MAYHEM IN MAY... life goes on (Part 159f)

MAYHEM IN MAY… life goes on (Part 159f)

After a quick lunch across the street at the luncheonette I proceeded to go over some things I thought he’d be asked. I pretty much knew who’d ask the questions but I felt it would be a waste of time to try and describe them hoping that knowing what to expect would be enough. I stayed with him until it was time for the branch committee meeting… which I was not looking forward to. I’d asked Hobie to attend after “Polack Joe” challenged the premium/gifts that the Board had approved and the committee wanted to add a blanket to the offerings. When I saw him in the Board room I wanted to tell him of Bert’s plan to present a new telephone system to the whole Board but he was in deep conversation with… who else… “Polack Joe”.

I’d had Trish bring all four of the blankets to the room and had also asked her to check them out. I’d not had a chance to speak with her but had seen her for a brief few seconds after she did and she’d given me the thumbs up signal. That was encouraging. I didn’t want to walk into the room with all the members present so was there as most walked into the room. “Polack Joe” and Hobie were the only people in the room and I could see Joe was quite animated. That, to me, was not a good sign. He and Hobie remained talking right up until the chairman of the committee called the meeting to order. The first item on his agenda was the the addition of a blanket for the new account campaign. I was asked to show the samples and I passed them around the table. The first words I heard were to ask why there were four colors. It was “Polack Joe”. The chairman spoke up and reminded him that he was not a member of the committee. I was looking right at him when the chairman spoke and it was obvious he didn’t like being spoken to like that. But, he’d been successful in planting the ‘seed’ and there was a discussion about it. I got the attention of the chairman and asked to speak. I passed on what the distributor had told me and that was women liked choices. There was little said after that and they voted to add the blankets to the campaign. I was excused at that point.

Since I had no idea when Norman and I would be called in to make the phone system presentation I decided to stay in the area just outside the Board room. The ladies rest room was also located in that area. It had originally been created for the Trustee’s use but when the second floor was added it was changed to be for the ladies. However, during Board meetings it reverted back to the Trustees use with the ladies having to go downstairs. Knowing that and the fact it had been before lunch when I’d last relieved myself I decided to take advantage of it’s close proximity.

When the bank was remodeled nothing was done to the room, at all. The pipes and fixtures were still pre WWII and because of it we’d experienced a small flood downstairs in the drive-up area not too far in the past. While I was there I checked out the repair and as I looked under the toilet tank I could see the new on/off valve that had been installed. I also saw something on the floor right in the corner. I thought it was a paper towel and reached over the toilet seat to get to it. As soon as my fingers reached it I knew it wasn’t paper. I had to stretch to reach it and when I pulled it up I wasn’t sure what it was but it only took a few seconds to find out for sure.
           

this is what they looked like after washing

I was impressed with the decorations on them but was really puzzled as to whom they might belong. I could tell for sure they’d been wet with pee but because they’d been balled up and then left to dry, the staining was all over them. The tag for the maker was a name I didn't recognize and the size read 'small'. Knowing I didn’t have much time and the fact they were dry I took a calculated risk and took some toilet paper covered them up and stuffed them into my pocket. Returning to wait outside the Board room door I got to wondering just who they belonged to. There were three steps up into the second floor work area and I climbed them to scan the women who worked there and to see who might be small enough to wear them. The first desk was occupied by Judy, the relative of a long deceased Trustee. I didn’t like her… at all… and neither did most of the second floor women. But, she was the smallest of all that I could see. If they were hers I felt it was a bit of a disappointment… but I still wanted to keep them for my ‘stash’.

What finding the panties did do was to take my mind off the upcoming telephone presentation. I had no idea what kind of a lead in to the subject Bert would be giving to the Trustees and I was concerned. I already knew Norman was nervous. When I tried to give him some ideas as to what kind of questions he might be asked he admitted that he’d not done a presentation to a group. I’d left him downstairs with his materials figuring he was better off there than just standing around just outside the Board room. It wasn’t long before one of the Trustees opened the door and said they were ready for me. I made a quick trip down the back stairs to get Norman and then returned to find out what we would be subjected to… with my concern mostly being “Polack Joe”.

To be continued…

MAYHEM IN MAY... life goes on (Part 159e)

MAYHEM IN MAY… life goes on (Part 159e)

The hung over feeling was still around when I woke up the next morning. Even without all the added drama Board meeting days were always a bit stressful. Hobie was usually a bit up tight and he was on this day as well. Not a good way to start my day. I was just about to proof read the agenda for the meeting that Trish had just typed when this scruffy little man showed up at her desk with a cardboard carton. He spoke with a foreign accent that made him almost unintelligible. It took a few seconds for me to realize that the box contained the blanket samples I’d requested. I took it from him and opened it to find four blankets… pink, yellow, light blue and gray. As soon as I ripped off the plastic covering off one I could see/feel that it was a lot different than the one we’d given away at the last new account campaign. It was lighter with a waffle weave and being that it would be given away during Summer weather it immediately made sense. I liked it! But… it wasn’t for me to decide. At least one of my pending items was in hand.

Norman, from Northern Telecom, showed up around 11am. He had all kinds of support material with him but the first thing I wanted to see was the cost. He was prepared for that and pulled out a sheet from his folio. I scanned it and went right to the bottom line. It wasn’t just one number but showed a range. As I looked at it I was somewhat pleased that the high number was less than half what the telephone company proposal had been. I asked about the reason for the ranges and I remember him smiling. He seemed like he was a bit embarrassed but he admitted he wouldn’t be a good salesman if he didn’t present ‘options’. I had to smile back. 

Since the Board room was closed in preparation for the big meeting later on there really wasn’t any good place to spread his materials out.  I looked around and decided I could clear some space on a table back in the work area where our bookkeeping machine (computer) had been. While doing that I saw Bert walking across the lobby towards the elevator. Based on how adamant he was for me to solve the switchboard problem I made a split second decision and went after him catching him just as he entered the elevator. Thankfully he was back to his normal self… calm and ‘laid back’. I asked him to step back into the lobby telling him I had something important to show him. At first I thought I’d made a mistake because all I’d seen was the cost and nothing else. But, I led him over to where Norman was laying out some of the engineering diagrams. I explained that this was a proposal for an entirely new type of phone system. I’ll never forget his reaction. I wish I could remember exactly what he said but it was definitely along the lines of “That was fast!”, meaning my response to his order to “fix it”. What I didn’t expect was for him to stay and to hear Norman go through what was in the proposal. Norman wasn’t finished when Bert excused himself saying he had to get ready for a meeting. As he walked away he called me over to the gate leading to the lobby. 

What he had to say really ‘floored’ me. He asked if I thought it was possible to have Norman make a presentation to the whole Board later that day. He said he thought he might get approval for the system which would accelerate the installation… and he wanted the change as soon as possible. All I could say was that I’d ask. Going back to Norman I asked my own question first… how long after a contract was signed would it be until we were up and running with it. That was certainly a ‘clue’ for Norman and the expression on his face showed he knew he was close to a sale. After a phone call to his office he returned to say they’d be able to start in less than two weeks. I quickly reminded him that wasn’t the answer to the question I’d asked. Another phone call later he said it should take less than a week once they started. A quick calculation told me that would be the first week in June. It seemed reasonable so it was then that I asked about presenting to the full Board… in about 2 1/2 hours. 

I’m smiling as I write this because I swear I watched all the color fade from his face. After stammering about not being prepared he said he thought he could do it but throwing out to me that he’d only been with the company a few months. I spent the next few minutes telling him that all he had to do was pretend he was making it to me… which he hadn’t yet done. So, even though we had no privacy he proceeded to make his ‘pitch’ to me. I made some notes and then made a few suggestions. He was still pretty shook up but asked if I was going to be there. That was a good question. Since the idea for it had just come up I knew it wasn’t going to be on the meeting agenda so I didn’t know. I did know I had to get back to Bert with Norman’s answer. Climbing the back stairs it came to me that I’d completely by-passed Hobie and wondered what the repercussions from that would be. Bert saw me talking with Lena, his secretary, and came out to the door of his office and asked if I had an answer. When I told him Norman would do it he smiled and told me to be there too.

