SLOGGING THROUGH WINTER… Good & bad (Part 169c)
Mae was waiting at the back door of the bank for me the next morning. I really appreciated her enthusiasm but there was a bit of planning that had to be done before the project could start. Getting approval to pay her and possibly her sister being the first step. Right behind it was in me taking the time to assess just what was there and where to start. I explained it to her and it didn’t seem to dampen her enthusiasm at all. Walking to my desk I couldn’t help but think that she was truly a ‘diamond in the rough’. She’d only been a teller for about 7 months and yet she was one of the best ones I had at the main office. Part of that was due to her maturity followed closely by the need to support her family. Lorie, in just the short time she’d been at the main office, had utilized her to help her with the master or daily “proof”. She didn’t seem to be fazed by any challenge. With another branch coming I was already thinking of ways to utilize her there.
It was a day or two before I was able to take a look at the basement. It wasn’t that Hobie wasn’t aware of the mess that was there. It was more a case of not wanting to facet. When I’d made my somewhat abortive attempt to tackle it he was more than happy to hear it. So after spending a couple of late afternoons rummaging through piles of stuff including old office furniture I was ready to go to Hobie. He, of course, had been aware of the move of the ledger cards and approved that. So, I felt I was on somewhat firm ground in approaching him to take on the whole cellar. Because we didn’t have adequate storage we’d been utilizing the employee ‘break’ room at the branch for all the journals produced by the service bureau. Even with that it was only a matter of time before they would be out of space. I’d practiced a little ‘spiel’ to help sell the idea but was only beginning when he interrupted me and, seemingly taking credit for the idea, told me he thought it would be a good idea to do something about the basement. Not overly thrilled with that turn of events I managed to keep my mouth shut and just told him I had the start of a plan right there in my hands. I offered to let him look at it but he declined and asked when I could start on it. This was going to be the ‘tricky’ part… getting Mae into the mix and possibly her sister as well.
In my preparations for talking to him I was going to make Mae a premier part of it knowing that Hobie had commented on the good job she’d been doing. But, the way it played out with him making the suggestion I didn’t think it was a good idea. So, I backed up a bit and told him a bold faced lie and that was that I’d asked Bret to assist me. Bret knew nothing about it. But, I continued and told him that with Bret’s wife working he couldn’t commit to much in after hours work. That’s when I slid Mae’s name in telling him that even though she didn’t live locally (about 35 minutes away) she was willing to give up a couple of hours most evenings and, depending on the progress, a couple of Saturday’s as well. The look on his face told me he wasn’t overly thrilled with the idea and immediately suggested Mike, the messenger custodian. I know I reacted to that and was sorry I did. Mike had proved to be good at doing what we’d created as his job but he was a “clock” man. Overtime and extra work were not part of his job description and he’d reminded me on a couple of occasions. The discussion ended with Hobie getting up and closing it telling me he’d “think about it…”.
It was few days later when I got a call from Morris, the branch consultant. When Joanie told me who it was on the line I didn’t believe her thinking she’d gotten the name wrong. But it was the one and only Morris with his city accent waiting for me to pick up. “Good news and bad news…” was what I heard. Before I could ask he told me his “contacts” had given him a solution to the ingress and egress problem. Before he went on I asked if he’d called Bert (the president). When he said he hadn’t I did a ‘double take’. He went on that he wanted to let me know first because, according to him, “I knew which way was up…” I appreciated the thought and was happy to know he felt I should know what he’d come up with. The “bad” was that the zoning people would only allow cars to enter the lot from the “main drag”, as he called it, and wouldn’t approve an egress back onto it. “Too much traffic and too close to a corner with a stop light.” Was the explanation. Morris then said the “good” was there was a solution… and the solution was to have the egress onto the side street. But, that had a bad side as well. It would mean loosing the use of an additional 12 to 15 feet of the property. Even though I’d been to the site I’d not seen a prospective plot plan and had no idea what, if anything, had been proposed. Once I explained that he told me we’d have to have both ingress and egress from the side street and the two way traffic would reduce the amount of space available for the building and parking. I couldn’t really grasp what he was trying to explain but didn’t tell him that. I thanked him and told him I’d use the knowledge judiciously. What I didn’t do was to ask when he was going to call Bert. I hung up a bit upset because it now gave me two things I’d have to wait on for an answer or clarification… the branch thing and the cellar project. I was young and impatient (I still am…) and wanted direction. I hated to have things left ‘hanging’.
Somewhere around that time I got a call from Ruthe over at the stock brokerage. She was the manager’s assistant and although I knew her it was strange to get a call from her. A while back the office was to put on a presentation about IPO’s (Initial Public Offering’s of stock) that had been postponed. Since that time I’d learned a bit about them and had actually purchased some stock offered as an IPO. She wanted to know if I still wanted to attend. I’d been pretty much avoiding going to the office since the incident with Lynda and her boss, my broker, Stan concerning the New Year’s Eve party. It was stupid on my part but it’s what I did. On impulse I said I wanted to attend and got the information concerning it. The public library had a nice conference room and it was to be held there the following week. That was good news as it gave me the time to prepare to see both Lynda and Stan as well as to give Elle enough time to plan on my absence. She didn’t like it when I wasn’t home to eat with the kids but when she had enough lead time was OK with it. Having Ruthe on the phone allowed me to check on the price of the stock I’d recently purchased without talking to Lynda. When she gave me the price it almost took my breath away… I’d paid $25 a share and it was at $30 and change and in only a few weeks. My immediate thought was hoping that the IPO meeting would provide some good ‘tips’ like that stock. I could only hope.
To be continued…
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
SLOGGING THROUGH WINTER... Good & bad (Part 169b)
SLOGGING THROUGH WINTER… Good & bad (Part 169b)
Walking into the lobby upon my return I had but one thought… let Hobie know what my fraternity brother, John, had told me about the prospective branch site. I had to wait for him to get off the phone and then I hit him with the information. I’d expected that he’d be quite upset with it being somewhat bad news but he, very calmly, picked up the phone and dialed up Bert, the president. Then he got up and motioned for me to follow him. Hobie never used the stairs, preferring the overly slow elevator. Once inside, he queried me about how I’d come to know John and how he had the details on the zoning board. By the time we walked into Bert’s office he had the whole story. He allowed me to pass the details on only adding the last bit of how I came to get the information. I could see Bert was really interested when the tie to the zoning board was mentioned. However, he followed Hobie’s lead and didn’t appear to be too upset. What he did do was to have Lena, his secretary, put a call into Morris, the consultant who’d located the parcel. The three of us just sat there waiting for the call to be put through. When Lena walked back into the office she proceeded to go to Bert’s phone and to push a button. Almost immediately I heard Morris and his city accent ask what we wanted. Morris was what might be called ‘unflappable’, at least to the eye (or ear). He told us he’d look into it and get back to us. The unfortunate part to that was no one bothered to ask just when that might be.
Bert decided not to call the other members of the branch committee and instructed me to keep the information to myself. He explained that there was no point in getting the committee members involved until we had something to go on. I was in total agreement. Then, he hinted that it would be a good idea to keep in touch with my friend in that he may prove useful in the future. As I mentioned, I didn’t really know him. My impression of him was that he was a no-nonsense type and not one to play ‘games’ with. But, I took Bert’s word to heart and remembered that we’d discussed having lunch in the future. Going back to my desk I realized that I was now immersed into the branch planning but not in the way I’d wanted.
As I’ve previously written, this was to be the second year that the service bureau printed the earnings statements for all the customer accounts. The ledger cards that had been what we relied upon to keep everything straight hadn’t been used in over a year but were still kept in the fire safes right behind the teller line. Hobie had wanted to keep them available in case there might be customers who doubted the accuracy of the service bureau’s work. The last time they had to be referenced was over six months ago and now was the time to get them moved.
When the building was constructed, in 1934, little thought was given to the storage of old records. That meant when they moved into it there was no rhyme or reason to where they were put, or dumped was more like it. The bank would have it’s 100 year anniversary in just three years so there was almost 100 years of paper, in various type ledgers and in dilapidated boxes, piled into the basement. I’d started to go through some of it to make space for current materials but had only made a slight dent into the mess. The ledger cards would take up more space than we had available and contained information that should be kept under lock and key. There was a sub vault located right beneath the main vault and I’d had a young woman working in that area to get it organized about a year and a half earlier. However, working conditions in that area were horrendous and she quit. What work she did had made a difference. So, it was logical to put the ledger cards in there. Because of the proximity of the river and potential flooding, I didn’t want to put them on the floor. The only choice was to add shelving and I’d put Bret in charge of that. The work had been completed and all that was necessary was to get the trays holding the ledger cards to the basement. So as to not disrupt the daily work I arranged for Ward, the man who’s company cleaned the place on a daily basis, to do it after the employees left.
On the night it was to happen, Mae, on the way out the door, stopped to ask me what was going on. With Ward and his men there I didn’t really want to waste time explaining but didn’t want to put her off. So, I asked if she had a few minutes and she indicated she did. As Ward’s men filed down the cellar stairs I told her to follow us. The ‘break room’ was at the bottom but the door to the rest of the cellar was always locked so she’d never seen what was in there. I’d already opened that door and turned on the lights so when she walked in it had to have looked like a tornado had gone through. I remember her stopping and her exclaiming “OH MY GOD!”.
But that wasn’t where we were headed for. The sub vault was only 4 1/2 feet high which added to the difficulty in working in there. The new shelves were designed to hold the ten trays of ledger cards and after showing the men where they were to go they headed up the stairs to retrieve them. Awkward for even two men to handle the trays, I knew it would take some time to complete the project. Mae didn’t seem interested in the sub vault but was actually concentrating on the mess in the main part. I remember laughing at her and asking, facetiously, if she wanted another job. It didn’t even bring forth a smile and when she answered “Yes…” I thought she was kidding.
I didn’t take her seriously and had to focus on placement of the trays as they arrived. I do remember asking if she wanted to leave and she said she’d wait. It took about 15 minutes to lug each tray down the stairs and get it placed. After we got a couple down I told her there was no point in staying but she said she wanted to ask about the mess in the cellar. This time I wasn’t laughing but I did ask if she was serious and she nodded affirmatively. I wasn’t really prepared to consider doing anything right then and there and told her we’d talk in the morning. But, she wasn’t through yet. She said she could get her sister and kids to help. That told me she wasn’t kidding but I had to get the current project finished before I could even start to wrap my hands around that. Again, I told her I’d talk more about it the next day and then sent her up the stairs with Ward so he could let her out.
By the time I left the bank it was after 8pm. I’d told Elle I’d get something to eat before I got home and ended up stopping at the restaurant run by the guy who drove my first race car some 14 years before. I’d see him from time to time and his daughter was in Jean’s class at school. But, I hadn’t seen him since becoming a part owner of Cliffy’s race car. He laughed and called me crazy. When I told him who the co-owners of the car were he got interested. When he owned the gas station we operated the car out of Buster lived right across the road and basically ‘lived’ at the station. Cliffy’s father had built that first race car of mine and Dick’s brother had been in school with him. Business was slow so he spent a fair amount of time talking with me. By the time I left he’d indicated that he might be willing to put some sponsorship money into the car. It was a nice way to end the day.
To be continued…
Walking into the lobby upon my return I had but one thought… let Hobie know what my fraternity brother, John, had told me about the prospective branch site. I had to wait for him to get off the phone and then I hit him with the information. I’d expected that he’d be quite upset with it being somewhat bad news but he, very calmly, picked up the phone and dialed up Bert, the president. Then he got up and motioned for me to follow him. Hobie never used the stairs, preferring the overly slow elevator. Once inside, he queried me about how I’d come to know John and how he had the details on the zoning board. By the time we walked into Bert’s office he had the whole story. He allowed me to pass the details on only adding the last bit of how I came to get the information. I could see Bert was really interested when the tie to the zoning board was mentioned. However, he followed Hobie’s lead and didn’t appear to be too upset. What he did do was to have Lena, his secretary, put a call into Morris, the consultant who’d located the parcel. The three of us just sat there waiting for the call to be put through. When Lena walked back into the office she proceeded to go to Bert’s phone and to push a button. Almost immediately I heard Morris and his city accent ask what we wanted. Morris was what might be called ‘unflappable’, at least to the eye (or ear). He told us he’d look into it and get back to us. The unfortunate part to that was no one bothered to ask just when that might be.
Bert decided not to call the other members of the branch committee and instructed me to keep the information to myself. He explained that there was no point in getting the committee members involved until we had something to go on. I was in total agreement. Then, he hinted that it would be a good idea to keep in touch with my friend in that he may prove useful in the future. As I mentioned, I didn’t really know him. My impression of him was that he was a no-nonsense type and not one to play ‘games’ with. But, I took Bert’s word to heart and remembered that we’d discussed having lunch in the future. Going back to my desk I realized that I was now immersed into the branch planning but not in the way I’d wanted.
As I’ve previously written, this was to be the second year that the service bureau printed the earnings statements for all the customer accounts. The ledger cards that had been what we relied upon to keep everything straight hadn’t been used in over a year but were still kept in the fire safes right behind the teller line. Hobie had wanted to keep them available in case there might be customers who doubted the accuracy of the service bureau’s work. The last time they had to be referenced was over six months ago and now was the time to get them moved.
When the building was constructed, in 1934, little thought was given to the storage of old records. That meant when they moved into it there was no rhyme or reason to where they were put, or dumped was more like it. The bank would have it’s 100 year anniversary in just three years so there was almost 100 years of paper, in various type ledgers and in dilapidated boxes, piled into the basement. I’d started to go through some of it to make space for current materials but had only made a slight dent into the mess. The ledger cards would take up more space than we had available and contained information that should be kept under lock and key. There was a sub vault located right beneath the main vault and I’d had a young woman working in that area to get it organized about a year and a half earlier. However, working conditions in that area were horrendous and she quit. What work she did had made a difference. So, it was logical to put the ledger cards in there. Because of the proximity of the river and potential flooding, I didn’t want to put them on the floor. The only choice was to add shelving and I’d put Bret in charge of that. The work had been completed and all that was necessary was to get the trays holding the ledger cards to the basement. So as to not disrupt the daily work I arranged for Ward, the man who’s company cleaned the place on a daily basis, to do it after the employees left.
On the night it was to happen, Mae, on the way out the door, stopped to ask me what was going on. With Ward and his men there I didn’t really want to waste time explaining but didn’t want to put her off. So, I asked if she had a few minutes and she indicated she did. As Ward’s men filed down the cellar stairs I told her to follow us. The ‘break room’ was at the bottom but the door to the rest of the cellar was always locked so she’d never seen what was in there. I’d already opened that door and turned on the lights so when she walked in it had to have looked like a tornado had gone through. I remember her stopping and her exclaiming “OH MY GOD!”.
But that wasn’t where we were headed for. The sub vault was only 4 1/2 feet high which added to the difficulty in working in there. The new shelves were designed to hold the ten trays of ledger cards and after showing the men where they were to go they headed up the stairs to retrieve them. Awkward for even two men to handle the trays, I knew it would take some time to complete the project. Mae didn’t seem interested in the sub vault but was actually concentrating on the mess in the main part. I remember laughing at her and asking, facetiously, if she wanted another job. It didn’t even bring forth a smile and when she answered “Yes…” I thought she was kidding.
I didn’t take her seriously and had to focus on placement of the trays as they arrived. I do remember asking if she wanted to leave and she said she’d wait. It took about 15 minutes to lug each tray down the stairs and get it placed. After we got a couple down I told her there was no point in staying but she said she wanted to ask about the mess in the cellar. This time I wasn’t laughing but I did ask if she was serious and she nodded affirmatively. I wasn’t really prepared to consider doing anything right then and there and told her we’d talk in the morning. But, she wasn’t through yet. She said she could get her sister and kids to help. That told me she wasn’t kidding but I had to get the current project finished before I could even start to wrap my hands around that. Again, I told her I’d talk more about it the next day and then sent her up the stairs with Ward so he could let her out.
By the time I left the bank it was after 8pm. I’d told Elle I’d get something to eat before I got home and ended up stopping at the restaurant run by the guy who drove my first race car some 14 years before. I’d see him from time to time and his daughter was in Jean’s class at school. But, I hadn’t seen him since becoming a part owner of Cliffy’s race car. He laughed and called me crazy. When I told him who the co-owners of the car were he got interested. When he owned the gas station we operated the car out of Buster lived right across the road and basically ‘lived’ at the station. Cliffy’s father had built that first race car of mine and Dick’s brother had been in school with him. Business was slow so he spent a fair amount of time talking with me. By the time I left he’d indicated that he might be willing to put some sponsorship money into the car. It was a nice way to end the day.
To be continued…
Monday, August 27, 2018
SLOGGING THROUGH WINTER... Good & bad (Part 169a)
SLOGGING THROUGH WINTER… Good & bad (Part 169a)
Winter can become downright boring. Banks like the one I worked for had peaks and valleys when it came to being busy. One of the valleys was February. The problem with valleys was that employees became complacent because they weren’t all that busy. This wasn’t just the tellers as home buying would fall off and there wouldn’t much work for the mortgage people either. It was a challenge for each department head to keep their staff ‘on their toes’. That wasn’t a problem for the operations area in February because we were responsible for getting the information about how much money each account earned in interest for the preceding year mailed out to the depositors. This would be the second year the service bureau would produce the statements and I was hoping they would do a better job of it. To ensure it I decided to make a trip to the data center to get a ‘feel’ of how they were going to do it. Each time I visited them I would look forward to seeing Gracie, the woman who handled the training for our tellers… and me. I won’t retell how I managed to get a pair of her panties during that training but I did and they were ‘special’. They say “Hope springs eternal…” and I was hoping to not only see her but to possibly get a 'peek' as well. On this visit I found the bank was no longer a “premier” customer. That’s not to say I wasn’t given attention but the ‘big wigs’ were no longer available to answer my questions. I was taken to a small office where I was introduced to Winifred, or “Winnie”.
Now, to go about describing her… No nonsense… personality of a rock… bitch…? I walked in and started to introduce myself. She cut me off with “I know who you are. What do you want?” I started to speak again only to hear “Your statements will be done on time and correct. Anything more?” I was too shocked to respond so retreated out into the work area. I went searching for George, the machine room manager, but couldn’t find him. I asked a couple of the machine operators who the woman was and in one case just got back a smirky smile. In thinking back on it I’m not sure I ever had had anyone speak to me, as a customer, quite like that. I knew I was going to write it up as soon as I got back to the bank. However, as disconcerting as that episode had been I was bound and determined to find Gracie. Regardless of title, she was truly a ‘nice person’ and I hoped that in seeing her it would serve to calm me down a bit.
