HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160r)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160r)

The rest of the day was spent trying to reign in loose ends concerning the branch. I’d put off doing anything concrete about getting some part time help in to assist with opening new accounts for either office and knew I had to nail that down, and soon. I’d put in a call to the local high school and the guidance counselor but didn’t feel confidant that she was going to come up with much. The hint was when she said that all the kids she had in her files wanted work for the whole Summer and not just for a few weeks. After that I spoke with Trish to see if she had any ideas. Up until then she hadn’t given me any. As she was cleaning her desk off to go home I saw her waving to Moira, the red head who worked in the accounting area. Every time I saw her I felt guilty for not continuing to follow up on how she was making out with getting support from her ex husband. I decided to call her over and when she turned my way I saw she was with her daughter, Maggie. I’d not thought very much of her from two incidents when I was trying to get Moira relocated and one of the two was a bit embarrassing for the girl. So, when she deferred in following her mother I understood.

Moira was in a hurry so gave me the briefest of updates. In parting I made an off hand comment asking what her daughter was doing for the Summer now that school was out. Her response was a sort of disgusted look. I asked why the negativism and she said the daughter had to go to Summer school because she’d done so poorly. Then she added that it really annoyed her because it meant she wouldn’t be working and that was really going to hurt financially. I didn’t hesitate for long and despite my negative feelings towards the girl I asked if she might want to work at the bank for a few weeks before the Summer session started.

Moira’s looks were a shade above average but when she smiled she was quite attractive… and this was one of those moments. She asked if I was kidding and when I said I wasn’t she called the girl over. She wouldn’t look me in the eyes as she approached but Moira took care of that. Because my kids were still quite young I’d not reached a point where, when I’d ask a question of one of them, I had to couch it in the form of an order. That was exactly what Moira did and after but a few minutes I had my first part timer for the gift campaign at the main office.

Not wanting to drag this part out I’ll short circuit the rest of the hiring process by saying that Maggie’s situation (Summer school) gave me the idea to go back to the guidance lady at the school to find a couple of others that were in the same situation. I was able to get two more kids to meet my needs. There was nothing special about any of them and I knew I was taking a chance because they were certainly not the ‘cream of the crop’ as evidenced by their need for Summer school.

As for part timers during the new account/grand opening celebration at the new branch it was back to the application files. I was able to reach the girl that Jerry had hired but didn’t have transportation to the main office for training and got her to commit to four weeks. I ’sweetened’ the offer by saying that should a vacancy arise she’d be the first one called. From there it went down hill. All of the other applicants wanted full time employment. There was no one high school to go to as the branch wasn’t located in an established village or town. The area was in the early stages of being developed (that’s why we were there) and I was at a loss as to where to turn. The answer was right in front of me (literally) in the form of the women being trained by Lorie.

I don’t remember how I actually approached them but I clearly remember it was Mae who had the answer(s). As I described her in an earlier post she was definitely not a ‘looker’ but had an almost amazingly positive attitude. When I mentioned my problem she just stepped forward and said she’d find “some good kids”. Initially, it was a case of not having much else to choose from. Since training for the part timers didn’t entail teller machine work or detailed knowledge of banking regulations I’d determined that they would all  start the Monday before the branch opened which was also the beginning of the “busy week”. I was a bit concerned that Jerry would somehow get involved and immediately designated Rita to handle their training.

Through all of this I was wishing I had some idea of what Hobie had said to Jerry after he stepped in when I was reaming him out. Jerry had been quiet and almost sullen after returning from that meeting as exhibited when I went off on him about leaving early. He just quietly walked back to where Lorie and his staff were working. It continued when 5pm arrived as well. On my way out the door I wondered how long the ’new’ Jerry would continue in that mode.

I left shortly after he did as I wanted to get to the printer’s to proof read the forms made up special for the Branch. I didn’t trust Jerry so it was up to me. Bobby, the printer’s apprentice, was actually running the shop and he and I had a common interest in car racing. He’d asked me a couple of times about how to get a job in the pit crew of a race team. I'd gave him the names of a couple of local teams and wanted to know how he’d made out in his quest. I was excited for him when he told me he’d latched on with someone I knew. It made me feel good when he said that when he’d used my name as a reference the guy pretty much said OK right after that. But, talking about racing reminded me that I didn’t know what the plan for my team was. We’d left it that we wouldn’t meet on Wednesday night but I wasn’t sure when we would. However, I pretty much knew it wasn’t that night and I was anxious to get home.

One almost constant thing in our geographical area was that one of the hottest weeks of the Summer would occur in June. Here we were in the middle of it, Summer had not officially begun and yet it was almost 90 degrees at 6pm. I walked into the house and the first thing I saw was that Elle, in short shorts, was slightly wet… but with a big smile. That was a VERY good sign. I walked up to her and she immediately put my hand in her crotch. It was warm which told me it had just happened. As I’ve written in prior posts, I’d finally learned to not ask what had happened until later. She pulled me into the bathroom which was right there and, after pulling her shorts down, proceeded to pee through her panties on the toilet. I was in heaven! However, my enthusiasm was tempered a bit wondering where the kids were. When I asked she said I had about 10 minutes and suggested I might want a picture. I think my eyes bugged out wondering if this was really my wife.
       

To be continued...

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160q)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160q)

Knowing that Lorie was usually one of the first to arrive at work I made a special effort to get in a little early. I wanted to get her ’take’ on the four women without having to worry about being overheard. I remember her first comment had to do with Rita and that it was very favorable. With three years as a bank teller I would’ve expected that but she went further by saying that she wished Rita could be one of her tellers. I was pleased that she had nothing negative to say about the others. I left her by reminding her to “keep the lid on Jerry” as I fully expected him to be in that day.

When Jerry did arrive he went right to his desk, never acknowledging the four women in training that would be his staff. I waited for a bit and when he made no effort to join them I finally broke down and spoke to him for the first time since the meeting with Hobie. I can truthfully say that I had no hidden agenda when I asked him where he was the previous day. He looked at me and the look told me he was thinking it was none of my business. He just sat there staring at me like I was an alien. That made me mad. Throwing aside all consideration for being civil I demanded to know why he hadn’t come in and at least given a reason for his absence. I’m not sure he expected that so he meekly said he was moving in to his new house.

You know how when you bump your shin into something and you have such sharp pain that you actually can’t see for a few seconds? Well, that was the way it was when I heard his answer. I went off on him even though we were out in the public’s view. I was so upset that I really don’t know what I said. The gist of it was to demand to know who he thought he was, arbitrarily not showing up to be with his new employees on their first day. Somewhere in my rant I did ask if he spoke to anybody about his plan to not come in and got a weak negative shake of his head as a response. I honestly don’t know how long it was before I saw Hobie standing next to me and wanting to know what was going on. Seeing Hobie ‘broke the spell’ I was under and I immediately calmed down a bit. He had to ask me again what was happening. I think I took a couple of deep breaths before I told him that Jerry had seen fit to take a day off without saying anything to me, or to anybody for that matter, and with all of his employees here for training. That was when Jerry finally spoke up and, defensively, stated that it was move in day at his new house. Hobie just stood there, not saying anything. I was waiting for some sort of rebuke but all that happened was for Hobie to tell Jerry to follow him over to his area. Now I was pissed off at both of them.

I was back at my desk when Trish came up and asked if I was OK. She’d heard everything so was truly concerned about me. After a couple more deep breaths I regained some semblance of control. I do remember looking up at her and rolling my eyes. That brought a smile to her face and mine as well. Jerry was with Hobie for a while and when I saw him return he headed straight for where Lorie was conducting the training. I wondered how long it would be before I’d get a call from her telling me he was interfering.

The four women left at about the same time for their lunch break. Shortly thereafter I saw Mike (the messenger custodian) headed towards the drive up window with a mop and a pail. I saw Peggy standing in the work area at not at the window and wondered what that was all about. There had been a broken plumbing future on the second floor not too awfully long ago and my first thought was that it had broken again. I walked up to Peggy and asked if the ceiling was leaking and she kind of giggled when she said “No”, and that it was a different kind of leak. My mind was still on Jerry and didn’t pick up on her comment right away. I watched Mike swab a small area right behind where Peggy sat and then it came to me what she meant. Naturally, my first thought was that she’d had an ‘accident’ but quickly realized that if she had she wouldn’t be standing right next to me. Then I wanted to ask if she knew who it was but thought better of that idea. Mike had the floor mopped in short order and I returned to my desk contemplating which one of the girls, or women, had wet themselves. It was a nice diversion for a few minutes.

Prior to the new hires there were twelve females working on the first floor. The one women’s bathroom was usually adequate and other than an occasional complaint about having to wait to get in to use it, not a problem. Now, with the four new females the number was up to sixteen. I wondered if that hadn’t played into the situation and if it wasn’t the ‘culprit’ with the result being one of them having an ‘accident’. Realistically, there was no way that I was ever going to know. I’ll admit that my whole lunch break was taken up by conjuring up different scenarios that might’ve led to not only the situation but also what that person had done right after it.

Bob and John, the owners of the ad agency showed up that afternoon with the mock up of the direct mail advertising piece that they'd thrown together for the branch opening. I distinctly remember my reacting negatively. It wasn’t the same quality as the other materials they’d done for the bank and when I told them how I felt, John literally jumped out of the chair he’d been sitting in. Of the two he was, by far, the more emotional one. I’d been witness to another ‘explosion’ of his when I’d rejected an advertising idea of his. His partner, Bob, had to grab him by his arm to pull him back into the chair. His point was that given the short window of time to create the piece, get it printed, addressed and in the mail he thought it was pretty good effort. After Bob’s input I backed off and gave the OK to move on with the project.  As they walked away from my desk all I could think of was that it had been quite a day… and it wasn’t over yet.

