HOME AGAIN... to some surprises (Part 157a)

HOME AGAIN… to some surprises (Part 157a)

The phone woke us both up. It was Elle’s mother asking when we were coming to pick the girls up. When I looked at my watch and saw it was after 9am I jumped out of bed. Elle was still groggy but when I told her she volunteered to be the one to get them. Without the use of her alarm clocks she was a pretty soggy so had to get washed up before leaving. As she did she asked me to run into town and pick up milk, eggs and bread so we could at least have something to eat before she did the household shopping later on. We both left the house at the same time but I heard the sound of a tractor from the neighbor’s yard. I waved Elle to leave first as I wanted to peek through the hedge to see what was going on. All I could see was two trucks in front of the garage but I could hear the tractor. Walking on over I could see the tractor had a bucket on the front and it had a load of what looked like splintered wood piled in it. By the time I made it to the garage I saw Bill (the principal) talking with two men. I waited until he was finished and then asked what was happening.

I already knew that the house had been sold and that Bill and Phyllis were building a new house. The new owner had agreed to let them rent until their house was completed or July 1st, whichever came first. But he also got permission to start on some improvements to the property itself and this was the first. He was building a shed but had decided to put it where the tree that had been hit by lightning had stood. To do it they had to dig out the stump of the tree. What I noticed was the T-pole clothes line I’d pretty much built for Bill and Phyllis was gone. Before leaving I asked what they were going to do without it figuring that Phyllis would ask to use ours. But Bill pointed to some pipe in the back of one of the trucks and said they were going to put up a temporary one for them. For a minute I thought I’d be getting some up close and personal looks again but it appeared that it wasn’t to be. When I turned to leave Bill stopped me. He said he wanted to let Elle and I know that they’d be hosting some relatives from Germany. I didn’t know why he told me about it but didn’t dwell on it and headed off to do the shopping that Elle had asked me to do.

Stopping at the post office to pick up the week’s mail I ran into Bob (of Bob and Phyllis) who let me know the ‘group’ headed up by Pat (the PTA lady) had met and that Pat was going to approach me about running for the school board. NOT what I wanted to hear upon my return. He proceeded to tell me how the discussion had gone and I told him the basic reason I was selected was that I wasn’t at the meeting to protest. In truth, I was pissed and told him I wouldn't do it!

Back at home I was still upset. I honestly believed in the goals of the ‘group’ for the school board but didn’t agree with the way Pat (the PTA lady) orchestrated it. I found her to be unbending and downright ‘pushy’. I’d taken my anger out on Bob, who was the unwitting ‘messenger’, and by the time Elle got home with the kids I was unable to dismiss the incident. I tried to greet the kids with a welcoming smile but it didn’t happen. Elle called me out on it and I tried to explain what had happened but she wasn’t very sympathetic. Here it was, not even noon on my first day back at home and I was in trouble. I wanted to go back to Florida!

Eating a peanut butter and honey sandwich (that I had to make for myself) for lunch I was trying to figure out what I’d have to do to get back to some semblance of normalcy. It didn’t come from the telephone. I’m going to say that just about the last person I expected a call from was Bret. We’d pretty much had a pact not to call each other at home with bank business. I’d been the first to break that agreement so wasn’t really that upset when I heard his voice. He apologized but immediately wanted me to know he’d completely resisted calling me while I was in Florida. That little tidbit still didn’t make me feel all that good.

Hobie’s mother-in-law had died quite suddenly and he wasn’t at work the last three days of the week. That had left just he and Jerry to handle the ‘platform’. My immediate thought was that that shouldn’t have been a problem since Bret and I had been alone to oversee the area for most of the time I’d been there. Hobie, as corporate secretary, spent a good bit of time at meetings and the two of us seldom had a problem. I should’ve guessed what the problem was… Jerry.

Without giving lessons in banking, let me just say that I’d worked real hard on getting a customer to bank with us. I’d devised a plan (approved by the Trustee/attorney) where she could keep money from her business in savings accounts earning interest rather than just having it sit in a commercial bank account and not earning a penny. The woman came in on Friday when Bret was at lunch and she was waited on by Jerry. When she told him what she wanted to do for an account he told it was illegal. She got upset and walked out of the bank threatening to close all her accounts on Monday. When Trish told Bret about the situation he tried to get in touch with her but failed. So, knowing my relationship with her, he called to suggest it might be wise to come into town and go to her place of business, a travel agency, (banks weren't open on Saturdays back then) and try to resolve it without the distraction of Jerry to get her upset all over again. I definitely remember taking a few deep breaths before telling him I’d do it. I also remember wanting to strangle Jerry.

To be continued...