from side to side. My memory of her comment was that Ginger would be a ”turnip’ for the Summer... buried in her house, doing nothing and waiting for Fall to come.

I waited until around 10pm to call Bob. My plan was to use the excuse of reminding him that he, as a member, needed to be at the sailing club on Saturday to help open the facilities for the season. The only thing wrong with it was that he wasn’t home. Phyl, his wife, said she was wondering where he was as well. I asked her to have him call if he got in before 11pm. There was no call and I even waited until the late TV news was over before heading upstairs. Bob was usually pretty good at getting back with me on my calls so I was rally wondering what was going on at that meeting.

I’d just finished showering the next morning when Bob called. I wouldn’t call his tone ‘curt’ but there was an edge to it. No details, promising them later, but told me to be prepared for the “fit to hit the shan” when the public got wind of the meeting. I told him that wasn’t being fair but he just chuckled and hung up. At work I thought that maybe J J might have some information but he didn’t even know there had been a Board meeting. In talking with him I asked how Joanie, his new employee, was making out. I don’t remember his reply but it was along the lines of me not even thinking about moving her. I then decided to check with Lena to see what her observations had come up with. I almost laughed out loud when she told me that he hadn’t seem to “bother” her but the “interesting interaction” was between he and his secretary. Lynne. I just nodded.

When Bret and I got together to try and come up with how the whole flow of new account openings would mesh with the regular customers he told me that Gina had made a suggestion. I didn’t quite follow what he was saying so suggested that he get her to join us. Lobby traffic was painfully slow only emphasizing how busy it was going to get. I watched as Gina approached. Even with Summer's brighter clothes in vogue, Gina seemed to like to stick with grey’s and blues with an occasional plaid skirt but on this day she had on a pink seersucker dress. It made her look younger, not that she looked all that old to begin with. It was short but wasn’t the shortest one there. I told her that we needed more input on her idea for how the tellers would handle posting the deposit for new accounts while continuing to wait on the lobby traffic. She exhibited a ‘knowing’ smile and said it was simple... just give them a receipt and then mail the passbook to them later. It made sense to me even though I knew that some customers would demand to have the book but anyone who would take a receipt would certainly help alleviate the crush of people we expected. I thanked her and watched her give me the ‘knowing’ smile again.

She had been standing in front of my desk and as she turned to go, Hank, the messenger custodian came through the gate to put a parcel on Bret’s desk. She didn’t see him and ran right into him, knocking him into Bret’s desk. She sort of bounced off him and onto the floor at Hank’s feet. I jumped up immediately and got quite an eyeful. Her right knee was up by her face and her whole backside was showing. The two prior peeks I’d had of her panties had been of colored bikini’s. These were not bikini’s. I’ll admit that I didn’t see much of her crotch but I saw white panties that went all the way up to her waist. I immediately remembered her negative comment that night when she saw Gerena's full brief panties as she went through the bag of her things. My take on it was that she wouldn't be caught dead wearing them but here she was, wearing a pair. But, I can’t explain why, with such and incredible view, I turned to Bret to see if he caught it as well. He did and in the split second it took to look at him Gina had managed to cover herself up. I was really upset with myself.

To be continued...
 

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133g)

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133g)

Hobie arrived back to the bank around 1:30 or so. As the corporate secretary there were certain functions he had to do before and during full Board meetings. He was obviously behind schedule and in seeing that offered to help in any way I could. He declined but did make it clear to me that he expected me to be available to come into the meeting when he called. I did ask for some direction as to what subject I might be querried on and I remember the look on his face when he retorted ”Anything and everything!“.

The meeting started at 3pm sharp and it was about ten minutes after that when I got the first call. I went up the back stairs as it was more direct and quicker. When I walked in I saw all the trustees up and away from the table and gathered around a couple of the boxes of blankets that had been torn open. Some were holding the clear plastic wrapped items and were headed back to their seats. Hobie, upon seeing me enter, came up to me and, obviously agitated, ordered me to go get a dozen or more of the picnic coolers. When they had been delivered to the bank the cartons were just tossed down the cellar stairs with a number of them bursting open. The loose ones had been moved into the file storage area of he basement so, with Bret’s help it didn’t take long to retrieve them and to return.  I knew what was going on and I’d voiced my displeasure about it to Bret as we  collected them and made our way up the back stairs. It was almost comical to see the trustees sitting at the table with some of their faces blocked by their new found ‘loot’. Bret and I were told to distribute the coolers around the table and while we were doing it the chairman of the gifts committee ordered me to go get them all a tool kit, the third gift for the campaign. I used a poor choice of words when I said ”I can’t.“ The words had hardly left my mouth when one of Trustees shouted out from behind his blanket ”What do you mean? That was an order!“

The one thing I took away from the following dialog was that both Bert (the president) and Hobie ‘had my back’. They both, almost simultaneously, stated that they hadn’t yet been delivered. It was Bert who directed his next comment to the Trustee who had admonished me and said that I deserved an apology. Whatever he said was lost with within the noise of the all the side conversations that were occurring around the table. At that point Bret and I were excused. I was fuming! When we got to the landing I turned to Bret and told him that if Hobie hadn’t spoken up I was going to tell that Trustee to go f___ himself. I remember Bret standing there with his head going up and down like a bobble head doll.

I was called back about fifteen minutes later to provide a copy of the print ad that would run in the local paper the following Thursday. The paper was only printed once a week and I’d been troubled by the fact that it was a day after the campaign was to start. I’d ordered the radio ads to start on Monday but you can’t display pictures on the radio. As the ad was passed around the table the new Trustee from the Western part of the county spoke out and asked why I hadn't put the ad in the ‘Pennysaver’ papers, the free and widely distributed publication that had little editorial content. They were distributed on Tuesdays. The ad agency and I had considered that but budget constraints had nixed the idea. When I tried to explain it was good old ‘Polak Joe’ who interjected his thoughts and boldly stating that if we didn’t advertise the bank was being ”pennywise and pound foolish“, having invested all that money in the gifts. Within seconds the ‘noise’ around the table was in favor of that. Bert called for a motion to approve additional money to run an ad in that type paper for the next two weeks and it was passed unanimously. I left the room wondering why the Board even bothered to hire managers since it seemed like they were now running the place.

I was on the phone with the ad agency when the next call came for me to return to the meeting. The agency told me that not only was the bank going to have to foot the bill for the ad space but, because of the formatting of the Pennysaver type publications, we would have to pay to have the ad redone to fit it. I decided not to bring that up when I returned.

The Board had finally, after many months, gotten back to considering service bureaus to process our savings transactions. It had been left for the committee that had originally been established to investigate the bank’s options to go visit the physical plants where they would actually be processed.  When I walked in I was told to set up same day visitations for up to seven members of the Board. When I heard the number seven I know my face had to have shown the surprise. The original committee was only three members. As before, I didn’t say a word and just stood there as I was given a number of calendar dates that would accommodate those who wanted to make the trip. As I made my way back down the stairs I knew I’d have a problem with one of the bureaus as they had forewarned me that their facility could only handle a few people at a time and had asked me to plan accordingly. But, I had my ‘marching orders’.

 By the time I got back to my desk everyone had gone, even Hank. On nights when the meeting ran late Hobie would take care of letting the members out. If my salary hadn’t been up for consideration I would’ve left too but I was determined to find out what my raise was to be. Already a bit paranoid about it, I wondered if the actions of the day that concerned me would have any effect on the final outcome. I had to wait until after 6pm for Hobie to finally appear and another twenty or so minutes for him to let all the members out the door. He knew why I was still there and, after taking a deep breath, told me that my raise wasn’t what he and Bert (the president) had requested. That sounded ominous and I, literally, held my breath. I’d been hoping for a 10% raise based upon the increase in my responsibilities. That would’ve been a little over $700. When Hobie mouthed the words $750 I actually thought I’d misheard him. This time I was really at a loss for words.

Before I ever got a chance to speak Hobie told me that the meeting he’d attended at the local attorney’s office earlier in the day was sort of a salary committee meeting. In the original one, even though Joe was told that he was only an observer, he continued to ask questions about how the merit system worked. Hobie said that, based on that, the attorney who was the chairman feared that that Joe would try, in some way, to ”derail“  the salary raise proposal that would go before the Board. What he did was to contact, by phone, the other members that he felt would back him (and the proposal) should that happen. It wasn’t really a meeting but, as Hobie described it, ”insurance“. As much as I wanted to ask what actually happened, I didn’t. Hobie finished up by telling me that the only thing that changed was all the officers increases were reduced. Then he stood up and said ”Good night“.

To be continued... 
 

