HOME AGAIN… to some surprises (Part 157f)
The panties went
right into my suit pants pocket and then they got hung up and put in the
closet. It was the safest way to handle it even if I had to wait until
the next time I wore the suit to put them with my stash. Back downstairs
I, as innocently as I could, asked Elle what was up with the carry case
on the bed. She smiled and said she’d been warned that the class she’d
been called in to teach was scheduled for a field trip. Not having any
concrete information about the trip itself she told me she decided to
not take any chances and brought ”spare everything”. I had to ask if she
needed any of it and got a big smile as a response. I decided not to
pursue it any further as I now had the panties and she was back to being
’normal’ and not upset with me any more. That made me smile too.
With
the kids occupied I had the opportunity to explain about my upcoming
trip to the city. Unexpectedly, it didn’t seem to phase her. I wondered
if it might be a good time to bring up the race car. I figured “Why
not?” and plunged ahead. I started by telling her the racing season
started in mid May but there was a practice before that and I'd be
needed. I was waiting for some sort of a negative response but didn’t
even get a ‘rise’ out of her. I didn’t know if that was good or bad so I
didn’t go any further.
Mary Carol, the new switchboard operator,
was waiting for me at the back door of the bank the next morning. Trish
had had her complete all the necessary paperwork the previous day so
she was all set to start training on the PBX board. Lynne was relieved
to see her and anxious to get started with training her. While doing the
introduction J J appeared so I had to introduce him as well. It turned
out that he knew her father as he’d worked on the building of his house.
For some reason that pleased me. However, seeing him reminded me that I
still hadn’t gotten any information about his meeting with the
president after the incident that caused Netta to quit.
Back
downstairs I overheard Jerry talking with someone of the phone about the
branch. That disturbed me as he’d been told that anything having to do
with the construction was to go through Hobie, and in his absence, me.
As much as I hated talking to/with him I felt I had to. He tried to
‘dance’ around my question but I wouldn’t let him. While I was away he’d
managed to talk with Albie at the data center for some reason.
Somewhere in the conversation the matter of the teller machines for the
branch came up. That was totally under my direction. I really had to
reign in my dislike for this man as I reiterated that fact to him. He
did manage to divulge what information the data center wanted and it had
to do with the phone wires for data transmission. I can assure you
Jerry didn’t have a clue as to just what it was that they wanted to
check on. I called Albie to get clarification and the end result it
meant me having to go to the branch to confirm that the data packs had
been installed. After watching them being installed at the main office I
knew exactly what the data center was looking for.
I told Hobie I
was headed for the branch. He told me the teller counter had been
roughed in when he was there the last time so I decided to take a tape
measure to make sure they had the right width for the teller machines.
That decision turned out to be somewhat critical as the plan from the
architect had used the dimensions for the old type NCR machines that we
were no longer using. I found he data packs were in place which meant
the data center could test the lines as soon as the machines were
delivered. That, to me was a very positive sign as to being able to open
by July 1st. I’d heard from a friend at another bank that they’d had to
postpone a branch opening because the data lines were not in place.
The
only other thing that I saw that was of a concern was the signage. A
temporary sign had been put up to announce that we would be opening in
early Summer. Because of the odd shape of the property and the need for a
drive-up window the building was quite close to the road leaving no
room for a sign that could be seen until you were right on it. It was
just another thing that annoyed me about the Trustees being involved
with something they really didn’t have any experience or knowledge.
However, what was done couldn’t be undone so I headed on back.
I
was still a bit upset about the situation with Netta and J J and on my
way I went over what she had said about the dropped calls she’d been
experiencing. I got to wondering if there was something wrong with the
board itself. I only knew a little about the history and that it had
been installed right before WWII. That meant it was going on 30 years
old. By the time I got to the parking lot I knew I was going to put a
service call in on it when I got back to my desk.
My timing was almost perfect
for my return to the bank. Gertrude (the travel agency lady) had called
for me and when told I was out and left a message for me to call upon
my return. It had only been minutes since she'd called and when I got
her on the phone she said she'd be right down with the check to open the
account that Jerry had refused to open for her. I wondered what Jerry's
reaction would be when she walked in.
To be continued...
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