KEEPING UP... Busy, busy, busy (Part 166n)

KEEPING UP… Busy, busy, busy (Part 166n)

As I turned to walk back to my desk Woody asked if I’d found a bag at my desk. I stopped, hesitated for a second and all of a sudden the memory of Thursday afternoon popped back into my head. My concentration that afternoon had been in getting out of there and ready to leave for the race. Peggy’s father had come to the bank and had asked me to give the bag he had in his hand to Peggy. When I did I pretty much figured out that the contents were for Woody. Peggy hadn’t come right out and said it but had implied that Woody’s period had surprised her and Peggy had called home for ‘replacements’ for her. I’m sure my hesitation in responding indicated to Woody that I hadn’t found the bag but I recovered and told her that I’d seen it. She then asked if I could do her a big favor and to see that it got to Peggy’s father. That part was easy as I casually said I would. Walking back to my desk I wondered to myself if I hadn’t missed an opportunity to talk about the contents. I quickly dismissed the thought. Even though the drive-in area was relatively remote from the main work area I realized that it wasn’t the place or the time… but the seed was planted.

It turned out to be an interesting morning on a number of fronts. One was in having Hobie stop by my desk to inquire how the car had made out in the race. In three years at the bank and working as his assistant I couldn’t remember him ever bringing my race car endeavors up. It surprised me. I think I told him it had been a “learning experience”, especially with the spring breaking (we made a point off putting two springs on the pedal before we even tried to move the car) and it left us with high hopes for the following season. It wasn’t too much after that when Joanie told me that Lynda had called and for me to call back. It was getting close to lunch so I decided to just take a stroll over to the brokerage office and talk to her in person. That almost turned out to be a mistake.

When I walked into the office the place was busier than I’d ever seen it. Lynda was on the phone and scribbling numbers on some paperwork. Stan, my broker and her boss, was in a cubicle that was normally empty and talking with a man and woman. Bill, the office manager, was standing behind Ruthe, his assistant, and looking at what at that time served as an electronic ticker machine. I knew something was up so I just stood back where Lynda’s area was to observe. It had paid off for me in the past with some upskirts (intentional and unintentional) and I was hoping for an encore or two. Once Lynda put the phone down she got up and came over to where I was standing. I’ll never forget it as she stated “You’re almost too late!”. I had no idea what she was talking about but before she started to explain the phone rang and she went back to answer it. Wearing a pencil skirt and with her standing at her desk I got a very nice VPL, at least a hip and a partial cheek’s worth. I had to wait a few minutes before she returned to me to explain her comment.

I’ve previously written about my getting involved in the stock market through the trust my grandfather had created for me. I didn’t really know that much about it but when I was forced to take some actions concerning the investments that made up the trust I ended up at this brokerage office and met Stan, a licensed broker and his secretary/assistant, Lynda. Stan was very patient with me and exposed me to some opportunities that had proven beneficial. I was still a neophyte at this point so what the call to me had been about was something totally new to me… an IPO or an Initial Public Offering. The  brokerage company that Stan worked for was one of the underwriters of a new stock. That gave them the right to offer that stock to potential purchasers at a given price before it went out into the open market… and Stan had a number of shares to place and was offering some to me. Talk about being unprepared!

When Lynda had initially called Stan had set aside 100 shares for me but by the time I got there there were only 50 shares that hadn’t been spoken for. The “guesstimate” for the offering price had been between $28 to $30 a share. So, as Lynda was schooling me on all of this I was trying to do the math in my head. Roughly $1,500 was my estimate and between the various savings accounts (previously mentioned) I knew I could come up with it. The clincher was that it was expected that the price would go up to $40 by January 1. Lynda was getting a bit impatient for an answer and I’m sure that’s what made me ‘pull the trigger’ and say “OK”. The stock’s name was Consolidated Oil and Gas and that’s all I knew about it… the name. Being conservative by nature, most of my afternoon was consumed by ‘buyer’s remorse’.

Before leaving for the championship race Hobie had informed me of my appointment to be the bank’s representative to the Chamber of Commerce. It was not something I was happy about. The bank was grouped in with retail businesses which meant that we were required to be part of any retail promotion sponsored by the Chamber. My complaint was that we didn’t sell anything so these ‘promotions’ didn’t do anything to benefit the bank. BUT…the bank had a number of Trustees who were merchants and they made sure we were a member in good standing. The first thing I was responsible for in my new duty for was to be a judge in the Halloween costume contest. In the past Hobie had charged me with getting at least three employees who dealt with the public to come to work, in costume, so the bank would be eligible for prizes. I'd concentrated on the tellers and managed to cajole a few into participating. A couple of them actually won prizes. I decided to delegate that job to Bret who, just like me, was less than thrilled. However, I had the authority to authorize time off and, to give Bret a little assistance, told him he could give half a day off for those who were willing to do it. He called the tellers together that afternoon made his plea. I stayed away, just waiting for the results. They weren’t all that good as only two stepped up but one was Woody. I was surprised because of her shyness but Bret said she was eager to participate. Lillian, as expected, was the other.

I’d hoped to not get involved. Bret was in the process of telling me why the different tellers didn’t want to be a part of the program, even with the ‘carrot’ of time off, when Joanie came up to us. Problem solved. We’d concentrated on the tellers but Joanie, as the receptionist, was eligible. In a way I hated to ask but knew that because of the help I’d given her with money for clothes right after she started at the bank, she’d do it. I remember her standing there with this sort of helpless look on her face. To ease the situation a bit I, without even an idea of how to do it, offered to provide her with a costume. It was just another situation that I’d put myself into that I probably shouldn’t have. Bret picked up on it and asked if I’d do the same for the other volunteers. I wanted to stuff a sock in his mouth but agreed that I’d work on it.

To be continued…