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133f)

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133f)

As I’ve mentioned, Bebe’s parents ran a restaurant... actually it was more of a bar that served food. It was located right on a picturesque creek and fishing boats were often tied up to the pier which offered up a bit of ambiance. During the Summer season it was really popular on weekends as they provided live music. Bebe and her parents lived right above the restaurant. Since the ‘season’ hadn’t yet started business was slow and the party, such as it was, occupied one end of the barroom. There were probably 15 people there to celebrate her birthday.

It was the first time I’d seen “B” since the racecar was sold and he didn’t seem to be in a good mood. The reason he was home during the week was that there was an inventory problem at the company where he was an over the road salesman. His first job with them was to manage the inventory and the owner wanted him to come back and fix the problem. The reason for his unhappiness was that he made his money on commission and, if he wasn’t selling, he wasn’t making money. When I asked if he knew how the car had done since he’d sold it and he sort of laughed. The guy wrecked it in his very first race and hadn’t raced it again. I chatted with him about Martin and his infatuation with Sabrina and he seemed to be really surprised saying that Martin had really been ‘burned’ by the last girl he dated. I told him I thought he was in for trouble because, to me, she seemed like a ‘flake’.

Neither “B” nor I got into the partying as we both had to go to work the next day. We pretty much sat and watched. The big surprise was in seeing my brother show up. It was the first time since Christmas that all five of the ‘unmarrieds’ had been together. My brother had changed jobs and was concentrating his time on that. Pete, who was dating Bebe, and Tom, who was a cousin of Jon (the milkman), were really close and had created a start up business for the Summer. Martin, who worked in the city, would join them on weekends. The fact that he was involved with Sabrina was a puzzle for all of them.

“B” gave me a ride home at about 11pm and, as expected, I found Elle asleep. Sleep was something that didn’t come easy for me and I finally got up around 6am. Knowing it would be a tough day I decided to get in really early. With so much on my mind I’d failed to notice that I was almost out of gas when I left and when I was about three miles from work, ran out... NOT WHAT I NEEDED!

After about 15 or so minutes I got thumbed a ride into town. It was after 8am by the time the bank building was in sight. I rationalized that I was still way early as I got out of the car directly across the street from the bank. I walked down the side of the building and as I got near the back I saw a trailer in almost the same position as the one from the day before. It took my breath away. The back door of the trailer was open and all I saw was a wall of cardboard cartons. The driver asked if I was with the bank and I really wanted to say that I wasn’t and when I said I was he handed me the bill of lading... forty eight boxes. The size of them told me that they had to be the blankets for the new account/gift campaign. Standing there staring at them I didn’t have any idea where to put them. I mumbled something about only having room for a few of hem and the driver very bluntly said I better find a place quickly or they’d end up in the parking lot.

Hank showed up a few minutes later but I couldn’t use him to help unload as he had to man the door. The driver pulled a few cases out and other than being a little unwieldy to carry weren’t all that heavy. I’d gotten about six into the lobby when Bret and J J showed up. We all took off our ties and jackets and managed to get them all inside in short order. That’s when the real problem arose... where to put them. All available space in the basement was occupied with the picnic coolers. There was no way that we could leave them in the lobby, no matter how neatly we stacked them. The only place was under the stairs. I knew from the get-go that would be a problem. By the time the doors opened to the public we had  around 40 cases stacked up there. When Hobie showed up and we explained the situation he suggested the Board room for the last of them. When he made the suggestion I sensed a little smile on his face. He didn’t come right out and say it but I got the impression that he wanted to do it as a ‘message’ to the Trustees that management needed to be involved in the decision making process. 

When the last carton was stacked the three of us (Bret, J J and I) needed to get cleaned up. Not only were we wet from perspiration but out white shirts were covered with black smears from the dirt on the boxes. Bret offered to take us to his house which was only minutes away and Hobie told us to go across the street and buy new shirts, charging them to the bank. Bret declined that offer saying he had clean ones at home but suggested that J J and I head over to make our purchases while he called home to warn his wife we were coming. Bret was waiting for us when we got back but since he walked to work each day J J offered to drive. That reminded me that my car was three miles away, out of gas and I needed to do something about it, We decided that we really didn’t have time to shower on our way over. Bret’s wife wasn’t there when we got there but she’d left towels and a note. The note said she didn’t need to be around as three guys showered.

When it was my turn for the bathroom I remembered that there was a clothes hamper at the bottom of the linen closet from when I'd stayed over during a snow storm. My first stop was right there. It looked like just kids clothes but I did find one pair of ladies panties. I fully expected them to be cotton but I was a bit surprised when they turned out to be the Carter’s Spanky Pants but the kind with elastic around the leg openings as opposed to the band leg type that Elle wore. I’d seen them for the first time at Sabrina's and didn’t know if I liked them or not. I knew I had to get washed up quickly so just put them back after identifying them. I can’t explain why but I was a bit disappointed.

Arriving back at the bank Trish had a message for me to report to the Board room. I asked if Hobie was there and she said he and Bert (the president) had gone up to the office of the local attorney who was on the Board. That seemed strange because as far as I knew all the sub-committee meetings were held at the bank. I asked her if she knew which Trustees were up in the board room and she started to say something but stopped short... eventually saying that it was Mr D which was ‘Polak Joe’s“ formal name. To say I headed there with some trepidation would be accurate.

Walking into the room I saw Joe with a blanket in his hand. Along with him was the other new Trustee, the attorney from the Western part of the county. Seeing me, Joe asked why a blanket was picked for one of the gifts. I was speechless... thank goodness. If I hadn’t been... that day would’ve been my last at the bank. I just stood there, looking at him and thinking what a problem he was going to be. I don’t know how long it was before I answered, as calmly as I could, that he should ask the chairman of the gift committee. I fully expected some sort of retort but all I got was an ”Oh...“

To be continued...

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133e)

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133e)

At home, Elle had some ‘news’ regarding the school Board. She’d gotten a call from Phyl about Ginger and learned that there was another ”special’ meeting coming up on Thursday night. After telling Elle about it she realized she shouldn’t have said anything about it and made Elle promise not to say anything. Find me a female who’s told to keep a secret, and will, would have to be a corpse. To me it didn’t make much difference since I was no longer involved and whatever the Board decided we were all going to have to live with. I had more to worry about than that.

Speaking of Ginger, her procedure was scheduled for the next day. Elle agreed to take her two older girls for the afternoon to give her mother a break. I didn’t really understand the operation although I knew what it was supposed to correct. I also knew Elle was monitoring the whole thing. The recovery time was going to consume most of the Summer and Elle wasn’t about to give that up. However, she truly wanted to know all she could, especially the end result.

Tuesday found Hobie in much better spirits. I didn’t want to ‘bug’ him but, as I said, all the sub-committee actions would affect my areas of responsibility. The specific thing I wanted to know about was his comment that the new Trustees had to be “educated”. I don’t remember how I got him to open up on that but it boiled down to the fact that they both had come in thinking it was like a country club where they could just walk in and join committees of their choice. It was Joe that got Hobie’s ire up when he decided he wanted to be on the salary committee. How do I put it... it was the most prestigious sub-committee at the bank and the members had been chosen over a period of time. Hobie didn’t go into detail but did say that Joe talked his way into listening in on the discussion. THAT bothered me!. I wasn’t as interested in the other new Trustee so only half-heartedly listened as Hobie told me about his gaffe.

That bit of information had me thinking more and more about my salary increase as the day progressed. Hobie and the attorney Trustee had given me hints that I was in line for a nice raise. My hope was that Joe had been told to just observe and to not speak. The ‘sting’ of his selection in the school Board election not making it and him knowing I worked hard to get Bob elected were factors in my thoughts.

It was about 2pm when Hank, the messenger custodian walked across the lobby floor about as fast as I’d ever seen him go. He was huffing and puffing but it wasn’t because he was out of breath so much as the fact that he’d just had a run-in with a truck driver with a delivery.  I asked what was being delivered and all he could say was that there were “a lot of big boxes”. When we got to the parking lot there was this tractor trailer basically blocking the ingress/egress to the the whole lot. A rough looking, burly man was standing by the back door of the trailer with his arms folded. I asked him what was in the trailer and he shot back “Eighteen cartons... where do you want them?” I got him to give me the packing list and found that they were the picnic coolers for the gift campaign. I was totally unprepared for a delivery but I knew I had to get the truck and trailer moved. The cellar door was right there and after determining that they didn’t weigh all that much, told him to toss them down the opening. While this was taking place customers were blowing their car horns to try and get the truck to move and customers were yelling at us. To add to it a couple of Trustees walked by and queried what was going on.

Thankfully, the heat was off and the boiler was cold. I grabbed Bret and Hank and we tried to straighten out the mess as a few of the cartons broke open and spilled coolers all around. All three of us were all hot and perspiring by the time we’d gotten them in some semblance of order. There were two gross of them in all and I wondered what the Trustees were thinking when they ordered that many. The doors were closed to the public when we got back upstairs and when I got to my desk Trish had a message for me to report to the Board room. It was not what I wanted to hear.