When I saw Jerry headed towards me I looked at the clock. It was right around 4:30pm, the time he would usually leave because of his long commute to the city. BUT… in his own words he’d told both Hobie and I that his reason for not coming in to work the previous day was that he was moving into his new house. I walked up to him and asked where he was going. He gave me a ‘look’ and spit out “Home!” And started picking up things from his desk. I will tell you that I got great satisfaction in telling him “No way!” and reminding him that he only had about a 30 to 35 minute drive and not a 2+ hour drive. I didn’t know what to expect from him and was a bit surprised when he turned around and headed back to where Lorie was working with his staff. To me it was like the cherry on the top of an ice cream soda.

To be continued…

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160p)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160p)

We definitely had a good time! It brought back memories of the times before the kids were old enough to be figured into our ‘pleasure equation’. For once I used good common sense and never brought up the subject of Elle being wet when I arrived home realizing that it didn’t matter. The only thing wrong was that we fell asleep and were woken up by the phone and Elle’s mother wondering when we were going to pick up the kids. It was after 8pm... and didn't know how to explain why.

I knew Wednesday was going to be a ‘bear’ which led to my not sleeping well. There was no point in just rolling around in bed so I got up and headed for work early. I was anxious to meet the two other trainees and to observe just how they would mesh together. I’d pretty much pushed Jerry out of my mind. I knew what I wanted to see from the group and trusted Lorie and Bret to get it done. Jerry was the ‘wild card’ in that I never knew what he’d say (or do). It would be the first time that he would see his branch staff together and I wasn’t sure if he’d try and establish his control (as manager) or would do as instructed and just be passive.

The first person I met was Mae, the woman who’s relative had been a race car driver. She was definitely not a ‘looker’ but I was impressed by her positive manner. The next to arrive was Rita and she was ready to go, excited to get started. I quickly took her aside and told her I wanted her to try and work closely with Betsy who hadn’t yet arrived. The big question mark was Barb, the one who’s application didn’t clearly state just what her work experience was. When she walked into the work area I immediately liked her. Nothing really special to look at, she was one of those people who had a perpetual smile on her face. Now, having had time to think about it, the reason was probably youthful naivety… and good parenting. Betsy was the last to arrive and in keeping with the bright colors she’d worn the previous two days was wearing a robin's egg blue halter dress. The more I saw of her the more I liked her. Now, it was up to her to perform.

I was going to start in at a little after 9:30am, giving them time to meet each other and to get all the required employment forms completed. Knowing Jerry didn’t get to the office until almost 9:30am I was kind of holding my breath until his arrival. But, Trish walked up to say Jerry wasn’t coming in. My first reaction was “Thank God!”, because it would mean the first day of training could/would go smoothly. It wasn’t until mid morning when Hobie asked where he was and I couldn’t give him an answer that I really thought about it. The downside of his absence was that it was going to be awkward for all of them when he did finally show up. I checked with Trish to see if he gave any reason and all she did was to shake her head from side to side. 

I left Lorie and Bret to oversee the actual training and stepped back. It was my intention to observe from afar and to see how the four of the women interacted with each other. One thing readily noticeable was that Rita and Betsy were getting along well. Mae seemed to have taken Barb ‘under her wing’ and a check of their applications showed that Mae was old enough to be Barb’s mother. It was too early to tell how long it would last and only time would tell. The real question was how would Jerry interact with them and their performance.

The regular weekly mortgage committee meeting was that afternoon. However, I wasn’t told that the branch committee was also going to be there. When Trish came up to me and told me to report to the Board room I was totally blindsided. I walked in and was met with a barrage of questions about the branch opening. Fortunately, I had answers to most but it was “Polak Joe” (who else?) that, as usual, ‘came out of left field' when he asked if I had thought of using direct mail to advertise the opening. If my face had a goofy look on it there was a reason… I had no idea what direct mail was. Long story short… the insurance company that Joe worked for had just signed on for a direct mail campaign. He thought it was the best idea he’d heard of and proceeded to strongly urge the bank to follow suit. What had me upset was that he was not on either the mortgage committee for that month or on the branch committee. In my mind he shouldn’t even have been there. Between the two committees there were enough Trustees to pass a motion to appropriate the money necessary to run a direct mail campaign. It would then have to be ratified at the full Board meeting one week away. Easy for them to do… difficult for me to put into place. But, that never was considered.

Walking down the back stairs I walked into the last vestiges of the training for the day. I asked how it had gone and the answer was a smile from each of them. As I remember it, Mae spoke up and with broad smile said something along the lines of “A piece of cake!” Which brought out laughter form the others while Lorie added that they all passed their first day test.

I thought the partners at the advertising agency would choke when I called about creating a direct mail piece. Even though we were their biggest client they reminded me that they did have other customers and had spent the bulk of their time for the past week on our projects. However, after a brief discussion they agreed to not only create a mailing piece but, though their contacts in the city, arrange for the purchase of mailing lists for the surrounding towns to the branch site. I didn’t dare ask the price.

One of the questions from the branch committee had to do with the signs to go on each side of the building. I’d used my familial contact (Barney, who’s father owned the sign company, was married to my cousin) to get the sign company to put a ‘rush’ on two lighted signs. I decided to stop by the shop on my way home to see their progress. It was worth the trip. Walking into their workshop I found Barney and his father wiring one of the signs. They promised they would be installed over the weekend, almost a week before promised. Good news to end the work day.

To be continued…

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160o)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160o)

The race car was still on the back of the hauler when I got there. Cliffy’s father was driving the wrecker as it was dragged off the truck bed. There were probably a dozen onlookers as it happened. I made a joke that we should’ve charged admission. Once on the ground it didn’t take long to start the repairs. There was some frame damage but Cliffy’s father told/showed the guys what to do to fix it and by the time it started to get dark we were well on our way. We rallied ourselves by saying that bad things come in threes and that was the third piece of bad luck we’d experienced. Trying to find a bright spot Buster piped up that since we didn’t even make one lap on the tires we wouldn’t have to buy new ones. Actually, the out of pocket costs to repair the damage was less than $50. The part I liked was that enough was done that we decided to skip coming on Wednesday night.

Tuesday was another ‘enlightening’ day as far as Betsy was concerned. She wore a flowered blouse with a pale pink, fairly tight fitting skirt. Personally, I loved to see pastels on a woman. In observing her with Lorie it was obvious that the ‘hit it off’. With the bank’s new Xerox machine Lorie had run off copies of what I’d deemed “the Bible”. It was a summary of the basic banking department rules we had to follow and Lorie spent the morning going over them with the idea that once she and the other new employees were at the branch for the last of their training that she had something to work with. It was luck that had brought Betsy to the office two days early but I could see it paying off “in spades”.

I continued avoiding Jerry and reveled in the fact that he was uncomfortable knowing that I was, indeed, his ‘boss’. My plan was to meet with Bret,Lorie, Jerry and Susan after the doors were locked to the public. I’d given Bret and Lorie the job of organizing just who was training who and what the trainers would be responsible in that role. I’d excluded Jerry from all of it because I was convinced he’d interject something that either wasn’t relevant or just plain wrong. So, when 3pm came and we gathered up in the corner by my desk I was ready to drop the “hammer” on Jerry.

Emboldened by the talk Hobie had with Jerry where he was told to clear all decision making with me (or Hobie) I started out by telling them all that Jerry was nothing more than an observer during the week of training for his staff at the main office.  I specifically told Lorie that if Jerry got involved, even slightly, she was to come to me. Then I addressed Betsy and told her that once the training shifted to the branch itself she, as head teller, had complete and total control of the training and, like I’d just told Lorie, if Jerry got the least bit involved she was to contact me. Jerry made a couple of attempts to protest and did get out that he was the manager but I pretty much shot him down saying that he was the “front man” when it came to assisting customers and that Betsy was in charge of the teller line. I made note of the looks on both Bret and Lorie’s faces. I’d never done anything like that before and I could see they were shocked. But I took pleasure in seeing Jerry being shot down. I knew I was taking a calculated risk of going too far especially with not knowing just who Jerry’s ‘benefactor’ was among the Trustees. but I was determined to take it as far as I could in establishing my position over him especially in front of the other three. It was too early to know just how good Betsy was or could be but I was willing to take a chance on her. An unspoken part of my plan was to connect Rita with Betsy and have the two of them with experience ‘run the show’. I had a week to put them together and I was counting on it to work. By the time we finished up it was well past 5pm. I honestly think Jerry was more upset about that (he normally left around 4:30pm or so) than the fact that I’d stripped a lot of his authority from him.

On a more personal level, I got home to find Elle in a tennis dress. That was always a pleasant sight. Before I could ask she said that Aurelia had called and told Elle she’d arranged to have a lesson and wanted to know if Elle was interested. Back at the beginning of the school year one of the new teachers hired had taught tennis where she’d previously lived. However, in trying to get settled in a new location she’d deferred doing anything along those lines but with school all but out for the Summer was lining prospects up. Elle, of course, jumped at the chance. There had only been a half day of school for the kids and Elle had taken them to her mother’s house to do one of their favorite things… make cookies. Once there, her mother asked if they could stay for dinner so they could see Elle’s father. That was a ’no brainer’ as Elle wanted to have a surprise for me when I got home. It was! But it came with a price… She wanted me to go hit some balls with her.