To be continued…

MAYHEM IN MAY... life goes on (Part 159d)

MAYHEM IN MAY… life goes on (Part 159d)

By Tuesday morning the euphoria of having won on Saturday night had worn thin and I was ready to concentrate on my job at the bank. With the full Board meeting on Wednesday there were a lot of peripheral things to be addressed on top of my ongoing projects. Not the least of them was in getting blanket samples for the branch committee to choose from. I’d been promised I’d have some on Monday but the day had come and gone and there were no blankets. I was on the phone to both of my ‘contacts’ as soon as I got to my desk but with no success. I was sitting there ’steaming’, when Trish came over and said I was needed in the president’s office. Because of the proximity of the Board meeting it was not unusual for him to go over some things with me before the meeting. However, not this time!

Bert was, by nature, a very ‘laid back’ person. As soon as I saw Lena, his secretary, I knew it was important. He was sitting behind his desk holding the handset of his phone in his hand. When he saw me he started waving it above his face and in as loud a voice I’d ever heard from him he demanded to know when the phones were going to be fixed. As I’ve previously written it had been deemed that our PBX switchboard was not only obsolete but was basically unfixable. There was only one technician at the telephone company who had any experience with a PBX. He’d made some changes right after J J had blown up at the switchboard operator, Netta, and caused her to quit. As soon as I was informed of the situation with the PBX I contacted the telephone company about a replacement. After the telephone company sales rep made his ridiculous proposal I told Hobie I was getting at least one other. I had no idea if he’d kept Bert aware of it so when he lit into me I didn’t know how to react. I’m not sure exactly what my answer was but I think I said something like “I’m working on it.” That was not the answer he was looking for. Still holding the handset in his hand he pointed it towards me and angrily stated that he’d been trying to talk with “Gee” (the Trustee/attorney) and been cut off three times. Then he sort of spit out the words “Get it fixed!”

Back at my desk there was a note that one of the gift/premium distributors had finally returned my calls but didn’t leave a message. With Bert’s words still ringing in my ears I ignored it and looked for Norman’s, (the Northern Telecom salesman) business card to see if he could accelerate the proposal he was working on for me. Not surprisingly, he wasn’t in the office. A nice woman took the message and promised that he’d check in with me by lunch time.

If my day wasn’t already filled with enough problems the next thing was Jerry wanting to talk with me. He didn’t have a customer at his desk so I was unsure as to just what was up. Sitting down in the side chair he thrust a piece of paper in front of me. I took a quick glance and saw it was a pencil sketch of a help wanted ad. That was the last thing I wanted to get involved with right at that moment. However, since I was somewhat aware that he was getting some direction from unknown sources I asked what prompted it. In a matter of fact way told me that it was only six weeks until the branch was to open and he felt we should start interviewing right away. I had to ask why it was suddenly so important hoping to find out who was prodding him to move on this subject. I fully expected him to tell me but he didn’t. All he’d say was he thought he was running out of time.

To get rid of him I explained that the bank had an ad agency and they would make up an ad and place it in the papers that served the new branch area when the time came. Just for the fun of it I asked just where did he think the interviews would take place. All I got was a blank stare in return. My frustration level was always high when talking with Jerry and it was just about at it’s peak. Finally, I told him I'd work with him on a plan come Friday. He had a sort of a disgusted look on his face as he got up but didn’t say anything. I’m not sure what I would’ve done if he had.

Next in line to talk with me was Bret. When we’d gone to the restaurant supply company to find stools for the tellers that company didn’t have anything acceptable to us. The salesperson had told us he’d do some research to try and find what we were looking for. Well… he’d done just that and now wanted us to come out to look at what he’d uncovered. I wanted to laugh when Bret asked if we could go out to the showroom. By then I was ready to scream “Enough, already!”… but I didn’t.

By mid afternoon I’d convinced one of the premium/gift distributors to hand deliver some blanket samples by 3pm on Wednesday in time for the branch committee meeting. He wasn’t happy about it but when I told him if he didn’t he could forget about doing business with us. I’d also talked with Norman at Northern Telecom and he said he’d have a preliminary proposal to us by noon the next day. I quizzed him about costs and he assured they’d be reasonable. He let slip that if we were to sign a contract with them that we’d get free publicity from the deal. I ended up sending Bret to the  restaurant supply place to view the materials and told him that it the product looked ‘decent’ to order six but with a return clause built in. By the time I left for home I had a headache worse than the one I’d woken up with on Sunday... but I had made it to the end of the day.

To be continued…

MAYHEM IN MAY... life goes on (Part 159c)

MAYHEM IN MAY… life goes on (Part 159c)

Bret was waiting for me at work on Monday. With all of his racing friends he’d heard that my car had won on Saturday night and he wanted to hear all about it. He’d expressed his sincere desire to have been able to go to the races not only to see my car but also to see one of his good friends make his debut at a new track. “CJ” or, as I knew him, Chet, was a classmate of Bret’s in high school. Two other classmates (that I’ve written about quite a while ago) got into racing while in school and Chet worked on their pit crews. On a dare he drove one of their cars in warm-ups one night and became ‘hooked’. However, he didn’t have any money but eventually was able to persuade his father to back him. He (Chet) started driving in races at the same time I did only he was in the faster class of cars. For reasons that I still don’t understand, his father (known as “Seeg”), took a liking to me and was a tremendous help in keeping me racing. Chet started off being competitive in with the ‘good’ cars and won a couple of feature races in his rookie year. From there he went on to be a multiple time track champion. During those years another “Chet” started racing and the track announcer decided to use the original Chet’s initials to avoid confusion. Thus, he began being known as and called CJ. He was far superior to the other cars and was finally persuaded to move to the track that Cliffy was racing at for not only the better competition but also for more money. Bret was excited for his friend but unhappy that he’d be unable to go to all his races. Then, when I got involved with Cliffy it made him doubly upset to have missed the races.

So, he wanted to know, blow by blow, what had taken place. Of course I was more than willing to tell him about the WHOLE night. It was hard to get into the business at hand but by mid morning or so I was back into the ‘banking mode’. I had to go to the vault to witness a cash count and as I walked past Trish’s desk I saw a cop standing there. She wasn’t there so I stopped to see if I could help. It was the cop who’d helped me locate the missing purse of the drunk lady only I didn’t recognize him in uniform. He wanted to know how the car had done and, of course, I told him.  I got so involved with him that Liz, the Auditor, had to come get me to witness the cash count. As he was leaving he said it was intention to be at the races on Saturday night. It was ‘heady’ stuff being a winner!

Cliffy had taken the race car hauler back to his father’s service garage after the races and we’d all agreed to unload the car and gear on Monday evening. It was not a shock to Elle when I headed off. At the garage there were about eight or nine people gathered around the hauler with the car still loaded on the back. Walking up to them I immediately recognized Davo, the 6’5” guy who I’d played basketball with earlier in the year. He had his girlfriend with him. I knew her from the fact that her mother was the school nurse. She was not particularly pretty but a winsome smile made her somewhat attractive. A ’solid’ girl with a fair amount of ‘shape' to her, it was impossible for me not to look at her wondering what she was wearing under her slacks. However, with all the others gathered around waiting to congratulate Cliffy there wasn’t much opportunity. Another among the group was Davo’s friend, Adam, who’d also played basketball. After the team had broken up I found out that he and I were related through a marriage in the family.

In any case, it was almost dark before we got the car and gear unloaded. By the time we got to work on the car there had probably been over two dozen people stop by to congratulate Cliffy… the benefit of living in a small town. Among those who’d stopped were two guys who stood out by the fact they were actually looking for information on how to get into racing at the level that Cliffy was at. I’d raced against one of them but never really got to know him before selling my car. His father ran an auto body shop about three miles down the road. They seemed sincere and offered to help out on our pit crew. When they did it triggered a comment that Cliffy had made to me when we’d gone to the practice session a few weeks earlier. I don’t remember the exact words but it was along the lines of how everyone likes to ride the coattails of a winner. He’d said it when looking at the number of guys helping out a competitors car, the reigning track champion, and then looking at our five guys. Here he was having just won his first race and now there were people lining up to support and help him.