One of the long time Trustees was of the haughty type, wanting to know everything about anything. He wanted to know who was responsible for the mess in the parking lot. I didn’t know what to answer. I tried to explain that I’d gotten no indication that the items were being delivered in spite of my request to know so we would be prepared. The same Trustee then asked why I’d had all of the product delivered at one time and why it wasn’t being “dropped shipped” when needed. I had no answer because I’d not been involved in placing the order. I started to mention this when another Trustee made a comment along the lines of hoping that the ‘gift program’ would go off better than this. I never got to finish. Going back downstairs I had to pass by the switchboard. Netta was busy trying to pull the front of her blouse down with her hand up her skirt and I got a glimpse of white. I wasn’t sure if it was her slip or her panties but, for a few seconds, it took my mind off the criticism I’d just received. The one thing the last Trustee got right was that the program was off to a rough start.

I left at 5pm and actually made it home before Elle did. I’d changed my clothes and was checking up on the nuts and bolts of the new lawn swing when I heard music from next door. Of course I had to go to the opening in the hedge to take a peek and there was Sabrina, lying on a chaise lounge with a radio blaring. It only took a few seconds for me to realize that the flowered panties I’d seen her wearing a while back were actually the bottom part of a two piece bathing suit. Lying there I could see the bra matched the bottoms which, by the way, looked just like a pair of panties. I stayed there for maybe a minute before returning to the swing. I tried to remember just what else she'd been wearing on that day but I couldn’t. Thinking about it some more I couldn’t think of a good reason for her to have done that and just added it to the other quirks I'd noticed about her.

Elle showed up shortly thereafter and had Bess, Ginger’s oldest daughter, with her. She looked a lot like her mother... round, rosy cheeks with dirty blonde hair. Anne had asked if she could stay over and after Elle had assured Ginger’s mother that it was no bother, she joined our girls. Just for the fun of it we decided to make supper a sort of picnic with the girls eating while sitting in the swing. It served to help take my mind off work and the Board meeting the next day.

Just as we finished up Sabrina and Martin came through the opening in the hedge. Sabrina now had on a mini dress and my immediate thought was to wonder if she had left on the bathing suit bottom. They wanted to know if we would join them for a birthday party for Bebe (Pete’s girlfriend) at her parent’s restaurant. “Big B” was going to be there as well as Tom, the other member of our racing pit crew. Elle, because of having Bess as a guest declined but said it would be OK for me to go. I hesitated for a few seconds and then decided...What the hell!

To be continued...     
    

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133d)

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133d)

Elle and I talked for quite a while about the situation before going to bed. I remember making a comment to her about Pat (the PTA lady) and how she was going to take the news of Wally as president. Elle actually made sense when she said it didn’t matter and we’d all have to live with it.

It was shaping up to be a really big week at work as the full Board of Trustees meeting was that Wednesday. One thing I failed to mention was that both Bret and I were up for our annual salary review. The idea of it had drifted in and out of my conscious thoughts for some time but I wasn’t obsessed with it like the last one a year earlier. The chairman of the salary committee was the attorney who seemed to have my best interests at heart and Hobie, my immediate boss, had dropped a hint or two about a favorable result. As the day got closer though I’ll admit I thought about it more.

 Hobie mentioned that each of the sub committees was on the Wednesday meeting agenda which meant it would be a long one. There was the salary committee;  the gift/new account committee; branch location committee; transaction processing committee; examining committee and, of course, the weekly mortgage applications. It also meant that each of those sub committees would be meeting prior to Wednesday and I’d be seeing most of the Trustees, coming and going, for the next few days. As far as lobby traffic and being busy was concerned it was about normal for the week before the ‘busy period’ was to begin. It did give me time to, again, place a call to Willy. All I wanted was to know if he was planning on spending any time during the Summer,  locally. As they say, ”three’s a charm“ and this time it was. He apologized telling me he’d been doing a lot of traveling, trying to open up new territories. I was encouraged when he said he’d make an effort to touch base with me because he wanted to check up on the family property. That information was enough for me to think about making an experimental pair of ‘dribble panties’ for him when he did show up. Another mental note.

When the written examination report from the examiners had arrived the previous week the one item I was told to get on right away was to hire an experienced person for the accounting area. We didn’t have any applications in the file that even came close to meeting the experience qualification that the report called for. That meant putting an advertisement in the paper, something I really didn’t want to do. I told Trish about my reluctance and she asked if she could speak to me, confidentially. That was rare for Trish as she would usually spit out what ever was on her mind. To say I was surprised is putting it mildly and when she got up and motioned me to follow her over to the corner by Hobie’s desk I was puzzled.

When I was hired I was met with some resistance from a group of long time employees that I dubbed ”The Polish Mafia“. Trish was one of the leaders followed closely by Laurie, the bookkeeping machine (computer?) operator and a teller who went by the nickname of Mala. Over time I’d managed to gain some trust from both Trish and Laurie but Mala was, at best, an arms length away. She’d left to have a baby a little over a year prior and when she left she made some statements that were less than complementary of the bank with the bulk of it directed at me. Having reiterated all that you can imagine my great surprise when Trish told me that Mala wanted to come back.

I’d gone out of my way to make things easier for her during her pregnancy and yet she still seemed hostile towards me so I was leery of the idea of taking her back. However, Trish said that she thought Mala would be perfect for the accounting department. I stood there facing Trish and, truthfully, thought it was a great idea. Mala had always shown that she was head and shoulders above all the other tellers, including Cara, as far as brains were concerned. I remembered my talks with Hobie when I’d made the comment that it was a shame she never had a chance to go to college. My mind, running at 100 miles per hour down a dirt road, felt that we (Hobie, Bert [the president} and I could) ‘sell’ the examining committee on the idea in spite of her lack of accounting experience. Since most of the Trustees knew her from her days as a teller I felt they would go along. On top of that she, in spite of the fact that she was younger than Bette who would be her boss, got along well with her. I really wanted to hug Trish but I just told her that she had come up with a brilliant idea and I promised that I’d fight for it. That got a smile from her (and you’d have to have known her to know how great an accomplishment that was).

My euphoria was short lived when early that afternoon I saw ”Polak Joe“ walking across the lobby. The look on his face never seemed to change. It was a half smile that one might’ve gotten after telling a poor joke. It didn’t even change when he spoke. It was, as Bret so aptly described it, ”painted on“. I was not privy to sub committee assignments so had no idea what meeting(s) he was attending. To me he was like a dark cloud. I now knew that he was part of the opposition to Bob’s candidacy for the school board but didn’t know the breadth and depth of it. J J’s dire warnings about him when he first appeared at the bank just hung over everything he was involved in.

Hobie got called upstairs to one of the sub-committee meetings and as he walked by my desk he made the off-hand comment ”Wish me luck!“. I didn’t like the sound of it and although I had no reason to stay late I manufactured some things to do while waiting for him to return. When he did his demeanor foretold of some less than good news. Since all of the sub-committees were in some way related to my areas of responsibility I wanted to know what had taken place. My primary hope was that a direction for transaction processing was going to be acted upon by the full board. That, to me, was the most important as here we were again, still saying prayers that our current equipment would make it through the' busy period'.

I got the impression that Hobie wasn’t expecting to see me still there when he returned to his desk. I didn’t say anything but put both my hands up as if I were asking ”What’s up?“ He hesitated before saying anything but finally muttered ”It’s going to be interesting.“ Of course that didn’t help me out and I asked what he meant. With a look of resignation on his face he said ”We’re back to square one.“  Since I had no idea what sub-committee(s) had met I was still in the dark. Finally, after a big sigh he said something about the new Trustees and how they were going to have to be ”educated“. Since one of them was ”Polak Joe“ it gave me a clue... and not a good feeling.

To be continued...  
 

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133c)

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133c)

Sleep didn’t come easy that night. The school board issue was primary but the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting at the bank on Wednesday was also floating around in my brain. Awake early on Sunday I decided I wasn’t going to church. The majority of the members were truly ‘locals’ and I just didn’t want to participate in any more talk concerning the principal and how unfair it was to have ‘outsiders' come in and change things. At first Elle was upset about not going but when I asked if she wanted to put up with all of that she agreed.

Working at the sailing club on Saturday had really reawakened my desire to get back to sailing again. My father had let me store our Sunfish in his garage for the Winter and now, with some unexpected free time, was a good time to go retrieve it and to get it ready for the sailing season. Elle asked if I would take the older two girls with me saying that it would be a way to get them interested again. We planned on enrolling them in the sailing lessons at the club and when we brought the subject up in dinner conversations they didn’t seem all that enthusiastic. I knew it would mean more work on my part but to keep peace, I agreed.

