ENDING THE YEAR… Odds & ends (Part 167j)
My time in the attic
did bring forth something of real value (other than Barbara’s panties)
in that I was pretty sure I found where the squirrels were getting in.
At some time someone had added some soffit vents and two of them were
missing. I took the panties, squirrel nest and headed home. Andy had
said he’d not be in the office for the rest of the day so I made a note
with a sketch of just where the missing vents were located with the idea
of dropping it off at his office on my way to church the next day. Elle
was pleased with the nest and was excited to have it. As far as the
panties were concerned I temporarily hid them in the shed part of the
garage wanting to find something to wrap them up so that it would hide
the smell. By then I’d ‘killed’ most of the day but remember raking
leaves until dark.
One ‘task’ I still had to tackle was in
getting the San Soucie panties out of our attic for Woody. As with Laura
and Joanie, I didn’t want them to know I had them in my possession. I’d
told both of them that I’d order them from the factory and then
proceeded to create a package supposedly sent to my attention. At that
time I still had San Soucie boxes that held six panties. The last batch
Willie had shipped were boxes of twelve and she was only getting six so
that wasn’t going to work. I was thinking about that while washing up
for supper when Elle suggested that I box up the squirrel nest. We
stored empty boxes in the attic so it was Elle who gave me the release
to get up there for the panties. While eating I was thinking about just
what types of boxes were there and hoped I could find something that I
could pass of as a shipping box. Once up there I decided to check to see
that squirrels hadn’t made a return to our house. That effort proved to
be the solution as I moved some things about a flat, unmarked box
appeared. When I returned with the box for the nest Elle wanted to know
what had taken me so long. I gave her bit of a ‘song and dance’ about
checking for squirrels which I wasn’t sure she ‘bought’. I hid the box
with the panties under my side of the bed on my way back downstairs
figuring I’d be able to get it to the car sometime before leaving for
work on Monday. I had to wait before giving them to Woody anyway as I’d
told her it would take about ten days for the order to be filled. The
concern was in Elle finding them.
At church the next morning I
was told the shop had made just under $100 but was told the new look of
the undercroft now that it had been painted was well taken. In fact, the
minister even suggested that the parishioners go take a look. That
created a bit of a problem because since the shop opened there hadn’t
been a “Meet and Greet” with coffee and cookies. The invitation was a
reminder that some of them hadn’t approved the shop and there was some
grumbling.
The audit examination by the accounting firm usually
took about seven to eight working days. Starting on a Tuesday I was
counting on them being gone by Thursday at the latest. I’d not had any
feedback on my run ins with Melissa, the assistant lead examiner back
right after the group had arrived. Being the second full week of the
audit things had settled into a routine. One way to know their time was
almost up was to have them schedule an exit interview wth senior
management. I managed to overhear that it was going to be on Thursday.
It was confirmed when some of their people thanked our staff for their
help on Wednesday afternoon. I was feeling pretty good in that Melissa
had never come back to harass me after she’d tripped and fallen while in
the attic. No one came to follow up on the item that was so important
to her that first day. In truth, it had been a fairly easy audit. But, I
knew there were two more to go.
The only surprise that whole
week was in seeing Morris, the consultant the Board had hired to assist
them in finding another branch location walking across the lobby. It
annoyed me that Hobie was so tight-lipped about what was going on in
that area. Technically, I was in charge of bank operations although
there was no title to go with it. I just hoped that some little
‘snippets’ of information might come my way after his meeting with the
branch committee. I felt I might be able to get some information from
Morris if only I could get him alone for a minute or two. With that in
mind I found something to do in the back work area where I could observe
the elevator door. My plan was to make a dash to get outside as soon as
I saw him coming and then, as casually as I could, walk up to him and
ask how he was doing. The problem was that I watched most of the
Trustees who were on the branch committee leave but didn’t see Morris.
It was after 5pm so, technically, my day was over and I went outside. I
don’t know how long I waited… 15 to 20 minuets… before I saw him walking
towards the door with Hobie. I was mad and walked down the street and
stood in front of the store right next to the parking lot. I saw Hobie
shake his hand and leave him. He walked over to a car and opened the
trunk. I figured I’d missed my chance. But then I saw Hobie drive by.
Then, I just kind of appeared by the back of his car and introduced
myself again. The first thing I heard from his mouth was “Why weren’t
you at the meeting?” I explained that the Board was very “cliquish” and
regardless of what job one might have on a day to day basis, title was
everything. I was considered a “junior officer” even though I had full
responsibility for a myriad of things on a day to day basis. I remember
him standing there in the dark shaking his head. He was silent for a few
seconds and ten started in to tell me what had transpired. Then he
stopped and told me he’d call the next day. The only concrete thing I
got from him was that he’d located a “prime location” and the committee
was going to look at it the next week. He then shook my hand and got in
his car.
My only thought was that these were the same men who would
decide on this location who had chosen the one where our present branch
was clearly struggling. My hope was that they would listen to Morris.
He’d been ‘right on’ with the premiums we’d used for the new account
campaign. In thinking about the men on the branch committee I had my
doubts. However, I was pleased that he’d spoken to me.
With the
audit over on Friday I figured I’d give Woody the panties when she was
about to leave. I’d ‘fudged’ the wrapping of the box and hoped I could
pull it off when giving it to her. I’d managed it with both Joanie and
Laura but timing would be critical. She was working the drive-up that
night and just before 6pm when we closed down I got her attention and
held up the wrapped box. She acknowledged both me and the box. As soon
as she finished locking her cash box I went to the work table where she
did the school savings program. I tore off the brown kraft wrapping
paper as she approached. It was critical that she not see what was on it
for an address. I was crumpling it up as she reached the table. I
quickly checked to see if anyone was in sight and seeing no one opened
the box. Thankfully, there had been Sans Soucie tissue paper with the
panties so it looked official.When I looked at Woody I could see she was
embarrassed.
To be continued…
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