We’d all agreed we wanted to be out of there by 11pm and Cliffy chased everybody out and closed down the doors right at eleven. I’d mentioned earlier that we’d forgotten to pick up our winnings ($1,000) while at the track and Cliffy had called that morning only to find out we’d have to wait until Saturday night to get it. He’d inspected the tires and felt they were marginal for another night of racing. They’d made it in spite of the prognostication that they wouldn’t even last one night. I remember him saying that they better last because after he won using the new type tire, competitors had bought out the complete supply tires the company made up. As soon as he said it I remembered my thoughts of Sunday morning. Now not only would we have to wait for our money to buy more tires but would have to wait for tires themselves. It was not a comforting thought.

To be continued…

MAYHEM IN MAY... life goes on (Part 159b)

MAYHEM IN MAY… life goes on (Part 159b)

When I woke up Sunday morning Elle and the kids were gone. I hadn’t looked to see what time it was when I finally got home but it was after 11am right then and there. My head was telling me that it had been quite a celebration. I, gingerly, made my way down the stairs and ended up in the reclining chair in the den. Thankfully, it was cloudy so the daylight wasn’t too bright. I remember leaning back in the chair and trying to think back on the previous night. It didn’t take long for a serious thought to pop into my head… there had been a very important person missing while we all celebrated… it was Cliffy’s father. He’d built all the cars that Cliffy had raced since moving up to the top division (Modified) and paid all the bills and never saw a winner. Here we were, a bunch of young “hot shots” (as he called us) that had bought his car, painted it different colors with a new number, bought four new tires and won  in our first try at it. I’d known the man since I was around 10 or 11 years old and I really admired him for being able to make things out of junk. It just didn’t seem right that he didn’t get to see his son win his first race.

Also in my thoughts was “Big B” because if he hadn’t thrown in some money towards buying the new tires we probably wouldn’t have won. AND… thinking about the tires and the big chance we’d taken in buying something that hadn’t yet been tried I suddenly realized that not all the people who’d gathered around the car after the races were there to congratulate Cliffy. They were also there to inspect the tires to see how badly they’d worn. I know I hadn’t checked them out and I wondered if any of the other guys had. AND… that thought generated another… had anyone thought to go to the office to collect our winnings. I knew first paid $1,000 and it was certainly going to help our fledgling operation.

It was about then that Elle and the kids arrived home from church. As she approached the kitchen door I tried to remember if I’d even tried to tell her that we’d won. As soon as she appeared in the doorway to the den I told her and got a casual “I know” back followed by a snide remark along the lines of “I could see that!”. I was expecting some sort of comment to follow but all she said was that we’d been invited next door to celebrate the German twins birthday a bit later on. My head was still pounding and going to a birthday party for teens that I didn’t really know wasn’t high on my priority list.

To say it wasn’t a productive day is an understatement. Elle could’ve been mean and insisted that we do something as a family but allowed me to sleep some more in the recliner. I definitely felt better by the time we headed next door. We were the only non-family members at the party which was a bit uncomfortable. The relatives from Pennsylvania were there and there was a lot of German spoken but, on the plus side, there was a lot of good German food. It was pretty boring for me but, with the way I felt, that was OK. Because Helga and Herta were headed for college in the Fall, their presents were mostly clothes that would carry them through the Fall and into the winter. I just stayed out of the way. When Elle decided it was time for us to go I stood in line to thank the girls for including us. As I waited for our three girls to do the same I looked down at the table where they’d placed their presents. The box right on the top caught my attention. I could see a group of pastel colors sort of stacked one against the other. Then I saw the last one and saw the word “Sunday” embroidered onto the yellow material. That’s when I realized it was a box of day of the week panties. I smiled to myself as I wondered if each one got their own box. In spite of my intentions of periodically checking their wash line I’d failed to do so. I really had no idea of what their preference of panties, cotton or nylon, was but these were definitely nylon.

The most productive part of attending the party, such as it played out, was to get an update on the progress of Bill and Phyllis’s new house. It was definitely not going to be ready for them by July 1 when they had to be out of the house they were renting. Their plan was for the twins to return to Pennsylvania and the relatives right after the current school year ended. They’d been accepted at Temple University in Philadelphia and were planning on attending Summer school to get them used to an American college curriculum. They’d continue to live with the relatives to save money. Mo, Bill and Phyllis’s oldest daughter, was graduating from the local high school a year early and had been accepted at the University of Pennsylvania and was going with the twins when they left. She was also going to Summer school and, like the twins, would be living with the relatives.

Bill said he was putting pressure on the contractor to come up with a place for him and the family to live until the house was completed since the delay was primarily his fault. Because our area was a Summer destination there were few rentals available and, according to Bill, none that were affordable. He did say the president of the school board had offered to rent rooms to the family at his lodge but when Bill was telling us about the offer it was obvious it wasn’t going to happen. He added that a worst case scenario was his three youngest kids could end up with the relatives as well leaving just he, Phyllis and Barbara to find a place. I remember looking at the female relative who sort of winced when he mentioned it. In Barbara’s case, she’d been hired on a full time basis for the Summer at the store where she’d worked part time throughout the school year so, hopefully, was staying. Bill ended on an optimistic note saying there were still six weeks to resolve the problem. All I could think of was 'Good luck!'

To be continued...

MAYHEM IN MAY... life goes on (Part 159a)

MAYHEM IN MAY… life goes on (Part 159a)

As hard as I tried I couldn’t get focused on anything to do with the bank the rest of the day. The focus was on opening night at the races. Bret didn’t help because every time he looked at me he wanted to talk about them. Going back to when I first started at this bank I knew he was a big fan and that he knew some of the drivers at the local track really well. One of them, CJ, had decided to change tracks and go to the one Cliffy raced at. When Bret found out about it he was both excited and ‘bummed’. The excitement was because CJ was the best driver at the local track and the move would pit him against a group of much better drivers and he wanted to see how he’d match up with them. The ‘bummed’ part was that it took an hour from Bret’s house to the track and that was a problem for him. With only one car and his wife working every other Saturday he was going to have a hard time getting to many races.

I was more nervous about the races than I’d been when I was driving. Pulling in to the pit area on a race day was totally different than it had been the day we went for practice. It sounds like a cliche but ‘there was excitement in the air’. Having raced at the track for a few years Cliffy had an assigned pit stall. I recognized the names of the other drivers in the row of cars that we were in and, as far as local racing was concerned it was a “who’s who” of drivers with many track championships among them. One of them was a driver I’d seen one of the first times I’d actually attended a race some fifteen or sixteen years earlier.

The schedule called for three separate 15 minute practice sessions. As I’ve previously mentioned, Cliffy was concerned about the soft “gumball” tires and how many laps they would be able to make so chose to go out for only the first one. He came in after about five “hot” laps and said he was happy with the way the car handled. There were over 30 cars for our division, the most powerful of the four divisions that raced at the track. First on our docket were three 10 lap qualifying heats (races). Seven cars from each race qualified for the main (feature) event which was the one that paid money. The starting order was based on the final standings from the previous season and Cliffy was about in the middle. For our heat he started smack dab in the middle, fifth out of ten cars and had no trouble qualifying for the 25 lap feature. When he returned to the pits we wanted to know what he thought about the tires. When he, straight faced, said they weren’t worth a s__t we were all disappointed. Within minutes there were about a half dozen drivers surrounding him wanting to know if he liked them. He  repeated what he’d told us and the drivers walked away. It wasn’t until things had quieted down that he called us all together and told us they were really fantastic and that he could put the car any place on the track he wanted it to go. He added that he wanted to keep it a secret from the competition and had a big smile on his face when he did.

Lining up for the main event we were 10th, on the outside of the fifth row. After seeing the starting line-up he told us he thought that with the new tires that he had a good chance to finish in the top three. As he pulled out onto the track we all agreed that would be great. In fifteen or sixteen races the previous year he only managed a couple of top threes without a win. The track was only a 1/5 of a mile, the shortest track that raced our class of cars and because it was so small there were always a lot of wrecks. All we could do was pray the we weren’t in any of them.

By the time we reached the middle of the race there hadn’t been even one wreck and Cliffy had worked his way up to second. We (the crew) were going out of our minds because the car that was leading wasn’t very good. Cliffy finally passed him and was pulling away when the first wreck took place. They throw a yellow flag signaling the cars to slow down until the wreck is cleaned up. The yellow flag laps didn’t count and when the race continued there were but a few laps left. Cliffy won by about five car lengths and there was mayhem in the pit grandstand when the checkered flag waved.