The first thing we had to do was say hello to my parents. They were eating breakfast out on the lawn by the water. The girls, seeing the beach, wanted to head right there but I told them they had ”work to do“. So, the three of us, along with my father, headed for the garage. As expected, I found the boat covered with empty cardboard boxes that my father was always collecting. Seeing them reminded me of when I’d hidden my ‘stash’ of panties in amongst them a few years earlier and had a panic attack when I found that he’d cleaned the garage up and thrown many away. Fortunately, the boxes with my things had survived the ‘purge’. The girls felt important as they helped move the boxes and it kept them busy as I collected all the parts and pieces that made up the complete boat. When I told them I’d set the boat up in the back yard, complete with the sails, they started to get interested. It was a start.

At home, I left the trailer with the boat strapped to it hitched to the car. I felt it would be more stable and would make it easier to work with the girls. As soon as I put the sail up with it’s bright green and white stripes the girls really got excited. Elle came out with Kaye and watched as I put the older girls up on the deck and proceeded to go over the names of all the different parts of the boat. Fortunately, there wasn’t much wind so having the sail up wasn’t a problem. Both the older girls did a good job remembering the basics which I’d taught them the year before and as I was finishing up with them they started pestering me to actually go sailing in the water. I could see Elle shaking her head in a negative way. She wanted me to be the ‘bad guy’ and say no. But... I was rescued by a red mustang pulling up the driveway.

As the driver door opened I saw Martin. I remember standing there staring at him and almost not believing my eyes. He didn’t own a car and his parents car, which he used when he was visiting them, was a big gold Cadillac. Then I saw Sabrina exit the passenger side of the Mustang wearing a short sundress. I remember this scene like it was yesterday. She bounded out of the car and ran up to the boat. With her lisp that was more like baby talk all I could hear was ”I wuv it! I wuv it!“. Then turning to me she just about ordered me to take her for a sail sometime.

I’m sure you’ve all noted my ‘asides’ about Sabrina. Well, in my mind taking her for a sail at anytime would be a test of my patience. My two girls were sitting on the deck with their feet in the cockpit and the next thing I knew Sabrina had jumped up onto the opposite side deck. Her legs were still outside the boat. Then she started to swivel and lifted her legs so they would clear the side and get them into the cockpit as well. As she did Martin and I had a nice crotch view...  but for only a second or two. In seeing white I pretty much knew what they were... Carter’s cotton panties. However, just seeing them for only that short time made me think back to the flowered panties I’d seen her wearing one time before. They were still a mystery.

The story behind the red Mustang was that Martin had bought it from his brother who had been drafted. He didn’t come right out and admit it but the reason was so that he could drive out from the city to see Sabrina when he wanted. The train schedule was less than ideal and even though finding parking in the city was hard (and expensive) he was obviously smitten enough with Sabrina to do it.

There were no more peeks that afternoon. Martin made sure of that. By the time they left I’d made a half hearted promise to take them both sailing. I knew it wouldn’t be in the Sunfish... three adults (if you wanted to give Sabrina that much credit) were actually two too many. I knew I could borrow big ”B’s“ sailboat almost any weekday and there was always someone where both my folks and Elle’s folks lived who would do the same.

When I was putting the boat away I felt the time had been worth it. The girls now appeared to be looking forward to lessons especially when they heard that some of their friends would be joining them. Elle had made contact with Ginger late that afternoon and found she would be going in to the city for her procedure the next morning and she'd agreed to relieve her mother from baby sitting duties for an hour or two for the days she’d be in the hospital. As Elle was telling me this she raised a surprise question... were we going to try and make a pair of dribble panties with the plastic crotch attached? It surprised me because we hadn't talked about it in a while. It also reminded me that Willy, my sailing friend who ran a lingerie manufacturing company, hadn’t called me back. I made another mental note to go along with about a dozen others rattling around inside my brain.

After we ate and after a number of tries I finally was able to get in touch with Bob to find out what transpired at the special meeting the president of the school board had called. He was somewhat reluctant to discuss it but did say the general purpose had been to try and convince the members to rethink the decision not to rehire the principal. Of course that answer piqued my interest further and after some serious badgering he admitted that they held the course and let the decision stand. The tone of his voice told me there was more so I pushed harder. The president of the Board got so upset that he resigned his position as president and that Wally, (the plumber) one of the newly elected members, was voted to take his place. That news just took my breath away and I really didn’t hear any more of what Bob was saying. I just couldn’t believe it. As I’ve mentioned before, Wally was the most negative person I’d ever met and I wondered just what was in store for us all.

To be continued...  

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133b)

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133b)

When I got home that night Elle greeted me with one word... ”WOW!”... and then proceeded to tell me that the fallout from not renewing the principal’s contract was all over the town. She’d gone to town to get the mail and that’s all anybody wanted to talk about. She added that a couple of her mother’s friends had some unkind words to say to her for supporting “an outsider” who was going to cause taxes to be raised. After eating I tried to get in touch with both Jon and Bob but they weren’t home. Saturday was supposed to be the first day to open up the sailing club and I’d promised Rex that I’d be there so spent the time after supper doing the lawn. There was still daylight when I finished up so did a walk around the house to see if anything else needed attention. When I came around to the East side, the side closest to Sabrina’s house, I saw a red Ford Mustang in the driveway. I’d never seen one there before so wondered who was visiting her.

Back inside the house I heard Elle on the phone with Ginger. I, more or less, knew she was going to have the bladder sling procedure fairly soon. Elle had talked with her about the whole thing, especially the recovery time, and had decided she wasn’t interested. Ginger had told her she’d be “out of commission” for about six weeks and Elle, on top of her fear of any kind of operation, couldn’t see having to pretty much give up her Summer to recover. She’d lived with her ‘problem’ for so long that she’d adapted to it. I overheard Elle offer to look after a couple of Ginger's kids if it would help her out. I got her attention enough to ask if Jon was home yet. She nodded positively so I waited for a few minutes to talk with him.

I wasn’t real ‘close’ with Jon but I had respect for him and his ideas so asked if he (and the other three who’d voted not to renew the contract) had contemplated the reaction. He hesitated a bit and admitted that they hadn’t really discussed it but went on to say that the Board president had called for a special, closed, meeting for Sunday. He wouldn’t go any further than that.

At the sailing club I couldn’t believe that so much of the talk was about the school situation. Less than half the people who were there lived in the school district all year round. I asked one of the people who only spent Summers there why the interest. He shrugged and said it was just a “change of ”pace“ to the idle, inane conversations that usually took place at the club. I thought about it for a few seconds and sort of agreed with him.

It was good to see the activity as the storm windows came down and the boat racks were re-assembled. I’d hoped that when the women arrived to make lunch that some would offer up a VPL (visible panty line) or DP (down pants). However, when they arrived around noon time the only one who offered up anything of interest was Elle. However, she knew the water hadn’t been turned on for the bathrooms so she wore a partial ‘package’. I, because I’d seen it many times before, recognized the little bulge between her butt cheeks. I’d assured her, many times, that it wasn’t noticeable to others. Truthfully, it didn’t show much more than a regular sanitary pad did. I definitely remember surveying the group and missed seeing some of the familiar faces of just a few years past. But, that’s what marriage and having kids did. I felt lucky that Elle was still participating.

Later that afternoon I ended up going to the landfill. As I’ve mentioned before, going late in the day meant less people and a quicker turn around. I’d unloaded my stuff and was making a quick ‘pass’ to see if I could score some ‘treasures’ like the previous week. The last person I expected to bump into (literally) was the president of the local commercial bank. He was digging into a pile of rags and as he turned towards his car he hit me. We both laughed. I remember saying something to him about never knowing who you could run into at the dump. But, after putting some of the rags in the trunk of his car he asked what was going on with the school. I really didn’t know what to say to him. I knew his daughter was in the same class as my oldest daughter, Jean. Since it was near closing time I didn’t want to get harassed by the attendant like the week before so I asked him to give me a call when he got home.

Driving home I felt somewhat important. Even though I’d lived in town, off and on all my life, we’d never spoken before. Knowing his position I knew I had to couch what I told him very carefully. When the call came in he opened by telling me to call him”Ski“. Needless to say, he was Polish.
Once I started talking it was like I was a used car salesman. But, as soon as I mentioned the quality of the education in our school being somewhat inferior as compared to neighboring school districts he got his wife on the line as well. I’d used the fact that Elle had taught in a number of schools other than the one in our town and had first hand knowledge. That seemed to impress them. By the time we hung up I felt I’d made an important ally. They promised to ”get the word out“ to their friends that the changes were warranted. I'd also mentioned, in an off-hand way, that 'Polak Joe' seemed to be involved with the controversy and got a laugh from him. I couldn't draw him out on that but it did seem to confirm it as fact.