Everybody knew Gracie so, after wandering about the facility for a few minutes trying to find her, was successful and was greeted with a big smile and a hug. Even though it had been a year since I’d stayed at her house and taken the panties I was still a little concerned. But, all she wanted to know was how the tellers she’d trained were doing and how the bank liked the service. That gave me the ‘opening’ to bring up Winnie. She laughed when I did. “Her bark is worse than her bite.” was her immediate response. I know I had a sour look on my face as a reaction to that. She went on and assured me that if Winnie was working on a project for the bank that it would be as close to perfect as could be expected. Doubt still must’ve been written all over my face because she then said if I had a question about it to call her and not Winnie. I was all for that. Gracie had excused herself from the group she was instructing so apologized to me and turned back to her ‘pupils’. Walking back to the parking lot I felt I’d wasted a whole morning.
I don’t know what made me think of the prospective branch and it’s location. It wasn’t located on my direct route back to the bank but it wasn’t that far off. Since I was now on the branch committee I wanted to have as much information as I could gather and thought it might be a good idea to take another look but this time with a more positive attitude. The street/road it was located on was a major North/South route to leading to the main East/West highways and that was why Morris selected it. Upon arrival I placed myself in the role of a customer and tried to figure just how the layout of the footprint of the building might go. Unlike the first branch, there were definite options. Ingress and egress seemed like it might be a problem though. The lot was overgrown with weeds and debris and, from a public relations standpoint, felt that as soon as the bank took title to the property it needed to be cleaned up and fenced. Upon leaving I decided to drive North to see what kind of housing developments were located there. As I did I saw a lumber yard with a big auxiliary sign advertising fencing. I pulled in to get some material on it and as I walked up to the counter I did a ‘double take’ as there, standing behind it, was a fraternity brother from college.
“Big Jawn” was the name he’d been given in the fraternity. There was a story to go with it but it’s not important here other than to say he was embarrassed in front of the other staff people around him. I could see his cheeks flush as he, as politely as he could, whispered for me to please not call him that again. He’d been two years behind me as far as school was concerned. When I was a senior (and married) I didn’t spend all that much time at the fraternity so never really got to know him. I knew he ended up doing well in school, winning a couple of awards (as seen in the alumni bulletin) and was active on the alumni council. Of course, he wanted to know what brought me in to the store. I gave him an overview of what was being discussed by the bank and as soon as I did he waved me to follow him into an office right behind the counter. There were windows all across the wall allowing the person behind the desk to observe almost the whole counter. I took a look as I sat down next to his desk and could see a young female sort of ‘darting’ from place to place. The one thing I took notice of was that the apron she had on was longer than the dress she was wearing. When she’d tied the string in the back she’d hiked the skirt up a bit making the view rather interesting. I wished I was sitting behind the desk rather than along side it.
It turned out that John’s father was on the zoning board and the parcel we were looking at had been a problem for an extended period of time. Basically, it was the only buildable site left on the road but, potential developers had continually been thwarted with getting approval for ingress and egress onto the main road. The parcel was a corner lot and, without going into a lot of unnecessary detail, the zoning board had rejected all the proposals submitted. What he wanted me to know was it might be a problem for us as well. I thanked him for the information and told him I’d like to get together with him for lunch if the project moved forward. When I turned around to leave I made sure to locate the girl I'd seen and wasn’t disappointed. She was bending over to pick something off the floor and I had a couple of seconds to see a bit of her flowered panties. At least I had one pleasant thought as I headed back to the bank.
To be continued…
Winter can become downright boring. Banks like the one I worked for had peaks and valleys when it came to being busy. One of the valleys was February. The problem with valleys was that employees became complacent because they weren’t all that busy. This wasn’t just the tellers as home buying would fall off and there wouldn’t much work for the mortgage people either. It was a challenge for each department head to keep their staff ‘on their toes’. That wasn’t a problem for the operations area in February because we were responsible for getting the information about how much money each account earned in interest for the preceding year mailed out to the depositors. This would be the second year the service bureau would produce the statements and I was hoping they would do a better job of it. To ensure it I decided to make a trip to the data center to get a ‘feel’ of how they were going to do it. Each time I visited them I would look forward to seeing Gracie, the woman who handled the training for our tellers… and me. I won’t retell how I managed to get a pair of her panties during that training but I did and they were ‘special’. They say “Hope springs eternal…” and I was hoping to not only see her but to possibly get a 'peek' as well. On this visit I found the bank was no longer a “premier” customer. That’s not to say I wasn’t given attention but the ‘big wigs’ were no longer available to answer my questions. I was taken to a small office where I was introduced to Winifred, or “Winnie”.
Now, to go about describing her… No nonsense… personality of a rock… bitch…? I walked in and started to introduce myself. She cut me off with “I know who you are. What do you want?” I started to speak again only to hear “Your statements will be done on time and correct. Anything more?” I was too shocked to respond so retreated out into the work area. I went searching for George, the machine room manager, but couldn’t find him. I asked a couple of the machine operators who the woman was and in one case just got back a smirky smile. In thinking back on it I’m not sure I ever had had anyone speak to me, as a customer, quite like that. I knew I was going to write it up as soon as I got back to the bank. However, as disconcerting as that episode had been I was bound and determined to find Gracie. Regardless of title, she was truly a ‘nice person’ and I hoped that in seeing her it would serve to calm me down a bit.
Everybody knew Gracie so, after wandering about the facility for a few minutes trying to find her, was successful and was greeted with a big smile and a hug. Even though it had been a year since I’d stayed at her house and taken the panties I was still a little concerned. But, all she wanted to know was how the tellers she’d trained were doing and how the bank liked the service. That gave me the ‘opening’ to bring up Winnie. She laughed when I did. “Her bark is worse than her bite.” was her immediate response. I know I had a sour look on my face as a reaction to that. She went on and assured me that if Winnie was working on a project for the bank that it would be as close to perfect as could be expected. Doubt still must’ve been written all over my face because she then said if I had a question about it to call her and not Winnie. I was all for that. Gracie had excused herself from the group she was instructing so apologized to me and turned back to her ‘pupils’. Walking back to the parking lot I felt I’d wasted a whole morning.
I don’t know what made me think of the prospective branch and it’s location. It wasn’t located on my direct route back to the bank but it wasn’t that far off. Since I was now on the branch committee I wanted to have as much information as I could gather and thought it might be a good idea to take another look but this time with a more positive attitude. The street/road it was located on was a major North/South route to leading to the main East/West highways and that was why Morris selected it. Upon arrival I placed myself in the role of a customer and tried to figure just how the layout of the footprint of the building might go. Unlike the first branch, there were definite options. Ingress and egress seemed like it might be a problem though. The lot was overgrown with weeds and debris and, from a public relations standpoint, felt that as soon as the bank took title to the property it needed to be cleaned up and fenced. Upon leaving I decided to drive North to see what kind of housing developments were located there. As I did I saw a lumber yard with a big auxiliary sign advertising fencing. I pulled in to get some material on it and as I walked up to the counter I did a ‘double take’ as there, standing behind it, was a fraternity brother from college.
“Big Jawn” was the name he’d been given in the fraternity. There was a story to go with it but it’s not important here other than to say he was embarrassed in front of the other staff people around him. I could see his cheeks flush as he, as politely as he could, whispered for me to please not call him that again. He’d been two years behind me as far as school was concerned. When I was a senior (and married) I didn’t spend all that much time at the fraternity so never really got to know him. I knew he ended up doing well in school, winning a couple of awards (as seen in the alumni bulletin) and was active on the alumni council. Of course, he wanted to know what brought me in to the store. I gave him an overview of what was being discussed by the bank and as soon as I did he waved me to follow him into an office right behind the counter. There were windows all across the wall allowing the person behind the desk to observe almost the whole counter. I took a look as I sat down next to his desk and could see a young female sort of ‘darting’ from place to place. The one thing I took notice of was that the apron she had on was longer than the dress she was wearing. When she’d tied the string in the back she’d hiked the skirt up a bit making the view rather interesting. I wished I was sitting behind the desk rather than along side it.
It turned out that John’s father was on the zoning board and the parcel we were looking at had been a problem for an extended period of time. Basically, it was the only buildable site left on the road but, potential developers had continually been thwarted with getting approval for ingress and egress onto the main road. The parcel was a corner lot and, without going into a lot of unnecessary detail, the zoning board had rejected all the proposals submitted. What he wanted me to know was it might be a problem for us as well. I thanked him for the information and told him I’d like to get together with him for lunch if the project moved forward. When I turned around to leave I made sure to locate the girl I'd seen and wasn’t disappointed. She was bending over to pick something off the floor and I had a couple of seconds to see a bit of her flowered panties. At least I had one pleasant thought as I headed back to the bank.
To be continued…
Friday, August 24, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 168v)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168v)
“Little victories” had been a ‘battle cry’ of mine right from the time I started working in a managerial position. I had to take this recognition as one. At least I’d have a voice… even if it might be ignored. Voicing an idea or making a suggestion in a committee environment guaranteed others would hear it and the possibility of action being taken. Every time I went to the branch I’d shake my head in frustration. There had been so many errors made in the building of it that could’ve easily been avoided if I’d been part of the planning. For the first time I was excited about another branch.
The next day I had a meeting with Laura and Sandy. I’d hoped Liz, the auditor, would’ve been there but she wasn’t. The two seemed to understand their respective positions but it was obvious that Sandy, who was ten years older than Laurie, wasn’t entirely comfortable with what was laid out as to what was expected of her. Later, I emphasized that Laurie wasn’t her ‘boss’ and what was mostly expected from her was co-operation and that between the two of them they had to get the job done. For me, it was part of my ever expanding exposure to personnel management.
I won’t deny that I spent some time thinking about Lynda and her telling me that she had something she wanted to tell me in private. I had to suppress my desire to pursue it finally recognizing that if it was really important she’d contact me with another suggestion. However, since she was the conduit to Stan, my stock broker, it was going to be difficult to avoid talking with her as I knew I’d be talking with him about the stock I’d just purchased.
There were a lot of little things that filled out the month for me but nothing worth writing about. (Say thank you!) The next big thing for me was to go to the city for the monthly meeting of the State Banking Association’s Committee on Personnel Management. I’d met a number of fellow bankers who also worked for small banks like mine and some of them had been in contact with me. A few planned to do the same as I in coming in to the city a day early and wanted to get together for dinner. When I’d done it the first time I’d gone home to eat with Elle and the kids before leaving. When I told her I was going in earlier in the day she wasn’t pleased but I’d already committed myself. I’d originally thought it would be two or three others but when I showed up in the bar there were seven or eight of them including one woman. It was a little awkward at first but after a few drinks things loosened up a bit. When it got to around 9pm and we hadn’t eaten I excused myself and found the hotel dining room had closed at 8pm, So, I was really on my own. I went to the front desk to ask where I could get something to eat. While there the woman who’d been part of our group came up beside me. It was obvious she was drunk when she grabbed my arm and asked me to help her get to her room. Talk about a ‘red flag’!
The woman was in her 40’s, trim and not all that bad looking. But, there was no way I was getting involved in any way with her. I whispered to the desk clerk to get someone to assist her and then got his directions to the Automat that was nearby. As a kid I loved going there, inserting coins into a slot and then opening a little door and taking my food. Common sense told me that the quality wouldn’t be all that good but the clerk said I’d probably be getting freshly made food. He had a relative who had worked there and he’d used that information himself when he got off duty. It sounded good to me. I didn’t completely ignore the woman explaining what I was doing at the counter. Just as I was about to leave a security person came up and I was free.
One nice thing I’d come to appreciate about the Association was they took care of their members. The breakfast buns they provided with the coffee the next morning were close to being the best I’d ever eaten. After two of them I was full. In a way it was interesting in that a few of the people who’d been in the gathering the previous evening weren’t there… including the woman. As one of the members noted as the meeting began, for some getting to the city was like being let out of jail and then not knowing how to handle it. By the time the morning break arrived all members were present. As the woman walked in I was hoping she wouldn’t notice me but she did. I didn’t know what she’d say but I wasn’t expecting an apology. I also didn’t expect her to ‘glom’ onto me like a ‘Klingon’, but she did. I was polite but really didn’t want any part of her. During the afternoon session the group agreed to pursue a major undertaking. It was something that really caught my interest and I volunteered to be on the development team for it. Those that were interested signed on a pad that was passed around and told we’d be notified if chosen. I’d met the person who’d introduced the concept at a previous meeting and before leaving made a point of touching base with him. He was senior Vice President of one of the biggest banks in the city and I felt somewhat honored that he’d listen to a young, small town banker. I was excited on my journey home.
As expected it was a long trip. To have even a slight chance to get home by 6pm you had to be in your car by 3pm. I don’t remember what time it was but it was closer to 7pm than 6pm when I pulled up the driveway. There was a car that I didn’t recognize in my spot so walking into the kitchen I had no idea of what to expect. It turned out to be the teacher Elle and been substituting for since the first of the year. She’d been cleared to come back to work but wanted to know, first hand, how Elle had made out with her class. She was a pleasant looking woman, a little older than Elle and I. She introduced herself as Penny saying that anyone who used her whole name, Penelope, was NOT a friend of hers. I liked her right away. She offered to leave right after I arrived but Elle and I both insisted that she stay. Elle had my dinner in the oven and told Penny that she’d feed me and they could go in to the dining room to finish up. When she stood up I probably let out a gasp of air… the VPL was classic. The leg elastics were duly noted as was the crotch line. In truth, she probably could’ve lost ten pounds but it certainly helped fill out the backside of her slacks. As the two of them disappeared into the other room I hoped that she and Elle would become friends and that I’d get more chances to see her.
A bit of news from Elle had to do with Beth, Cliffy’s wife. She was due back at her job as the secretary to the principal at the school where Elle was substituting. We both knew Beth had a part in the principal calling Elle to substitute teach. With her back to work it was a good sign that there would be more calls. Teaching multiple days in a row had Elle looking forward to having our youngest, Kaye, in school which would allow her to teach full time even if it was a year and a half away. We’d talked about it on more than one occasion and it wasn’t because we needed the money. Of course it would help but it was because Elle enjoyed being with kids and working with them. That was why she’d been involved with both the Brownie and 4H programs. When we went up to bed it was obvious that things were going well. Now, to keep it that way.
To be continued…
“Little victories” had been a ‘battle cry’ of mine right from the time I started working in a managerial position. I had to take this recognition as one. At least I’d have a voice… even if it might be ignored. Voicing an idea or making a suggestion in a committee environment guaranteed others would hear it and the possibility of action being taken. Every time I went to the branch I’d shake my head in frustration. There had been so many errors made in the building of it that could’ve easily been avoided if I’d been part of the planning. For the first time I was excited about another branch.
The next day I had a meeting with Laura and Sandy. I’d hoped Liz, the auditor, would’ve been there but she wasn’t. The two seemed to understand their respective positions but it was obvious that Sandy, who was ten years older than Laurie, wasn’t entirely comfortable with what was laid out as to what was expected of her. Later, I emphasized that Laurie wasn’t her ‘boss’ and what was mostly expected from her was co-operation and that between the two of them they had to get the job done. For me, it was part of my ever expanding exposure to personnel management.
I won’t deny that I spent some time thinking about Lynda and her telling me that she had something she wanted to tell me in private. I had to suppress my desire to pursue it finally recognizing that if it was really important she’d contact me with another suggestion. However, since she was the conduit to Stan, my stock broker, it was going to be difficult to avoid talking with her as I knew I’d be talking with him about the stock I’d just purchased.
There were a lot of little things that filled out the month for me but nothing worth writing about. (Say thank you!) The next big thing for me was to go to the city for the monthly meeting of the State Banking Association’s Committee on Personnel Management. I’d met a number of fellow bankers who also worked for small banks like mine and some of them had been in contact with me. A few planned to do the same as I in coming in to the city a day early and wanted to get together for dinner. When I’d done it the first time I’d gone home to eat with Elle and the kids before leaving. When I told her I was going in earlier in the day she wasn’t pleased but I’d already committed myself. I’d originally thought it would be two or three others but when I showed up in the bar there were seven or eight of them including one woman. It was a little awkward at first but after a few drinks things loosened up a bit. When it got to around 9pm and we hadn’t eaten I excused myself and found the hotel dining room had closed at 8pm, So, I was really on my own. I went to the front desk to ask where I could get something to eat. While there the woman who’d been part of our group came up beside me. It was obvious she was drunk when she grabbed my arm and asked me to help her get to her room. Talk about a ‘red flag’!
The woman was in her 40’s, trim and not all that bad looking. But, there was no way I was getting involved in any way with her. I whispered to the desk clerk to get someone to assist her and then got his directions to the Automat that was nearby. As a kid I loved going there, inserting coins into a slot and then opening a little door and taking my food. Common sense told me that the quality wouldn’t be all that good but the clerk said I’d probably be getting freshly made food. He had a relative who had worked there and he’d used that information himself when he got off duty. It sounded good to me. I didn’t completely ignore the woman explaining what I was doing at the counter. Just as I was about to leave a security person came up and I was free.
One nice thing I’d come to appreciate about the Association was they took care of their members. The breakfast buns they provided with the coffee the next morning were close to being the best I’d ever eaten. After two of them I was full. In a way it was interesting in that a few of the people who’d been in the gathering the previous evening weren’t there… including the woman. As one of the members noted as the meeting began, for some getting to the city was like being let out of jail and then not knowing how to handle it. By the time the morning break arrived all members were present. As the woman walked in I was hoping she wouldn’t notice me but she did. I didn’t know what she’d say but I wasn’t expecting an apology. I also didn’t expect her to ‘glom’ onto me like a ‘Klingon’, but she did. I was polite but really didn’t want any part of her. During the afternoon session the group agreed to pursue a major undertaking. It was something that really caught my interest and I volunteered to be on the development team for it. Those that were interested signed on a pad that was passed around and told we’d be notified if chosen. I’d met the person who’d introduced the concept at a previous meeting and before leaving made a point of touching base with him. He was senior Vice President of one of the biggest banks in the city and I felt somewhat honored that he’d listen to a young, small town banker. I was excited on my journey home.