As ridiculous as it may seem, we (the crew) didn’t know what to do. It was the first win at this level of racing that they (or I) had experienced. We wanted to run out onto the track to congratulate Cliffy and to celebrate with him but the track official wouldn’t let us. We need up just jumping up and downing smacking each other while we waited for Cliffy to pull into the pits. When he did and pulled into our pit stall it wasn’t just us who crowded around the car. Even though Cliffy hadn’t previously won he was very popular with many other drivers and they were there for him. He actually had a hard time getting out of the car with people walking up to the window to shake his hand. It was crazy!

The women had brought food, as planned, to feed the crew but no one had thought about beer (or anything else) for a victory celebration. However, there were others in the pit area who had brought libations which they proceeded to share. The track promoter had a rule that everyone had to be off the grounds by 1am but even he joined in, stopping by the car and telling us we had an extra half hour for our party. Even with that extra time there were still about two dozen people other than our own there when the security people made it clear that we had to go. It truly was MAYHEM IN MAY!
           

The very first one! (note the lack of a fire suit)

 To be continued...         

A LOT OF WORK... & play too (Part 158q)

A LOT OF WORK… and play too (Part 158q)

I didn’t leave as early as I’d liked and my curiosity was killing me as I drove home. I knew what I wanted to find when I got there but, having been disappointed many times, tempered my wildest thoughts and reined them in a bit. Walking in the kitchen door I found Elle waiting for me, half undressed. Her first words were “Where have you been?” I knew she’d admonished me “not to tarry”  but I was still home at least a half hour earlier than usual. Her second words were “I waited and waited but couldn’t hold it any longer. Our reservation is for six o’clock!” I looked over on the counter and there was her skirt. All I could do was to shrug my shoulders. The phone rang and I told her to just let it ring. Whenever the kids were at her parents house and the phone would ring she’d pick it up, just to make sure they were OK. The phone was located in the hallway and right next to the closet where I kept the Polaroid camera. While she was talking I got it and before she could protest I snapped a quick picture. It was nothing special and she wasn’t wet so she didn’t protest. After developing it I was glad I’d taken it.
                 

...  only one pair... :-(

One restaurant that I really liked was about 12 miles to the East. My parents ate there quite often and I’d met the owner a few times. He was a humongous man. He almost made “Big B” look somewhat normal. But, like “B” it was a glandular condition and fortunately it hadn’t been passed on to his kids. One of them was the hostess for the restaurant and she was very attractive. My parents had become friendly with the owner and, when his kids were growing up, had taken them to the city for their first visit so it was almost like family when they went there. Not having money to eat out we didn’t get to go there very often. So, when we walked in I wasn’t expecting anything special. However, Cecile, the daughter recognized me as soon as we walked in. The first thing she asked was if my parents were soon to follow. When I told her they weren’t she seemed a little disappointed but took us to their favorite place in the main dining room.

As she walked away I tried to remember how long ago it had been since the last time we’d been there. Always pretty, I figured she’d have been still in school because she certainly didn’t have the body I was eyeing. The wait staff were in short maroon colored dresses with white lace collars with small white lace aprons. Very cute! I casually watched her squat down to fetch some additional napkins from a cabinet and felt that if I’d been seated another three or four feet to my left I might’ve gotten an eye full. Just the thought of it made me continue to follow her the rest of the evening. Elle did make a comment but I somewhat diffused it when I reminded her that she was “almost family”, at least in my parents eyes.

The meal (steak) was excellent. I know we got cuts that a casual diner would never get. When we were leaving I asked Cecile if she was planning on staying ‘local’ or was she eventually headed off to the city. She smiled and said she was “small town girl” and hoped she’d live her whole life there. That led to wonder if that was her own thought or was she like Mala and some of the other Polish girls at the bank who ’s parents demanded that they stay close to their roots.

If there wasn’t so much to get accomplished before the next ‘busy period’ I would’ve taken Friday off. As it was I got saddled with a trip to the branch construction site with Jerry. We had absolutely zero in common. I tried to reinforce the necessity of having the same policies and procedures in place for both locations but got not one iota of acceptance from him. It was like talking to a wall.As I’d previously written, both Bret and I were keeping a ‘log’ of incidents where Jerry had not been following them. I just knew that when the bank examiners came into the branch that they’d have a list of violations. Since Jerry reported to me it would end up being my fault. It was while we were at the site that it came to me that we’d soon have to be hiring the staff for the new office. They would all need training and if the new building wasn’t completed it would mean we’d have to do it at the main office. Right behind that thought was the one for where interviewing would take place… and just who would do the interviewing. Although I couldn’t see me having the time to do it I hoped it wouldn’t be Jerry.

I’ll admit that from the time he started with the bank I’d made little effort to converse with Jerry. However, I knew he was still commuting from the city and asked if he’d made any progress with finding a house. That put a little ‘spark’ into him and volunteered that he’d made an offer on a house not too far from the branch. I was surprised when he suggested that I could drive by it on our way back to the bank. I figured ‘why not?’. Regardless of how I felt about him and his abilities it was obvious that I was going to have to find a way to work with him. The house was nothing much to look at and I wasn’t going to stop but Jerry asked me to pull in the driveway. He got out of the car and started walking around the house. I sat there wondering what he was doing and looked over to the house next door. From where I’d stopped I could see what appeared to be an old race car. I pulled the car a bit further up and could see it was the battered body of one. It was just another thing to get me ‘psyched’ up for opening night. I don’t know why but the number on the car triggered a memory of having seen it in the past. When Jerry got back to the car I asked if he’d met the neighbor and said he hadn’t.

Excited about discovering the old car I ended up telling Jerry about my being involved in stock car racing on our way back. In reality, it was a waste of time as he showed no interest at all. Still trying to generate conversation I ended up asking if he had any hobbies. When he answered “stamps”, I wasn’t surprised. Not willing to shut up, I asked how he’d met his wife. When he told me she was the daughter of his mother’s best friend I wanted to laugh. I sat and listened how the two mothers put them together and I tried to keep a straight face. I remember thinking that there was nothing redeeming about the guy and, again, wondering what the Trustees saw in him. By then I’d run out of things to try and engage him in conversation so we stayed silent the rest of the way back to the bank.

To be continued…

A LOT OF WORK... & play too (Part 159p)

A LOT OF WORK… & play too (Part 158p)

We sat and talked for about twenty minutes and the more I talked the more I felt ‘violated’. All I’d tried to do was be a good samaritan and ended up being suspected of doing something wrong. Elle wanted to get supper started so I went and changed clothes. I was not ‘good company' at supper and when I said I was going to work on the racer she was all for it. Opening night was Saturday and, even though we’d looked the car over after the one practice we’d attended, Cliffy wanted every nut and bolt checked. I was under the rear end when Cliffy, on a creeper, pulled up along side of me. He’d noticed that I wasn’t really focusing and asked what was bothering me. I really didn’t want to talk about it but since he wouldn’t go away I told him about the drunk lady and the crash… and the accusation that I’d taken something from the woman.

At this point I need to give some background about Cliffy and his father and brother. The father ran a service garage and both his sons worked there. They did a little of everything including having a tow truck to go pick up wrecked cars. There was always a wrecked car or two in the yard waiting for the insurance companies to come and get them. So, as I told him about my situation he motioned for me to come out from under the car. When I did he took me outside to a wreck parked out by the road. I had no idea why but I followed. Once at the car he showed me that the car had run off the road and into a ditch and had come to a quick, violent stop when it did. Then he told me what appeared to be a somewhat similar story about personal goods going missing. The woman had some small items on the front seat beside her and after the accident and she’d been removed she asked if someone could find her things. Cliffy said his father went into the car and found some but not all of them. She was quite upset but didn’t make an accusation. The next morning, Cliffy’s father made another inspection and found the missing items in the passenger footwell up underneath the floor mats. As I was listening to him my mind was going 60 miles per hour. Before I could utter a word he asked me who towed the car away. I’d been inside the bank at the time so I didn’t see which towing company did it. However, I pretty much knew I could get the information from the police. I remember being somewhat excited at the prospect of having a solution to the missing handbag/purse.