She knew I’d resist so she was prepared. She lifted the front of the dress and it appeared that her panties (plural) were wet. It was a bold move on her part, being willing to go out in public being wet, but she was ready. Being supper time she knew there was little chance of anybody being at the courts. She’d made up a salad for supper so when we returned it would be ready to eat. In essence, she’d removed what would’ve been my main reason for not going and offered me a rare treat if I did go. I was hooked. I made one stab at getting a feel of her panties but she deftly avoided me and gave me a sly smile for the effort and told me to hurry as I headed up the stairs.

I had to root around a bit to find my tennis clothes and shoes. We drove down the driveway just as the 6pm siren blew at the firehouse. At the courts we found a couple of kids picking up their things and waited for a few minutes before getting out of the car. At the court itself I stood and watched Elle as she bent over and pulled the can of balls out of her bag. It was a sight to behold. She was wearing two pair of her nylon satin fancy panties, complete with lace around the legs… and I could clearly see that they had been wet. I took two steps and patted her butt and found they were still damp. I elected not to ask about how and where wanting to preserve the moment.

The tennis, if that’s what I was playing, was pretty weak. My memory tells me that we stayed for little more than half an hour. With no one around she finally relented and let me get a good feel enhancing it with a pretty good squirt. My member was at full attention when she pulled away from me telling me I’d have to wait for any more. I was more than willing. Back at home I was ready to continue what we’d started but she insisted that we wait until after we’d eaten saying that she had very little for lunch. I was left to ‘cool my heels’ as she dished the salad out. I have no idea why I thought of a picture at that moment but I did. As soon as I mentioned it I heard the words “Make it fast”. The camera was in the hall closet right behind where we were standing. I went to get it and even though it took less than 30 seconds she was no longer in the kitchen when I returned. In a few steps I found her in the den. She was already posed and waiting… a definite good sign for later.
     

To be continued...

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160n)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160n)

Seeing Betsy waiting at the back door in a bright yellow dress certainly started my workday in the right direction. She seemed a bit reserved as compared to when I’d last seen her. Hobie hadn’t arrived yet and I pretty much knew Jerry wouldn’t get there much before 9:15am, or after, so I took her to my desk. I explained that our new telephone system was now operational and I had to make sure it was working plus we still had to wait for Jerry and the Vice President for our meeting. When I returned I wanted to find out the reason she was so quiet. It didn’t take long to find out what was on her mind. She couldn’t understand why she had to make a special trip just to meet Hobie when she was scheduled to be at the office on Wednesday to start her training. I’ll admit I hadn’t given it any thought when Hobie told me to arrange the meeting so I couldn’t give her an answer. Then she asked if I’d found out why Jerry’s wife had been present during her interview with him. I told her I didn’t have an answer but suggested that she raise the question during our meeting. She didn’t take too kindly the idea but I encouraged her to at least give it some thought.

I’d given Hobie the application with her experience listed back on Friday so he’d be knowledgeable when asking her questions but I still truly couldn’t understand why he wanted the meeting. When he arrived I still didn’t know. The conversation was purely casual until Jerry arrived. He was at his Casper Milquetoast best, wringing his hands as soon as he walked into Hobie’s area. He acknowledged Betsy but wouldn’t look at her as Hobie started talking. His words were directed at Jerry and he told him that even though he (Jerry) hadn’t selected her (Betsy), she was to be his head teller and there would be no discussion about it. Then he asked Jerry if he understood. That I had to hide a smile goes without saying (writing). Then I got an even bigger surprise when he told Jerry that another person he’d interviewed but had not selected would be part of his “team” and mentioned Rita’s name. In mentioning her he came as close to chastising Jerry as he could without reaming him out. He told him that Betsy and Rita, with their experience, would be the keystone to the success of the branch. Jerry just sat there, wringing his hands and looking down at his lap and the floor. I had to look down as well to keep my facial expression from being seen by Hobie. Then Hobie turned to Betsy and asked if she had any questions.

At first she didn’t respond and when it appeared she wouldn’t speak she turned to Jerry and asked the question I wanted her to ask… “Why did your wife sit in on my interview?” My head immediately turned towards Hobie. I’d learned that he was a master at hiding his feelings and I wanted to see his reaction to that. I should’ve looked at Jerry. I think the term “tongue tied” would be appropriate here. He made a few abortive attempts before Hobie spoke up and repeated the question. Again, Jerry stumbled and bumbled. His answer, after a time, was that he’d brought her along so that after the interviews were over they could do the final inspection on the house they were buying. When Jerry was telling us that my eyes were on Hobie. His facial expression didn’t change but he did make a note on a pad on his desk and that was all. I, and I'm sure Betsy, wanted to know she couldn't have aited outside the room. It was awkward for all of us and Hobie finally put an end to the meeting telling Betsy he was glad she was “part of the family”. Looking at her face, I wasn’t so sure she was.

I don’t think Jerry said more than “hello” and nice to meet you to Betsy the whole time we were together. When the three of us stood up Jerry walked out of the area without saying anything to her. I led her back to my desk and, remembering her question about why she had to come out that day, I asked her to take a seat. I headed back to Hobie’s desk and caught him between phone calls. I broached the idea of having her start her training right then and there. The cost would be that she would be on the payroll two days early. After I explained the situation Hobie OK’ed it. When I told her it changed her attitude immediately. I then introduced her to Lorie and hoped that all the “drama” was over.

As for the new phone system, the only one who was struggling was Mary Carol, the switchboard operator. I was certainly relieved to see Norman, the salesman for the system, walking across the lobby. He was there to see how we were doing and his timing couldn’t have been better. As far as I was concerned the only problem was the old telephone equipment that was still in place. It belonged to the telephone company and we had to wait for them to come and pick it up. The flexibility of the new equipment was appreciated by all those I spoke to. After talking with Lena,the president’s secretary, and Trish I felt that between the new phones and the service bureau processing our banking transactions the bank was well on the way to being considered “progressive” and I was proud of my part in getting it there.

Returning to my desk I passed by Jerry and found him to be sort of pouting and unwilling to look at me or to even acknowledge my presence. That was OK by me. However, still in the back of my mind was the matter of his wife being present during the interviewing process and the lack of a 'real' answer. I’d noted that Hobie had made a note on it during the earlier meeting and hoped that he’d ask me to meet with him about it sometime later. I desperately wanted to let him know that Jerry had done the same with Rita, the experienced teller that Jerry had passed over and that I’d hired. I still harbored the faint hope that with enough “dirt” on Jerry that he’d be let go and a ‘real’ manager could be hired. I waited all day to get a call from Hobie but it never came.

At the end of the day I checked with Betsy and she appeared to be doing really well. She seemed to be the relaxed person I remembered her to be when I  first interviewed her. Lorie added that having Betsy there to work with her one on one for a couple of days was proving to be a big help. Once the other tellers arrived for their training it would be more difficult. Watching Betsy gather her things in preparation for leaving was the first time I could get a ‘relaxed’ look at her. She was a nice looking woman with a nice shape. Wearing that yellow dress I could finally asses her ‘attributes’. I watched her pick up her handbag off the floor and got a small VPL. The dress material appeared to be linen and although a little on the heavy side I was still able to see the indent of a leg elastic of her panties. I just hoped it was a forerunner of something better. All in all, walking out the door that night I had a much better feeling than I’d had that morning.

To be continued…

HEADING FOR SUMMER ... and whatever it brings (Part 160m)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160m)

The reason for my laughter wasn’t for what you might think. It was because Elle had broken one of her own rules. When we first moved into the house we’d never had a button lock door and it had taken some time to become accustomed to it. We’d each locked ourselves out because we hadn’t released the button when going outside so Elle devised “Elle’s Rule”. It was fairly simple. The first person to go out the door in the morning was to unlock the button. Then, the last person to leave the property was to reset it, locking the door. On this day, Elle, preoccupied, reset it when she wasn’t really leaving the property and had been ‘bitten’ by her own rule. The spare key was out in the metal shed I’d put up in the far back part of the property. With Elle’s very limited window time to get to a toilet there had been no way for her to make it so she just let it go. I’d not seen the remnants of it because she’d washed the patio off and the sun had dried it all by the time I arrived. Having her in a bit of a defensive mood helped take the pressure off me for not having called and I was relishing it.

She did have one bit of disturbing news for me… Rex, the sailing club property manager had called to remind me that the next weekend was the first weekend to get the clubhouse opened up and ready for the upcoming season. I can’t say I’d forgotten about it but I’d been deferring thinking about it in detail. It was also the ‘kick in the pants’ to get both of our Sunfish sailboats out, cleaned up and ready to go as well. Even though the days were getting longer as far as light was concerned, they were certainly getting shorter when it came to fitting all the things I was involved were concerned.

Cliffy and the crew picked me up just after 3pm. We were in good spirits on the trip to the track with the only negative thought coming from Cliffy saying that the only thing left to break was the transmission. The rest of us ignored him recognizing that with the bad luck of the previous weeks we’d be entitled to a better starting position in our qualifying heat. It was but we found ourselves starting right behind C J. We all knew he was faster but Cliffy said his plan for qualifying was to stay right on C J’s bumper. Cliffy and C J talked about it before the race and they agreed that qualifying was the most important thing in this race and not who won.

C J was on the outside ‘pole’ (the first row of cars is considered to have the ‘pole’, or prime starting positions) with Cliffy right behind him on the outside of the second row. We were all really excited to be starting up front. When the green flag dropped all the cars went screaming into the first turn and then there was this big cloud of smoke and the sound of crunching metal. I could see our car stuffed into the outside retaining wall as the smoke lifted. Looking at the carnage there were at least six or seven cars all stuffed together. There was no doubt that we were done for the night.