As expected it was a long trip. To have even a slight chance to get home by 6pm you had to be in your car by 3pm. I don’t remember what time it was but it was closer to 7pm than 6pm when I pulled up the driveway. There was a car that I didn’t recognize in my spot so walking into the kitchen I had no idea of what to expect. It turned out to be the teacher Elle and been substituting for since the first of the year. She’d been cleared to come back to work but wanted to know, first hand, how Elle had made out with her class. She was a pleasant looking woman, a little older than Elle and I. She introduced herself as Penny saying that anyone who used her whole name, Penelope, was NOT a friend of hers. I liked her right away. She offered to leave right after I arrived but Elle and I both insisted that she stay. Elle had my dinner in the oven and told Penny that she’d feed me and they could go in to the dining room to finish up. When she stood up I probably let out a gasp of air… the VPL was classic. The leg elastics were duly noted as was the crotch line. In truth, she probably could’ve lost ten pounds but it certainly helped fill out the backside of her slacks. As the two of them disappeared into the other room I hoped that she and Elle would become friends and that I’d get more chances to see her.
A bit of news from Elle had to do with Beth, Cliffy’s wife. She was due back at her job as the secretary to the principal at the school where Elle was substituting. We both knew Beth had a part in the principal calling Elle to substitute teach. With her back to work it was a good sign that there would be more calls. Teaching multiple days in a row had Elle looking forward to having our youngest, Kaye, in school which would allow her to teach full time even if it was a year and a half away. We’d talked about it on more than one occasion and it wasn’t because we needed the money. Of course it would help but it was because Elle enjoyed being with kids and working with them. That was why she’d been involved with both the Brownie and 4H programs. When we went up to bed it was obvious that things were going well. Now, to keep it that way.
To be continued…
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 169u)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168u)
I’d lived almost my whole life in the general area and yet my trip to the host bank for the meeting put me into a village I’d never visited before. Back in the days of whaling, as a business, it had been a seaport for large whaling ships. My first impression was to ask how a place so small (population approx. 2,500) could be the home for a bank. It wasn’t much bigger than the town Elle and I lived in. But, there it was, right at the end of the street that led to the harbor. The schedule was to meet in the bank’s Board room for a couple of hours and then head to a restaurant right on the harborfront for dinner. I’d never met anyone from their bank so I was a bit ill at ease as I walked in. I knew the president of the bank where I’d worked before and had the met the other one a couple of times when he’d come to visit with Bert. I was a ‘fish out of water’, for sure. My hope was not to embarrass myself but, as it was my bank that was planning on adding another branch I expected to be ‘front and center’ in the meeting. The way it turned out the theme of the meeting was about growth philosophy. I had no idea as to what the bank was using as it’s philosophy but it was very interesting listening to the others. The other banks knew we were contemplating a second branch and I’d been told I could give them the general area of the location. The reaction from all three was that it was too far to the West to have name recognition and, basically, they wished us luck. The only piece of information that I was able to bring out of the meeting was that it would be at least two years before any one of them would be filing for a branch.
In the Summer the restaurant where we went for dinner had probably one of the most picturesque locations in the area. Being dark when we arrived all I could do was imagine what it was like. I don’t remember much about the food as my mind was focused on trying to decide weather to call Lynda or not. When we were all getting ready to leave I decided it wouldn’t hurt to make the call. I couldn’t tell if Lynda’s response to my voice was surprise or happiness. But, before she could really respond I told her that I really had to get home. I could tell the disappointment in her voice. She hadn’t told me why she wanted me to stop and I hadn’t asked but I did then. There was a little pause before she said there was something she wanted to go over with me but that it wasn’t appropriate for the office and that Ruthe had overheard some of the junior brokers talking about the luncheon(s) we’d had at Michael’s so that place was out. I was listening but had no idea what was so important for her to pass on to me. I’ll admit I was a bit intrigued but told her I just couldn’t do it. The matter stayed on my mind the whole way home as I played all sorts of ‘games’ with what it might be.
I reported back to Hobie and Bert the next morning saying that nothing ‘concrete’ had been decided upon. I passed on their comments about our new branch location and watched Bert smile as he heard it. It was obvious he believed Morris about the location and I hoped he was right. Having been ‘tapped’ to represent the bank at the meeting I hoped I’d be more involved in the whole process as it moved forward. It didn’t take long to find out. The postponed Board meeting was the next day. It was Joanie who showed me the agenda for the day and my name was listed as a speaker/presenter. I went to Hobie for clarification and he, very calmly, told me that I was to be added to the branch committee as an ex-officio member. I was shocked. All I’d wanted was to be asked my opinion on certain operational matters. It was completely ‘out of the blue’. I wanted to know what or who had prompted the move. I knew, for sure, it wasn’t “Polack Joe”. But, I knew enough to keep my thoughts to myself.
One thing had happened while I was away and that was when “upstairs Sandy” (who’d been filling in for J J’s secretary while on a leave of absence) was transitioned down to the Audit area. Laura had been taken by surprise by the move and was quite upset. Liz, the auditor, was supposed to have spoken to Laura about it but hadn’t and wasn’t there when the move took place to ease the situation. Trish, who was related to Laura, got involved but evidently it didn’t go well. Laura hadn’t come in and with Liz out there was no one to give Sandy any idea what was expected of her. I remember cursing J J as I tried to plot my next move. I still felt that Lynn, his secretary, had been out because of a pregnancy but I had no proof. I had to get a temporary replacement for her but couldn’t hire one on a temporary basis. To meet his requirements I had to hire a full time person and that was Sandy.
After talking with Trish I decided to go up to Joanie’s house where Laura was living and to talk with her about the situation. Trish and I let Joanie know what was happening so she could call her mother to be prepared. Having Laura live with Joanie had been a good move for both of them. They got along well but didn’t ‘smother’ each other. They’d both gotten boy friends although Hobie, Bret, Trish and I disapproved of Joanie’s. He was a barber right across the street and… well… let’s just say he left a lot to be desired in our eyes, especially for a girl like her.
Pulling up the driveway I saw one thing to brighten my day… a pair of unmistakeable SanSoucie panties hanging from a small line on the back porch. Over time I’d provided panties to both of them and, on occasion, I’d been rewarded with a VPL from Laura. It was nice to see regardless of who they belonged to. Laura was not happy to see me. Long story, short she’d taken the move as a negative and thought the bank didn’t think she was doing a good job. I assured her that it was not that at all and went over the situation with Liz, in detail, explaining that she was going to have to do some of the duties Liz had until Liz fully recovered. Sandy was there to work with her, not to replace her. By the time I left I still wasn’t sure she believed what I’d told her. That was my lunch hour. Laura promised to be in the next day and that was the best I could do. Sandy was relegated to filing papers for Joanie for the rest of the day.
I’d been at a number of full Board meeting while filling in for Hobie as the corporate secretary. I’d been a little nervous but not overly so. On this day it was a different story. It was like I was to be paraded in front of the Board and I was uncomfortable about it. I was to be the last item on the schedule so I had to keep busy until I got the call to come on up. When I did I was greeted by Gee, the Trustee/attorney who I knew from past experience was ‘in my corner’ when it came to dealing with other Board members. He told me to just be calm and to smile as Bert spoke to the members about me. That helped… a little bit. I did what I was told and thought it had gone well until it came time for the vote on the motion. I was prepared for “Polack Joe” to have his ‘two cents’ but when one of the others spoke up I was taken aback. His complaint was that I wasn’t a Board member and shouldn’t be on the committee. It took Gee, at his attorney best, to explain just what “ex-officio” meant and that I was not going to be a voting member. Even with that he voted against adding me.(109)
To be continued…
I’d lived almost my whole life in the general area and yet my trip to the host bank for the meeting put me into a village I’d never visited before. Back in the days of whaling, as a business, it had been a seaport for large whaling ships. My first impression was to ask how a place so small (population approx. 2,500) could be the home for a bank. It wasn’t much bigger than the town Elle and I lived in. But, there it was, right at the end of the street that led to the harbor. The schedule was to meet in the bank’s Board room for a couple of hours and then head to a restaurant right on the harborfront for dinner. I’d never met anyone from their bank so I was a bit ill at ease as I walked in. I knew the president of the bank where I’d worked before and had the met the other one a couple of times when he’d come to visit with Bert. I was a ‘fish out of water’, for sure. My hope was not to embarrass myself but, as it was my bank that was planning on adding another branch I expected to be ‘front and center’ in the meeting. The way it turned out the theme of the meeting was about growth philosophy. I had no idea as to what the bank was using as it’s philosophy but it was very interesting listening to the others. The other banks knew we were contemplating a second branch and I’d been told I could give them the general area of the location. The reaction from all three was that it was too far to the West to have name recognition and, basically, they wished us luck. The only piece of information that I was able to bring out of the meeting was that it would be at least two years before any one of them would be filing for a branch.
In the Summer the restaurant where we went for dinner had probably one of the most picturesque locations in the area. Being dark when we arrived all I could do was imagine what it was like. I don’t remember much about the food as my mind was focused on trying to decide weather to call Lynda or not. When we were all getting ready to leave I decided it wouldn’t hurt to make the call. I couldn’t tell if Lynda’s response to my voice was surprise or happiness. But, before she could really respond I told her that I really had to get home. I could tell the disappointment in her voice. She hadn’t told me why she wanted me to stop and I hadn’t asked but I did then. There was a little pause before she said there was something she wanted to go over with me but that it wasn’t appropriate for the office and that Ruthe had overheard some of the junior brokers talking about the luncheon(s) we’d had at Michael’s so that place was out. I was listening but had no idea what was so important for her to pass on to me. I’ll admit I was a bit intrigued but told her I just couldn’t do it. The matter stayed on my mind the whole way home as I played all sorts of ‘games’ with what it might be.
I reported back to Hobie and Bert the next morning saying that nothing ‘concrete’ had been decided upon. I passed on their comments about our new branch location and watched Bert smile as he heard it. It was obvious he believed Morris about the location and I hoped he was right. Having been ‘tapped’ to represent the bank at the meeting I hoped I’d be more involved in the whole process as it moved forward. It didn’t take long to find out. The postponed Board meeting was the next day. It was Joanie who showed me the agenda for the day and my name was listed as a speaker/presenter. I went to Hobie for clarification and he, very calmly, told me that I was to be added to the branch committee as an ex-officio member. I was shocked. All I’d wanted was to be asked my opinion on certain operational matters. It was completely ‘out of the blue’. I wanted to know what or who had prompted the move. I knew, for sure, it wasn’t “Polack Joe”. But, I knew enough to keep my thoughts to myself.
One thing had happened while I was away and that was when “upstairs Sandy” (who’d been filling in for J J’s secretary while on a leave of absence) was transitioned down to the Audit area. Laura had been taken by surprise by the move and was quite upset. Liz, the auditor, was supposed to have spoken to Laura about it but hadn’t and wasn’t there when the move took place to ease the situation. Trish, who was related to Laura, got involved but evidently it didn’t go well. Laura hadn’t come in and with Liz out there was no one to give Sandy any idea what was expected of her. I remember cursing J J as I tried to plot my next move. I still felt that Lynn, his secretary, had been out because of a pregnancy but I had no proof. I had to get a temporary replacement for her but couldn’t hire one on a temporary basis. To meet his requirements I had to hire a full time person and that was Sandy.
After talking with Trish I decided to go up to Joanie’s house where Laura was living and to talk with her about the situation. Trish and I let Joanie know what was happening so she could call her mother to be prepared. Having Laura live with Joanie had been a good move for both of them. They got along well but didn’t ‘smother’ each other. They’d both gotten boy friends although Hobie, Bret, Trish and I disapproved of Joanie’s. He was a barber right across the street and… well… let’s just say he left a lot to be desired in our eyes, especially for a girl like her.
Pulling up the driveway I saw one thing to brighten my day… a pair of unmistakeable SanSoucie panties hanging from a small line on the back porch. Over time I’d provided panties to both of them and, on occasion, I’d been rewarded with a VPL from Laura. It was nice to see regardless of who they belonged to. Laura was not happy to see me. Long story, short she’d taken the move as a negative and thought the bank didn’t think she was doing a good job. I assured her that it was not that at all and went over the situation with Liz, in detail, explaining that she was going to have to do some of the duties Liz had until Liz fully recovered. Sandy was there to work with her, not to replace her. By the time I left I still wasn’t sure she believed what I’d told her. That was my lunch hour. Laura promised to be in the next day and that was the best I could do. Sandy was relegated to filing papers for Joanie for the rest of the day.
I’d been at a number of full Board meeting while filling in for Hobie as the corporate secretary. I’d been a little nervous but not overly so. On this day it was a different story. It was like I was to be paraded in front of the Board and I was uncomfortable about it. I was to be the last item on the schedule so I had to keep busy until I got the call to come on up. When I did I was greeted by Gee, the Trustee/attorney who I knew from past experience was ‘in my corner’ when it came to dealing with other Board members. He told me to just be calm and to smile as Bert spoke to the members about me. That helped… a little bit. I did what I was told and thought it had gone well until it came time for the vote on the motion. I was prepared for “Polack Joe” to have his ‘two cents’ but when one of the others spoke up I was taken aback. His complaint was that I wasn’t a Board member and shouldn’t be on the committee. It took Gee, at his attorney best, to explain just what “ex-officio” meant and that I was not going to be a voting member. Even with that he voted against adding me.(109)
To be continued…
Monday, August 20, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 168t)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168t)
One thing about selling stock is that you don’t get your money right away like you do if you were to sell a car. There is a three day ‘hold’ until the funds are available. However, since the money is at the broker’s, you can buy stock with the proceeds before the waiting period is up. Excited about my profit I wanted to get it invested right away. When I’d made the original purchase of the stock I’d just sold I had what’s called “Buyer’s remorse” because I wasn’t fully convinced it was a good choice. Now, having had two recent successes using suggestions from Stan, my broker, I couldn’t wait to get over to the office and make some more money.
Since the meeting with Lynda and Stan I’d avoided going over there not sure how Stan had felt about it. On this day I wasn’t concerned about that as this was business that I wanted to talk with him about. As soon as the tellers were in proof I headed over there promising Bret I'd be back before 5pm. The stock market had closed so things had settled down for them and I know I surprised Lynda when I walked in the door. Even though she was busy on the phone I got a nice smile. I pointed at Stan and she waved me to his area. He was also on the phone but motioned for me to have a seat. I couldn’t help but hear what he was saying and picked up on the fact that the brokerage was in the process of pricing another public offering that they were underwriting. I had no idea what it was but knew I wanted a ‘piece of the action’. I had to wait but when he got off the phone acknowledged that there was another IPO (Initial Public Offering) and asked if I wanted the details. I said yes but, in my excitement, really couldn’t have cared less. The stock I’d just sold and had made the nice profit on was in what we now call the energy sector. Back then they hadn’t grouped like businesses into small segments. The new offering was in the same general field and, as Stan had told me back when I bought the stock, it was “hot”. This company was in the same general field. I swear I didn’t even ask it’s name but told Stan I wanted 100 shares. The stock I’d sold was worth $1,900. When Stan told me that the stock was going to open at $25 a share he said I’d need an additional $600 but could get 75 shares with the money I’d get from the sale. Greed was the motivator when I told him I still wanted 100 shares even though I didn’t know where I’d get the additional money. Like with the sale of the stock, I had three business days to “settle”, or pay for the purchase of the new stock so I left already counting on a nice profit.
Schools had been reopened that day and Elle was, happily, back to work. She had some good news in that the teacher she was substituting for was going to be out a little longer. With no school for two days she felt she was getting cheated. My news for Elle was about the house next door. She wasn’t overly thrilled but agreed that having it occupied for part of the year was better than the current state of affairs. J J had told me that approval for the mortgage was a foregone conclusion as the man didn’t need it. The purpose was for possibly aiding in a future sale as back in those days mortgages could be assumed by a buyer. He had also indicated that there was no rush as he’d been told it would be Spring before they would start to move in. So, to put a positive ’spin’ on the whole thing Elle and I concentrated on the information, as little as it was, about the grandchildren who would be spending part of their Summer there.
I’ve written about all the meeting I had to attend outside the confines of the bank. The big one was the one that had me going into the city once a month as a member of the State banking association committee on personnel. I rather enjoyed it as it gave me the opportunity to hear the operational problems from banks of similar size but in a different part of the state. Then, there was the regional one with the ten banks that rimmed the big city banks. Interesting, but it was more social than productive. And, as I was about to find out, there was a new one that was for the four like banks within the county. I’ve written how there had been legislation preventing the big city bank form opening branches in the county up until one of the county banks opened the first branch. That happened back at the end of June when we did. It was expected that there would be a ‘wave’ of branch applications following that but there had only been a few and they weren’t from the city. The presidents of the four county banks had agreed to form a coalition where they would share information on the branch plans for each so as not to cannibalize depositors from our already established geographic areas. With our having put an offer to purchase land for a second branch Bert felt it only fair to meet with the other banks. However, the big snow storm had caused the meeting to be postponed. The bank where I’d started my career had agreed to host it but found the federal auditors at their door. For reasons unknown to me, the smallest bank of the four then agreed to host it. My knowledge of the whole thing was from overhearing Hobie while on the phone with Bert, the president. It didn’t really concern me so didn’t dwell on it… until Hobie told me I’d be representing the bank. Hobie was the next in line but I didn’t feel it appropriate to ask why he wouldn’t be attending. In a way I was flattered but, at the same time, woefully unprepared. You’ve seen my writings on how little input I’d had in our branch planning and, if it hadn’t been for Morris, our branch consultant giving me a personal call, wouldn’t know anything about the current plans. Thankfully, the meeting wasn’t until the following week.
I won’t go into the ’nitty gritty’ of how representation at the meeting worked it’s way down to me. What I will say was that I was thankful that it had. I learned more about the whole process in three days than I’d learned in the eighteen or so months since the Board had decided to go with a branch. What I found to be really interesting was that the host bank for the meeting was located the furthest from the city and considered themselves to be “insulated’ from city bank competition. I spent about three hours with both Hobie and Bert being prepped for what I could and couldn’t reveal about our plans. By the time they were done with me I was ‘swimming’ with information. I'd decided to 'raid' our savings account to come up with the difference ($600) I needed for the stock purchase and delivered it to Lynda before heading for the meeting. She asked why I was in such a rush and, quite casually, mentioned that I'd be going to a meeting and would be going past where she lived. He eyes lighted up and wanted more details. When I finished she asked if I'd stop by her house. I begged off but she wouldn't relent. Not knowing how late I'd be I told her that if it wasn't too late I'd call. While on my way to the meeting I wondered why I'd let myself get talked into that.
To be continued...
One thing about selling stock is that you don’t get your money right away like you do if you were to sell a car. There is a three day ‘hold’ until the funds are available. However, since the money is at the broker’s, you can buy stock with the proceeds before the waiting period is up. Excited about my profit I wanted to get it invested right away. When I’d made the original purchase of the stock I’d just sold I had what’s called “Buyer’s remorse” because I wasn’t fully convinced it was a good choice. Now, having had two recent successes using suggestions from Stan, my broker, I couldn’t wait to get over to the office and make some more money.