Before leaving the garage we established our working plan for Saturday afternoon and heading for the races. The other guys would load the car on the hauler and then pick me up at my house about 3pm. The women would come later in Cliffy's station wagon with the hibachis and food. With some of the pressure of the day relieved I started getting excited about going to the races. The other guys were ‘flying high’ in anticipation especially since we’d be only one of two cars using the new ’sticky’ tires. On that subject we were somewhat like ostriches sticking our heads in the sand because we had no idea how many laps we could get out of a set of tires. As of 10pm or so on that Wednesday night we didn’t care.

I was at the police station at 8am the next morning. The desk clerk was reluctant to give out any information about either of the cars. I was about to leave when one of the cops going off duty stopped by and asked why I wanted to know. I explained to him my situation and my thoughts about searching the car. Much to my surprise, he offered to go with me. I suppose I could have found it on my own since there were really only two towing companies in town but I was glad he was with me. On our way I told him about Cliffy’s father and what he’d said. He asked if it was the same Cliff who owned race cars and had raced them at the local track. When I told him it was we ‘bonded’ right then and there. I told him I was a partner with the man’s son in a modified class race car that would be racing on Saturday night. He was disappointed that we wouldn’t be racing at the local track but said he’d try to get to the races to take a look at it.

The car we were looking for was right out in front of the big barn that served as the office for the junk yard. I’d only seen the two crashed cars joined together at the entrance to the bank parking lot and was somewhat taken aback by how far the other car had penetrated the driver’s door of the drunk lady. The cop got out and went right to the passenger door and opened it. I stood behind him as he started reaching around on the floor and up under the dash and within seconds he pulled out a leather purse/handbag.  I wanted to let out a big yell but stifled it. I remember my knees being weak as he opened it to look inside. Bret had told me the woman’s name so when the cop read the name on the ID I knew I was home free. We chatted for a minute and he surmised that the bag being leather and being on leather seats, went sliding forward with the sudden stop the car made. He agreed to take it back to the police station and write the report.

As soon as I got to my desk I called Elle. I told her to “find a home for the kids” for the night because I was taking her out to dinner to celebrate. I explained everything from Cliffy’s involvement from the night before right up to the cop and I going to the wreck and finding the missing item. I could hear her voice pick up as well and as she hung up the phone told me “not to tarry”. I had a good idea what she was alluding to and had no intention of ‘tarrying’. Bret could see that I was ‘hyper’ and asked why. I’d decided not to say much, if anything, about the whole incident and wasn’t going to do it then. I told him that it was just that it was a glorious day, smiled and then tried to get to work on finding a blanket supplier.

To be continued…

A LOT OF WORK... & play too (Part 158o)

A LOT OF WORK… & play too (Part 158o)

Hobie had been at lunch when the ‘excitement’ took place and when he tried to return found he couldn’t get back to the bank with his car. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being a little anxious as to what he’d done about “Polak Joe” and his meddling in the new account/gift campaign. The monumental traffic jam had caused him to retreat and head back home leaving me wondering. After finishing up with Jerry I was going to check on the progress of the clean up of the wreck and as I started across the lobby a cop walked in the front door. I stopped to ask if I could help and he asked if I was they guy who’d reported one of the women in the crash as being “impaired”. I told him it was me and he immediately asked if he could interview me… privately. The only real privacy was up in the Board room but Hobie wasn’t in his area so I pointed to it. I thought he was going to ask if I’d seen the accident happen. He didn’t.

With lo these many years to reflect on the situation I can still say it remains troublesome. He asked if I’d gotten into the woman’s car. I told him I had and just what I’d done, turning off the ignition. His next words were like a bolt of lightning had struck me… “Did you touch or take the woman’s purse?” Because the question was so unexpected I was shocked… and the expression on my face must’ve been read by the cop as one of guilt. The next thing I heard was “Please follow me.”

I told Bret that I was needed over at the police station to make a statement about the accident. I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen as we walked across the street. I was taken to a room right behind the front desk and I saw the cop I’d told about the woman being drunk. He didn’t waste any time and asked me just exactly what I’d done when I went into the woman’s car. It was easy to explain… I went to the passenger side door, opened it and reached over to the ignition switch and turned it off. The cop asked if I’d seen a handbag or purse on the seat and I told him that I hadn’t seen anything on the seat. He then asked if I said anything to the woman and I really hadn’t. I told him I saw there were other people that probably knew more about what to do than I did so just backed my way out of the car. Then he asked why I felt the woman was drunk. I think I might’ve laughed but, not trying to be a smart ass, told him the interior of the car smelled like a bar. He asked if I spoke to the woman and I hadn’t which led him to ask if she’d said anything. I told him I wasn’t sure because there were people gathering around who were yelling for help but I thought I’d heard her ask “What happened?”.

At this point I asked if I could leave and he said he needed more information. By then I was getting concerned. I was told to have a seat and after a while two different cops came in and asked for what I called a step by step description of what I’d seen and heard right from the beginning. Basically, I told them what I’ve written in the previous post. When I got to the part where the guy went to help the woman get out of her car they wanted to know if I knew who he was. I didn’t but they wanted to know if I could describe him. I didn’t want to admit that I’d concentrated on the woman so just told them he was average height and build. I wasn’t really sure. I told them the guy had helped her get into the bank building and then disappeared. I was again asked if I'd seen a purse and when I repeated that I hadn't the two cops had a brief, whispered conversation and told me they’d be in touch with me. Walking back to the bank I wasn’t sure where I stood with them. Even though they hadn’t come right out and accused me it appeared that I was being looked at as a thief.

Back inside the bank my thoughts were certainly not on banking. In spite of my earlier concern about “Polak Joe” and his meddling into the gift/promotion area I didn’t give it a thought. It was just about the time the doors closed (3pm) that Hobie re-appeared and headed right for me. He wanted to know what had happened that had closed down the street. I told him about the crash but not about my involvement and I still don’t know why. In any case, he told me the original gift/promotion program was still ‘on track’ but that I was to find a source for blankets and that the committee would still make the selection. Where that should’ve provided some relief for me it didn’t. The missing handbag/purse was still weighing on my mind.

Because of the havoc the accident caused (no ingress/egress to the parking lot) the mortgage committee meeting had been postponed to the following week. Bret knew I’d gone over to the police station so after Hobie left my desk he came over to ask if I learned anything about what was going to happen to the drunk lady. I wanted to tell him about my ‘grilling’ but, as far as I knew, no one else knew about the missing handbag/purse so kept my mouth shut about it. I didn’t want to talk any more about the whole thing and told him I didn’t feel well and headed for home.

Initially I wasn’t going to tell Elle about it but when I showed up way early she knew something was wrong. The fact that I pretty much ignored her by not even giving her a cursory feel of her panties she was all over me. It was my second ‘grilling’ for the day.

To be continued…

A LOT OF WORK... & play too (Part 158n)

A LOT OF WORK… & play too (Part 158n)

Feeling good about how the time with Norman went I volunteered to show him the plans the telephone company had provided with their proposal. He couldn’t believe it when I pulled them out of my files. After a quick perusal he told me that my providing them would definitely be factored into their cost proposal. I’d pried some preliminary dollar amounts out of him just to give me some idea what to expect when the bid arrived and I was encouraged. I walked him to the back door and I don’t know why. I felt comfortable talking with him and I hoped the bid would be reasonable enough so that we’d do business with his company.

As he walked across the parking lot I heard the screech of tires and then a crash. I looked towards the street and saw that a car leaving our parking lot had been hit in the driver’s door. I’m not an immediate ‘reactor’ in situations like this. It usually takes a few seconds for my brain to process what has happened and what I should do. The first thing I thought of was to make sure the ignitions of both cars were turned off so I went to the car that had hit the car leaving the lot. I opened the door and saw a woman with her head ‘buried’ into the steering wheel. I reached for the keys and shut the motor off. There was somebody on the other side who was trying to talk with the woman. I retreated and headed for the other car finding the woman who was driving it sitting behind the wheel dazed but apparently unhurt. I got to the ignition switch and turned it off but as I did I could smell alcohol. By then other people were gathering around. I got out of the car and saw two policemen headed in the direction of the crash. I wanted to let them know the woman in the car who’d been hit might be drunk. They kind of ignored me as they assessed the situation. Then they went to the aid of the injured woman. I decided to keep an eye on the other one. I’m not sure how long it was before she slid across the front seat and got out of her car. That gave me a chance to take a good look at her. I’m not the greatest on judging age but my guess was that she was in her 30’s. She was wearing a pants suit and somewhat disheveled. She stumbled as she attempted to walk. A man came up to assist her and helped her to sit on the curb. As I watched her it seemed obvious to me that she was drunk. The man asked some of the people who’d gathered where he could take her to sit down and was pointed towards the bank. I felt that was good idea because she’d be watched until the police could talk with her.