After supper I took a peek in Sabrina’s yard and saw the Mustang was there again. The fact that it was was now getting to me. The first time I saw it I was curious but now I was a bit intrigued... did Sabrina get her own car? Elle had wanted the new lawn swing placed in the back yard right outside the kitchen windows so she could observe the kids playing in it without being outside with them. I decided to go sit in it with them for a few minutes but not so much as to play with them but to be in a position to see/hear any activity next door. Luck was with me because after just a few minutes I heard voices. A quick peek through the hedge revealed Sabrina getting into the passenger seat of the car but I couldn't see who was driving. I found that very interesting... did she have a new suitor?

To be continued...    

 

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133a)

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133a)

The Board meeting was scheduled for 7:30pm and it was just a little after 7pm when I arrived There were already almost as many cars as there had been the night of the election. I’d called Jon (the milkman) to see if he had any idea of what he and the other Board members were facing and he said there was nothing concrete, only speculation. He added that the meeting was closed and the order of business was to elect officers for the upcoming year and to ratify some teacher contracts. Walking up the steps I heard some less than complimentary comments pointed at me. I recognized one woman who called me an ‘outsider’ and that I should go back to where I came from. In a way it was funny because I was (and still am) twelfth generation in the township. I noticed some older ‘locals’ in heated discussions with some of the younger people who were there. Not that I’d attended many of the open meetings but it just seemed strange. I asked one of Elle’s high school classmates if he knew what the fuss was all about and all he could say was that he’d gotten a call to just show up at 7pm.

The meetings were normally held in the library which was on the second floor. That meant that the members had to come through the front doors and then climb the stairs. In so doing they would have to face the gathering. Looking at the way the people had positioned themselves there was no way for the members to get up the stairs. Standing there I could hear the decibel level getting higher and higher. I was waiting for some Board members to arrive when I saw two somewhat familiar faces walk through the doors... two of the Trustees from the bank. One owned a local business in town and was the one that somewhat forced me to get involved on the Vestry of the church. The other was “Polak Joe”. They both smiled and acknowledged the other ‘locals’ pretty much ignoring the younger members of the crowd. Seeing them told me that this was ‘big’.

I really didn’t want them to see me so I moved down the hall a bit. One of the parents who lived in the neighborhood with Bob and “Polak Joe” was there so asked him why Joe was there. He gave me a funny look and then said he was involved “in everything”. I immediately wondered if he’d had anything to do with the voting change that had been passed by the school board right before the vote. When I’d asked one of the bank Trustees who was an attorney if it was legal he’d told me to “drop it”. It made me think the reason had been that Joe was now on the bank board and that if I pursued it that he could make things tough on me. The more I saw of the man the more I disliked him.

It was obvious when the school board members arrived. There was a big ‘push’ to go out the front doors to confront them. I stayed back. It turned out that the protest was to let the Board members know they wanted the meeting opened up to the public. The existing president told them “No way!” and he led the members that were with him back down the steps. As people continued to flow out the front doors I finally got there and saw them running across the lawn trying to stop them. I decided to go home. It was a classic case of attempted mob rule and I wanted no part of it.

At home, in spite of repeated attempts to reach both Jon (the milkman) and Bob after getting home I was unsuccessful. Elle had gone to bed before the late news on TV and after watching it gave up myself. In the morning I didn’t have to make any calls to find out what had happened. Bob called me just after 7am. The Board president got word to the other members to meet him at his house and then called the police. He’d been a town Trustee and knew the police Chief well. Fully expecting trouble, he requested a couple of patrol cars to park out front of his house. As soon as the ‘rowdies’, as he called the mob, started towards the house they stepped in. The Board went ahead and held the meeting and the ‘news’ was that on a four to three vote they elected not to renew the contract of the principal. It was what Pat (the PTA lady) had been working with the ‘group’ for but my first thought was what was going to happen when the word got out. It didn’t take long to find out.

Elle had already called the bank before I got there. She’d heard that three long time teachers were about to hand in their resignations. Selfishly, I thought about Elle getting a job there but quickly dropped it. We’d agreed that Elle wouldn't go to full time teaching until Kaye was in school full time. Back on track, it sort of made sense for some of the long time and loyal teachers to leave. I knew of a couple that should’ve retired years ago. Jean had one in her first year and if Elle hadn’t been a teacher she would’ve fallen behind. I thanked her for calling and told her I’d check with her at lunchtime.

The morning mail brought some expected but unwanted news... the official written report of the regulators examination.  Bert, Hobie and, to some degree, I knew what was in it. The bank could’ve started in on the recommendations that had been verbally made but had made the decision to wait for the report. That meant we had less time to implement them. So... I spent the rest of the morning in a planning meeting. When we broke for lunch I called Elle. The count was now up to six teachers who were planning on retiring or resigning with some actual names to go with it. Since I hadn’t ever thought about that possibility I didn’t know how to rate the information as to being good or bad. But, there was more. Bob, when he'd called, hadn’t told me that the Board had agreed to revisit the entire physical education program for the school. She said that Phyl, Bob’s wife, told her that it would probably be the next ‘bomb’ to go off. In some of the “’group’ meetings we had discussed the fact that ”The Coach“ had far too much power and I wondered if that wasn’t what she was meant.

One positive that came from the afternoon meeting was that there would definitely be some ’movement’ in pursuing a servicing company. It looked like my little visit with one of the examiners where I gave him my candid assessment of the Board’s lack of action was going to pay dividends. When we were done I checked with Bret to see how his day had gone. He surprised me with a huge grin and showed a thumbs up. I asked why and he pointed to Gina. I knew he had a ‘thing’ about her so it had to have been something really positive. He pulled me over behind his desk and said ”Light blue“ and nothing else. It only took a few seconds for me to figure out that he’d gotten a peek at her panties. I was jealous!

To be continued...

MORE CHANGES... and problems (Part 132j)

MORE CHANGES... and problems (Part 132j)

The folder with all the gift information was on my desk when I got to work the next morning. After perusing the  invoices I could see that there was no date in the area designated ‘Delivery’ but only the letters TBD. Of course I wanted to know where the folder had been but Hobie wasn’t in. Each of the the three gifts that the committee had chosen... a small tool kit, an insulated picnic bag and a blanket (I still couldn’t believe they’d chosen a blanket to give away in Summer) was coming from a different distributor. It meant trying to co-ordinate their deliveries before the start date for the campaign. I won’t waste your time describing the rest of my day and will leave it at ‘wretched’. By the time I left to go home I had verbal assurances from each distributor that each product would be delivered ”in time“.

At home Elle told me that she and Sandy had heard that there was going to be some sort of protest prior to the school board meeting that night but didn’t have a real ‘feel’ for what it was about. Knowing that her plans had been to hit a few tennis balls with Sandy I asked how it had gone. She laughed. I took that to mean that neither of them had done well at it. That wasn’t it at all! Sandy had called and asked if Elle could do her a big favor and to drive her to Judith’s Boutique (the place I’d bought some things for Elle and that was also a source of VanRaalte panties). It was located in the town where I had my first bank position and three towns to the East. Elle had already lined up her mother to watch the kids so she said she’d be happy to. (That made sense since Elle now had some money of her own and this would be a chance to spend some of it). I had always liked Judith but her store was always way overcrowded with clothes. It was hard to sort through things to find anything you liked. In any case... after dropping the kids off they headed for Judith’s. Johnnie had bought Sandy a gift but it was too large and she wanted to exchange it. Once there they ran into the same problem I had... too much stuff too packed in to be able to make a reasonable choice. After getting money back from Judith, Elle suggested that they drive to the next town to the East. Elle and I’d found a small clothing store with nice things and reasonable prices the Summer before. Sandy was all for it. (It was also where I’d purchased the nylon satin Modern Globe panties that we’d made the ”dribble panties from.)

Once there they both found some clothes they liked. By the time they were headed home there was the question of weather to stop at the school to play some tennis or to head on home. Elle said they couldn’t decide but as they passed the school they decided “Why not?”, and stopped. It was the first time either had hit a ball since going to the tennis academy during the Winter and Elle said it was pretty funny. She said that after completely missing a ball with her racquet they started laughing and as soon as she did she thought she felt a pretty good squirt escape. She looked around there was no place to go or to even try to hide. A peek at her watch told her why... it had been almost 2 1/2 hours since she’d left home and used the toilet. But this is where I really got ‘interested’. Elle said she tried holding her crotch to prevent any more leaking and as she did Sandy grabbed her crotch as well. Sandy then told her that she’d ‘leaked’ a little bit a couple of times but now, seeing Elle holding herself, it was triggering her instincts and making her have to go.  Elle repeated herself saying that the only place to offer any sort of shield was over by the station wagon and that it was quite a distance away.

