MORE SUMMER HEAT... lots of it (Part 162f)

MORE SUMMER HEAT… lots of it (Part 162f)

After we’d won the opening night race we found any number of locals who had stopped by to congratulate Cliffy and to look at the car. With our spate of bad luck most of them stopped coming including Davo and his girlfriend, Leigh. I liked her. She was easy going and not bad to look at. They would stop by the car after the races but hadn’t been back to the shop… that is until that night. Davo was never without beer and he showed up with a six pack for the crew to share. He could drink two six packs and never show it but Leigh could only drink two beers and be wasted. When she was at the shop Davo would get her a chair and a beer, then go off to talk with the guys. I’ve written about the last time Leigh was there and I was hoping for a repeat so, although somewhat busy around the car, kept my eyes on her when I could. If you remember, Cliffy’s father kept the office locked when he wasn’t there and he usually wasn’t there at night. I remember Leslie calling to Davo saying they should leave and him responding to her by saying something like “just go piss in the weeds”. She was wearing loose fitting shorts and when she got up I was studying her to see if she’d leaked. She sort of stumbled to the door and disappeared into the darkness. In my perverse mind I was figuring on her not having anything to wipe herself with and being somewhat damp upon her return. When she did, Davo made a comment on her having the smallest bladder in the world. I remember her giving him the ‘finger’ but with a smile and retaking her seat on the chair.

There really wasn’t much to do on the car but to make sure all the nuts and bolts were tight. Robo and I did that while Cliffy ran a compression check on each cylinder. He’d done it before the motor was ever started and he’d written the numbers down so he could do a comparison. I think we all held our breath a bit as he did but they all checked out. I’d asked Alan about the difference it made between our old heads and C J’s and he just smiled. I didn’t need an answer. With the money we’d won we had enough for four new tires this week. However, we were all aware that we’d not be starting up front again and would have to work our way up to the front. It wasn’t even 11pm when we pulled down the overhead door and headed for our cars. I’d been talking engine stuff with Alan and had pretty much forgotten about Leslie… until she stumbled out the door. There was but one light and that was right over the door. When she passed by it I could see some discoloration on the seat of her shorts. I remember being a little upset that I’d lost my concentration on her and wondered what had happened and when. I also remember thinking that there should be more chances in the future. Alan was parked right beside me and before leaving I asked if he had any idea why Leigh put up with the verbal abuse from Davo. He just shrugged his shoulders.

I’d been right in thinking that Hobie would have little time for me Wednesday morning. However, I was able to get an indication that the ad agency was still on board. It was ‘killing’ me not knowing how the four of them from the bank had made out with Morris. On Thursday, the day after the Board meeting, it wasn’t until Hobie returned from lunch that I got any more information. When I asked his impression of Morris he gave me a thumbs up and promised that he’d meet with me later to discuss it. That was sort of good news because if there had been anything really bad I was sure I would have heard it by then. A call to Betsy while waiting didn’t provide me with any good news from the branch. The ads had been run again along with the direst mail piece and they’d only generated about a dozen new accounts. Lobby traffic was almost non existent and, after hearing that, I started thinking about laying someone off. I hated thinking that way because I really felt we had four quality employees. But, the reality of the situation was that we couldn’t afford to keep all of them.

By the time Hobie called and told me to meet him in the Board room it was well after 3pm. I walked in and he was seated at the head of the table with Bert next to him. That was a switch. But, no Board members were present and that was a good thing. I’ll try to do this part in capsule form. I think the word Hobie used to describe Morris was “interesting”. Hobie didn’t waste any time in saying that after Morris asked some pointed questions about how the Board had come up with the location that he proceeded to tell them all the mistakes they’d made… using heresay (a large shopping mall was to be built in the area) and no proven demographics (that word, again) were the biggest ones. I wanted to ask what their reaction to hearing it but didn’t have the nerve. Hobie went on to say that Morris told them that if they’d come to him before starting the whole project they wouldn’t be having the meeting. He told them he had surveys of at least three areas that would’ve been 100% better. There was a lot more but the bottom line was that by the end of the meeting they’d come to a handshake agreement with Morris to use his consulting company to find another location. On that subject it wasn’t clear to me if it was to replace the existing branch of for an entirely new one. In any case, that news just about blew my mind. I was trying not to smile thinking of the somewhat unkempt, unconventional man meeting with four staid, conservative thinking men and then convincing them to come over to his way of thinking. I don’t think I could’ve spoken if I’d tried.

The meeting with the three of us ended in less than a half hour. Before it did I was told that Morris would soon be making a visit to the branch and then would be meeting with the Branch committee with suggestions on what to do to salvage the bank’s investment in it. I wanted to ask if I’d be a part of that but didn’t, figuring on a one on one with Hobie to, hopefully, persuade him to have me included. As we walked down the stairs I told him of my thoughts on downsizing the number of branch employees. He didn’t reject the idea but I remember him saying that it would probably be best to wait until the end of the month. I couldn’t disagree but at least I was on record for having suggested it.

Once back at my desk Bret was all over me to find out what was going on. I’d kept him pretty much in the dark telling him I was on the ‘outside looking in’ on any decisions about the branch but that there could be some ’news’ in the near future. After telling him that I began to wonder just how long the ‘marriage’ of Morris to the bank would last. My hope was that with a ‘professional’ (self proclaimed) steering the Board that they would, at the least, have a better understanding of the process going forward weather he stayed on or not. I was totally convinced that to make an intelligent decision it had to be more that just the way a few self important, controlling, individuals felt about a location. I’m sure the word “demographics” was part of my thoughts at the time.

To be continued…