Since the meeting with Lynda and Stan I’d avoided going over there not sure how Stan had felt about it. On this day I wasn’t concerned about that as this was business that I wanted to talk with him about. As soon as the tellers were in proof I headed over there promising Bret I'd be back before 5pm. The stock market had closed so things had settled down for them and I know I surprised Lynda when I walked in the door. Even though she was busy on the phone I got a nice smile. I pointed at Stan and she waved me to his area. He was also on the phone but motioned for me to have a seat. I couldn’t help but hear what he was saying and picked up on the fact that the brokerage was in the process of pricing another public offering that they were underwriting. I had no idea what it was but knew I wanted a ‘piece of the action’. I had to wait but when he got off the phone acknowledged that there was another IPO (Initial Public Offering) and asked if I wanted the details. I said yes but, in my excitement, really couldn’t have cared less. The stock I’d just sold and had made the nice profit on was in what we now call the energy sector. Back then they hadn’t grouped like businesses into small segments. The new offering was in the same general field and, as Stan had told me back when I bought the stock, it was “hot”. This company was in the same general field. I swear I didn’t even ask it’s name but told Stan I wanted 100 shares. The stock I’d sold was worth $1,900. When Stan told me that the stock was going to open at $25 a share he said I’d need an additional $600 but could get 75 shares with the money I’d get from the sale. Greed was the motivator when I told him I still wanted 100 shares even though I didn’t know where I’d get the additional money. Like with the sale of the stock, I had three business days to “settle”, or pay for the purchase of the new stock so I left already counting on a nice profit.
Schools had been reopened that day and Elle was, happily, back to work. She had some good news in that the teacher she was substituting for was going to be out a little longer. With no school for two days she felt she was getting cheated. My news for Elle was about the house next door. She wasn’t overly thrilled but agreed that having it occupied for part of the year was better than the current state of affairs. J J had told me that approval for the mortgage was a foregone conclusion as the man didn’t need it. The purpose was for possibly aiding in a future sale as back in those days mortgages could be assumed by a buyer. He had also indicated that there was no rush as he’d been told it would be Spring before they would start to move in. So, to put a positive ’spin’ on the whole thing Elle and I concentrated on the information, as little as it was, about the grandchildren who would be spending part of their Summer there.
I’ve written about all the meeting I had to attend outside the confines of the bank. The big one was the one that had me going into the city once a month as a member of the State banking association committee on personnel. I rather enjoyed it as it gave me the opportunity to hear the operational problems from banks of similar size but in a different part of the state. Then, there was the regional one with the ten banks that rimmed the big city banks. Interesting, but it was more social than productive. And, as I was about to find out, there was a new one that was for the four like banks within the county. I’ve written how there had been legislation preventing the big city bank form opening branches in the county up until one of the county banks opened the first branch. That happened back at the end of June when we did. It was expected that there would be a ‘wave’ of branch applications following that but there had only been a few and they weren’t from the city. The presidents of the four county banks had agreed to form a coalition where they would share information on the branch plans for each so as not to cannibalize depositors from our already established geographic areas. With our having put an offer to purchase land for a second branch Bert felt it only fair to meet with the other banks. However, the big snow storm had caused the meeting to be postponed. The bank where I’d started my career had agreed to host it but found the federal auditors at their door. For reasons unknown to me, the smallest bank of the four then agreed to host it. My knowledge of the whole thing was from overhearing Hobie while on the phone with Bert, the president. It didn’t really concern me so didn’t dwell on it… until Hobie told me I’d be representing the bank. Hobie was the next in line but I didn’t feel it appropriate to ask why he wouldn’t be attending. In a way I was flattered but, at the same time, woefully unprepared. You’ve seen my writings on how little input I’d had in our branch planning and, if it hadn’t been for Morris, our branch consultant giving me a personal call, wouldn’t know anything about the current plans. Thankfully, the meeting wasn’t until the following week.
I won’t go into the ’nitty gritty’ of how representation at the meeting worked it’s way down to me. What I will say was that I was thankful that it had. I learned more about the whole process in three days than I’d learned in the eighteen or so months since the Board had decided to go with a branch. What I found to be really interesting was that the host bank for the meeting was located the furthest from the city and considered themselves to be “insulated’ from city bank competition. I spent about three hours with both Hobie and Bert being prepped for what I could and couldn’t reveal about our plans. By the time they were done with me I was ‘swimming’ with information. I'd decided to 'raid' our savings account to come up with the difference ($600) I needed for the stock purchase and delivered it to Lynda before heading for the meeting. She asked why I was in such a rush and, quite casually, mentioned that I'd be going to a meeting and would be going past where she lived. He eyes lighted up and wanted more details. When I finished she asked if I'd stop by her house. I begged off but she wouldn't relent. Not knowing how late I'd be I told her that if it wasn't too late I'd call. While on my way to the meeting I wondered why I'd let myself get talked into that.
To be continued...
Friday, August 17, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 168s)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168s)
The big question for me in the morning was what would the parking lot look like. I was pleased to see most of the snow was gone with most of the parking spots available. However, there was one concern. The lot was right next to the river and to keep wayward cars from ending up in it there was a sturdy low fence made of 4x4 timbers. Part of it was now missing. In it’s place were a number of of telephone company signs warning of construction. I took a close look and got an idea of what had happened. It was confirmed when Trish arrived.
Trish had joined her boyfriend, Chaz, when plowing the back lot and explained that what was really needed was a bucket loader. But all he had was the plow on his truck. Trish explained that the only place to put the snow was in the river so that’s where it ended up… along with two sections of the fence. She told me Chaz would be in on his lunch hour and would offer to pay for the damage to the fence. I laughed and told her the fence belonged to the village. The bank leased the space and with it had agreed to assume the plowing of snow. The reason was that if the village were to do it, because of it’s small size, it would be pretty much the last space to get plowed. But the village took care of the maintenance including fence repairs. A customer had hit the same area a while back and the village hadn’t yet fixed it. I told her to let the village figure it out.
That was all the ‘excitement’ for the day. Everybody made it in and business did pick up a bit. When Mae arrived I had her come to my desk as I wanted her ’take’ on Jerry’s latest bone head act. I liked Mae for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was she, when asked her opinion, never held back. I had all I could do to keep from smiling as she told me what happened when she showed up at Jerry’s house. I was most curious as to Jerry’s excuse for not coming in to work… that he’d been “plowed in” when the streets were plowed. That caused Mae to laugh because her sister-in-law, who lived next door to Jerry, had no trouble going to work. I asked her to write it up and to submit it to me.
Being the third Wednesday meant it was to be a full Board of Trustees meeting. However, some of the elder members had called asking for it to be postponed for a week. With no meeting there would be no mortgage submissions and approvals. That didn’t affect me but J J called to let me know of the postponement he told me had an “interesting” submission that would have to wait. It was for the house next door to Elle and I. It took me less than 30 seconds to make it up the stairs to his office. However, Lynn, his secretary had come back to work the previous week and this was the first time I’d had a chance to chat with her. Much thinner and with a different hair style, she looked somewhat attractive. She really was a nice girl and had been welcomed back to work by her co-workers but it had created a bit of a problem for me in that I had to find a place for “upstairs Sandy”, the woman who'd replaced her while she was on leave. J J hadn’t really accepted Sandy and it was more because she wasn’t very attractive than for being incapable of doing the necessary work. Liz, the auditor, had been struggling with a health problem since the first of the year. Laura, her assistant, was more than capable of doing her assigned tasks but when Liz was out for a few days found herself struggling. Sandy had had some training and experience as a bookkeeper so I approached Liz about giving her a try so that’s where she ended up. In any case, after talking with Lynn I made it into J J’s office. He had the application right there and handed it to me.
Elle had expressed hope for the house to be bought by a young family with children right from the time the house was foreclosed on right after we’d moved there. The first person to live there was Sabrina/Lisa who was basically a young ‘airhead’. She’d provided some ‘entertainment’ but was more of a nuisance than anything else. Next was Bill, the school principal and his family. The kids were a lot older than ours but the older daughters had pretty much fit in with us. We knew it was only for a short time until their house was completed. But, it had been empty for six months and had been a source of trouble (vandals/ vagrants) that kept Elle upset. So, here I was holding documents that would give me a good idea just who our neighbors were going to be. Andy, the real estate agent, had told me just the basics about them… an older couple from the city who wanted the house to be able to have their kids and grandkids visit during the Summer. What I was looking at told me a whole lot more than that. The man had owned a number of businesses, some I’d heard of, and the wife was the daughter of a well known academician. I didn’t have to go to the financial portion to know they had money. I remember looking at J J and wondering, out loud, why they would choose that house and located where it was. Before speaking J J reminded me that all that he was about to say was confidential. The couple had had a Summer home on a lake in New Hampshire and one of their sons ended up drowning in it. It took a long time for them to recover but over a period of time they did. They missed being near the water but vowed that they wouldn’t ever live right on it again. Missing rural nature in Summer they settled on our area. The house, far from fancy, was big enough to house their extended family and was far enough from water to eliminate the danger of a similar event that had caused their son to die. I scanned to the family portion of the application and saw they had a boy and girl. J J volunteered that he’d been able to elicit some information about the grandchildren and they were, indeed in the same range as both his and my kids. At least that was some positive news for Elle. Before giving the application back I couldn’t help but see what the house had sold for and was shocked… $40,000. Andy had told me the owner, a speculator, was asking a very high price and he hadn’t been kidding. I left his office wondering just what my house, which was far nicer, was worth.
While I was upstairs with J J, Stan, my stock broker called with a message for me to call him as soon as possible. It wasn’t noon time yet so pretty much knew he’d still be there. Lynda answered but didn’t want to talk with me saying that Stan needed to go over something with me right away. Just there months earlier he’d given me some materials on some stocks to peruse. He’d told me that I probably couldn’t go wrong on any of them. He did point out one, which was a new issue, that looked particularly interesting. I’d never purchased a stock when it was offered but did so in this case. I was very concerned because to do it meant going into my savings fund. I’d tried to keep up on the progress of it but, without saying it, before Christmas Stan had indicated before I should think about selling it. Today, it was more than an indication. I tried to ask why but he said he had more calls to make and I could stop by after the markets closed to get that information. Trusting him, I told him to ”sell”. It was Lynda who called to tell me of the confirmed sale and when she did it was to tell me I’d made $400 in just three months on a $1500 investment. I was liking the stock market more and more!(77)
To be continued…
The big question for me in the morning was what would the parking lot look like. I was pleased to see most of the snow was gone with most of the parking spots available. However, there was one concern. The lot was right next to the river and to keep wayward cars from ending up in it there was a sturdy low fence made of 4x4 timbers. Part of it was now missing. In it’s place were a number of of telephone company signs warning of construction. I took a close look and got an idea of what had happened. It was confirmed when Trish arrived.
Trish had joined her boyfriend, Chaz, when plowing the back lot and explained that what was really needed was a bucket loader. But all he had was the plow on his truck. Trish explained that the only place to put the snow was in the river so that’s where it ended up… along with two sections of the fence. She told me Chaz would be in on his lunch hour and would offer to pay for the damage to the fence. I laughed and told her the fence belonged to the village. The bank leased the space and with it had agreed to assume the plowing of snow. The reason was that if the village were to do it, because of it’s small size, it would be pretty much the last space to get plowed. But the village took care of the maintenance including fence repairs. A customer had hit the same area a while back and the village hadn’t yet fixed it. I told her to let the village figure it out.
That was all the ‘excitement’ for the day. Everybody made it in and business did pick up a bit. When Mae arrived I had her come to my desk as I wanted her ’take’ on Jerry’s latest bone head act. I liked Mae for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was she, when asked her opinion, never held back. I had all I could do to keep from smiling as she told me what happened when she showed up at Jerry’s house. I was most curious as to Jerry’s excuse for not coming in to work… that he’d been “plowed in” when the streets were plowed. That caused Mae to laugh because her sister-in-law, who lived next door to Jerry, had no trouble going to work. I asked her to write it up and to submit it to me.
Being the third Wednesday meant it was to be a full Board of Trustees meeting. However, some of the elder members had called asking for it to be postponed for a week. With no meeting there would be no mortgage submissions and approvals. That didn’t affect me but J J called to let me know of the postponement he told me had an “interesting” submission that would have to wait. It was for the house next door to Elle and I. It took me less than 30 seconds to make it up the stairs to his office. However, Lynn, his secretary had come back to work the previous week and this was the first time I’d had a chance to chat with her. Much thinner and with a different hair style, she looked somewhat attractive. She really was a nice girl and had been welcomed back to work by her co-workers but it had created a bit of a problem for me in that I had to find a place for “upstairs Sandy”, the woman who'd replaced her while she was on leave. J J hadn’t really accepted Sandy and it was more because she wasn’t very attractive than for being incapable of doing the necessary work. Liz, the auditor, had been struggling with a health problem since the first of the year. Laura, her assistant, was more than capable of doing her assigned tasks but when Liz was out for a few days found herself struggling. Sandy had had some training and experience as a bookkeeper so I approached Liz about giving her a try so that’s where she ended up. In any case, after talking with Lynn I made it into J J’s office. He had the application right there and handed it to me.
Elle had expressed hope for the house to be bought by a young family with children right from the time the house was foreclosed on right after we’d moved there. The first person to live there was Sabrina/Lisa who was basically a young ‘airhead’. She’d provided some ‘entertainment’ but was more of a nuisance than anything else. Next was Bill, the school principal and his family. The kids were a lot older than ours but the older daughters had pretty much fit in with us. We knew it was only for a short time until their house was completed. But, it had been empty for six months and had been a source of trouble (vandals/ vagrants) that kept Elle upset. So, here I was holding documents that would give me a good idea just who our neighbors were going to be. Andy, the real estate agent, had told me just the basics about them… an older couple from the city who wanted the house to be able to have their kids and grandkids visit during the Summer. What I was looking at told me a whole lot more than that. The man had owned a number of businesses, some I’d heard of, and the wife was the daughter of a well known academician. I didn’t have to go to the financial portion to know they had money. I remember looking at J J and wondering, out loud, why they would choose that house and located where it was. Before speaking J J reminded me that all that he was about to say was confidential. The couple had had a Summer home on a lake in New Hampshire and one of their sons ended up drowning in it. It took a long time for them to recover but over a period of time they did. They missed being near the water but vowed that they wouldn’t ever live right on it again. Missing rural nature in Summer they settled on our area. The house, far from fancy, was big enough to house their extended family and was far enough from water to eliminate the danger of a similar event that had caused their son to die. I scanned to the family portion of the application and saw they had a boy and girl. J J volunteered that he’d been able to elicit some information about the grandchildren and they were, indeed in the same range as both his and my kids. At least that was some positive news for Elle. Before giving the application back I couldn’t help but see what the house had sold for and was shocked… $40,000. Andy had told me the owner, a speculator, was asking a very high price and he hadn’t been kidding. I left his office wondering just what my house, which was far nicer, was worth.
While I was upstairs with J J, Stan, my stock broker called with a message for me to call him as soon as possible. It wasn’t noon time yet so pretty much knew he’d still be there. Lynda answered but didn’t want to talk with me saying that Stan needed to go over something with me right away. Just there months earlier he’d given me some materials on some stocks to peruse. He’d told me that I probably couldn’t go wrong on any of them. He did point out one, which was a new issue, that looked particularly interesting. I’d never purchased a stock when it was offered but did so in this case. I was very concerned because to do it meant going into my savings fund. I’d tried to keep up on the progress of it but, without saying it, before Christmas Stan had indicated before I should think about selling it. Today, it was more than an indication. I tried to ask why but he said he had more calls to make and I could stop by after the markets closed to get that information. Trusting him, I told him to ”sell”. It was Lynda who called to tell me of the confirmed sale and when she did it was to tell me I’d made $400 in just three months on a $1500 investment. I was liking the stock market more and more!(77)
To be continued…
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 168r)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168r)
I knew it was Lynda because she identified herself right away. But, listening to her, it was hard to tell. Normally, her speech was very controlled. On this occasion the words seemed to just tumble out. I tried to interrupt after hearing her for a short time but she seemed to not hear me. Finally, I sharply said “STOP!” There was dead silence for a few seconds and then I told her I had the money. There was continued silence for a few seconds before she, still excited, asked if I was kidding. I didn’t respond to the question but chose to tell her what had probably happened when she was at my desk. Then I heard a repeated “Thank God! Thank God! Thank God!… my husband would’ve killed me if it was lost.” Then I had to listen to a number of repeated thank you’s finished off with “I owe you so much! I don’t know how to repay you!" along with another “Thank you!”
She was still at home and that was another problem. I had the money and she needed to get it to her husband. The bank was a savings bank and not a commercial bank. We had no capabilities to wire money. After thinking about it for a short time I saw Bret walking towards his desk. His father was the manager of a branch of a regional commercial bank located just down the street. I called him over and threw an ‘off the wall’ question at him asking if he thought his father could execute a wire transfer for one of our customers. He was hesitant but finally said he’d call his father. Long story short, with a lot of co-operation and a fair amount of time, I got the money to his father and the wire was sent. When I called Lynda to tell her I actually thought I detected her crying.
As far as the rest of the day was concerned, Mae had called in to ask if she was needed. When I told her she wasn’t she said she’d go to the branch to see how they were doing. I told her to call Betsy first because the last I knew Jerry hadn’t come in. She said she would and hung up. By then Hobie had arrived and, much like me, was concerned about the pile of snow in the back parking lot. Bert, the president, had elected not to come in but Hobie, after talking with me, called him to report on the situation. I wish I’d been able to listen to both sides of the conversation but just listening to Hobie gave me a good idea of what was being said. Trish was currently dating a guy who worked as a lineman for the phone company. He’d bought a plow for his truck and was looking to make some money with it. She knew how upset I’d been about the parking lot and asked if I wanted him to stop by. I told her that my hands were tied and that ended the conversation. However, when Hobie was finished with the call he turned to me and told me to find someone who had “half a brain” to see what could be done with the problem. I immediately went to Trish. It was like I’d given her a present.