The street was a mess. Midday, this area was always crowded with people as well as cars. The only way to get across the river was this one street and now it was blocked. After returning inside I positioned myself to observe her hoping the police would get to her before she might try to leave. I brought Bret and Jerry up to speed on what had happened and asked Bret if he recognized the woman as a customer. His answer was tinged with a wry smile. He knew who she was but not as a customer. She was sitting on one of the lobby benches and we saw her make one attempt to get up but she fell backwards hitting her head against the wall. It was almost as if that was a signal for one of the cops to come in looking for her.

We watched as the cop tried to interview her and as she, again, tried to get up. The cop told her to sit down but she made it to her feet and started to stagger towards the front door. The cop told her to stop and she did… for a few seconds before falling in a heap on the floor. By then most of the tellers and the few customers still inside the building were watching the scene unfold. The cop left her there and went outside, returning with another cop. They proceeded to lift her up and dragged her back to the bench. That was when we all heard one of the cops yell “she’s pissing herself!”

The teller counter blocked my view of her her from the waist down so I didn’t see it. The two cops were able to get some basic information from her and then they sort of lifted her up and dragged/carried her towards the front door. The police station was directly across the street so we pretty much knew where she was headed. While this was taking place I quizzed Bret on just what he knew about her. The smile on his face was now more of a smirk than anything else.

She was the wife of one of the local ‘movers and shakers’ who was embedded in the local political scene. I recognized the name from having read it in the village newspaper from time to time. Bret said he’d heard from his father (who was the manager of the local branch of a regional commercial bank) that the woman had had some run ins with the law, supposedly from driving drunk but, because of her husband’s political ‘clout’, had escaped relatively unscathed. Bret added that his father said she’d caused a ‘scene’ in his branch while obviously drunk. Not that I was any kind of expert on such matters but for someone to be as drunk as she appeared to be at noon time meant she’d been drinking since she got up… or all night.

It was almost 2pm before the remnants of the collision were cleaned up and traffic could move freely again. Our parking lot had been inaccessible which meant we had little to no lobby traffic. I couldn’t come up with any meaningful projects for the tellers so, for all intents and purposes we all pretty much had part of the afternoon off… except for me. I really didn’t want to tackle it again but I met with Jerry to go over his list of needed forms for the new branch office again. I’d added one part to his task and that was to mark up the ones that need the branch address on them. I hated to admit it but he had actually done a good job.

To be continued…

A LOT OF WORK... & play too (Part 158m)

A LOT OF WORK … & play too (Part 158m)

Elle didn’t really know but one of the women who were part of the ‘crew’. “Raa” was married to one of Elle’s high school classmates, Dick, and lived on the property right across the road from us. Even though it was a dairy farm (where Jon (the milkman} got his milk for delivery) the house had been sold and was no longer a part of it. In any case, two of their kids were in classes with our older girls. Cliffy (the driver of the racecar) was married to Beth. Cliffy was also a classmate of Elle’s but Beth grew up in another town further to the East so we’d never seen or associated with her. Alan was married to Pam, who, as a girl, had summered in the area and met him during that period in time. Buster… well, he was story unto himself (and I’ll spare you) had gotten his wife, Marilyn, pregnant while she was still in school. I had only met her briefly and wasn’t impressed. So, as we prepared for the party neither of us knew what to expect.

Of course I’m prejudiced but Elle was far and away the prettiest female there. Not only did Elle know both Dick and Cliffy form school but, somewhat ironically, she had dated Dick for a while and had also attended a prom with Cliffy. I wondered if that was going to factor in with how everyone got along. It didn’t take long to find out. Even though she didn’t know Elle, Beth made a point of introducing her to the other women and kept her involved in their conversations (such as they were). As was usual, the guys congregated in the kitchen and, because this was a car racing group, they talked cars.

Stretching a point, Pam was the only one of the females who had even a smidgen of cuteness but she wore what could best be described as ‘hideous’ clothes, at least a size too large. I didn’t know for sure if she had anything ‘up top’. Raa was a very shortened version of Barbara, a name hung on her by a family member from back when she was a baby and couldn’t say “Barbara”. A tall, thin woman, about 5’10” with one of the biggest mouths (physically) that I’d ever seen. Marilyn had no redeeming qualities as far as I could see. In the little time we were all together it seemed like she was left out of whatever was being said or done. That left Beth, an absolutely engaging woman with a big personality… and bottom. Not fat but definitely not in proportion to the rest of her body. So, from a ‘panty addict’s’ perspective it was a boring evening. The only thing that made it worthwhile was that Beth and Jaa decided that they’d bring hibachi’s to the races and when they were over would cook up hot dogs and hamburgers for the whole crew. The reason being was that to get to the races in time for warm-ups we had to leave no later than 3:30pm which meant no supper. The idea sounded good to the guys, for sure.

I know you’ve all heard the saying, “waiting for the other shoe to drop”. I knew it was coming when “Polak Joe” reappeared on the scene and had gotten the branch committee to add blankets to the new account gift promotion. It was too simple to have me just order up some blankets… Joe wanted to have the committee approve them. OK… that wasn’t a problem as there was still plenty of time. But, on Wednesday morning, the day the Northern Telecom sales rep was coming, in I got a call from “Polak Joe” telling me that the branch committee wanted to revisit the gifts that had already been chosen. I about had an apoplectic fit. I’m sure I never said a word before putting the phone back in the cradle. I wanted to scream but I’m not sure any sound would’ve come out. I have no idea how long I sat there before Trish came up to ask if I was OK… and to say the Northern Telecom guy was there.

He introduced himself and proceeded to ask if this was a bad time. As he handed me his card I remember saying that it wasn’t really the best… but I told him to give me a minute. I got up and went looking for Hobie who was now located under the stairs. I had to ‘vent’ to someone and I surely didn’t want it to be the sales rep. Hobie knew me well enough by then to know I was really, really upset. He told me to take a few deep breaths and then indicated that he’d listen. I think all I said was “Joe”. He made a face and told me to explain. I hadn’t gotten but a few words out when he stood up and said he’d take care of it and motioned for me to leave his area. As I did I knew he was following me, at least until he reached the elevator. Knowing Hobie was now involved gave me the relief I needed to go back to my ‘telephone problem’.

Norman was the guy’s name and he was the complete opposite of the telephone company rep. Very calm, it was obvious he was a ‘listener’ and he let me explain the situation without once interrupting. When he finally did speak it was to say that his primary job was to provide provide product and services the customer wanted and, should the customer ask for suggestions he’d follow through on that… never the other way around. Hearing that made me feel like I was on the right track. I proceeded to walk him trough the facilities pointing out the areas that new phones were needed and stressing that we weren’t trying to recreate the wheel. Back at my desk the one thing that he did mention that concerned me a bit was that if we were to choose Northern Telecom we would have to buy their phones. I could only hope their cost was reasonable.

To be continued…

A LOT OF WORK... & play too (Part 158l)

A LOT OF WORK… & play too (Part 158l)

There was a lot on my mind on my way to work the next morning not the least of which was to stop in to see Gertrude about Bermuda. Neither Elle or I got a good night’s sleep with both of us thinking about the trip even though it would be at least four months until we would be on our way. Also on my agenda for the day was to go to the restaurant supply store to see what they had in the way of more sturdy work stools for the tellers. Driving past the travel agency I was trying to figure out if I’d be able to stop there on my way back to save time. I sure hoped so thinking that with answers to my questions I’d be able to get back concentrating on work.

Seeing Eileen back to work was a pleasant surprise. I made a point of stopping by her window to not only make sure she was OK but also to check out her face. She’d said she hadn’t wanted to come in to work because she was concerned about the way she looked. There was a bandage above her eye but it wasn’t obtrusive. I remember thinking about how vain women could be as I welcomed her back and shook my head as I walked away.