Long story short… When C J lifted his foot off the accelerator the motor, literally, blew up spewing oil and broken engine parts all over the track. Cliffy was caught up in it and couldn’t steer the car and centrifugal force carried him into the wall. The primary damage was to the right front suspension. The wheel (and all the parts attached to it) were ripped right off the car. It took the track workers about a half hour to clean the mess (cars and oil off the track) up. Because we didn’t have a right front wheel the wrecker had to put the car on the hauler backwards. It was a major process! Once loaded, we inspected the car for other damage and found it to be mostly ‘cosmetic’.

C J and his crew came over to see how bad it had been for us and that’s when we found out just what had happened. When C J ‘lifted’ to go into the turn, the crankshaft broke and then “all hell broke loose” inside the motor, spewing not only oil all over the track but also prices of it as well. I remember C J saying that he “would now be a Chevy man” and glad of it. I kind of wondered why he’d say that because he’d been a multiple track champion at the local track running Ford power. On the trip home it was confirmed that we had all the necessary parts to fix the car so we weren’t faced with additional costs. It was just the disappointment of not being able to race that had us discouraged. It was now three weeks in a row.

I was home way earlier than if we’d qualified for the feature race. There was a note on the kitchen counter waiting for me. Bret had called to let me know the phones were all working at the bank. To be truthful, I hadn’t thought about it since I’d left around noon time. However, it was one less thing to worry about for Monday morning. The one thing that was on my mind as I tried to get to sleep was the upcoming meeting between Hobie, Jerry, Betsy (the woman I’d hired as a head teller for the branch) and me. It was at Hobie’s request and I wasn’t sure the purpose of it. In my mind it would be a bit awkward because it would be Hobie’s first time meeting Betsy and Jerry would be there as well. It was not an easy sleep.

Sunday was a day devoted to family and to getting the house and property ready for Summer. I'd been late in getting the storm windows off and the screens up on the first floor so that was a priority. With my involvement with the race car I’d managed to avoid being a part of this year's school Board election. Pat (the PTA lady) decided to make a personal visit to try and get me involved and that pretty much ruined my afternoon. Earlier, I’d been asked to run for the Board and turned it down. The guy who she finally ended up with was not a strong candidate and with only a little over a week to go until the annual meeting and the vote. The big issue for this meeting was school overcrowding. The main problem with the guy’s candidacy was that he didn’t have any children old enough to attend school. That was exacerbated by the fact he was new to the community so for him to promote the need for a new building was hard for the ‘locals’ to handle. The ’talk’ around town was it was a dead issue. Pat was there to try and get me to commit to running for the Board the following year. I couldn’t believe it. The only thing that kept me from telling her off was that I believed in what she was trying to accomplish… but I was really pissed.

To be continued…

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160l)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160l)

I was at the back door of the bank a little before 7:30am. I was a bit surprised that it only took fifteen minutes to get there. But, on a Saturday morning, well before any stores were open, it made sense. The Northern Telecom crew was there, ready and waiting. When I went over their plans on how they would attack the installation I realized having Lorie to ‘baby sit’ them wouldn’t work. They would have to have access to their truck and, with Lorie not an officer, wasn’t allowed to have possession of a key. That meant I was stuck with the job and I was really mad at myself for not thinking the situation through. Lorie showed up right after 8am. It was the first time I’d ever seen her not dressed for work. An attractive young woman, she always dressed ‘professionally’ but now, in casual clothes, she looked totally different. She had her hair pulled back exposing her ears and I thought she looked cute with it that way. She was wearing white shorts… not short shorts and not Bermudas… but something in between. On seeing her I just knew there was the possibility for a VPL or optimisticaly, maybe a peek up the legs. However, there was no need for her to stay so my chances looked dim. I apologized when I told her about my making a planning error and in having her to come in. I remember her taking the news fairly well and then saying that there were some things she could work on in preparation for the upcoming training that she would be conducting. At that point I focused on what the  workers were doing up at the old switchboard and left her to work on her project.

It was about mid morning when I went back down to the first floor. I didn’t see her at first so went looking for her. I found her sitting on one of the “Kik” stools in front of an open file drawer with piles of papers on the floor. Walking up behind her she didn’t hear or see me and I was glad she didn’t. There was a gap between her blouse and the waist of her shorts. I could see flesh and also a bit of pale blue showing. Success! A DP (down pants). It wasn’t much but, for her, it was a lot. When she finally realized I was there she got up. But, in so doing she realized she’d pushed the “Kik” stool over one batch of papers and quickly bent over and reached for them. Instant VPL! Another ‘win’ for me. In seeing both it was a reminder that I really should be traveling to work on the road that went past her house as the clothes line was right close to the road. I remember thinking that it was just another example of having too many things on my mind.

I thought that was my ‘excitement’ for the morning. I was on my way to let her out when I saw Trish at the back door. Letting her in she explained that she had some shopping to do downtown and thought she’d stop in to see how Lorie was doing, never expecting to see me. Like with Lorie, I never got to see her in casual clothes and it was refreshing to see her that way although she wasn’t wearing anything special. The three of us stood there in the vestibule, chatting about nothing in particular, when Trish suddenly got serious. She was a very private person and seldom volunteered her views on anything. When she asked if we (both) hadn’t found Jerry to be (I don’t remember her exact word) “strange” I was shocked. In post 160j I mentioned how I’d wanted to discuss/divulge the fact that Jerry had his wife sit in on the interviews for tellers for the branch but hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. I was just about to do just that when Trish went on to say that Jerry got anywhere from three to six calls a day from his wife. I remember the look on Lorie’s face and mine probably had the same expression. But with that tidbit out in the open I couldn’t help my self and told them of the interview situation. For the next ten to fifteen minutes it was a compendium of out of the ordinary incidents that were bandied about. It was Trish who looked at her watch and said she had to get going and left with Lorie shortly thereafter. I stood there in total amazement that it seemed everybody but the trustees could see Jerry was a loser.

By the time the noon siren went off the Telecom workers had most of the wires connected to the new console. Bret arrived a few minutes later and I was soon on my way home. I figured I had about two hours to get all my Saturday chores done and I’d have to hustle to be ready for when Cliffy would drive by to pick me up on the way to the track. Elle wasn’t there when I arrived but I hoped she’d made something for me for lunch but couldn’t find anything. Before changing my clothes I stopped to use the bathroom and saw some clothes in the sink. I saw purple and recognized that it was a pair of Elle’s shorts and that they were wet. I picked them up and found a pair of ‘dribble panties’ wound up inside them. On top of wondering where Elle was I wanted to know what had happened to cause Elle to have what appeared to be an ‘accident’.

I was in the process of making a peanut butter and honey sandwich when I heard the kids on the patio. As soon as she walked in she wanted to know where I’d been. I tried to explain that all the phones were down and the reasons that I’d had to stay and I was somewhat surprised that she wasn’t all that upset. We chatted while I ate and she made lunch for the girls. One of her comments referenced the wet clothes in the bathroom sink. When she did she had a bit of a smile on her face. Before I could ask she explained that she’d been locked out. I had to laugh at that and asked how that was possible.

She and the girls were eating breakfast when Barbara, from next door, knocked and asked if the girls could come over to say good bye to the German twins as they were about to leave for Pennsylvania. Elle said she agreed but wanted Kaye to wait because she wasn’t dressed. She took her upstairs, dressed her and then let her go while she herself finished dressing. Knowing she was just going next door she decided to unlock the button on the door… only it was already set in the unlocked position. She was in a rush and figured she’d only be gone a few minutes so didn’t use the toilet. Mistake! When she returned home she found the door locked and had no key. Result… puddle.

To be continued…

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160k)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160k)

It turned out to be a fun time even though it meant I was late getting to the shop to work on the car. I got caught up on the progress (or lack thereof) on the new house they were having built. Bill said he’d been assured they would be in the house by the 10th of the month. As principal of the school, he commanded some respect from the community and it had come to his (and Phyllis’) aid in cutting through some bureaucratic red tape. However, with them having to be out of the rented house by July 1, they still had some juggling to do with family members. He, himself, was going to be staying with a school board member while Phyllis and the three younger children would be going back to Pennsylvania to stay with her relatives and the twins. Phyllis commented that it “would be cozy”. Mo, who would also be starting college, was enrolled in a Summer program at Temple University and would be living on campus. That left Barbara.

Being as busy and involved as I’d been recently, I’d kind of lost track of her. Even though still a high school student she’d been working more and more hours at the downtown store owned by an elderly German couple. Once cheerleading was over she was able to devote more time to working and the owners had come to rely on her more and more. So, she was the ‘orphan’ when it came time for the transition from the rental house to their own house.

Even though it’s now almost 50 years since that time, I’ve never been able to figure out if Elle and I weren’t being manipulated into offering to have her stay with us. Elle didn’t think so but I saw too many indications that the whole party thing was to induce us to take her in. Don’t get me wrong… I really liked Barbara and I immediately recognized there could be ‘benefits’ for me. Besides that we were to get paid for having her stay. But, to me. there were other choices that could’ve been pursued. Bottom line… it was a ‘done deal’ by the time Elle left to go back home. (I’d departed earlier). I didn’t find out about it until the next morning but that gets me ahead of the story.

As I mentioned, I was late getting to the shop. The other guys were just about to wheel the rear end under the car. I’m sure it was ‘payback’ but I ended up being one of the guys to have to get under the car and connect all the trailing arms, shock absorbers and springs. I was on a creeper which is a four wheeled platform that can be easily moved about with a person lying on it while under a car. Buster, who was usually in Cliffy’s ‘dog house’, was my partner. Alan was the guy who made all the adjustment calls and he stayed on the outside with a tape measure giving us instructions on which bolt to turn and how much to turn it. Let me say this… it’s pretty boring work.