Even though there were no cell phones back then, with Chaz working for the phone company and Trish knowing how to reach him, he was there around noon. He was big… 6’5”, and solid. Even though I was thin, weighing around 160 pounds, I had big hands. When I went to shake his hand it swallowed mine up. He’d already seen the problem out back and said he wasn’t sure how he’d tackle it but would be back that night. To me, that was progress. Joanie and Laura had made it in by then and, because of the street conditions and that they walked, had worn casual pants. It only took a few seconds to see a VPL on Joanie as she stowed her things under her desk. I was happy to see the unmistakable crotch line of the Sans Soucie panties. Joanie, almost always, wore skirts and dresses so this was a pleasant surprise. When she did wear pants they were usually dark and made of wool… not very good for viewing crotch lines. I was about to go out to get lunch when Joanie stopped me to let me know Betsy had called from the branch. Even though I was very hungry I stopped to call her back. She wanted to let me know that when Mae arrived to find that Jerry still wasn’t there she volunteered to drive over to his house to get him. Hearing that I just stood there shaking my head. Then, when Betsy told me the reason Jerry hadn’t come in was because his car had been plowed in when the town plowed the roads I think my jaw dropped to my chest. I could picture the look on her face as she told me of his excuse. She told me Mae was so upset upon hearing that she jumped in her car and went to his house and drove him in. I found it kind of funny because Mae’s brother-in-law lived right next door to Jerry. I had a feeling there was more to the story but let it go at that.
Business (lobby traffic) picked up in the afternoon but it was still slow. The tellers who’d made it in all proved up without a problem so I rewarded them by letting them head home early. Bret, knowing I hadn’t been home since coming in Monday morning, volunteered to stay until 5pm. I got home while it was still daylight so got to see some incredible snow drifts while on my way. The one that had stopped me the night before was about 1/4 mile wide. John, the farmer neighbor had done a nice job of clearing the snow from my driveway. He piled it up in the back yard so the kids could have a safe hill to use their sleighs on rather that using our driveway which was dangerous. I’d called Elle to let her know I was on my way and as soon as I walked in the kitchen I knew she’d been baking. With my overcoat still on I went looking for the finished product. It was my favorite cake, devils food with a sugar icing drizzled over the top. As hungry as I was I would’ve settled for just the cake for dinner. After shedding my coat and saying hello to the kids Elle called me into the dining room. I had no idea why but as soon as I stepped in found out.
She stopped just inside the door and unbuttoned her slacks. They were a mousy brown corduroy and as she unzipped them I finally took a look at her crotch… and it was definitely a different color. My hand, almost automatically, went for her crotch. It had been a while since I’d had a feel of wet satin nylon and the first touch had my member at full attention. She let me rub for maybe 30 or so seconds and then backed away. As she did she told me she was just about to use the toilet when she saw my car pull up to the garage. As she zipped the pants up she said she was going to try to hold it but couldn’t so peed through her panties on the toilet. That put a BIG smile on my face. When we walked back into the kitchen I asked if she was going to change and it was her turn to smile. She told me to get her a towel and to put it on her seat. I was really liking this and had some positive hope that it would eventually lead to something good.
Dinner went well. The kids were all excited to tell me about their ‘snow hill’ and how much fun they’d had. When Elle brought out the cake I was convinced that all was well again. When we were headed upstairs to bed (or other activity) and Elle asked if I wanted a picture I knew it was.
To be continued...
I knew it was Lynda because she identified herself right away. But, listening to her, it was hard to tell. Normally, her speech was very controlled. On this occasion the words seemed to just tumble out. I tried to interrupt after hearing her for a short time but she seemed to not hear me. Finally, I sharply said “STOP!” There was dead silence for a few seconds and then I told her I had the money. There was continued silence for a few seconds before she, still excited, asked if I was kidding. I didn’t respond to the question but chose to tell her what had probably happened when she was at my desk. Then I heard a repeated “Thank God! Thank God! Thank God!… my husband would’ve killed me if it was lost.” Then I had to listen to a number of repeated thank you’s finished off with “I owe you so much! I don’t know how to repay you!" along with another “Thank you!”
She was still at home and that was another problem. I had the money and she needed to get it to her husband. The bank was a savings bank and not a commercial bank. We had no capabilities to wire money. After thinking about it for a short time I saw Bret walking towards his desk. His father was the manager of a branch of a regional commercial bank located just down the street. I called him over and threw an ‘off the wall’ question at him asking if he thought his father could execute a wire transfer for one of our customers. He was hesitant but finally said he’d call his father. Long story short, with a lot of co-operation and a fair amount of time, I got the money to his father and the wire was sent. When I called Lynda to tell her I actually thought I detected her crying.
As far as the rest of the day was concerned, Mae had called in to ask if she was needed. When I told her she wasn’t she said she’d go to the branch to see how they were doing. I told her to call Betsy first because the last I knew Jerry hadn’t come in. She said she would and hung up. By then Hobie had arrived and, much like me, was concerned about the pile of snow in the back parking lot. Bert, the president, had elected not to come in but Hobie, after talking with me, called him to report on the situation. I wish I’d been able to listen to both sides of the conversation but just listening to Hobie gave me a good idea of what was being said. Trish was currently dating a guy who worked as a lineman for the phone company. He’d bought a plow for his truck and was looking to make some money with it. She knew how upset I’d been about the parking lot and asked if I wanted him to stop by. I told her that my hands were tied and that ended the conversation. However, when Hobie was finished with the call he turned to me and told me to find someone who had “half a brain” to see what could be done with the problem. I immediately went to Trish. It was like I’d given her a present.
Even though there were no cell phones back then, with Chaz working for the phone company and Trish knowing how to reach him, he was there around noon. He was big… 6’5”, and solid. Even though I was thin, weighing around 160 pounds, I had big hands. When I went to shake his hand it swallowed mine up. He’d already seen the problem out back and said he wasn’t sure how he’d tackle it but would be back that night. To me, that was progress. Joanie and Laura had made it in by then and, because of the street conditions and that they walked, had worn casual pants. It only took a few seconds to see a VPL on Joanie as she stowed her things under her desk. I was happy to see the unmistakable crotch line of the Sans Soucie panties. Joanie, almost always, wore skirts and dresses so this was a pleasant surprise. When she did wear pants they were usually dark and made of wool… not very good for viewing crotch lines. I was about to go out to get lunch when Joanie stopped me to let me know Betsy had called from the branch. Even though I was very hungry I stopped to call her back. She wanted to let me know that when Mae arrived to find that Jerry still wasn’t there she volunteered to drive over to his house to get him. Hearing that I just stood there shaking my head. Then, when Betsy told me the reason Jerry hadn’t come in was because his car had been plowed in when the town plowed the roads I think my jaw dropped to my chest. I could picture the look on her face as she told me of his excuse. She told me Mae was so upset upon hearing that she jumped in her car and went to his house and drove him in. I found it kind of funny because Mae’s brother-in-law lived right next door to Jerry. I had a feeling there was more to the story but let it go at that.
Business (lobby traffic) picked up in the afternoon but it was still slow. The tellers who’d made it in all proved up without a problem so I rewarded them by letting them head home early. Bret, knowing I hadn’t been home since coming in Monday morning, volunteered to stay until 5pm. I got home while it was still daylight so got to see some incredible snow drifts while on my way. The one that had stopped me the night before was about 1/4 mile wide. John, the farmer neighbor had done a nice job of clearing the snow from my driveway. He piled it up in the back yard so the kids could have a safe hill to use their sleighs on rather that using our driveway which was dangerous. I’d called Elle to let her know I was on my way and as soon as I walked in the kitchen I knew she’d been baking. With my overcoat still on I went looking for the finished product. It was my favorite cake, devils food with a sugar icing drizzled over the top. As hungry as I was I would’ve settled for just the cake for dinner. After shedding my coat and saying hello to the kids Elle called me into the dining room. I had no idea why but as soon as I stepped in found out.
She stopped just inside the door and unbuttoned her slacks. They were a mousy brown corduroy and as she unzipped them I finally took a look at her crotch… and it was definitely a different color. My hand, almost automatically, went for her crotch. It had been a while since I’d had a feel of wet satin nylon and the first touch had my member at full attention. She let me rub for maybe 30 or so seconds and then backed away. As she did she told me she was just about to use the toilet when she saw my car pull up to the garage. As she zipped the pants up she said she was going to try to hold it but couldn’t so peed through her panties on the toilet. That put a BIG smile on my face. When we walked back into the kitchen I asked if she was going to change and it was her turn to smile. She told me to get her a towel and to put it on her seat. I was really liking this and had some positive hope that it would eventually lead to something good.
Dinner went well. The kids were all excited to tell me about their ‘snow hill’ and how much fun they’d had. When Elle brought out the cake I was convinced that all was well again. When we were headed upstairs to bed (or other activity) and Elle asked if I wanted a picture I knew it was.
 |
| She stopped at the toilet before heading up the stairs... |
To be continued...
Monday, August 13, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR More adventures (Part 168q)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168q)
Leigh wasn’t on the sofa when I walked in. I could see the light in the kitchen was on so headed that way. Walking in I could hear water running in the shower and, at the same time, saw the basket of dirty clothes out in the hall. I have to tell you… my heart was in my mouth. Walking up to it I could see some white items on top of Davo’s dark work clothes. Looking closely I saw a bra and what I concluded was a slip precariously perched on the pile. With the door to the bathroom open any attempt to do anything with the items on top had to be done with care. I’ve prided myself in being able to come up with solutions to tough situations and on this occasion it was to reach into my pocket, pull the panties I'd taken out and to try and get them intertwined with the bra and slip. I’d just about gotten that accomplished when I heard the water in the shower stop. I’ll admit that I did panic a bit… and knocked the items off the pile. They fell to the side opposite the open door but before I could attempt to retrieve them I saw a leg appear from the shower. I backed off and into the kitchen.
Leigh was far from pretty but, when sober, had a very pleasant personality. As opposed to the night before she was absolutely bubbly. Her first words were to apologize for her behavior acknowledging that she'd been a terrible hostess. I probably smiled. With nothing but a towel wrapped around her she proceeded to walk past me and into the kitchen to turn on a radio. I’ve mentioned that we were in a rural area and it was so rural that we only had local radio during hours of daylight. That’s why it wasn’t on the night before. The station was giving a list of school closings and late openings for government and some retail businesses. I heard Elle’s school get mentioned so I knew I didn’t have to worry about her. Leigh was looking for a call concerning the hospital where she worked. When I tried to ask her a question she shook her head to shut me up. I knew the bank would be open. I knew there had only been a few cases in which banks had been allowed to stay closed. Finally, she heard what she wanted to hear… only critical staff was expected to come in. She was a part time medical records clerk and that was far from critical.
After hearing that news she turned and headed for her bedroom pushing the basket into the bathroom doorway. From where I was standing I could see the wad of white material still on the floor next to the wall. When Leigh went into the bedroom she never even made an effort to close the door. However, I couldn’t see her from where I was. I thought I might move to a get a view but decided that discretion was the better part of valor. For once it was a good move. I hadn’t turned around and was still facing the hallway from the kitchen eyeing the basket with the wash because I needed to use the toilet. I was just about to drag it back into the hallway when Leigh appeared in just her bra and panties and picked it up and carried it into the bedroom. The whole thing might’ve taken ten to twelve seconds but in that time I got to see everything I would’ve asked for if given a chance and to follow through on it. Naturally, my anatomy responded… but not so Leigh could see. Once in the bathroom I could I couldn’t pee because of it. For some reason I found it to be very funny.
By the time I ‘deflated’ and finished up Leigh was dressed and offering to make scrambled eggs for breakfast. I called Elle while she was doing it and she reported that John, our farmer neighbor, was digging out our driveway. She was disappointed that I wasn’t coming home but I explained that even though I’d been told the road was clear I didn’t know if that was for the side roads as well and I didn’t want to take a chance. Davo called while we were eating and he was on his way but not to the house. He had a load of equipment and was headed for the warehouse. I made one other call and it was to Bret. Jan, his wife, answered and told me he was on his way to the bank. I finished up my eggs, thanked Leigh and headed off for work. It was right around 8am because I hearing my least favorite news announcer signing on.
I’m going to say that I was almost into the village when it hit me… I’d screwed up… royally! In replaying what I'd experienced the previous afternoon, evening and night I realized that I'd missed out on a golden opportunity to have gone though all of Leigh’s panties. With her passed out I would’ve had all the time in the world to do it… but I hadn’t. And, to make matters worse I’d put the panties I’d taken from the dirty wash and put them back. All I had was memories. The realization of it put me in a foul mood and, pulling into the parking lot didn’t make it any better. The plowing service that I’d inherited when I came to the bank left a lot to be desired. I’d made an inquiry as to the possibility for a change and been told by Hobie that it really wasn’t a good idea. The man who did it was related to one of the Trustees. Hobie told me that because of that connection we were to be afforded the best service. We’d not had all that many major storms but with the ones I’d experienced he’d failed miserably. Without wasting time on it, the guy had pushed most of the snow into the rear portion of the lot taking away almost half our spots. It didn’t matter right then and there as the general conditions were such that business would be slow. But, in a day or two we’d have major complaints. Neither Hobie nor Bert were in but I made it a point to watch for either of them as something had to be done to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.
We had enough tellers within walking distance of the bank to handle what few customers we did have. Between Bret and I we were able to clear a single line path on the sidewalks on the perimeter of the building by the time the doors were to open thus sparing us a fine from the village. Mike, the messenger custodian, was to arrive around 10am and in time to do the messenger run. Bret had called the branch and Betsy had opened the doors but was still awaiting Jerry’s arrival so they could open their vault and get the cash boxes. I made sure to have Betsy document Jerry’s arrival time, ‘for the record’, even though I pretty much knew it was a waste of time. Now, all we had to do was to see who was stupid enough to go out in the mess.
It was shortly after 9am when my phone rang. Joanie wasn’t in so I took my own call. It was Lynda… and in a panic saying she’d lost the money she’d withdrawn for her husband the day before. With everything else that had gone on over the past eighteen or so hours I’d forgotten all about Lynda’s money that I’d found next to my desk when leaving. I started out with the intention of trying to reach her but then when the road conditions became impassible I ended up at Davo and Leigh’s house and a whole raft of other things to contend with.
To be continued…
Leigh wasn’t on the sofa when I walked in. I could see the light in the kitchen was on so headed that way. Walking in I could hear water running in the shower and, at the same time, saw the basket of dirty clothes out in the hall. I have to tell you… my heart was in my mouth. Walking up to it I could see some white items on top of Davo’s dark work clothes. Looking closely I saw a bra and what I concluded was a slip precariously perched on the pile. With the door to the bathroom open any attempt to do anything with the items on top had to be done with care. I’ve prided myself in being able to come up with solutions to tough situations and on this occasion it was to reach into my pocket, pull the panties I'd taken out and to try and get them intertwined with the bra and slip. I’d just about gotten that accomplished when I heard the water in the shower stop. I’ll admit that I did panic a bit… and knocked the items off the pile. They fell to the side opposite the open door but before I could attempt to retrieve them I saw a leg appear from the shower. I backed off and into the kitchen.
Leigh was far from pretty but, when sober, had a very pleasant personality. As opposed to the night before she was absolutely bubbly. Her first words were to apologize for her behavior acknowledging that she'd been a terrible hostess. I probably smiled. With nothing but a towel wrapped around her she proceeded to walk past me and into the kitchen to turn on a radio. I’ve mentioned that we were in a rural area and it was so rural that we only had local radio during hours of daylight. That’s why it wasn’t on the night before. The station was giving a list of school closings and late openings for government and some retail businesses. I heard Elle’s school get mentioned so I knew I didn’t have to worry about her. Leigh was looking for a call concerning the hospital where she worked. When I tried to ask her a question she shook her head to shut me up. I knew the bank would be open. I knew there had only been a few cases in which banks had been allowed to stay closed. Finally, she heard what she wanted to hear… only critical staff was expected to come in. She was a part time medical records clerk and that was far from critical.
After hearing that news she turned and headed for her bedroom pushing the basket into the bathroom doorway. From where I was standing I could see the wad of white material still on the floor next to the wall. When Leigh went into the bedroom she never even made an effort to close the door. However, I couldn’t see her from where I was. I thought I might move to a get a view but decided that discretion was the better part of valor. For once it was a good move. I hadn’t turned around and was still facing the hallway from the kitchen eyeing the basket with the wash because I needed to use the toilet. I was just about to drag it back into the hallway when Leigh appeared in just her bra and panties and picked it up and carried it into the bedroom. The whole thing might’ve taken ten to twelve seconds but in that time I got to see everything I would’ve asked for if given a chance and to follow through on it. Naturally, my anatomy responded… but not so Leigh could see. Once in the bathroom I could I couldn’t pee because of it. For some reason I found it to be very funny.
By the time I ‘deflated’ and finished up Leigh was dressed and offering to make scrambled eggs for breakfast. I called Elle while she was doing it and she reported that John, our farmer neighbor, was digging out our driveway. She was disappointed that I wasn’t coming home but I explained that even though I’d been told the road was clear I didn’t know if that was for the side roads as well and I didn’t want to take a chance. Davo called while we were eating and he was on his way but not to the house. He had a load of equipment and was headed for the warehouse. I made one other call and it was to Bret. Jan, his wife, answered and told me he was on his way to the bank. I finished up my eggs, thanked Leigh and headed off for work. It was right around 8am because I hearing my least favorite news announcer signing on.
I’m going to say that I was almost into the village when it hit me… I’d screwed up… royally! In replaying what I'd experienced the previous afternoon, evening and night I realized that I'd missed out on a golden opportunity to have gone though all of Leigh’s panties. With her passed out I would’ve had all the time in the world to do it… but I hadn’t. And, to make matters worse I’d put the panties I’d taken from the dirty wash and put them back. All I had was memories. The realization of it put me in a foul mood and, pulling into the parking lot didn’t make it any better. The plowing service that I’d inherited when I came to the bank left a lot to be desired. I’d made an inquiry as to the possibility for a change and been told by Hobie that it really wasn’t a good idea. The man who did it was related to one of the Trustees. Hobie told me that because of that connection we were to be afforded the best service. We’d not had all that many major storms but with the ones I’d experienced he’d failed miserably. Without wasting time on it, the guy had pushed most of the snow into the rear portion of the lot taking away almost half our spots. It didn’t matter right then and there as the general conditions were such that business would be slow. But, in a day or two we’d have major complaints. Neither Hobie nor Bert were in but I made it a point to watch for either of them as something had to be done to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.
We had enough tellers within walking distance of the bank to handle what few customers we did have. Between Bret and I we were able to clear a single line path on the sidewalks on the perimeter of the building by the time the doors were to open thus sparing us a fine from the village. Mike, the messenger custodian, was to arrive around 10am and in time to do the messenger run. Bret had called the branch and Betsy had opened the doors but was still awaiting Jerry’s arrival so they could open their vault and get the cash boxes. I made sure to have Betsy document Jerry’s arrival time, ‘for the record’, even though I pretty much knew it was a waste of time. Now, all we had to do was to see who was stupid enough to go out in the mess.