By now Elle had this sort of a grin on her face. That was a bit different for her because she was usually a bit dour when telling of her 'accidents'. She went on to tell me that she looked at Sandy, shrugged her shoulders, spread her legs and just let it all go... and started laughing some more. That started Sandy laughing and as she did she spread her legs and let all her pee go as well. My hard on was killing me listening to Elle describe the scene. I had some questions but Elle wasn’t through talking so I kept my mouth shut. Elle then described how these two grown women stood there in the middle of this tennis court in a puddle of pee, laughing. It came to me that they both had come to the realization that it ‘was not the end of the world’ when they had an ‘accident’. I held my thought and let Elle continue. She went on to say that they were both wearing ‘dribble panties’ and, as she’d found out not all that long ago, they held a lot of liquid. They stood there for a few minutes with pee running down their legs they laughed some more, finally waddling over to the station wagon and heading for home.

I’d had to ‘rearrange’ myself and in the process looked down at my lap. The pre-cum had come through both my underpants as well as my suit pants. In a way I guess you could’ve said I’d wet my pants as well. As I said, I had a few questions. I asked what she’d been wearing and when she said it was a pair of light yellow shorts I knew exactly which ones they were. If anyone had been around to see her they would’ve had to have been looking for the wetness as the color hid it very well. I knew that from experience. Of course I asked about Sandy and, as usual, Elle tried to slough that off. I finally got a curt “khaki’ as my answer. That, I would have like to have seen!

At that point Elle was anxious to change the subject and wanted to show me what she'd bought. She motioned for me to follow her into the living room where I saw this two piece outfit draped across the back of the sofa. It was a very short dress like thing with light blue, red and white vertical stripes along with a pair of shorts that matched the blue of the dress. I asked her to model it for me and, proud of her purchase, agreed. As she stripped out of her clothes and was standing there in just panties and bra I wanted to take a picture. She would have none of it. After stepping into the dress I told her not to put on the shorts. That, she agreed to. The dress just barely covered her panties which was sort of sexy. I asked if I could have a picture that way and she again said "No" saying that it was time for supper. At least I tried. After eating, when she went out to retrieve the wash she'd done that afternoon, I followed her with the camera. She saw it and said I could have one "nice" picture and that was all.
                                         

 
I was really curious as to what the ‘protest’ that Elle had mentioned for the school board meeting that night was about and had thought about going. The only thing I could come up with had to do with the rumor about the principal. Elle didn’t want me to go but, even with her ‘promise’ of a good time later that evening, I decided to go. What a meeting.

To be continued...

 

MORE CHANGES ... and problems (Part 132i)

MORE CHANGES... and problems (Part 132i)

James had my car ready by the end of the workday so that wasn’t a problem. When I walked in the door at home Elle had some ‘juicy’ news about the next day election. First, there was a rumor going around the town that if Bob got elected the new board was going to make ‘drastic’ changes that would make property taxes go up. The other was that he was out to get rid of the principal. Hearing that one got me upset. Whenever the ‘group’ met Pat (the PTA lady), would remind us all that what we discussed was to remain within the 'group'. One of the original items on her agenda was to replace the principal because, in her words. he was a ”do nothing“ and had no new ideas. None of us in the ‘group’ had disagreed. However, now the question was, who leaked the plan. My first thought was Rob, Jon’s (the milkman) brother who had been an original member of the ‘group’ along with his wife. He'd been dropped because of his drinking and disruptive ways. In any case, having that rumor out on the street certainly wasn’t doing Bob’s candidacy any good.

There were three ‘classes’ of residents... ‘locals’, who had lived in the town for over 20 years who had gone to the school or who’s kids had graduated from there. Then there were the ‘new locals” which consisted of the kids who had graduated since the end of WWII and were married with kids. The last were the ‘outsiders’, people who had moved to the town within the past ten or so years. The ‘locals’ tolerated the ‘outsiders’ but, in in business, tended to overcharge them for services. The ‘new locals’ knew all the ‘locals’ and were readily accepted by them BUT... had shown that they were interested in new ideas and new ways to do things. The ‘outsiders’ were primarily from urban and suburban areas who had moved to the village in the past 10 to 15 years. They tended to be younger with growing families and not tied to local traditions. The ‘group’ had set out to target the last two “classes’. However, from what Elle had told me, the ‘locals’ were putting pressure on the ‘new locals’ and that’s why the last minute change in Bob’s popularity. I was going over all of this while eating... and much to Elle's displeasure, ignoring the kids. I made a few calls to other group members after supper and they pretty much agreed with me. There wasn’t much we could do except hope for the best what with the vote scheduled for the next afternoon and evening.

I have no memory (or notes) for the following day at work. I do remember arriving at the school to vote at about 5:45pm or so and not believing my eyes. I had to park out along the Main Road and about 1/4 mile from the school. As I walked up the drive to the school I saw the custodians trying to keep cars off the front lawn. The previous year’s election garnered the most votes in school history but the turn-out this year looked to be even greater.

Because it was around supper time when I arrived most people just voted and left. I’d decided to forego eating to hang around and listen in on random conversations. The best way to describe the general feeling was of ‘concern’. Between the prospect of increased taxes and letting a beloved principal go I was hearing a lot of doubt. The incumbent candidate had some ‘issues’ of his own that were of concern so that was a bit of a positive. It was around 7;30pm when people who had already voted started returning to wait out the results. When Jon (the milkman) ran the previous year the winners were announced a little before 9pm. This year, with the added number of voters, it was a foregone conclusion that it would be later. The people who were there waiting started to get restless when the time approached 10pm. Some loudmouth started making idle threats as to what would happen if the Board let the principal go. He gathered a few like thinkers which just added to the tension.

It was after 10pm when the Board president came out into the hall and called Wally (the plumber) up to his side and introduced him as the newest member. There was a smattering of cheers but most who were left wanted to know who else would make up the Board. The incumbent was next to be called to the front and everybody, me included, thought that Bob had been defeated. For reasons that only the president knew he started in by praising the incumbent’s many years of service. It lasted for a couple of minutes before shaking his hand. By then I’m sure almost everybody thought he’d been elected again. BUT... he then called Bob up to his side and, in what could best be called half-hearted, congratulated him on his election. It took a few seconds for the fact that Bob had won to be accepted and once it was there was a fairly large cheer. The look on Bob’s face told me that he still hadn’t grasped the fact that he was a winner.

I later found out that Bob beat the incumbent by only seven votes and they had to recount them three times to finalize the results. With the exception of Pat (the PTA lady) and Bob’s wife, the other members of the ‘group’ present were all male. They insisted on taking Bob down to the primary bar in town to celebrate. At first I was going to join in but the next day was mortgage meeting day at the bank and some of the subcommittees were meeting as well. I knew I had to be ready at a moments notice and I didn’t want to take a chance with a ‘fuzzy head’ so headed home. As I did I thought about the ‘threat’ that had been voiced in the hallway concerning consequences if the principal was removed.  With the first meeting of the newly configured school board scheduled for Thursday night I knew I wouldn’t have to wait long to see what would happen there.

Elle was sound asleep when I got home. When she got up for one of her three bathroom breaks I told her of the results but she was too sleepy for it to register. We talked a little about it at breakfast and she told me that she and Sandy were going to try and hit a few tennis balls later in the morning. I asked if she could get any ‘read’ from her since Johnnie, her husband, was a teacher and might have gotten some feedback from fellow teachers by then.

That afternoon at work I made the mistake of asking one of the Trustees who was on the gift sub-committee about delivery dates. I distinctly remember the look on his face when he said that I was to have placed the order. The man was one of those ‘I make the decisions... you don't ask questions’ types. As calmly as I could I reminded him that I’d been excluded from all the decisions made about the gifts. He immediately restated that I was to have set the delivery dates up. Getting into an argument with one of your bosses is not a good career move but I’m one of those people who refuse to be intimidated by self important ass holes so I challenged him right on the spot. I think, but never was sure, that it was Trish who found Hobie and who showed up before it really got ugly. The end result was that Hobie said he’d track down the dates of delivery but I was upset enough to take off early, afraid I'd let my frustration out on some poor unsuspecting employee.

To be continued...

Another time out...

Another time out...

This time it’s the middle daughter, Anne. She’s in the middle of a job change and she put her house up for sale. However, her real estate agent has told her that she has to “stage” the house before he’ll list it so I’m off to move and remove furniture, trinkets and things for a few days. Please don’t forget to stop back. I’m hoping to be back by Wednesday (6/10). In the meantime I hope you all have a nice weekend (at least better than mine).