Being a Friday night and with the races the next day, it brought out some ’spectators’ to see what we were doing. One of them was Davo (the tall basketball player from the now defunct town basketball team that I’d been on) along with his girlfriend, Leigh. I think I’ve described her in a prior post (or two) but she was as close to a ‘hippie” as we had in our circle of friends. An unbelievable personality, she defied customary mores when it came to dress and, to a leaser extent, modesty. Her attitude was along the lines of ‘here I am and you can like me or not but I’m not changing for you’. I loved it!
Her mother was one of the school nurses and Leigh had made a half hearted attempt to follow in her mother’s footsteps. But life was too much fun to be tied down to customary things for her. Now approaching 30, and with two years of nursing school behind her, she’d gotten a part time job as a medical records clerk at the smaller of the two hospitals that served our area. On this day she’d been called in for some work that had kept her too late for the last bus. Davo had gone to pick her up and had stopped on the way back to see what we were doing.

Davo, in spite of his love of racing, didn’t want to have anything to do with working on a race car. He liked to stand around and shoot ‘zingers’ at the guys who worked on the car, especially Cliffy. It was all in good fun and no one took any of his barbs seriously. For reasons never understood, Leigh was happy just being around him, Seldom did she speak and, on this particular evening, sat on a small three step step stool. I’d seen her come in wearing a short Summer skirt but didn’t focus on her at all. However, once on the creeper and under the car I found myself in an unbelievable position… able to look right at her pantied crotch. In sitting here typing this I can almost see the scene unfolding once again.

As I said, modesty was not her forte. When she plopped herself down on the  stool she chose to pull the hem of her skirt up to the point of almost exposing her panties. That wasn’t the end of it… she spread her legs so that her feet were out to the bottom of the legs of the stool. A casual guess was that there was at least 12 if not 14 inches between her knee caps. I was under the car where she couldn’t see me but I sure could see her. Oh my heart! I definitely remember Alan yelling at me to make some adjustment but, with my concentration on Leigh’s crotch, I didn’t hear him. A guess would be about a five minute, unobstructed view.

By the time we all left for the night the car was ready to go and the mood of the guys was upbeat. We were ready for things to start going our way. I could only hope so. We’d been lucky that Fairlane John had stepped up with the cash for the rear end but the reality was there that we, the partners, were going to have to come up with some cash if we were going to be able to continue racing. If nothing else went wrong we had enough money for one more set of tires. What we needed was a good finish, at least third place, to give us a ‘cushion’. The reality of it was there were at least thirty cars at the track aiming for the same thing. In 24 hours we’d know.

To be continued…

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160j)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160j)

It was almost 3pm by the time I got something in my stomach. I’d not gone out of my way to avoid Jerry but by the time he left for the day I still hadn’t spoken to him. I’d been able to contact the just hired head teller, Betsy, and used the upcoming training schedule as my excuse. After hanging up with her I decided to make the calls to the tellers Jerry had hired to apprise them of when and where they were to appear for their training. The first one I called was the one with the relative who had been a race car driver. I was able to quickly ‘bond’ with her with that as a background. On the phone she sounded energetic, positive and anxious to start her training. That was encouraging. The next call was to the woman who’s application was hard to decipher in that it didn’t contain any information as to just what she did in her present job. It took a bit of explaining for me to get her to understand that I was not the man who’d interviewed her. I was scratching my head by the time she grasped that. When I told her that training would start the following Wednesday I waited for her response. None came. I had to ask if she was still on the line. She finally answered that she couldn’t make it. I remember sitting there thinking that I must’ve dialed the wrong number… but it was the right number. It turned out the reason she couldn’t come to the main office was because she didn’t have a car. Upon hearing that I wanted to laugh.

I was on the phone to Rita, the lady I’d interviewed that morning, within seconds. I didn’t get the excited response I’d hoped for but got a nice measured one indicating that she’d probably accept but only after talking to her husband. I made an attempt to get an acceptance right then and there. However, she said that in thinking back to the interview with Jerry, being passed over by him and my leaving in the middle of her interview that morning had left her with a bit of an uneasy feeling about the bank and the management. There was not much I could say to that. I was about to tell her to think it over and to try to get back to me as soon as she felt comfortable when she kind of blurted out a question… “Why was the interviewer’s wife in the room when she was being interviewed?” Now it was my turn to go quiet. I had to make a quick decision… lie and say I didn’t know about it, or… just say I had no idea why. I chose the lie. For sure, I wanted to know myself. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the reason for her being there. I know I hesitated for a few seconds before I asked her to describe what had taken place. I don’t think she was expecting  the question as she, in turn, hesitated before answering.

She said she saw the other woman when she first walked into the room. She said she asked about her as she was sitting down and said the interviewer (Jerry) just sloughed off her question saying something like “Oh, she’s just my wife.” She said the interviewer started in asking questions with no further reference to the other woman. I jumped in at that stage and asked if his wife ever spoke during the interview. She said she didn’t remember if she did or didn’t but she did remember seeing her make some sort of hand signal. I had to ask where Jerry’s wife was seated during the exchange. She hesitated again and finally said  “In the other window.” Not having seen the room I couldn’t really place all their positions so asked. Rita said it was a really nice room with two bow windows that faced a wooded area with a stream running though it. I honestly remember the stream from when my family had stayed there after WWII. She went on to say that she and the interviewer were seated facing each other in one of the windows. The other woman was in the other bow window but the curtains were drawn. The more I heard the stranger it seemed to get. I interrupted her to say that I really had no idea that the situation had occurred or why the other woman was in the room. I got the sense that Rita had had enough and I’d probably gone too far with that subject. I closed by asking her to think seriously about the offer I’d made (It was for a lot more money than the woman who said she couldn’t come to the training sessions) and to get back to me as soon as possible.

Have you ever been in a situation where you had ’news’ but didn’t know what to do with it? Betsy, the woman I’d hired as a head teller, had told me of Jerry’s wife being present during her interview and, strange as it was, I’d not mentioned it to anyone. Now, I’d just gotten confirmation, with details, of Jerry’s unorthodox interviews. I sat there wondering what to do with the information. I remember wishing I’d had it before Jerry had his meeting with Bert and Hobie. As a result of it though, I was happy about getting clear delineation of my authority over Jerry but his strange behavior was troubling. I don’t remember how long I sat there debating with myself on taking the information to Hobie. He hadn’t seemed too put out about my going ‘over his head’ but I wondered if he’d take this latest bit of ’news’ as ‘bashing’ Jerry. It had been made clear to me that Jerry wasn’t going anywhere so I just ‘sat on it’.

The last thing I did for the day (at work) was to co-ordinate with Lorie and Bret about ‘baby sitting’ the Northern Telecom people the next day. I told Lorie I’d be at the bank by 7:45am and would stay until she got there, hopefully by 8:15 or so. She was OK with that and Bret confirmed he’d be there a little after noon. I remember looking forward to the new phone system… no more dropped calls… being able to dial an extension without having to go through the old PBX board and having the switchboard operator do it for us… being able to put a call on ‘hold’ and then dialing another extension. I knew it would be a period of adjustment until the system was understood but it would be a big step in the right direction.

I was a bit apprehensive on my trip home knowing that Elle hadn’t been happy with how late I’d come in the night before. I knew she’d be totally unhappy with my heading back that night to work some more on the race car. I tried to be positive and upbeat when I walked in fully expecting to see a frown but was greeted with a smile and the announcement that we were going to a party for our dessert. I had no idea what she was talking about. It turned out to be a small farewell party for the German twins that had spent the past few months staying next door with Phyllis and Bill. They were headed back to Pennsylvania the next day to get ready for Summer school to prepare them for college. I’d not seen all that much of them but our kids had and Phyllis thought it would be a nice parting gesture. Since it was all decided I knew better than to open my mouth.

To be continued…

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160i)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160i)

With Rita gone one of my worries had passed. The next was in what would happen when Jerry appeared. But Mike, the messenger custodian, came up to the gate to the platform to inform me there was a piece of equipment being delivered… the Xerox machine. The old 3M copier had been removed and space enough for the new machine had been cleared so I wasn’t concerned so I asked Bret to oversee the placement of it. I was on my way to see Lorie about the teller training for the new branch employees when I saw Jerry headed towards me. In the months that he’d been there I’d never seen him get upset. But that had changed. He was just about running across the work area as he approached. I’m not sure what it was that he was muttering as he rushed right past me. I fully expected to be attacked, at least verbally, but all he did was to go to his desk, sit and just stare straight ahead. I do remember standing there and thinking “What a wimp”. I’m not sure how I would’ve reacted if he had let go a barrage of disparaging words to me… but because of where we were I was sure glad he didn’t.

I’m not sure I wasn’t shaking a bit when I got to Lorie’s work space to go over the teller training. I tried my best to get on topic but my eyes kept darting towards Jerry. It was Lorie who got me on topic saying she thought she had the training assignments and  schedule worked out. She said she could start the following Wednesday and that would give them a week at the main office and, hopefully, a week at the branch before waiting on any customers. She told me she was going to work closely with Betsy and hoped she would pick up on it quick enough to be able to work with what would be her ‘charges’ at the branch. Time on the teller machines would be her focus for all four of them. Hearing what she had to say in such a positive way kind of lulled me into thinking things were going smoothly. But, just as I had that thought, Bret appeared. The Xerox machine didn’t fit.