It was shortly after 9am when my phone rang. Joanie wasn’t in so I took my own call. It was Lynda… and in a panic saying she’d lost the money she’d withdrawn for her husband the day before. With everything else that had gone on over the past eighteen or so hours I’d forgotten all about Lynda’s money that I’d found next to my desk when leaving. I started out with the intention of trying to reach her but then when the road conditions became impassible I ended up at Davo and Leigh’s house and a whole raft of other things to contend with.
To be continued…
Sunday, August 12, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 168o)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 169p)
Trying to talk with Leigh was hard. She was a year behind Elle in school as was Davo. Elle had told me neither had participated that much in school activities other than Davo playing basketball so she didn’t really know them. She knew that they had dated while in school. Until I got involved with Cliffy and the race car I hadn’t had any contact with Leigh. Her sister was in the class ahead of Elle and a classmate with Elle’s brother. I knew she had a ‘reputation’ and I’d once attended a Christmas party where she was at… and she put on quite a performance. A bigger girl than Leigh, she, drunk, was persuaded to do a partial strip tease. I can remember the cheers she received as she peeled her clothing off. But I really didn’t have any common areas to talk with Leigh about. It was a struggle and as she got into her third beer… it got worse. To the guys with the race car she was a two beer drunk and was certainly at that stage. I’d not eaten any lunch while trying to orchestrate getting the employees out and on their way home while still keeping the doors open for customers. I’d hoped Leigh would make some effort in that direction but by 6pm she hadn’t. So, I finally broke down and asked if she was going to eat. Her response was less than encouraging as she took another swig from the bottle she was holding. Then she pointed to the freezer portion of the refrigerator. I took the hint and pulled the door open. There was a stack of frozen TV dinners and without asking pulled out two of them. I didn’t bother to ask Leigh if she wanted one or not and turned on the oven and peeled back the ends of the boxes. It was while I was putting them in the oven she finally got up from the table.
The bathroom was located between the kitchen and the bedroom. I watched Leigh lurch her way to the doorway and then back her way in. The toilet was straight back for her so I changed my focus to the oven. “Damn!” Was the next sound coming from there and I immediately started for the doorway… but stopped before I reached it. I asked if she was OK and she repeated “Damn Davo! No toilet paper!” I made a weak effort asking where she kept the spares. I got a grunt as an answer before she said there wasn’t any. It took a few seconds for me to put the scene together… she couldn’t wipe herself which meant her panties would end up with a damp spot. That was something to look for as the evening wore on. She appeared in the doorway and then lurched back to the table. As soon as she got in a chair she put her head down on the table and closed her eyes. I remember asking if she wouldn’t rather be in her bad but didn’t get an answer so returned my focus to the oven.
I polished off one dinner (it was turkey) and the meat from the other making one more effort to get her to sit up and eat something. There still was no response so I headed for the living room hoping I could get something on their TV. There was no such thing as cable in those day and we were over 80 miles from the city. A rooftop antenna was the only way to get a signal and the city channels, on a clear day, were ’snowy’. We could get two Connecticut channels (ABC & CBS) that would come in fairly clear in good weather. As I turned the TV on I was hoping I could get some half way decent reception. I was able to get a snowy picture on the ABC affiliate so settled in on the sofa for a boring evening. It wasn’t long before I was asleep. When the phone rang I awoke with a start and had no idea where I was. I don’t know how many rings there were before I found the source. It was in the kitchen and as I walked in I saw Leigh up at the counter reaching for the handset. I stopped and watched her for a few seconds and then headed for the bathroom. On my way I glanced at the clock and almost couldn’t believe it was approaching 10pm. I’d slept for over 2 hours. I chose to close the door before relieving myself and as I turned for the toilet I saw a basket in the shower stall overflowing with dirty clothes. Right on top were Davo’s work clothes. I bent over to get a close look and saw some smaller light colored items on the floor of the stall and almost hidden by the basket. Before even thinking about checking them out I went to the door to see if Leigh was still on the phone. I wasn’t 100% sure but decided to reach over the pile of clothes to see what was there. As soon as I touched the things I was excited. Definitely nylon, I opened the wad of material up and, voila… a pair of off white panties. I went right to the label and saw a name that was being advertised in the newspapers more and more… “Pam”. Leigh was a little on the ‘pudgy’ side but not fat. The size was a 6 and I tried to remember what size the other pair I scarfed from her at the championships was. I was pretty sure they were also a size 6. The next step was to check out the crotch. The lighting, just like in the kitchen, came from a ceiling fixture and was fairly dim. I thought I saw some staining in the middle it but wasn’t sure. Now, the question was do I keep them or not. It took but a split second for them to disappear into my pocket. I’d been fortunate to come back from the stock car championship without her knowing and now I was taking a chance on another. Returning to the kitchen I observed her struggling to stay upright while holding onto the phone with one hand and the counter with the other. When she hung up I tried to persuade her to go to bed but my efforts were rebuffed. My suggestion prompted her to head for the living room and, following her, watched as she flopped onto the sofa. When she did the back of her t-shirt popped up and stayed that way. I was a bit upset because I’d counted on being able to stretch out there for the night. I called her name a couple of times and didn’t even get a grunt. Her position left her pantied backside almost totally exposed and I decided to take advantage of that. There was a reading lamp on that end of the sofa and I turned it on. When I bent down to look at the crotch I was able to see an obvious stain mark. However, as nice a view as I had there wasn’t much more I could expect to see so went to the bedroom and grabbed her bedspread. Even draping it over her didn’t elicit a sound or move. Out cold!
The big overstuffed chair wasn’t all that uncomfortable and it only took a few minutes for me to get to sleep. What woke me up was the sound of a diesel truck. It sounded like it was at the front door. I jumped up and opened it. It was a plow in the post office parking lot. With my car in the middle of it I knew I better get out there before they plowed me in. I didn’t have a shovel but one of the crew threw me one and told me where to put the car so they could finish up. After moving it I took a look around and was amazed at just how much snow had fallen. It reminded me of when I was in college. Returning the shovel, I asked how the roads were and he had but one word… “Clear.” That’s when I looked at my watch and saw it wasn’t even 7am. Walking the few feet back to the house I debated as to weather I should go home or just go back to work. I decided on work as I opened the door.
To be continued…
Trying to talk with Leigh was hard. She was a year behind Elle in school as was Davo. Elle had told me neither had participated that much in school activities other than Davo playing basketball so she didn’t really know them. She knew that they had dated while in school. Until I got involved with Cliffy and the race car I hadn’t had any contact with Leigh. Her sister was in the class ahead of Elle and a classmate with Elle’s brother. I knew she had a ‘reputation’ and I’d once attended a Christmas party where she was at… and she put on quite a performance. A bigger girl than Leigh, she, drunk, was persuaded to do a partial strip tease. I can remember the cheers she received as she peeled her clothing off. But I really didn’t have any common areas to talk with Leigh about. It was a struggle and as she got into her third beer… it got worse. To the guys with the race car she was a two beer drunk and was certainly at that stage. I’d not eaten any lunch while trying to orchestrate getting the employees out and on their way home while still keeping the doors open for customers. I’d hoped Leigh would make some effort in that direction but by 6pm she hadn’t. So, I finally broke down and asked if she was going to eat. Her response was less than encouraging as she took another swig from the bottle she was holding. Then she pointed to the freezer portion of the refrigerator. I took the hint and pulled the door open. There was a stack of frozen TV dinners and without asking pulled out two of them. I didn’t bother to ask Leigh if she wanted one or not and turned on the oven and peeled back the ends of the boxes. It was while I was putting them in the oven she finally got up from the table.
The bathroom was located between the kitchen and the bedroom. I watched Leigh lurch her way to the doorway and then back her way in. The toilet was straight back for her so I changed my focus to the oven. “Damn!” Was the next sound coming from there and I immediately started for the doorway… but stopped before I reached it. I asked if she was OK and she repeated “Damn Davo! No toilet paper!” I made a weak effort asking where she kept the spares. I got a grunt as an answer before she said there wasn’t any. It took a few seconds for me to put the scene together… she couldn’t wipe herself which meant her panties would end up with a damp spot. That was something to look for as the evening wore on. She appeared in the doorway and then lurched back to the table. As soon as she got in a chair she put her head down on the table and closed her eyes. I remember asking if she wouldn’t rather be in her bad but didn’t get an answer so returned my focus to the oven.
I polished off one dinner (it was turkey) and the meat from the other making one more effort to get her to sit up and eat something. There still was no response so I headed for the living room hoping I could get something on their TV. There was no such thing as cable in those day and we were over 80 miles from the city. A rooftop antenna was the only way to get a signal and the city channels, on a clear day, were ’snowy’. We could get two Connecticut channels (ABC & CBS) that would come in fairly clear in good weather. As I turned the TV on I was hoping I could get some half way decent reception. I was able to get a snowy picture on the ABC affiliate so settled in on the sofa for a boring evening. It wasn’t long before I was asleep. When the phone rang I awoke with a start and had no idea where I was. I don’t know how many rings there were before I found the source. It was in the kitchen and as I walked in I saw Leigh up at the counter reaching for the handset. I stopped and watched her for a few seconds and then headed for the bathroom. On my way I glanced at the clock and almost couldn’t believe it was approaching 10pm. I’d slept for over 2 hours. I chose to close the door before relieving myself and as I turned for the toilet I saw a basket in the shower stall overflowing with dirty clothes. Right on top were Davo’s work clothes. I bent over to get a close look and saw some smaller light colored items on the floor of the stall and almost hidden by the basket. Before even thinking about checking them out I went to the door to see if Leigh was still on the phone. I wasn’t 100% sure but decided to reach over the pile of clothes to see what was there. As soon as I touched the things I was excited. Definitely nylon, I opened the wad of material up and, voila… a pair of off white panties. I went right to the label and saw a name that was being advertised in the newspapers more and more… “Pam”. Leigh was a little on the ‘pudgy’ side but not fat. The size was a 6 and I tried to remember what size the other pair I scarfed from her at the championships was. I was pretty sure they were also a size 6. The next step was to check out the crotch. The lighting, just like in the kitchen, came from a ceiling fixture and was fairly dim. I thought I saw some staining in the middle it but wasn’t sure. Now, the question was do I keep them or not. It took but a split second for them to disappear into my pocket. I’d been fortunate to come back from the stock car championship without her knowing and now I was taking a chance on another. Returning to the kitchen I observed her struggling to stay upright while holding onto the phone with one hand and the counter with the other. When she hung up I tried to persuade her to go to bed but my efforts were rebuffed. My suggestion prompted her to head for the living room and, following her, watched as she flopped onto the sofa. When she did the back of her t-shirt popped up and stayed that way. I was a bit upset because I’d counted on being able to stretch out there for the night. I called her name a couple of times and didn’t even get a grunt. Her position left her pantied backside almost totally exposed and I decided to take advantage of that. There was a reading lamp on that end of the sofa and I turned it on. When I bent down to look at the crotch I was able to see an obvious stain mark. However, as nice a view as I had there wasn’t much more I could expect to see so went to the bedroom and grabbed her bedspread. Even draping it over her didn’t elicit a sound or move. Out cold!
The big overstuffed chair wasn’t all that uncomfortable and it only took a few minutes for me to get to sleep. What woke me up was the sound of a diesel truck. It sounded like it was at the front door. I jumped up and opened it. It was a plow in the post office parking lot. With my car in the middle of it I knew I better get out there before they plowed me in. I didn’t have a shovel but one of the crew threw me one and told me where to put the car so they could finish up. After moving it I took a look around and was amazed at just how much snow had fallen. It reminded me of when I was in college. Returning the shovel, I asked how the roads were and he had but one word… “Clear.” That’s when I looked at my watch and saw it wasn’t even 7am. Walking the few feet back to the house I debated as to weather I should go home or just go back to work. I decided on work as I opened the door.
To be continued…
Thursday, August 09, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 168o)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168o)
It had been three months since I’d seen either Davo or Leigh and that was at the stock car championships. With the racing season over everybody had been looking for a ‘break’. From what I’d been told by the others they would usually try to get together once a month through the Winter. Beth, Cliffy’s wife, was the one to organize the party and would find someone to host it. But, with her being pregnant and due in December she wanted no part of it so the ‘gatherings’ died. The house that Davo and Leigh rented was rather unusual and there, of course, was story to go with it. It was located next door to the post office. The property had, at one time, housed a church. During a thunderstorm back during WWII the steeple had been hit by lightning and the the church burned down. All that was left was the manse where the minister lived. The story that went with the house went like this… When the church was constructed, it was done with volunteer labor. Not only was the church to be built on the property but also a dwelling for the minister. Back in the early days (late 1800’s) property boundaries were often loosely agreed to. While the house was being built it was found that it was partially on the adjoining property. Supposedly, the church building was almost completed so no modifications could be made on it. That left the decision to fall upon the house. What the church elders came up with was to narrow the house so that it fit within their property lines. The end result was a very narrow house that, from the road, looked more like playhouse than a real house. Moving on… after the fire there was no money to rebuild so the property was vacant until the late 50’s when it was purchased by a ‘speculator’. It included the now very run down house. The speculator managed to wrangle a deal to build a new post office and, on a whim, he decided renovate the house and to rent it out. Leigh had been living with her mother in an apartment almost across the street. One afternoon, Leigh’s mother came home unexpectedly to find her in bed with Davo. The mother threw Leigh out, on the spot. Davo was still living with his parents so that wasn’t an option for Leigh. Right under the apartment was a luncheonette and Leigh had become friendly with the owners. They knew about the house being renovated and suggested Leigh look into it… and she did.
After getting the car turned around I made my way to the parking lot of the post office. It, like just about everything else, was closed so I could pick the most open spot to stop. Walking the few feet to the front door of the house I was hoping either one or the other would be there. I’m not sure how long I stood there knocking on the door when it finally opened. It was Leigh who answered. As I said, I don’t know how long I was outside the door but when I stepped inside Leigh noticed that the whole right side of my coat was covered in snow. Concerned about having it fall off and onto the floor I didn’t concentrate on Leigh or what she was wearing stepped back outside and stripped the coat off. I tried to shake the snow off but was letting more snow blow inside. Leigh told me not to worry about it. Stepping inside at that time was the first I’d really looked at her… and I’m sure my jaw dropped when I did.
I’ve described Leigh in a few other posts. Being in the 60’s, mores were changing on a lot of things but this geographic area was still decidedly conservative. Settled in the 1600’s by New Englanders, a lot of their beliefs were still in play. Leigh and her mother (and sister) were not ‘locals’ and when flower power came into being in the early 60’s Leigh embraced the concept. Forgetting her drinking escapades, there had been a few other times where she’d exhibited little to no modesty at all… the most recent being when I’d stayed in the same motel room with her and Davo while attending the stock car championships. So, standing there with my snow covered coat in my hands, it wasn’t really a surprise to see her dressed in just a large t-shirt and panties. It was pretty obvious she’d just been awakened. She asked why I was there and told her the road was blocked by a snow drift. I don’t think she responded to that but told me to just drop my coat there and to come on in.
My first impression was that it was similar to a mobile home, maybe only three of four feet wider. On the right as I walked in was a narrow staircase. This first room was the living room and I couldn’t help but notice a large sofa. Without asking I knew it was to accommodate Dave’s 6’5” height. Leigh continued through the room and as she did my eyes gravitated to the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing. With each step it bounced up a bit giving me a fairly good look at the back of her panties, including the crotch line. That was always a focus of mine when looking at a female’s derriere. The next room was the kitchen followed by a bedroom. But Leigh wanted a beer so that was where we stopped, in the kitchen. I declined her offer of one and asked to use the phone which was on the end of a hanging cabinet. I didn’t look at Leigh as I dialed (remember rotary phones?), concentrating on getting it right. Elle answered with her question being “Where are you?”. I gave her the details of how I ended up where I was. When she asked if I was going to attempt to make it home I turned to face Leigh who was sitting by the small kitchen table. It was another jaw dropping sight. The back of her chair was tipped against the wall and she’d placed one of her legs on the seat of the chair next to her with the other leg going strait out and down to the floor. My only thought was “Oh my god!”. I won’t say it took my breath away but it did cause me to pause in answering Elle’s question. I do remember Elle asking if I were still on the line.
Leigh was just staring off into space. I turned away from her to get back to Elle and told her I wasn’t sure as there was no way to know if the drift had been plowed. I surely didn’t feature being stuck in a drift for the night although I felt the people in the houses along the road would take me in. Without a ready answer I asked Elle to hold on the line and again turned back to Leigh. I asked if she knew where Davo was and she nodded that she did. But I had to specifically ask where that was and she, nonchalantly, said he was in a motel somewhere near the County line. I looked at the clock and saw it was approaching 5pm. Without Davo there and the strong possibility that he wouldn’t be coming home I was a bit reluctant to ask Leigh if I might stay over. But, I did tell Elle I’d call if I ventured out. She closed by saying that my father had called to say that the snow would end around midnight. That bit of news sort of pushed me to go ahead and ask Leigh. All I got for an answer was “Sure… and do you want a beer?”. I didn’t but my answer triggered a request from her to get her one. Opening the refrigerator was a bit of a shock as I saw the whole bottom shelf filled with beer bottles. In thinking about it now, there was probably more beer than food in there. I pulled one out and handed it to her trying not to be too obvious when I looked down. The hem of her t-shirt was about an inch above the crotch line of her panties. The only light for the kitchen was from a fixture in the ceiling with a white globe around it. In the few seconds I had for a close up view I couldn’t be sure if her panties were white or an off white. It, for sure, was a ’stirring’ moment.
To be continued…
It had been three months since I’d seen either Davo or Leigh and that was at the stock car championships. With the racing season over everybody had been looking for a ‘break’. From what I’d been told by the others they would usually try to get together once a month through the Winter. Beth, Cliffy’s wife, was the one to organize the party and would find someone to host it. But, with her being pregnant and due in December she wanted no part of it so the ‘gatherings’ died. The house that Davo and Leigh rented was rather unusual and there, of course, was story to go with it. It was located next door to the post office. The property had, at one time, housed a church. During a thunderstorm back during WWII the steeple had been hit by lightning and the the church burned down. All that was left was the manse where the minister lived. The story that went with the house went like this… When the church was constructed, it was done with volunteer labor. Not only was the church to be built on the property but also a dwelling for the minister. Back in the early days (late 1800’s) property boundaries were often loosely agreed to. While the house was being built it was found that it was partially on the adjoining property. Supposedly, the church building was almost completed so no modifications could be made on it. That left the decision to fall upon the house. What the church elders came up with was to narrow the house so that it fit within their property lines. The end result was a very narrow house that, from the road, looked more like playhouse than a real house. Moving on… after the fire there was no money to rebuild so the property was vacant until the late 50’s when it was purchased by a ‘speculator’. It included the now very run down house. The speculator managed to wrangle a deal to build a new post office and, on a whim, he decided renovate the house and to rent it out. Leigh had been living with her mother in an apartment almost across the street. One afternoon, Leigh’s mother came home unexpectedly to find her in bed with Davo. The mother threw Leigh out, on the spot. Davo was still living with his parents so that wasn’t an option for Leigh. Right under the apartment was a luncheonette and Leigh had become friendly with the owners. They knew about the house being renovated and suggested Leigh look into it… and she did.