With Jerry there it was possible to take Bret along with me to check out the stools. It was one of the few times I could think of as a positive in having him there. On our way I told Bret about my plans for Bermuda and that if we had time I wanted to stop to see Gertrude. It was obvious he was a bit jealous. I felt I needed to explain that we’d never had a honeymoon and this was our 10th anniversary but it didn’t ease the tension. I went a bit further and told him that right from the time we’d been told we’d be getting our paid in retirement money back I’d targeted it for that purpose. That caused him to sort of complain that he was struggling to pay his bills and he was living in his parent’s house. All I could do was to tell him of Elle’s and my ‘want/need’ list and how, for the most part, we’d held to it. I looked over at him and could see him shrug his shoulders.

The location of the restaurant supply company was on the very West end of the village and I’d driven past it almost every day for the five years or so that it was open. I had no idea who owned it or, really, anything about it. Walking in I thought I had walked into an actual restaurant. I won’t waste a lot of time explaining but it was an effective way to display a lot of the products they handled from furniture to kitchen appliances. Cutting to the quick, I asked about stools and all they could show us was the type you would most likely find in a bar… chrome with heavy duty vinyl seats. The bases were wider than what we had and just what we were looking for but they were not appropriate for a bank. The salesman was very much interested in helping us find what we were looking for and offered to do some research for us. Bret suggested that a stool with a back might be appropriate and I agreed. The guy gave me his card and when I glanced at the last name it brought back some memories.

Back when I worked in the data processing department for the County there was a girl who worked in the purchasing department right across the hall. Over time I’d been the beneficiary of any number of panty ‘peeks’ (and better) from her but had completely lost track of her. I mentioned her name and was told she was his cousin but that he’d never been really close to her. He did tell me she’d moved to New Jersey and worked for the State. I had to ask when was the last time he’d seen her. He had to think about it for a bit and then shrugged his shoulders. But, he did say that she was supposed to come back for a family reunion during the Summer. Among the other things stored up in my brain I slotted that in not having any idea what I’d do with it.

Riding back to the bank I saw there was an empty parking spot right across the street from Gertrude’s place. I had the booklet with me so parked and dashed in. Gertrude, upon seeing me, stated that she was surprised to see me so soon and asked if it was a good sign. I’m sure the smile I had on my face was the answer. I showed her our choices and she immediately eliminated Elle’s choice saying that we, definitely, would not like it there. She promised she’d get the most up to date material from the other choice, The Elbow Beach Resort Hotel. As I was walking out the door she called out “Good choice!” and I hoped it was.

By that afternoon I’d calmed down enough from the shock of the telephone proposal to actually read the material and study the plan for the placement of the phones. When I finished I remembered the sales rep saying it would be the most sophisticated system in the County. I changed the word ‘sophisticated’ to expensive and tossed the material in the trash. I was about to do the same with the floor plan but, in spite of it being marked as property of the telephone company I decided to keep it… thinking that the company coming in the next day might find it interesting.

That night I headed for the shop where we worked on the racecar. There was to be another practice session on Saturday but Cliffy was concerned that we really wouldn’t accomplish anything. He’d decided not to use the new tires in practice and the old ones we had were worn out. He told us that all we’d be doing was putting more laps on the motor and spending money for gas to get to the track and back. So, it was decided to have a party at Cliffy's Saturday night in place of practice. No one complained, especially me as it meant I'd have the whole day to get my Spring yard work started.

To be continued…

A LOT OF WORK & play too... (Part 158k)

A LOT OF WORK… & play too (Part 158k)

The envelope with the booklet on Bermuda was on the table right in front of us. To put this scene into the proper perspective, Bermuda had never been discussed as a destination between the two of us. It had come up in conversation with various people while attending parties as to being a great place to visit. And, as I mentioned earlier, my parents had gone there for their honeymoon. So, I told her to open it and waited for her reaction. I can’t explain why I thought I’d be ‘rewarded’ immediately upon her seeing what it contained other than my right hand was resting on the crotch of her damp panties. I couldn’t have been further from reality. Since she was on my lap and facing the table I couldn’t see her face… but I heard a squeal and felt her jump up and then back down. The next thing I knew she was sitting sideways with her arms around me and trying to kiss me. It took a bit of time to get ‘extracted’ from her grip. My right hand was still been buried into her damp crotch. Even though she’d moved it was still right there. I remember trying to wiggle my fingers to send a message that I’d appreciate some ‘lubrication’ but she wasn’t paying any attention. The next thing I knew she was off my lap and pulling another chair up along side mine. I probably said something but I have no idea what as she started turning the pages in the booklet.

As I’d mentioned earlier, the booklet contained a picture and a little ‘blurb’ about each and every place on the island that rented rooms. I’d only flipped quickly though it and hadn’t noticed that on a couple of pages there were some marks on the pictures. Elle asked about them and I couldn’t answer her. Gertrude hadn’t mentioned anything more than for Elle and I to pick out a couple of places we thought we might like and to get back to her. Elle seemed to focus on those places with the notations and got a pad to make notes.

To be truthful, we'd actually forgotten about the kids as we’d been so caught up in reading about what would be available for us in Bermuda. When Kaye came toddling in because she was bored it brought us back to reality. It was getting close to 9pm, way past the girls bedtime on a school night so Elle got up to hustle them off to bed. As she walked away I could see the remnant of a what had been a damp spot on the back of her skirt and It reminded me that I’d not received anything for my big surprise. I thought about following her upstairs but with the booklet right there in front of me I wanted to take a closer look at Gertrude’s markings.

It didn’t take long to figure out that she’d chosen two places from each class of lodging. I read the descriptions and saw the various amenities available and quickly decided my own choice would be for one of the big hotels rather than anything smaller. I hoped Elle would concur. Elle reappeared wearing just her nightie and her panties… and carrying a towel. That pretty much told me that she’d peed trough her panties while upstairs and, even though I’d not participated in the ‘action’, I was still going to be the beneficiary. A quick feel told me she'd actually added another pair. I didn't know why but I wasn't going to ask.

By the time we got through with looking at and discussing the contents of the booklet it was after 11pm. I’d gotten it into my mind that my ‘reward’ might actually be in bed. We’d come up with a number of questions for Gertrude as well as some choices. I’d picked out one hotel and Elle had picked out another. The one I’d chosen was one with a ‘mark’ on it while Elle’s choice didn’t. Without knowing just what they meant it really didn’t make any difference.

Following Elle up the stairs I watched her still damp backside and wished I had asked about a picture. When we turned off the lights in the kitchen Elle was complaining about being tired which was certainly a warning that my chances for ‘action’ were slim to none. From the stairs I could see the closet where I kept the camera. I stopped and dashed back to get it knowing full well that Elle knew what I had in mind. But… in my mind a trip to Bermuda was ‘money in the bank’… for a lot of things and not just one picture.

I knew I wouldn’t get much in the way of ‘accommodation’ when it came time for posing for a picture so was pretty much willing to take what I could get. I walked into the bedroom and she wasn’t there. Then I heard a whimpering from Kaye’s room and could see Elle hovering over her. Seeing that I was sure I wasn’t even going to get a picture. However, I waited and when she walked in she said “backside only”, throwing back the sheet and blankets and climbing up on the bed. I was admonished to “Hurry up!”. I hated that but had the bellows pulled out on the camera so I just aimed right at her backside. As soon as the flash went off she headed for the bathroom to wash up and to put on her night time ‘package’. That gave me the time to pull the picture from the camera and for it to develop. It was nothing special but I was still happy to get it.
           

To be continued...

A LOT OF WORK... & play too (Part 158j)

A LOT OF WORK… & play too (Part 158j)

Bret returned from lunch just about the time I dismissed the sales rep. He knew I was upset about the guy being late when he left and wanted to know what had happened. I probably took some of my frustration out on him as I challenged him on just what he’d said when the rep and engineer were there the previous week. As I’d thought, all he did was to show both of them where our phones were located and where we wanted the new ones. I showed him the ‘bottom line’ on the proposal and his reaction to it was similar to mine… disbelief. I was still trying to figure out just what to do next when Bret reminded me that when I’d been talking with his friend who was an officer at the bank where Gina now worked the guy had mentioned something about them going to an outside manufacturer for their phone equipment. When he did I felt sort of foolish and realized that my frustration had taken away my sense of reason. I immediately dialed him up.