I really couldn’t believe what he was telling me. Really. So I trudged up the back stairs to see for myself what he was talking about. Before I even got halfway there I ran into Bert and Hobie as they were leaving the Board room. Hobie told me he wanted to see me but I told him there was a problem with the Xerox. With Bret right there he told him to look into it. Bret, thankfully, spoke up and said he'd already surveyed the situation and that's why I was now involved. That news caused him to want to take a look himself.

As I previously had written, The machine was to go where the old photocopy machine had been. We’d measured the space it was to occupy and that part was fine. What we didn’t take into consideration was the width of the doorway. When the building was built that area was for storage and had no door. All the walls were concrete… a special very hard type. When additional work space was needed it was reconfigured except for one thing… the entryway. It was approximately 28 inches wide and at least an inch more was needed. It wasn’t a case of removing a door and door frames because there weren’t any. We’d already found that to just drill holes in the concrete special drills were needed. Breaking pieces out was not feasible.

The sight of the machine when it arrived had gotten the mortgage department people all excited so they were watching the whole scene evolve. We were committed, by contract, to accept the machine. Now the question was… where to put it. Hobie didn’t have any suggestions and left. Before leaving he told me to come to his desk after the machine was placed. (It finally ended up in the vestibule area just outside the Board room.) That took almost an hour. I’d skipped breakfast and it was now lunch time. I debated with myself as weather I should grab a bite first or go over to see Hobie. Once down the stairs I knew it had to be Hobie.

Naturally, I was concerned. It would be the first time, one on one that day, and I really had no ‘read’ on his feelings about me going to Bert in his absence. He was at his desk and when he looked up just pointed to the side chair. He continued reading what he had in front of him making me feel like I was invisible. It probably wasn’t a minute before he looked up. Expecting at least some  sort of rebuke, I was pleasantly surprised that he told me that Jerry wasn’t to make any more hiring decisions without my express approval. I, of course, wanted to know what had led up to that decision being made… but, wisely, kept my mouth shut. The one thing that did bother me was  wanting me to have Betsy come back to the main office to meet with the three of us (Hobie, Jerry and me) to “clear the air”. I wasn’t sure just what that meant but knew I had my ‘marching orders’.

By then I was craving something to eat. But, before I got to the door I’d been reminded that the bank had to provide access to the Northern Telecom crew on Saturday so they could install, program and check out the new electronic switchboard. Bret had agreed to come in just after mid day and stay until they left. There was no one else but me to open the doors for the workers and I surely wasn’t happy about that. Now, with racing the car, I no longer had all day Saturday for chores and things around the house. As I headed over to the luncheonette I saw Lorie. She waved to me to wait for her and when I did she asked a question that I’d not even taken into consideration… would the installation of the new telephone equipment interfere with data transmission? With my stomach now growling, I went back inside the bank with her and called Albie at the data center.

While waiting for him to be located I chatted a bit with Lorie about the new phones. I volunteered that if the test the next day went well we’d all be in much better shape as far as communications in the bank were concerned. I explained that we’d be able to just push buttons to speak to anyone located in the building. That seemed to impress her. Frustrated about my having to come in to oversee the testing, I mentioned it to her. When I heard her say the words “I could do that for you…” I wanted to jump up and kiss her.

It wasn’t that easy. Only officers had keys which meant she wouldn’t be allowed to do it. There was one thing that was clearly on my side in this matter… Lorie was Hobie’s favorite. That had been made clear many times over (including her being chosen over Gina for the chief clerk position). I decided to approach Hobie about it and was much relieved to hear him say “OK”… as long as I was the one to unlock and open the building up. When I told him Bret would be there for the afternoon he signed off on it. I was free… sort of…

To be continued…

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160h)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160h)

There had been a man who would show up at the garage, stand around in the background while smoking a cigar. He was almost as wide as he was tall. But that wasn’t what distinguished him. It was his Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner, a hardtop convertible. All I knew him as was Fairlane John. I had no idea what he did or, for that matter, anything about him. When I pulled up to the garage I saw the car… and about a half dozen people gathered around it. I walked over and saw him sitting behind the wheel (with the hardtop down) and heard him say something like “now get to work and get that car to the track.”

We all walked inside and ‘attacked’ the car, with some pulling the broken rear end out and others unboxing the new one. I wanted to know what had happened to change the situation. I don’t remember who threw out the fact that John had stepped up with five $100 bills. I liked hearing that but wondered why. There was no time for ‘chatter’ as we only had two nights to do a week’s worth of work. There really wasn’t much I could do once the rear was out of the car. The real work was in cutting the fittings off the broken rear and welding them onto the new one. Cliffy, Dick and Joe were the only ones who were capable of handling that sort of thing. But Buster, Alan, Robo and I felt we should stick around. It was after midnight when we all finally left. Needless to say, Elle was asleep when I got home. I knew I’d hear about my late night in the morning.

I was really tired when I got up… not the way I wanted to feel with the day I was expecting. It didn’t help that Elle wasn’t being all that nice either. On my way to work I tried to figure how the meeting with Bert, Hobie, Jerry and I would go… and I couldn’t even come up with even one (reasonable) possibility. However, there were two things that I was looking forward to with the main one being delivery of the new Xerox machine. The other was in hearing what Bret and Lorie had come up with in the way of a plan to train the new tellers for the branch. At least a week of it was going to have to be done at the main office and the logistics of that were daunting. I’d tasked the two of them to make it work and was anxious to confirm what they planned so we could contact the new hires and tell them their start date.

As promised, Rita, the lady who was “on the potty” when I’d called was at the back door at 9am. The now normal late arrival of Jerry was a good thing as it gave me a chance to interview her for a short time, alone. The application was impressive and she, herself, was even more so. A little on the short side and with average looks, her banking knowledge overshadowed that. Like Betsy, the woman hired the day before, she made a great impression. I was actually a bit intimidated by her. She answered my questions directly and even asked a few that I had a little difficulty in answering. I’d gone over her experience with her but wanted to get her ’take’ on the interview with Jerry. That brought out a big smile and I noticed that she looked down into her lap as she did. I'd just started to ‘press’ her for details when Trish let me know I was needed in the Board room. I apologized to her and explained that it was a scheduled meeting and I’d be back to her in a little while. I started to leave when it came to me that Jerry would probably arrive and not know what was happening. As I passed by Trish’s desk I asked her to escort her over to Hobie’s area and to get her some coffee. I remember her giving me a ‘look’ before standing up. I was concerned for a second.

In the Board room it was obvious that Bert had briefed Hobie before my arrival. I concentrated on Hobie’s expression and body language. I was, of course, concerned about my having gone ‘over his head’ and could only hope Bert had done a good job of explaining just what had taken place in his absence. The first words I heard from Bert were along the lines of “What do you think of her?” alluding to the woman downstairs. Knowing I was ‘in up to my neck’ I told them just what I thought… she was more qualified than the others that Jerry had hired and that we should hire her. I was looking right at Hobie when I said it but I didn’t see a change of expression so couldn’t ‘read’ him and his reaction. Bert spoke up and repeated what he’d said the day before… the bank was committed to the ones Jerry had already offered the position. I immediately spoke up and asked if I could offer her a temporary position, at least through the first few weeks, to open new accounts. They were conferring when Jerry knocked on the door. I remember shaking my head wishing that he could’ve been a few minutes later.

Again, it was Bert who took the lead and explained to Jerry what had taken place in his absence. I watched him sitting there with a sort of distressed look on his face. He tried to speak but Bert put up his hand to silence him. When he was finished he told Jerry to stay while I was excused. He added one thing to that and it was but one word... "Yes." I hoped I was right in that it was the OK to offer the temporary position. However, I had mixed emotions about leaving the room… glad that I could go and talk some more with the applicant without Jerry but disappointed because I really wanted to know what both Hobie and Bert were going to say to Jerry.

Approaching Hobie’s work area I could tell the woman was uneasy, squirming a bit in her chair. I apologized saying it was a very important meeting. I desperately wanted to go back to the point of asking about Jerry’s interview with her and how she felt about it but… wanted to propose the idea of the temporary position to her before Jerry appeared.

The hardest part of the whole situation was in how to present the idea of temporary work to her. I know she was disappointed but I pulled out my best persuasive personna and told her to listen to what I had to say. The look on her face said she wasn’t buying it but she did get up and followed me over to my desk. I tried sweetening the offer telling her that if she took it there was a very good chance something permanent would happen. She didn’t respond and I was concerned. Finally she said she’d have to think about it and got up to leave. I got up and escorted her to the door where I went out (far) on a limb and told her I was almost positive that it would work out for her if she said “yes”. I remember her looking up at me (she was much shorter) and smiling… and then walking out the door.

To be continued...

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160g)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160g)

It wasn’t until Betsy was walking away that I relaxed enough to study her. Average in height with light brown hair, she exuded confidence in herself. She was wearing a Summer dress that came to her knees. I’d been so nervous that I really hadn’t looked (or thought) much beyond that. On her way to the door I could see she definitely had some ’shape’. 'Nice', would be a good word to describe her overall appearance. Once she was out of sight I had to sift through a couple of things that were on my mind with one being what was Jerry’s wife doing sitting in on the interviews. Another was going back to the thought I had when first perusing the applications I’d just received in the mail… how could he choose the people he did and not hire the two I’d picked out who had definite cashier or banking experience. To me the man was a disaster… and now it appeared that the bank was saddled with him.