MORE CHANGES... and problems (Part 132h)

MORE CHANGES... and problems (Part 132h)

The rest of the afternoon was swallowed up with chores. It was nice doing the lawn without having to duck the sheets and other things on the wash line. Luckily I remembered that the landfill (dump) closed at 5pm on Saturdays so was able to collect all the garbage, get it into the trunk of my car and make it through the gate in time. One thing about being there at the end of the day was you could just back into the dumping area, unload and be on your way. In the morning there was always a line. Another thing was that with few people there I could walk up and down the pile of trash and look to find a “treasure”or two. On this day, even though I knew the attendant was waiting by the gate, I made a pass down the line. I saw a small pile of baby food jars and went over to it. I picked one up and saw it held small screws. Another had brass tacks and another had small nails (brads). That really got my attention. I started picking more up and found things in all of them. I carried as many as I could back to the car and was on my way for a second trip when I saw the attendant headed my way. I put my head down and kept going. I got another seven or eight picked up before he pulled his truck up and began yelling at me. I couldn’t blame him so took what I had and retreated to my car. As I pulled out he pulled his truck right up to my back bumper and he stayed right there until I got to the gate. He got out, opened it and as I pulled though the opening he gave me the “finger”. It didn’t bother me as I looked over to the passenger seat and saw a lot of useful items... all for free.

Elle was back by the time I got there. She’d actually been back to the house to get clothes for the kids and decided to stay with them at my parents beach. It was the first time at their beach this year, clearly the girls favorite because they had some different toys to play with, so it was a real treat. What was a treat for me was in seeing Elle’s butt. She’d tried to hide it from me at first but I think it was Kaye who, very excitedly, announced that “Mommy went tinkle in her shorts”.  She was too young to fathom Elle's 'problem' and couldn't understand why she got scolded when she did the same thing. I knew better than to ask Elle about it right then but I had a nice soft bulge for a while.

Because the previous night had been a little unusual as well as the day I wasn’t surprised when Elle declined to participate in some “wet fun” after putting the kids to bed. I decided to get my “kicks” by finding out why and how she'd wet herself at my parents beach. It wasn’t surprising that she tried to make it seem like nothing at all but I wore her down. The people who owned the house to the West of my parents lived in Michigan but would always come East for a week in June to open the house up for their renters. In the past they’d left their three boys with the grandparents while they worked on the house. This year they had brought the boys with them and found it had been a mistake. When Elle showed up with our girls they turned out to be somewhat of a diversion for them and Elle, somewhat reluctantly, ended up watching all six of them. My parents, not expecting Elle and the kids, were off visiting with some other neighbors and the other couple took off to buy some plants leaving Elle as the only adult on the beach with them. When the first dribble came Elle said that if there had been someone there she might’ve made it in to the bathroom. But, there was no one... so she just sat there in the sand and “let it flow”. She told me that when it came time to leave she didn’t think my parents or the neighbors knew. She added that if it weren’t for trying to do the right thing and putting a towel on the car seat our kids might not have known either.

I won’t swear to it but I think this is the time she told me that when she relaxed and when she felt her warm urine pooling up around her pubic area she felt some kind of “tingle”. You know that in hearing that I had an immediate reaction. However, in spite of my reaction I wasn’t able to generate one from her.

We woke up Sunday to stormy weather. The wind was blowing from the East which was always a bad sign. The leaves on the maple tree right outside the den area were being turned inside out by the wind. None of us had any desire to venture out in it so it was a lazy day at home.

Monday was more of the same weather. On the way in to work my car started misfiring badly and I pretty much knew what the problem was. If it hadn't been raining I could’ve fixed it myself but decided I’d stop by James’ garage and ask for a favor. The last couple of times I’d stopped for gas he hadn’t been there so when I walked in the office I knew we had some catching up to do. I hadn’t seen Peggy since the christening of her baby so that was the first order of business. James said she appeared to be doing well and that her periods of melancholy were now few and far between. That was good news. Hearing it made me feel guilty for not trying to stop by and see her. James assured me that he’d squeeze me in and would call later. I told him of my diagnosis of the trouble and suggested he start there. He just smiled.

It was almost 9:30am when I finally got to my desk. Lobby traffic was slow not only because of the bad weather but also the fact that the “busy period” was just about two weeks away and the depositors were waitng for that to make withdrawals. One of the things on my “to do” list for the week was to finalize the ads, both print and radio, for the upcoming new account/gift campaign. I hadn’t heard anything about the delivery of the gifts that we were to give away. I’d had nothing to do with ordering them as three of the Trustees had supposedly taken care of that. I was hoping there wasn’t going to be a problem. The girls who were going to open the new accounts had been hired and would be starting in two weeks so at least I felt fairly comfortable with that.

If here was one thing that might be called an Achilles' heel for the 'busy period' it was the teller line. I felt good about Gina’s ability for regular ‘traffic’ but she’d not been through a ‘busy period’. However, Janet, Jerene’s replacement, was technically still being trained. Her personality was still a bit of a problem. Both Bret and I had decided she had a superiority complex. She had a college degree and here she was working with the ‘peons’. Her husband was an officer in the Air Force and stationed just down the road and didn’t expect to stay there all that long so getting a job commensurate with her education was pretty much out of the question. If there was a plus to her it was that there were any number of Trustees who had commented favorably about her ‘maturity', even though she was younger than half the other tellers. I could only hope that she could handle the pressure.

The 'next big thing' was the school board election the following night. In a way I wished I really had something of import to work on as I found my mind wandering back to the election and Bob's chances. It was still bothering me why there seemed to have been a change in attitude from one Saturday to the next. Something just didn't seem right and I had no idea what it was. Time seemed to crawl by.

To be continued...  

MORE CHANGES... and problems (Part 132g)

MORE CHANGES... and problems (Part 132g)

Sabrina stood there just staring at the steps. I asked again what she kept under the steps and porch. As I spoke I could see her eyes focused upon me. ”Garbage pails“ was her answer and it was almost a whisper. Her father’s T-Bird was only about 20 feet away and I told her to go get in the car. I waited until she was inside it and had closed the door before I came down the steps. Under the porch was all enclosed and as I went around to one side I could see there was a door. I’d gotten the idea that there was some kind of critter in there and I saw there was a thumb latch holding it shut. If I was right it would come bolting right out if I opened it but I wasn’t about to be standing right there when I did. I looked around and saw a garden rake propped up against the side of the house so I grabbed it and went back up on the porch. I used the rake to lift the latch, pull the door open a little and then stamped my foot. It took about ten seconds to find out just what kind of critter was inside... a big, fat possum. He took off running towards the car and as I watched it I looked up to see Sabrina’s face. She was horrified!

It took me about five minutes to coax her out of the car. While trying to do it though, I asked her about the previous night and when she’d gone into the kitchen. I wanted to know if she’d closed the door behind her or had she left it open. She said she didn’t remember. It was my theory that if she’d left it open then the noise she heard had come from under the porch... and was the possum. When she finally exited the car she grabbed my hand and it was a really tight grip!

I unlocked the kitchen door but Sabrina made me peer inside before she’d enter. I kept reassuring her that we’d find nothing amiss in the house but her reluctance was evident. With her still grasping my hand we went through the whole first floor including closets and cabinets. When I asked if she saw anything out of place she said she wasn’t sure. She’d only brought a limited amount of furniture when she moved in and when we got to the second floor it was kind of eerie as our footsteps echoed. It was a four bedroom house and she’d chosen the one at the top of the stairs. We went in there first and as soon as I did I wanted to kick myself. I suddenly realized that I would’ve had a chance to peruse her lingerie drawer, uninhibited, if I’d done what she’d originally asked... but I decided to make her go with me. I really was upset with myself.

It didn’t take long to go through the four rooms and that left only the attic. Sabrina confessed that she’d never been up there and begged me not to make her do it. Just about then we heard a voice from downstairs. It frightened her so I responded. It was Martin. He came bounding up the stairs and was all concerned about Sabrina because he hadn’t caught up with her the day before and she hadn’t answered her phone. Seeing him relaxed her and she immediately led him to the stairs and back to the first floor. As they walked away I told her that I’d check the attic. I did but just from the top step. As I made my way back down the stairs I realized I’d been given a reprieve... I could still get a look in Sabrina’s lingerie drawer.

I wouldn’t call the furnishings spartan as the quality was evident. It was just that here wasn’t much of it. There was a double bed, night stand, standing dresser and a small desk like thing with a chair. It was obvious that she wasn’t much of a housekeeper as the bed was unmade (but with no visible stains) and there was a pile of clothes next to the closet door. I made sure I could hear voices coming from the kitchen before trying the top drawer of the dresser. There was one burning question for me... the flowered panties I’d seen that one day. I was sure they were nylon but all the other panties of hers that I’d seen were cotton. I pulled the top drawer open and it looked like a rats nest. Everything that was in there was all spread about with absolutely no order... bras, panties, slips and stockings. Seeing that mess I wasn’t worried about leaving any clues that I’d been there and, knowing I didn’t have a lot of time, I just kind of stirred things around as I searched for the flowered panties. It was plain to see they weren’t there. I also noted that all of the panties were cotton and what I could see had the distinctive waist elastic of the Carter’s brand. No surprises.