After getting the car turned around I made my way to the parking lot of the post office. It, like just about everything else, was closed so I could pick the most open spot to stop. Walking the few feet to the front door of the house I was hoping either one or the other would be there. I’m not sure how long I stood there knocking on the door when it finally opened. It was Leigh who answered. As I said, I don’t know how long I was outside the door but when I stepped inside Leigh noticed that the whole right side of my coat was covered in snow. Concerned about having it fall off and onto the floor I didn’t concentrate on Leigh or what she was wearing stepped back outside and stripped the coat off. I tried to shake the snow off but was letting more snow blow inside. Leigh told me not to worry about it. Stepping inside at that time was the first I’d really looked at her… and I’m sure my jaw dropped when I did.
I’ve described Leigh in a few other posts. Being in the 60’s, mores were changing on a lot of things but this geographic area was still decidedly conservative. Settled in the 1600’s by New Englanders, a lot of their beliefs were still in play. Leigh and her mother (and sister) were not ‘locals’ and when flower power came into being in the early 60’s Leigh embraced the concept. Forgetting her drinking escapades, there had been a few other times where she’d exhibited little to no modesty at all… the most recent being when I’d stayed in the same motel room with her and Davo while attending the stock car championships. So, standing there with my snow covered coat in my hands, it wasn’t really a surprise to see her dressed in just a large t-shirt and panties. It was pretty obvious she’d just been awakened. She asked why I was there and told her the road was blocked by a snow drift. I don’t think she responded to that but told me to just drop my coat there and to come on in.
My first impression was that it was similar to a mobile home, maybe only three of four feet wider. On the right as I walked in was a narrow staircase. This first room was the living room and I couldn’t help but notice a large sofa. Without asking I knew it was to accommodate Dave’s 6’5” height. Leigh continued through the room and as she did my eyes gravitated to the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing. With each step it bounced up a bit giving me a fairly good look at the back of her panties, including the crotch line. That was always a focus of mine when looking at a female’s derriere. The next room was the kitchen followed by a bedroom. But Leigh wanted a beer so that was where we stopped, in the kitchen. I declined her offer of one and asked to use the phone which was on the end of a hanging cabinet. I didn’t look at Leigh as I dialed (remember rotary phones?), concentrating on getting it right. Elle answered with her question being “Where are you?”. I gave her the details of how I ended up where I was. When she asked if I was going to attempt to make it home I turned to face Leigh who was sitting by the small kitchen table. It was another jaw dropping sight. The back of her chair was tipped against the wall and she’d placed one of her legs on the seat of the chair next to her with the other leg going strait out and down to the floor. My only thought was “Oh my god!”. I won’t say it took my breath away but it did cause me to pause in answering Elle’s question. I do remember Elle asking if I were still on the line.
Leigh was just staring off into space. I turned away from her to get back to Elle and told her I wasn’t sure as there was no way to know if the drift had been plowed. I surely didn’t feature being stuck in a drift for the night although I felt the people in the houses along the road would take me in. Without a ready answer I asked Elle to hold on the line and again turned back to Leigh. I asked if she knew where Davo was and she nodded that she did. But I had to specifically ask where that was and she, nonchalantly, said he was in a motel somewhere near the County line. I looked at the clock and saw it was approaching 5pm. Without Davo there and the strong possibility that he wouldn’t be coming home I was a bit reluctant to ask Leigh if I might stay over. But, I did tell Elle I’d call if I ventured out. She closed by saying that my father had called to say that the snow would end around midnight. That bit of news sort of pushed me to go ahead and ask Leigh. All I got for an answer was “Sure… and do you want a beer?”. I didn’t but my answer triggered a request from her to get her one. Opening the refrigerator was a bit of a shock as I saw the whole bottom shelf filled with beer bottles. In thinking about it now, there was probably more beer than food in there. I pulled one out and handed it to her trying not to be too obvious when I looked down. The hem of her t-shirt was about an inch above the crotch line of her panties. The only light for the kitchen was from a fixture in the ceiling with a white globe around it. In the few seconds I had for a close up view I couldn’t be sure if her panties were white or an off white. It, for sure, was a ’stirring’ moment.
To be continued…
An "Extra"...
An "Extra"...
The apartment complex where we live is primarily occupied by older retired citizens, some of whom no longer drive. I still do and am part of a group of volunteers who will drive some of them to do their grocery shopping or do the actual shopping without them. I had the latter duty today. I was looking for a product I'd never heard of and, being male, refused to ask for help choosing to go up and down aisles searching for it. I made the turn to go down this one aisle and almost couldn't believe my eyes. The first thing I did was to reach in my pocket for my iPhone and this is the result.
I managed to maneuver my way past her to position myself so I could get a good look at her. My guess is she was in her late 30's or early 40's and fairly attractive. If you look closely in the picture you can see her cart is filled to overflowing and my theory is that she, when mother nature called, was reluctant to leave her cart. Oh how I wish there'd been iPhones when I was younger! The pictures I'd have today...
The apartment complex where we live is primarily occupied by older retired citizens, some of whom no longer drive. I still do and am part of a group of volunteers who will drive some of them to do their grocery shopping or do the actual shopping without them. I had the latter duty today. I was looking for a product I'd never heard of and, being male, refused to ask for help choosing to go up and down aisles searching for it. I made the turn to go down this one aisle and almost couldn't believe my eyes. The first thing I did was to reach in my pocket for my iPhone and this is the result.
Tuesday, August 07, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 168n)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168n)
The cop was on his hands and knees bent over Lynda, talking to her. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but I did hear Lynda ask to sit up. Hobie stepped in and gave her a hand and the cop, still on his knees gave her a tug from his side. Her face was pale, even for Winter. Hobie suggested helping her to get up and over to one of the lobby benches. That’s when I stopped in to grab the hand the cop had been holding. She, still a bit stunned, didn’t immediately recognize me. That was fine by me. We pulled her up and guided her to the bench. Once seated she asked where her other shoe, a high heel, was. The people, customers and employees, had started to go about their business but a customer who’d heard the question walked up with the missing shoe. Taking it from her I noticed two things… the strap that was used to hold it on her foot was broken and a small nail used to tack the leather to the bottom of the high heel was protruding. It was when I handed the shoe to Lynda that she finally recognized me. She’d been asked numerous times if she was OK but I went ahead and also asked her. The original crowd that had gathered when she fell had diminished and was now down to just the cop, Hobie, Trish, a customer I didn’t recognize and me. She looking at the damaged shoe, asked how she was going to walk what with it snowing and only one good shoe. It was about that time I saw Mike, the messenger/custodian, walking in the back door with a snow shovel. I turned to Lynda and asked if she had any other shoes at work. My idea was that if she did I would send Mike over to fetch them. She answered that she did but she would need to call the office to talk with Ruthe to have her find them. That meant getting her over to the platform and to my desk.
As I helped her to stand up the cop, once again, asked if she was OK and she nodded that she was. Hobie then asked if she knew what had happened and she shook her head in a negative fashion. She now had both her shoes in her hand and I, remembering the protruding nail, asked to see them. I went to the nail and attached to it were some threads. I looked back to where she’d fallen and could see what looked to be a small mound in the carpet. I walked over to it and bent down to inspect it. I pushed the mound and it went back down to pretty much match the rest of the carpet. I was pretty sure I knew what had happened. I went back over to them and explained. I was 95% sure that the protruding nail had gotten caught in a loop of the carpet. When it did, Lynda, moving forward was stopped and caused her to fall and in the process the strap on the shoe broke. No one else said a word. Not wanting to ‘beat a dead horse’ I suggested that Lynda, Mike and I go over to my desk so she could make the call.
This was the first time I’d seen Lynda since the meeting with Stan, her boss. I sure as hell didn’t want to revert to that and asked why she’d come over to the bank. It was a somewhat legitimate question because the only time she’d set foot in the place was right before the end of the year to open an account. It was a simple answer… her husband, in the Army reserves and stationed out West, needed her to wire money to him. I wasn’t going to take that lead any further but Lynda carried on. He was an amateur photographer and had made money doing freelance work in the area. He’d made some contacts and had been hired to some contract work but he needed a new, special lens. He’d found one but the guy wanted cash and had asked Lynda to wire it to him. I learned more about her husband in those minutes than I had since being introduced to Lynda. She was very much at ease with me which I took to be a good sign. However, there still was the question of Stan, her boss. Lynda had made the call and connected with Ruthe and Mike had returned with a pair of shoes that would allow Lynda to return to work. I’d made the withdrawal for her while he was on his mission so our time together was over. I felt good about it but when she got up to leave she stopped and said something that sort of startled me… “I owe you… BIG TIME!”... and then headed out the entry gate of the platform.
By noon the snow was really coming down. Lobby traffic had slowed to just an occasional customer. I wanted to shut the whole bank down to let the employees get on the road before snow drifts started to appear but to do so we had to have approval from the State banking department. I got permission to send everybody home that lived more than five miles away Of course, that included Mae. I can still remember her reaction when I told her to head on home… it was somewhere along the lines of “What’s wrong with these people? What are they? Wimps?” But she took off with the rest of them I still had three tellers which was more than enough. Bert, the president ended up telling me to get everybody out as close to 3pm as possible… and that included me. Before leaving, when putting the material away that I’d been working on I noticed something next to the side chair at my desk. I reached down to get it and saw the it was the envelope with the money that I’d withdrawn for Lynda. I called over to her office and all I got was the phone ringing in my ear. As I’d mentioned earlier… I knew the day was going to be eventful right from the start.
There were three people who would have Lynda’s telephone number. I already knew it was unlisted. Her husband worked for his father’s Chevrolet dealership and dissatisfied customers would call at all hours. So, to protect Lynda while he was gone he’d gotten an unlisted number. The three people were: Stan, her boss who I was still uncertain about how he’d actually taken the meeting we’d had with him: Ruthe, who I knew wouldn’t answer the phone because of her abusive husband and, Bill, the office manager. I dialed the number for information (remember those days?) and got two different numbers. Of course, the first one I tried was wrong… it was Bill’s father. There was no answer at the second number. So here I was with over $400, in cash, that didn’t belong to me and knowing that Lynda must be out of her mind worrying about it. There was nothing more I could do but head home.
It was an awful trip. There was no way to know just how much snow had fallen because the wind had blown most of it into huge snow drifts. There was one particular area that was always a problem. It was where two townships boundary lines were. There was no coordination between the highway departments of the two which meant travel problems when it snowed. Sure enough, when I approached I could see the back-up of cars and trucks. There had been talk of getting the State involved to make sure the road would remain open and clear but that hadn’t happened. There was still time for me to turn around and ponder taking either of the two other East bound roads. But, they were both secondary and I didn’t want to take a chance. It was less than a mile back to the last town I’d driven through and I knew that Davo and his girlfriend Leigh lived right in town. If I could find them home I figured I could call Elle and let her know I was OK. Leigh was… and so began my next ’adventure’.
To be continued…
The cop was on his hands and knees bent over Lynda, talking to her. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but I did hear Lynda ask to sit up. Hobie stepped in and gave her a hand and the cop, still on his knees gave her a tug from his side. Her face was pale, even for Winter. Hobie suggested helping her to get up and over to one of the lobby benches. That’s when I stopped in to grab the hand the cop had been holding. She, still a bit stunned, didn’t immediately recognize me. That was fine by me. We pulled her up and guided her to the bench. Once seated she asked where her other shoe, a high heel, was. The people, customers and employees, had started to go about their business but a customer who’d heard the question walked up with the missing shoe. Taking it from her I noticed two things… the strap that was used to hold it on her foot was broken and a small nail used to tack the leather to the bottom of the high heel was protruding. It was when I handed the shoe to Lynda that she finally recognized me. She’d been asked numerous times if she was OK but I went ahead and also asked her. The original crowd that had gathered when she fell had diminished and was now down to just the cop, Hobie, Trish, a customer I didn’t recognize and me. She looking at the damaged shoe, asked how she was going to walk what with it snowing and only one good shoe. It was about that time I saw Mike, the messenger/custodian, walking in the back door with a snow shovel. I turned to Lynda and asked if she had any other shoes at work. My idea was that if she did I would send Mike over to fetch them. She answered that she did but she would need to call the office to talk with Ruthe to have her find them. That meant getting her over to the platform and to my desk.
As I helped her to stand up the cop, once again, asked if she was OK and she nodded that she was. Hobie then asked if she knew what had happened and she shook her head in a negative fashion. She now had both her shoes in her hand and I, remembering the protruding nail, asked to see them. I went to the nail and attached to it were some threads. I looked back to where she’d fallen and could see what looked to be a small mound in the carpet. I walked over to it and bent down to inspect it. I pushed the mound and it went back down to pretty much match the rest of the carpet. I was pretty sure I knew what had happened. I went back over to them and explained. I was 95% sure that the protruding nail had gotten caught in a loop of the carpet. When it did, Lynda, moving forward was stopped and caused her to fall and in the process the strap on the shoe broke. No one else said a word. Not wanting to ‘beat a dead horse’ I suggested that Lynda, Mike and I go over to my desk so she could make the call.
This was the first time I’d seen Lynda since the meeting with Stan, her boss. I sure as hell didn’t want to revert to that and asked why she’d come over to the bank. It was a somewhat legitimate question because the only time she’d set foot in the place was right before the end of the year to open an account. It was a simple answer… her husband, in the Army reserves and stationed out West, needed her to wire money to him. I wasn’t going to take that lead any further but Lynda carried on. He was an amateur photographer and had made money doing freelance work in the area. He’d made some contacts and had been hired to some contract work but he needed a new, special lens. He’d found one but the guy wanted cash and had asked Lynda to wire it to him. I learned more about her husband in those minutes than I had since being introduced to Lynda. She was very much at ease with me which I took to be a good sign. However, there still was the question of Stan, her boss. Lynda had made the call and connected with Ruthe and Mike had returned with a pair of shoes that would allow Lynda to return to work. I’d made the withdrawal for her while he was on his mission so our time together was over. I felt good about it but when she got up to leave she stopped and said something that sort of startled me… “I owe you… BIG TIME!”... and then headed out the entry gate of the platform.
By noon the snow was really coming down. Lobby traffic had slowed to just an occasional customer. I wanted to shut the whole bank down to let the employees get on the road before snow drifts started to appear but to do so we had to have approval from the State banking department. I got permission to send everybody home that lived more than five miles away Of course, that included Mae. I can still remember her reaction when I told her to head on home… it was somewhere along the lines of “What’s wrong with these people? What are they? Wimps?” But she took off with the rest of them I still had three tellers which was more than enough. Bert, the president ended up telling me to get everybody out as close to 3pm as possible… and that included me. Before leaving, when putting the material away that I’d been working on I noticed something next to the side chair at my desk. I reached down to get it and saw the it was the envelope with the money that I’d withdrawn for Lynda. I called over to her office and all I got was the phone ringing in my ear. As I’d mentioned earlier… I knew the day was going to be eventful right from the start.
There were three people who would have Lynda’s telephone number. I already knew it was unlisted. Her husband worked for his father’s Chevrolet dealership and dissatisfied customers would call at all hours. So, to protect Lynda while he was gone he’d gotten an unlisted number. The three people were: Stan, her boss who I was still uncertain about how he’d actually taken the meeting we’d had with him: Ruthe, who I knew wouldn’t answer the phone because of her abusive husband and, Bill, the office manager. I dialed the number for information (remember those days?) and got two different numbers. Of course, the first one I tried was wrong… it was Bill’s father. There was no answer at the second number. So here I was with over $400, in cash, that didn’t belong to me and knowing that Lynda must be out of her mind worrying about it. There was nothing more I could do but head home.
It was an awful trip. There was no way to know just how much snow had fallen because the wind had blown most of it into huge snow drifts. There was one particular area that was always a problem. It was where two townships boundary lines were. There was no coordination between the highway departments of the two which meant travel problems when it snowed. Sure enough, when I approached I could see the back-up of cars and trucks. There had been talk of getting the State involved to make sure the road would remain open and clear but that hadn’t happened. There was still time for me to turn around and ponder taking either of the two other East bound roads. But, they were both secondary and I didn’t want to take a chance. It was less than a mile back to the last town I’d driven through and I knew that Davo and his girlfriend Leigh lived right in town. If I could find them home I figured I could call Elle and let her know I was OK. Leigh was… and so began my next ’adventure’.
To be continued…
Sunday, August 05, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 168m)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168m)
By chance, Hobie and I arrived in the parking lot at the same time. Of course, I was anxious to find out what, if anything, took place, especially when it came to “Polack Joe”. Before I could get a word out Hobie wanted to know if I felt being a member of the banking association committee was worth the effort. That came at me ‘out of the blue’ so my answer was purely a reaction… and it was very positive. I didn’t have time to try and ‘read’ Hobie because we were at the back door and other employees were there and acknowledging both of us. Quickly, I was walking across the lobby floor and realized I still had no idea what, if anything, had happened at the Board meeting but Hobie had stopped to chat with Lorie. I took a chance and asked Bret if he’d gotten any information concerning the Board meeting and all I got was the shrug of his shoulders. I remember feeling somewhat strange and couldn’t put my finger on why.
Going through the mail and telephone messages from the previous day there was one message that stood out. It was from Ruthe from over at the stock broker’s office. I couldn’t remember ever having gotten a call from her as she was the office manager’s assistant. I knew him and had talked briefly with him in the past but he wasn’t my broker so my immediate concern was that something had happened to Stan. I’d not tried to contact him since the little meeting we had with Lynda. That meant I hadn’t had any contact with her… and that was by choice. There wasn’t anything in the message to give me hint so I called the number written on the note. I knew Stan’s number by heart and this number wasn’t it. I was hoping Ruthe would answer but it was her boss, Bill. When I identified myself he seemed glad to hear from me. When he told me the reason for the call I was able to relax a bit. He was inviting me to a “by invitation only” presentation concerning I P O’s. I remember responding “What’s an IPO?” And then being totally embarrassed when he said that it was an initial public offering for stocks and or bonds. I should’ve known and tried to cover my embarrassment by telling him I’d been preoccupied with a disturbance in the bank lobby… a complete falsehood. Bill, undeterred, went on to say that the brokerage firm was getting into the underwriting business (I was pretty sure I knew what that meant) and was having “gatherings’ at each of their branches to explain how customers could participate. Hearing that I was positive he’d gotten me mixed up with someone else. I sort of protested but he prevailed saying that the presentation was for all customers, regardless of the size of their holdings. We chatted about it for a minute or so and finally said I’d come. It wasn’t until later that I had a change of heart. Thinking about it I realized I’d have to tell Elle and that when I did it would probably bring back some thoughts of New Year’s Eve. The affair was to be held the following week at the public library just down the street from the broker’s office. On my way home I weighed just how to go about telling Elle and didn’t like any of my choices. I knew that would make for a long weekend.