Maybe it’s my perverse nature but even though I really didn’t have the time I decided to lay out all the applications and to compare and to rank them. The only one I’d interviewed or even spoken to was Betsy, who’d just left, so there was nothing to prejudice my thinking. To my mind there was only one of Jerry’s choices that had any qualifying reason for being selected. I sat there shaking my head and muttering to myself. Bret saw me and asked what was going on. Even though he’d had no experience in reviewing applications I asked him to take a look at the ones on the table and to rank them based on the experience listed on the forms. When done, his selections were pretty much the same as mine and, most importantly, two of his bottom three were Jerry’s hires. I was beside myself and wanted to say something to somebody. Hobie had made it clear that there was nothing I could say, or do, to change the fact that Jerry was going to be the branch manager. I sat there contemplating going over his head and to go to Bert. After all, he had interjected himself into Betsy’s hiring. I took a deep breath (and maybe three or four) before getting up and heading upstairs.

To be truthful, I didn't know exactly what Bert did as president. Lena, his secretary, was certainly a good ‘buffer', keeping people from bothering him. I’d managed to establish a good working relationship with her and, in certain situations, she would interject herself into whatever it was he was doing to pass on a message or request from me. I could see the negative look on her face when I asked if I could see him. I stood there for a few seconds and watched as she got up from her desk and opened the door a crack. She quickly waved me towards the door and as I passed by her she whispered “make it quick”.

Without drawing this out, I told him of my review of all the applications and, based upon general work experience, was very dissatisfied with Jerry’s choices. I quickly noted he’d hired three people with no banking experience, minimal money handling and limited public exposure. I went on to mention he’d  bypassed one woman with almost three years of teller experience as well as the woman he’d just met with seven years dealing with money and the public. At that point he put his hand up to indicate for me to stop. He then asked what I wanted him to do… which surprised me to the extent I didn’t know what to say. I had to say something and I honestly don’t know where the thought came from when I said I’d like to contact the other person with experience. His reply… “And then what?” Another ‘test’!

The one thing that had not been discussed in the whole hiring process was the need for temporary help to open new accounts during the opening. It had been in the back of my mind to offer those positions to some of the people not hired on a permanent basis. Two of Jerry’s hires were perfect candidates for just such a position so I suggested that. It was obvious he wasn’t immediately going to act when he said he wanted to run it past Hobie. He said he was concerned that positions had been offered and he felt we were obligated. I couldn’t argue with that but went ahead and pressed him for permission to contact the woman with banking experience. He hesitated for a few seconds and then said basically the same that he’d said earlier when I told him that Betsy was coming in…”don’t make a commitment.”

Within minutes I was on the phone with the lady who’d been ‘on the potty’ when I’d called earlier. I could tell she was somewhat embarrassed but, on the other hand, happy that I’d called back. Once I identified myself she said that she’d been “extremely disappointed” not to have been selected. I chose not to expand on that and asked if she could come to the main office for another interview. I got an enthusiastic “YES!”, loud enough that made me pull the phone from my ear. The lobby was closed to the public by then and I wasn’t sure where she lived so asked if it could be first thing in the morning. I knew I was taking a chance because Jerry would be there. Her excited answer was she’d be there when the doors opened.

There was a lot on my mind when I arrived home. I can honestly say about the last thing I expected was to hear Elle say for me to call Cliffy. I casually went upstairs and changed my clothes thinking that it probably wasn’t important. I returned to the kitchen and took my place at the table, ready to eat. When I did Elle asked if I’d made the call back. With Elle’s disdain for racing I was surprised but took her urging to heart and got up and made the call. Even though it was after 6pm and the garage was closed for business, Cliffy answered. Of all the crew, he was the least emotional. But when he answered the phone it didn’t sound like the guy I’d known for over fifteen years. “We’re going racing! We’re going racing!” was all I heard. Then came the plea for me to show up at the garage. His excitement got to me right away and I, without saying anything to Elle, said I’d be there. I had no idea what had changed but I was anxious to find out. (123)

To be continued…

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160f)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160f)

Luck, or whatever you want to call it, plays a part in our lives. Mine, on that next day, was that both Hobie and Jerry called to say they wouldn’t be in. For my part, I was anxiously awaiting the missing applications. Sure enough, in the mail that day was the awaited envelope. I tore it open and after but a few minutes I'd identified two prospects… if they were still available. Jerry had interviewed them on the phone over a week ago and had met with them six days earlier. On paper I was truly impressed with both and, thinking about the applications for the ones Jerry did hire, wondered why he’d rejected them. I was concerned that with the passing of that much time they wouldn’t still be interested or would’ve been hired. I dialed up Lena, the president’s secretary, and asked if he was available. She said he was about to leave for lunch but I pressed her saying it was very important. I waited for a response and then was surprised to see Bert walking up to my desk. I wasted no time at all requesting permission to contact both ladies without Jerry. He hesitated but, with a nod, told me to proceed and indicated he’d take care of Jerry.

I was holding my breath when I dialed the first one. The phone rang and rang. I was about to put the receiver back in the cradle when I heard a very young voice on the line. It was one of the woman’s children. When I asked for his mother he said she was on the potty. I laughed, probably out loud, as I remembered the famous line from Art Linkletter, “Kids say the darnedest things…”. I told him I’d call back a little later and proceeded to then call up the other applicant. This one was actually my second choice and I got lucky as a very positive sounding female answered. I identified  the bank and myself and said I was calling for Jerry who was ‘unavailable’. As soon as I did I heard a change in the tone of her voice… enough for me to ask if anything was wrong. There was silence for more than a few seconds. I clearly remember her measured words when she said that she should probably keep her mouth shut. I didn’t know how to respond to that so I didn’t. Sensing I was treading on a sensitive subject I decided to try some ‘sugar’ and told her that her background was exactly what we were looking for. “Your interviewer didn’t think so!” was her immediate reply. The words were like bullets. Never having faced a situation like this I kind of stumbled when I said that I’d like her to give me a chance. More silence then one word “When?”. With a very questioning voice I responded “Today?”

My head was spinning after I hung up. She estimated she’d be at my desk within the hour. Here I was, going to interview the woman without Jerry and without permission from Bert. I knew he took almost two hours at lunch to care for his ailing wife so might not be back before she arrived. Taking a deep breath I picked up my phone and dialed his home number. I was so nervous that my words probably sounded like babble. After a second try I was able to describe what had taken place. The fact that he was silent didn’t make me feel all that good but the only direction he gave was for me not to make a commitment. I couldn’t argue so just sat there, nervously awaiting the arrival of the woman.

When she was walking across the lobby I made a personal decision. I liked the way she carried herself (her looks weren’t bad, either). Trish led her to my desk and she stuck out her hand and with a firm grip gave me her name, Betsy. I pointed to the chair, indicating for her to take a seat. The next few  minutes were some of the most uncomfortable of my life (up to that time). Before I could say anything, or to ask a question, she started in on her interview experience. What she told me sounded like some sort of horror story. The main thing was she wanted to know was why Jerry’s wife was present during the interview. Of course, I knew nothing about that. My jaw was probably slack from the shock of hearing about it. When I spoke I was ‘backpedaling’. I was truly impressed with the experience the woman had on her application and didn’t want to lose whatever ‘edge’ I’d gained on the phone so was lying through my teeth when I told her that I’d been unavailable and that Jerry, doing his first interviewing (not a lie), was a bit overwhelmed. Upon hearing that she slid back a bit on the chair. I knew I was on ‘thin ice’ but pushed ahead and got into the real interviewing process.

Her first job out of high school was as a cashier at a McCrory’s 5 & 10 cent store. She stayed for seven years while having two children. She’d been promoted to lead cashier just before they decided to close that location. In the meantime, her husband had been promoted a number of times and were finally able to purchase a house. They’d just about gotten settled in when she saw our advertisement and was really excited about the opportunity to work less than five minutes from her home. I carefully danced around trying to find what her salary had been but was able to determine that $6,000 was more than enough to cover it. I had her describe just what a ‘lead cashier’ did and felt a head teller position was pretty much the equivalent. We had both ‘relaxed’ somewhat by that point and I felt good about where the conversation was going. The last thing I expected was to have Bert walk up.

I introduced him to Betsy and gave him a thumbnail overview of her experience. I didn’t expect a response from him but I almost choked when I heard him say something like “Don’t let her get away…” as he headed for his office. I was totally blindsided with that. Was I to go ahead and offer her the position? What about the other lady that I’d called? What salary should I offer? AND… how was I going to explain to her that Jerry would be her boss?

If this was supposed to be ‘test’ it sure was taxing my brain.  In my working life I seemed to go from one crisis to another. However, having said that, I also had some incredible luck as well. As I sat there trying to figure out a sequence Betsy asked for a rest room. I don’t know if the sigh I let out was audible or not but I pointed to the door to her right. She hadn’t disappeared behind it before I was dialing up Bert. Lena answered and I’m sure she could hear the panic in my voice as she said she’d get him right away. In less than 30 seconds I’d been cleared to hire her as a head teller at a salary of up to $6,000… and he’d explain it to Jerry. When I put the phone down I was numb.

When she returned to the chair I told her that the bank would like to hire her as a head teller. Without giving her a chance to speak I went on to say that the branch was our first and we had no background as to what to offer her for the position. I know she wasn’t prepared for that and now she was the one on the defense. She squirmed a bit and finally, in the form of a question, asked if $100 a week would be OK. The smile on my face was all that was needed.