I had one last shot at finding the flowered panties and that was in the pile of clothes on the floor. I checked to see if the voices were still coming from the kitchen and when I didn’t hear them I panicked. I quickly made my way to the top of the stairs and then heard them laughing. That was a big relief. I looked back into her room and took a deep breath. The temptation was just too much and I was at the pile of clothes in seconds. I pretty much just stirred them about. I did come across a couple of the heavy ribbed cotton panties like Elle wore at night but that was all. I was truly disappointed. As I headed for the stairs again I didn’t feel as bad but I also knew I better get to the super market soon or Elle wouldn’t  be talking to me the rest of the weekend.

The laughter I’d heard was over how Sabrina had gone to the wrong train station to pick Martin up the day before and how he had to go back to the city. I told them I had to get going and, again, reassured Sabrina that she was perfectly safe. I also told her that the possum she’d seen wouldn’t bite even though he was as ugly as sin. Just as I was about to go out the door Martin asked if I was up for the races that night. I just shook my head from side to side and kept going.

It was after 9am when I arrived at the shopping center and the supermarket. Elle just thrust the hand-outs into my hand and took off for the station wagon. There was a nice VPL showing on her backside as she walked away. As I attempted to distribute the flyers I was a bit surprised when most people just walked on by refusing to take the hand-out. After a half hour I decided I was wasting my time. The previous week three out of five had taken one but on this day it was more like one out of eight. On my way home I stopped by the post office to see if things were going any better for Bob. The previous week, when I arrived, there were at least three people talking with him. On this day there was only one and he was the town ”pest“. I asked Bob about his day and all he said was that it was ”slow”. I left the flyers with him and headed for home wondering why the big change. My first thought was that the 'local' that he was running against had started another rumor. We would find out come Tuesday night.

No one was home when I arrived which meant peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch. Since there was no wash on the line it told me Elle hadn’t returned to the house and it also meant all Sabrina’s things were still where she’d left them. The nightie and panties were still in the sink in the bathroom. When I held the nightie up I could see that she’d wet while on her stomach. I’d wondered which panties Elle had given her to sleep in and, to be truthful, was surprised to find they were a pair of the Kayser panties. I’d bought Elle a couple of pair way back when we lived in the mobile home park but I couldn’t remember her wearing them. As I held them up I could see they were now 'broken-in'. Other than the wetness that had wicked up while in the sink, the light yellow stain fully covered the front. I remember looking closely at the panties because there was something just a bit different about them... the leg elastic was wider and thicker than other nylon panties and I wondered if that wasn’t the reason I’d bought them.

To be continued...

MORE CHANGES... and problems (Part 132f)

MORE CHANGES... and problems (Part 132f)

When the kids spent the night at Elle’s mother’s house it usually meant we’d start the next day with a little “morning delight”. When we originally came up with the idea of a night alone that had been one of my primary thoughts. Sabrina had certainly killed that idea. I started to get dressed as Elle rolled out of bed. Because Sabrina had pleaded with us to sleep with our door open Elle had elected not to use her multiple alarms to periodically wake her to use the bathroom during the night. That meant, for sure, that her “package” was flooded. It was obvious as she stood beside the bed and stretched her arms above her head. Neither of us was prepared for the knock on our door. A natural reaction by Elle was to quickly pull her arms down and to grab the hem of her nightie to hide the soggy mass that was under it. When Elle didn’t respond I remember yelling, somewhat annoyed, “WHAT?”

There was a bit of silence before we could hear a sheepish and almost pleading “Elle?” Elle did respond to that and then we heard Sabrina ask, apologetically, if she could borrow some clothes to put on after she took a shower.  I remember rolling my eyes at Elle but she ignored me and simply said “Yes.”

I stopped getting dressed and watched as Elle went about picking out some things for her. There was no problem with size as, other than height, they had about the same build. I remember Elle calling out to her asking if shorts would be OK. That was a good choice for me because it would give the possibility of a VPL. Now my attention was focused on just what panties she’d pick to give her. I was sitting on the side of the bed and hoping that she’d pick a pair of the VanRaalte, with the large crotch, or the SansSoucie with the distinctive one. As Elle moved away from the dresser I wasn’t sure. As she walked away I did see she’d chosen an older, light blue pair of shorts and the top that went with it. I watched as she opened the door just a sliver and handed the clothes to Sabrina. I also heard her ask if it was a good time to take a shower. I wasn’t intending to and Elle deferred to Sabrina. When Elle turned back towards me she shrugged her shoulders and with a look of  tired resignation on her face muttered that I’d told her that Sabrina was going to be  PITA (pain in the ass).

But it was obvious that Elle did have a soft heart when she said that she’d go downstairs and make both Sabrina and I breakfast. Normally, I made my own, satisfied with cereal and a couple of pieces of toast. However, when Elle made breakfast it meant bacon and eggs with hash browns so I knew I was "go" for it. I thought that Elle would, at least, go into our bathroom and get out of her package and washed up but she grabbed her robe, put on her slippers and headed down the stairs. I found it to be mildly “stimulating” with the idea of Elle being wet around a “stranger“.

It was a few minutes before I moved to follow her down the stairs. With Sabrina in the shower and Elle occupied with cooking breakfast it gave me the opportunity to duck into Kaye’s room and to try and locate the panties she’d worn the night before. I found the dress she’d been wearing draped over the back of the chair and a quick perusal showed the slightly yellow stain on the back. Lifting it up I expected to see the panties right there but there was only a cotton half slip that showed the same discoloration. We never closed the door to Kaye’s room so the natural position for it was against the wall. I knew I didn’t have much time before drawing Elle’s attention to my dallying so was about to leave when I thought of the door handle. I used the ones in our room all the time to hang Elle's wet panties and when I peeked behind the door... voila!... there they were. Not surprisingly, they were a pair of the newer style Carter’s cotton panties with elastic around the legs. But my attention was focused on the the stain that her wetting had left. It was dry by then and very noticeable against the pristine white of the panties. I will admit that I also held them up to my nose for a sniff.

Downstairs, I could still hear the shower running as I passed by the bathroom door. I asked Elle if she’d heard anything from Sabrina and she held up five fingers which I took to mean she’d be ready in five minutes. The smell of bacon is deadly for me... so I went over and grabbed a couple of pieces. The cost was a smack on the bicep. When Sabrina appeared from the bathroom she actually looked fairly calm, especially when compared to the night before. She asked what to do with the things she’d worn during the night and Elle told her to leave them in the sink in the bathroom and to come over to the table while things were still warm.

At first Sabrina was talkative but as we were finishing up she sort of withdrew. As I’ve said before, she was one strange girl. I was already late for handing out the flyers for Bob and the school board election at the supermarket so I was the first to get up from the table. As soon as I did Sabrina also stood up and blurted out that she needed one more favor. I don’t remember my reaction but I’m sure that the least would’ve been a rolling of my eyes. Her demeanor had changed and she was now back in a bit of a panic mode. I stood there not really wanting to hear just what the favor was.

Simply put... she was afraid to go back into the house and wanted me to go in to check it out. I definitely remember looking straight at Elle and not saying anything at all. Finally, I asked her if she would/could go to the supermarket and hand out the flyers for a little while until I could get there. The look she gave me said "no" but after a few seconds I heard her issue a sigh of resignation and say she needed a few minutes to get washed up and dressed.

I followed Sabrina towards her house making sure I was far enough behind to garner a VPL. I still didn’t know which panties Elle had given her but when she ducked down to go through the opening in the hedge I got my answer. I was truly surprised that they were a pair of the Evette panties, the ones from my friend Willy's first company. Elle hadn’t worn any of them in quite a while but I was still pleased as they exhibited a pretty noticeable VPL. Once we reached the steps to the porch to her kitchen door she stopped, handed me the key and said she would stay there and wait for me to come back.

During the night I’d laid in bed thinking about how ”needy“ Sabrina was. It was almost like Celia was still living there but at a younger age. I tried to think of a way to wean her of it but couldn’t come up with anything... until that moment by the steps. I took a deep breath and grabbed one of her hands. Then I told her that she was going to walk through the whole house, room by room, closet by closet, with me. I was emphatic that she do this or I wasn’t going to do it either. She stood there, silent, for about a minute before nodding her head affirmatively. As we stood there I could see her father’s T-Bird still in the driveway where she’d left it the night before. For some reason I had the strange thought of wondering if it was the first time it had been left outdoors, overnight, in it’s lifetime.

I did agree to go up the steps and unlock the door without her. There were four steps before reaching the porch floor and I’d only gone up a couple when I heard some noise beneath me. I turned and looked at Sabrina and the panic look on her face was back. I didn’t move for a few seconds and when I did I stamped my foot on the step... and there was more noise but not as much. I did it again and got the same result. That’s when I asked Sabrina what was under the porch.

To be continued...