The decision had been made to have a “Make An Offer” sale at the Thrift Shoppe and then to get out of that business. In spite of the need for additional monies no one wanted to make the continued effort to go out and find saleable items. I knew I sure couldn’t do it. I’d put way more time into the project than anyone else and I wasn’t even for the idea to begin with. That Saturday was the big sale. A couple of the women had volunteered to separate the clothes that had been dumped on the floor of the storage area into like types… coats, pants, jackets etc. I agreed to be the arbiter as far as price was concerned. I wasn’t about to let a coat worth a few dollars go for a dime and when I made my observation about just that I found myself the one to make the final decision. Normally, the shop was open only on Saturday mornings but, to make sure we got rid of as much as we could the hours were extended to 3pm. Arrangements had been made with the charity where we’d donated other unwanted items for them to clear all that was left. The minister said he’d have family members there to make sure the basement was clear and clean for the Sunday “Meet and Greet”. The final results were underwhelming… a little over $100… but it was enough to cover both the shortfall for the minister’s pay and to pay the delinquent electric bill. “Little Victories” had been my battle cry and we seemed to have made it.
We’d had a relatively ‘quiet’ Winter as far a weather was concerned. My father had called about the time we were headed for bed on Sunday night to warn me there was snow on the way. The city was to get a fair amount but, very often, that didn’t mean much to us. But, on occasion, it was a warning for a lot more. There was little I/we could do to prepare for it that late on a Sunday night. The only ‘positive’ was that worrying about it took my mind off of having to tell Elle about my plan to attend the presentation being put on by the stock brokerage. I was up to check for snow each time Elle got up to use the toilet. At daybreak there was only a dusting of snow but there was a strong wind blowing out of the East, not a good omen. Elle was concerned when, by the time she was to leave for school, there was no mention of school closings. She hated driving when there was snow because the back and side roads could get really treacherous and she had to use both to get to and from school. Added to that was her mother absolutely wouldn’t drive in snow. That meant I would have to take Kaye to her house which added almost an extra half hour to my trip to work. It was not a good way to start the week.
I’ve written number times about my believing in omens. It didn’t take long for that to come into play. Someone had missed the turn on to the road to Elle’s mother’s house which held me up for a few more minutes. Then, approaching the downtown area I found the railroad crossing gates down and blocking the road. I was in a position which prevented me from turning around so all I could do was sit and wait and watch the snow fall. It was well after 9am when the gates finally went up. I was walking in the doors to the bank and never got a chance to wonder what else would happen before seeing a customer laying out on the floor in the middle of the lobby. Trish and Hobie were standing there sort of staring at the person while a policeman was attending to what turned out to be a woman. When I walked up to them it took my breath away as I saw it was Lynda from the stock broker’s office.
To be continued…
By chance, Hobie and I arrived in the parking lot at the same time. Of course, I was anxious to find out what, if anything, took place, especially when it came to “Polack Joe”. Before I could get a word out Hobie wanted to know if I felt being a member of the banking association committee was worth the effort. That came at me ‘out of the blue’ so my answer was purely a reaction… and it was very positive. I didn’t have time to try and ‘read’ Hobie because we were at the back door and other employees were there and acknowledging both of us. Quickly, I was walking across the lobby floor and realized I still had no idea what, if anything, had happened at the Board meeting but Hobie had stopped to chat with Lorie. I took a chance and asked Bret if he’d gotten any information concerning the Board meeting and all I got was the shrug of his shoulders. I remember feeling somewhat strange and couldn’t put my finger on why.
Going through the mail and telephone messages from the previous day there was one message that stood out. It was from Ruthe from over at the stock broker’s office. I couldn’t remember ever having gotten a call from her as she was the office manager’s assistant. I knew him and had talked briefly with him in the past but he wasn’t my broker so my immediate concern was that something had happened to Stan. I’d not tried to contact him since the little meeting we had with Lynda. That meant I hadn’t had any contact with her… and that was by choice. There wasn’t anything in the message to give me hint so I called the number written on the note. I knew Stan’s number by heart and this number wasn’t it. I was hoping Ruthe would answer but it was her boss, Bill. When I identified myself he seemed glad to hear from me. When he told me the reason for the call I was able to relax a bit. He was inviting me to a “by invitation only” presentation concerning I P O’s. I remember responding “What’s an IPO?” And then being totally embarrassed when he said that it was an initial public offering for stocks and or bonds. I should’ve known and tried to cover my embarrassment by telling him I’d been preoccupied with a disturbance in the bank lobby… a complete falsehood. Bill, undeterred, went on to say that the brokerage firm was getting into the underwriting business (I was pretty sure I knew what that meant) and was having “gatherings’ at each of their branches to explain how customers could participate. Hearing that I was positive he’d gotten me mixed up with someone else. I sort of protested but he prevailed saying that the presentation was for all customers, regardless of the size of their holdings. We chatted about it for a minute or so and finally said I’d come. It wasn’t until later that I had a change of heart. Thinking about it I realized I’d have to tell Elle and that when I did it would probably bring back some thoughts of New Year’s Eve. The affair was to be held the following week at the public library just down the street from the broker’s office. On my way home I weighed just how to go about telling Elle and didn’t like any of my choices. I knew that would make for a long weekend.
The decision had been made to have a “Make An Offer” sale at the Thrift Shoppe and then to get out of that business. In spite of the need for additional monies no one wanted to make the continued effort to go out and find saleable items. I knew I sure couldn’t do it. I’d put way more time into the project than anyone else and I wasn’t even for the idea to begin with. That Saturday was the big sale. A couple of the women had volunteered to separate the clothes that had been dumped on the floor of the storage area into like types… coats, pants, jackets etc. I agreed to be the arbiter as far as price was concerned. I wasn’t about to let a coat worth a few dollars go for a dime and when I made my observation about just that I found myself the one to make the final decision. Normally, the shop was open only on Saturday mornings but, to make sure we got rid of as much as we could the hours were extended to 3pm. Arrangements had been made with the charity where we’d donated other unwanted items for them to clear all that was left. The minister said he’d have family members there to make sure the basement was clear and clean for the Sunday “Meet and Greet”. The final results were underwhelming… a little over $100… but it was enough to cover both the shortfall for the minister’s pay and to pay the delinquent electric bill. “Little Victories” had been my battle cry and we seemed to have made it.
We’d had a relatively ‘quiet’ Winter as far a weather was concerned. My father had called about the time we were headed for bed on Sunday night to warn me there was snow on the way. The city was to get a fair amount but, very often, that didn’t mean much to us. But, on occasion, it was a warning for a lot more. There was little I/we could do to prepare for it that late on a Sunday night. The only ‘positive’ was that worrying about it took my mind off of having to tell Elle about my plan to attend the presentation being put on by the stock brokerage. I was up to check for snow each time Elle got up to use the toilet. At daybreak there was only a dusting of snow but there was a strong wind blowing out of the East, not a good omen. Elle was concerned when, by the time she was to leave for school, there was no mention of school closings. She hated driving when there was snow because the back and side roads could get really treacherous and she had to use both to get to and from school. Added to that was her mother absolutely wouldn’t drive in snow. That meant I would have to take Kaye to her house which added almost an extra half hour to my trip to work. It was not a good way to start the week.
I’ve written number times about my believing in omens. It didn’t take long for that to come into play. Someone had missed the turn on to the road to Elle’s mother’s house which held me up for a few more minutes. Then, approaching the downtown area I found the railroad crossing gates down and blocking the road. I was in a position which prevented me from turning around so all I could do was sit and wait and watch the snow fall. It was well after 9am when the gates finally went up. I was walking in the doors to the bank and never got a chance to wonder what else would happen before seeing a customer laying out on the floor in the middle of the lobby. Trish and Hobie were standing there sort of staring at the person while a policeman was attending to what turned out to be a woman. When I walked up to them it took my breath away as I saw it was Lynda from the stock broker’s office.
To be continued…
Friday, August 03, 2018
ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 168 l)
ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part168l)
At the bank, one thing, for sure, was we were all happy to see the “busy period” come to an end. However, the end of the one in January meant having to concentrate on what had, traditionally, been a grueling period of time where the tax information had to be put together, printed and mailed to the depositors. The previous January had been the first time the service bureau had handled the majority of it but it was still far from easy. Bret and I had met with the key people at the data center in December trying to ’short circuit’ a repeat of the problems we'd had. That second full week of January was going to be their first try at it and I, for one, was praying that it went well. Not wanting to get the hopes of the staff up too high I had Bret warn them that there might be nights where there would be overtime. Mae didn’t work for the bank that first year so had no idea what Bret was talking about and she, never shy, made a point of asking. Of all of us at the bank I knew the most about the data center’s operation, and it really wasn’t all that much. I’ll admit that when meeting with their senior people I had times where I didn’t really know what they were talking about. In any case, between the two of us we sort of satisfied Mae. Before she left for the night she stopped by my desk and told me she was willing to work late any and all nights we needed her to. Later, I told Bret we had a definite “winner” in Mae and would try to work it out so we could keep her at the main office. He agreed, whole heartedly.
By a fluke of the calendar, the full board meeting was on Wednesday of that week as it was the third one of the month. I wasn’t to be involved but had told Hobie about the previous week’s mortgage committee meeting and the ‘performance’ of “Polack Joe”. He didn’t comment but I had to smile when I saw him roll his eyes. I’d done some asking around trying to find out more about him from a businessman’s view. The one thing that stuck out to me was that he really hadn’t accomplished anything until he got married and then went to work for his father in law in his insurance business. Bret had known him from high school as they were both top athletes and competed against each other. Bret had told me he didn’t particularly like him back then. From his time as a Trustee, I didn’t either… but technically, he was one of my bosses. It was struggle for me to accept him as such.
I’d seen the agenda for the big meeting and one of the items was a report from the branch committee. I really, really would’ve liked to have been a fly on the wall to see what was going to happen when Joe put forth the idea of designing the new branch building for multiple uses. However, the first meeting of the committee on Personnel Management was the next day in the city. Because public transportation was so limited the only way I could be on time for it was to go into the city the night before. I wanted to be home to eat with Elle and the kids before driving in so there was no way I could hang around to see if Joe provoked any ‘fireworks’. In fact, I’d probably have to wait until Friday.
The biggest advantage to heading for the city early was that I’d get a good night of sleep and a good breakfast. Upon arrival at the hotel I recognized another member of the committee checking in. I’d not formally met him but knew he came from the general area, upstate, where I’d gone to college. Using that as a reason to introduce myself, I walked up and started talking about a tavern located in his town that I and some of my fraternity brothers had frequented. We became instant friends. He, like me, had been added to the committee to give the smaller banks some presence. His bank was smaller than mine and he didn’t have any branches. After getting our rooms we agreed to meet in the bar to get further acquainted and that ended any chance of a good night’s sleep.
In spite of some concern about how the smaller banks would be looked at by the ‘big city boys’, it was a pleasant surprise to find out they were interested in hearing about our problems. I’d not even given a thought to speaking but found myself participating in any number of the group discussions. When the meeting was over I was anxious to be on my way. I’d been warned that if I wasn’t on my way out of the city by 2:30pm it would be a long, long, time before I got home. The member, Don, who gave me that advice let me know that he spent many Summer weekends in the town just East of where Elle and I lived. Another ‘instant’ friend. As we walked down the hall to the elevator I heard a female voice call out to me. The vice chairman of the committee was a woman who was also a senior Vice President of the bank where she worked. I was actually shocked that she’d hailed me. She was in her 40’s and looked, as you might’ve expected for a person in her position, very professional. As she walked up she introduced herself to me and said she welcomed my vocal participation. She went on that one of the concerns that had been expressed by the Association management in deciding to open membership up to smaller banks was weather they would/could add anything. She closed by saying she looked forward to my continued participation. At that point I felt really good.
As it turned out I didn’t get to my car until around 3pm. Don’s prediction of it taking upwards of three hours, or more, to travel the 85 miles if I didn’t get on the road by 2:30pm became a reality. There were no cell phones back in those days and few pay phones so there was no way to forewarn Elle about being late. In spite of leaving the city feeling good by the time I approached the house I was worrying what kind of mood Elle would be in. She was getting used to being back in the classroom but was still pretty tired by the time she got home. My only hope was that she’d had a trouble free day. Where I expected to find her a bit grumpy I found her excited. The house next door had been sold. To get to and from the school where she was teaching she had to drive past the next door house. On her way home she found the for sale sign was missing. Then, on a whim, she ducked through the hedge and saw Andy, the real estate guy and called to him. He came over and said the contract for the sale had been signed. The buyers were an older couple and one of the reasons they bought it was so they could have their children and grandchildren visit during the Summers. Excited as she was I didn’t want to tell her that Andy had told me about them the last time I saw him and they weren’t planning on living there year round. I just left it that the house finally had been sold. The fact that I was late getting home was completely overlooked and later, well, let’s just say things were almost back to normal.
To be continued…
At the bank, one thing, for sure, was we were all happy to see the “busy period” come to an end. However, the end of the one in January meant having to concentrate on what had, traditionally, been a grueling period of time where the tax information had to be put together, printed and mailed to the depositors. The previous January had been the first time the service bureau had handled the majority of it but it was still far from easy. Bret and I had met with the key people at the data center in December trying to ’short circuit’ a repeat of the problems we'd had. That second full week of January was going to be their first try at it and I, for one, was praying that it went well. Not wanting to get the hopes of the staff up too high I had Bret warn them that there might be nights where there would be overtime. Mae didn’t work for the bank that first year so had no idea what Bret was talking about and she, never shy, made a point of asking. Of all of us at the bank I knew the most about the data center’s operation, and it really wasn’t all that much. I’ll admit that when meeting with their senior people I had times where I didn’t really know what they were talking about. In any case, between the two of us we sort of satisfied Mae. Before she left for the night she stopped by my desk and told me she was willing to work late any and all nights we needed her to. Later, I told Bret we had a definite “winner” in Mae and would try to work it out so we could keep her at the main office. He agreed, whole heartedly.
By a fluke of the calendar, the full board meeting was on Wednesday of that week as it was the third one of the month. I wasn’t to be involved but had told Hobie about the previous week’s mortgage committee meeting and the ‘performance’ of “Polack Joe”. He didn’t comment but I had to smile when I saw him roll his eyes. I’d done some asking around trying to find out more about him from a businessman’s view. The one thing that stuck out to me was that he really hadn’t accomplished anything until he got married and then went to work for his father in law in his insurance business. Bret had known him from high school as they were both top athletes and competed against each other. Bret had told me he didn’t particularly like him back then. From his time as a Trustee, I didn’t either… but technically, he was one of my bosses. It was struggle for me to accept him as such.
I’d seen the agenda for the big meeting and one of the items was a report from the branch committee. I really, really would’ve liked to have been a fly on the wall to see what was going to happen when Joe put forth the idea of designing the new branch building for multiple uses. However, the first meeting of the committee on Personnel Management was the next day in the city. Because public transportation was so limited the only way I could be on time for it was to go into the city the night before. I wanted to be home to eat with Elle and the kids before driving in so there was no way I could hang around to see if Joe provoked any ‘fireworks’. In fact, I’d probably have to wait until Friday.
The biggest advantage to heading for the city early was that I’d get a good night of sleep and a good breakfast. Upon arrival at the hotel I recognized another member of the committee checking in. I’d not formally met him but knew he came from the general area, upstate, where I’d gone to college. Using that as a reason to introduce myself, I walked up and started talking about a tavern located in his town that I and some of my fraternity brothers had frequented. We became instant friends. He, like me, had been added to the committee to give the smaller banks some presence. His bank was smaller than mine and he didn’t have any branches. After getting our rooms we agreed to meet in the bar to get further acquainted and that ended any chance of a good night’s sleep.
In spite of some concern about how the smaller banks would be looked at by the ‘big city boys’, it was a pleasant surprise to find out they were interested in hearing about our problems. I’d not even given a thought to speaking but found myself participating in any number of the group discussions. When the meeting was over I was anxious to be on my way. I’d been warned that if I wasn’t on my way out of the city by 2:30pm it would be a long, long, time before I got home. The member, Don, who gave me that advice let me know that he spent many Summer weekends in the town just East of where Elle and I lived. Another ‘instant’ friend. As we walked down the hall to the elevator I heard a female voice call out to me. The vice chairman of the committee was a woman who was also a senior Vice President of the bank where she worked. I was actually shocked that she’d hailed me. She was in her 40’s and looked, as you might’ve expected for a person in her position, very professional. As she walked up she introduced herself to me and said she welcomed my vocal participation. She went on that one of the concerns that had been expressed by the Association management in deciding to open membership up to smaller banks was weather they would/could add anything. She closed by saying she looked forward to my continued participation. At that point I felt really good.
As it turned out I didn’t get to my car until around 3pm. Don’s prediction of it taking upwards of three hours, or more, to travel the 85 miles if I didn’t get on the road by 2:30pm became a reality. There were no cell phones back in those days and few pay phones so there was no way to forewarn Elle about being late. In spite of leaving the city feeling good by the time I approached the house I was worrying what kind of mood Elle would be in. She was getting used to being back in the classroom but was still pretty tired by the time she got home. My only hope was that she’d had a trouble free day. Where I expected to find her a bit grumpy I found her excited. The house next door had been sold. To get to and from the school where she was teaching she had to drive past the next door house. On her way home she found the for sale sign was missing. Then, on a whim, she ducked through the hedge and saw Andy, the real estate guy and called to him. He came over and said the contract for the sale had been signed. The buyers were an older couple and one of the reasons they bought it was so they could have their children and grandchildren visit during the Summers. Excited as she was I didn’t want to tell her that Andy had told me about them the last time I saw him and they weren’t planning on living there year round. I just left it that the house finally had been sold. The fact that I was late getting home was completely overlooked and later, well, let’s just say things were almost back to normal.
To be continued…
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