To be continued…

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160e)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160e)

Once inside the Board room I was told to take a seat. It didn’t take long to find out why “Gee” was there. It had to do with how legally binding Jerry’s offer of the position of assistant manager was to the lady sitting in Bert’s office. In a nutshell; no such position had ever been authorized by the Board… but, Jerry was a corporate officer and that would have some standing in a court of law. His opinion was to have the Board create the position. The consensus around the table was for the committee to propose it to the full Board. Now the question evolved around what to pay the woman. “Gee”, who was chairman of the salary committee, turned to me and asked if I had a suggestion. That caught me totally by surprise.  Only because I’d ‘peeked’ at the woman’s application did I know her current position was that of a head teller. Trying to think fast I suggested that because it was a start up branch we offer a head teller salary. However, that backfired because the main office head teller, Letitia, because she had been employed for so long was making way more than a regular head teller would make. I explained that to the committee but also asked if I could make a quick call to a competitor bank. My thought process took me right to Gina who was now a head teller at another like bank. I knew exactly what she was making without making the call but, to keep the situation ‘real’, I asked to be excused to complete the call. I faked it, plain and simple and returned with the number $6,000, or half what Jerry was making. I did explain that the person holding that title was the main office head teller with eight employees reporting to her.

The committee members all started ‘buzzing’ to each other until “Gee” reined them in. He then looked at me and asked what my thoughts were. I immediately looked at Hobie. I knew I was ‘on a spot’ and was looking for help… but none came. In spite of his warning not to question Jerry’s choices, it was directed for me to not say anything to him… not the Board members. I was asked my opinion and it was an opportunity to express my thoughts. I took a breath and started in.

My position was that all that was needed to open the branch was a group of experienced tellers. With a manager, Jerry, three full time experienced tellers and one part timer for the first few weeks staffing would be adequate. Before I could continue “Gee” spoke up to remind me (and the others) we had a problem and she was sitting in Bert’s office. He then asked what my thought was on the $6,000 amount. I had to say it. I thought, for the projected job she would be doing, it was too much. Then he polled the members of the committee. I’m sure their vote was based upon the potential for litigation and bad publicity and they, to a man, voted to go with the $6,000.

I thought they would call the woman in at that point but it was Hobie who spoke up about me having the drawings for the proposed signage. I passed the rendering around and fully expected to hear that it was too big, too small or something else to delay the production of it. But, their focus was on the woman so I was excused with the plans for the signs intact. At least I’d won something.

Of course I was disappointed to have to leave without the resolution of how they proceeded with the woman. It was almost 3pm and time for the mortgage committee meeting when I got back to my desk. The look on Jerry’s face was one of concern and I surely wasn’t going to discuss what I knew with him. I did exactly what Hobie had instructed me to do… not discuss anything about Jerry’s choices. In a perverse way, I was enjoying myself watching him. I was sure he knew the woman was coming but he was away from his desk when she walked up to Tricia. For me, there was just so much I didn’t know about what he’d told her during the interview… and no idea what she was making as a head teller and now I was ‘on the record’ for what I thought she should be paid. However, I was also ‘on the record’ of saying that $6,000 was too much to pay for the work she’d be doing. Now, all I could do was to accept what the committee (and subsequently, the full Board) decided.

Based upon what I’d seen and heard I was steeled to expect, for me, the worst. However, a little after 3pm I saw the woman striding across the lobby. If she knew Jerry was there she made no indication of it, heading straight for the back door. Both Jerry and I saw her leave without even a glance our way. I wondered what it meant but I wasn’t to find out that day. Jerry usually left around 4:30pm because he’d worked out a ‘deal’ to leave early because of his long commute. Not on this day. Just as he was clearing off his desk Trish told him he was needed up in the board room. That, and the way the woman left, told me something was up. The temptation to stay and hope to find out what had happened was very high… but common sense told me to leave at 5pm with everybody else. My mind, usually very creative when it came to coming up with potential actions (not always correct), was at a loss to come up with a potential resolution in this situation.

At work the next morning, Trish informed me that Jerry wouldn’t be in. I asked why and she just shrugged her shoulders. I really wanted to know what had taken place in the Board room after I’d left but, somewhat concerned about my having been so candid at the meeting, decided to hold off pursuing it with Hobie.  It was a good choice. Bert called and asked me to come to his office where he, without much detail, told me the woman was insulted by the salary that the committee offered her and, without even trying to negotiate it, got up and walked out. But that was somewhat incidental to what he wanted to talk to me about. When I received the applications that Jerry had discarded I was to review to see if there was one or more that could fill the description that I’d described in the meeting. If there was I was to instruct Jerry to contact them and have them come to the main office for another interview… with me… but with Jerry present. It wasn’t utopia but it was a start to some semblance of normalcy. Before leaving his office I asked if Jerry was aware of this. I remember the big smile on his face when he said something along the lines of “I can assure you he knows!” I smiled too.

To be continued..

HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160d)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160d)

Seeing new, modern phone equipment being placed on their desks was definitely a positive for the employees. Most of the bank’s phones were 20 plus years old with rotary dials, black and heavy and were flat out ugly. The new ones were beige, much lighter and with push buttons. The only thing was that it would take some time until we’d be able to use them. The old ones were ‘hard wired’ and to connect the new ones, adapters had to be spliced onto each and every phone wire. That, and the fact that the new operating console had to be programmed and tested. By the time the day was over I had a good handle on when we’d be up and running. Even with four technicians it was slow going. The one ‘hitch’ was they wanted access to the building on Saturday. It was the only way they’d be able to make sure everything worked as designed. Because I was an officer, had keys and the fact I was also the assumed operations person, it looked like I’d be the one. There was no way in hell I'd trust Jerry. Bret couldn’t do it because his wife worked on Saturdays and he was the baby sitter. I won’t say it was beneath Hobie to do it but I didn’t want to be the one to ask. However, it was only Tuesday afternoon and there was still some time for things to change.

By the time I got around to thinking about Jerry, and the new ‘rules’ he was to operate under, it was almost 3pm. I still hadn’t seen the applications for the people he’d hired so I headed for Hobie’s area. When he gave them to me he did so with one comment… I was not to question Jerry’s choices. The bank was committed to hiring those people and they would be starting in another week. As I walked away he called out to me to start planning for their training. I hoped he didn’t see me shaking my head from side to side.

At my desk I noticed there were only four applications forms. Jerry said he’d hired five and then it came to me the missing application belonged to the woman he’d picked as his assistant. I quickly perused the four and the experience that each had. There was one name that jumped out at me. I recognized the woman’s last name as being the same as a former stock car driver I’d watched back when the local race track had opened some fifteen years prior. I wondered if she was related and was immediately anxious to meet her. She had experience as a cashier so that part was good. Another applicant was not even 20 years old and only out of school for a year. Her background seemed to be as a clerk but the application wasn’t clear on that. The third one had just graduated and, other than part time work at a supermarket, had no appreciable experience with dealing with the public or with money. I could only hope that the experience for the last one looked better, at least on paper. Initially, it didn’t look good. Her birth date had her at my age but she hadn’t worked in many years. I couldn’t discern what she actually did when she did work and just sat there wondering what Jerry had used as a criterion for his choices. I’d casually shaken my head from side to side when walking away from Hobie’s area but now it was much more violent. I don’t remember what my exact thoughts were but sitting here typing this I can tell you they weren’t good. Right now I’d say it was probably something like “What the hell was he thinking!!!!”

The next day was when the branch committee was to convene and meet the woman Jerry had committed to as being his assistant. It wasn’t to happen until 2pm so they could be finished in time for the mortgage committee to meet (Just think of all the $$ these guys were racking up just for attending meetings!). I kept busy by following up on a lot of the final construction details at the branch. Benny, the sign guy, showed up with detailed drawings of what the signs for each side of the branch building would look like at around lunch time. Hobie was walking out the front door so I called him over to take a look. As soon as I did I realized it was a mistake. He, quite casually, said it might be a good idea to show the drawings to the branch committee. I wanted to hit myself in the head. I was really mad and I told Benny why, warning him that there might be a delay in starting the project. He made a face but said he’d try to work with us.

When I say I was mad, I’m not exaggerating. Id been trying to keep my boss updated even though there had been no direction to do so and gotten 'bitten' by it. That must've been the reason to go over to his area and to look for the ‘missing’ application. I didn’t have to do much to find it as there was an open folder with the application right there. I knew I didn’t have much time so turned the page to see her experience. When I read that she was working for the bank that Jerry had worked for, the ‘bells’ went off in my head. In spite of my immediate anger I was able to see what position she held… head teller. Shaking my head from side to side was getting to be a habit.

I’d been upset when I was told I’d have to bring the sign drawings to the branch committee meeting. However, it turned out to be a good thing… a VERY good thing. I’d been looking for the woman who Jerry had picked as his assistant (although he’d not been told he could do so) and when I saw one walk up to Trish’s desk  I pretty much knew she was the one. As far as looks go… I wasn’t the least bit impressed. Average everything would pretty much cover her description ... with one exception. She was wearing a tight fitting ‘pencil’ skirt and as she turned to head for the elevator I could see the outlines of the elastics of her panty leg openings. My eyes followed her to the elevator door. At that point all I could do was wait to be called.

It was after 2pm, the time the meeting was to start, when I saw ‘Gee’, the Trustee/attorney, rushing across the lobby. I had a good handle on just which Trustees were on each committee and I knew he wasn’t on the branch committee.  I wondered what that was about. While waiting I got a call from J J wanting to know if I knew who the woman was sitting in Bert’s (the president) office. Typical J J! I told him my thoughts but wondered why, if she was the subject of the meeting, she wasn’t inside with the committee. I’d hardly hung the phone up when Trish told me I was wanted in the Board room. Now I was really confused. I don’t know why I chose to go up the front stairs but I did and saw Mary Carol talking with one of the Northern Telecom technicians. He was holding a relatively small piece of equipment in his hands and as I walked up to them heard him say that it would replace the whole PBX board that was in front of her. It didn’t seem possible but little did I know we were on the forefront of the technical revolution.

To be continued…