Northern Telecom was the company. Bret’s friend gave me his contact's name and number and within minutes I was talking to him. His name was Norman and he was a willing listener as I ‘let it all out’ about my experience with the telephone company. Bottom line… he’d be at my desk Friday morning. By the time I hung up with him I’d calmed down a bit. In  my conversation with Bret’s friend he volunteered that his bank had paid about $15,000 for 20 phones. That was about half of the quote I’d received.

With my mind and time consumed with the phone system I’d completely forgotten about Gertrude and her promise to provide me with information about Bermuda. When I saw her at the gate to the platform it still didn’t register with me. I did wave her in to my desk and she started talking even before she reached it. She was telling me she was leaving the material because she’d closed early for the day and didn’t want me to stop by and think she’d forgotten about it. I told her appreciated her effort and thought she’d leave. But, she asked if there was any chance I’d be willing to move the date of our travel from October back to September as I’d mentioned tying the trip to our anniversary date of October 5th. I asked her why and she said she could save us some money by having us going in September. I didn’t understand and she proceeded to explain that the Bermuda Tourism Board had established ‘in season’ dates and ‘out of season’ dates. October was ‘in season’ and the rates would go up. She pulled a booklet out of the envelope she was holding and told me it contained information on each and every type of lodging in Bermuda, from large hotels to places with guest cottages and all the way down to places that we, today, call B and B’s. She told me to look it over, pick out some places that looked interesting and that she’d get us detailed info on them. As she headed for the gate to leave she, again, mentioned that she’d “take care of me”.

Right after I’d found the money I’d thought about telling Elle about my plan for our anniversary but didn’t. Now I was glad I hadn’t. Now I had material to show Elle and that way she’d have a part in deciding just where we’d stay. I was hoping that it would lead to an ‘interesting and stimulating’ night. The one thing I couldn’t control was just what kind of day she experienced. I was sure hoping she had a good one.

Wednesday meant that the mortgage committee would be meeting. Being that this was the first Wednesday in the month (May) it also meant that the branch committee would be meeting. I’d been in Florida for the last full Trustee’s meeting and because I’d been running around like a chicken with my head cut off I’d not taken the time to read the minutes of that meeting until that afternoon. I was surprised to see that “Polak Joe” had had the sanctions against him as far as voting on Board matters lifted. I knew it had just been a formality because he wasn’t barred from talking, individually, with other Board members. So, he was still able to be disruptive only not in a forum setting. Up to that time I’d not been involved with any of his machinations… but that was to change on that day.

He’d talked his way into being placed on the branch committee. When that happened he wanted to see the gift/premiums that I’d chosen and expressed displeasure with them. It was a bit of a blind-side to me because the other committee members had already approved them as well as the ‘consulting contract’ for Morris that would allow us to cover the amount over $10 we had to pay for each item. When I got the call to report to the Board room I was unprepared for both Joe and to defend the choice of the gift/premiums. By the time I left I’d been told to add blankets to the other choices. I had no say in the matter. I was not a ‘happy camper’.

When I got home, thankfully, Elle had had a good day. I was exited to show her the Bermuda booklet but decided not to say anything about it until after supper. After eating and sending the kids in to watch TV, usually a ’no no’ on a school night, she told me about her day. She’d had a doctor’s appointment because she was concerned that her ‘dribbles’ were becoming more than just that. She’d gone to her gynecologist who said it would probably be best to see a urologist but as far as she could determine it wasn’t anything major. Not entirely happy with that diagnosis she was at least relieved that there was nothing major happening. As I listened to her and saw she wasn’t stressed I motioned for her to come over and to sit on my lap. I still had on my suit pants and, when standing in front of me, asked if I really wanted her to do that. I smiled and patted my lap and she complied.

To be continued...

A LOT OF WORK... & play too (Part 158i)

A LOT OF WORK… & play too (Part 158i)

To say my mind was occupied by the monetary windfall is putting it mildly. It wasn’t until I got to my desk and Trish told me Lillian wasn’t coming in that my focus changed. In all the commotion on Friday night I’d never given a thought to letting anyone at the bank know what had happened. Of course Alice and Jaz, the two tellers who were there when Lillian’s fell, knew but Trish, Bret and Jerry didn’t. I asked Trish what Lillian had given as a reason and her answer was that she said she just wasn’t up to it. I quickly brought Trish and Bret up to date with what I knew when I left the hospital and immediately called Lillian. I apologized for not having followed up with her or her mother over the weekend and asked how she was feeling. She seemed cheerful enough saying she was doing “OK”. I asked when she thought she’d be ready to come back to work and she laughed. She went on that no customer would want to be waited on by her looking the way she did (stated as only a female could!). She described her face saying it looked like someone had punched her in the eye. I was able to elicit from her that other than the stitches and black eye she had no physical problems. Being a slow period with lobby traffic her absence was not a problem but told her to hurry back.

I had some explaining to do as far as Hobie and Bert (the president) were concerned. Hobie, Bret, Jerry and I inspected the stools the tellers used and determined that they really weren’t designed for what we were using them for. Before we modified the teller’s counter for the new teller machines adjustable seats had been part of it, attached and could be folded out of the way. When I purchased the stools it was to get us through the conversion period of having the depositors accounts serviced outside the bank. They were lightweight, wooden and without seats that swiveled. Their low cost and availability had appealed to me at the time. But, with Lillian’s accident it was a clear message we had to do better. Just another project on my “to do” list.

With that out of the way my mind reverted back to the money I'd found. One of the thoughts I’d had on the way in to work was to contact Gertrude, she of the travel agency, to see just what she meant when she’d offered me a ‘deal’ should I want it. On the few occasions I’d thought about a place for Elle and I to go, Bermuda had been one place that seemed fitting. After all, we hadn’t had a real honeymoon and Bermuda was a place that a lot of honeymooners went. With nothing much happening on the banking floor I gave her a call. She sounded excited to hear from me and promised that by Wednesday she’d have some “interesting reading material” put together for me to share with Elle. I couldn’t wait.

The proposal from the telephone company was also due on Wednesday. Ever since the telephone people had been there to do their survey it seemed like everyone was complaining about their phone. It was certainly a topic of conversation among the employees. I’d been told that if the bank made a quick decision it would be possible to have the new service in operation by July 1. I was all for that so was probably more anxious than anyone else to see the proposal.

The appointment had been set for 10am. I’d cleared my desk (a rarity) so the plans could be spread on my desk. I couldn’t use the Board room as there were a number of Board sub committee meetings scheduled. Ten o’clock came, and then 10:30am… and no word from the telephone company. At 11am I called the business office and asked for my contact person. I was told he was “en route”. Since their office was less than ten minutes (walking) from the bank I questioned that little tidbit.

It was a little before the noon siren went off that the guy showed up. I’d written that he reminded me of a vulture awaiting to descend on his prey. He had a big smile on his face and started by saying we should go to lunch. I didn’t have time for that sort of BS and reminded him that he was two hours late. Being chastised didn’t deter him at all. Full of bluster, he proceeded to spread the  plans on my desk. There were multiple colored lines running all over the them which meant nothing to me. He started babbling about this would be the most sophisticated system in the county. Hearing that stated was a big ‘red flag’ to me. I cut him short and demanded to see the cost. He tried to defer showing it to me but I wasn’t having it. He finally pulled the written proposal out of his briefcase and laid it on the plans. I rifled though it and found the ‘bottom line’… $36,000.

I’m not sure anymore but I think I might’ve laughed. I had no idea at all what a phone system for 26 to 28 phones might cost to compare that to (my fault) but right from the start I knew I wasn’t paying more than a thousand dollars a phone for ANY system, sophisticated or not… and I told him so. As I started folding the plans up he tried to stop me. That made me even madder. He protested that he’d not had a chance to tell me all that we’d be getting. I told him I didn’t care and that what he had wasn’t going to be installed at this bank.

I’d love to know what my blood pressure was as he walked through the gate to leave. I wished that Bret had been there as he was the one who walked both he and the engineer though the bank. I’d given Bret instructions as to just what we were looking for… replace what we had with equivalent coverage plus five more phones. I knew Bret well enough that he’d not go against my instructions. The rep thought he had an easy sale... but he didn't. Frustrated was the way I felt. Now I'd wasted a week and didn’t even have an alternative to turn to.

To be continued...