LIFE GOES ON… and on… (Part 171f)
The time working in the
cellar with Mae was productive in two ways… what we actually
accomplished in the way of cleaning out the junk and, what she had to
say in the way of her observations of how the bank waited on customers.
We agreed to quit when the noon siren went off but we didn’t leave the
bank until almost 12;30pm. It was her feeling that there were two ways
we could help speed up the flow of lobby traffic and, almost as
important, a suggestion to cut down the complaints when the bank would
lose contact with the data center. We’d been on-line with them for over a
year and had weathered the customers distrust of such a system However,
when we’d lose contact the tellers (and just about everyone) would
explain the situation with... “The computer is down…”… and that would
trigger the distrust all over again. During the busy period the teller
machine that was used by Mae had a problem. She got to talking with the
repair man, Bob, and while he was working on it there was an
interruption with the communication with the data center. Bob overheard
one of the tellers say that and he mentioned to Mae that it was really a
telephone company problem. He proceeded to explain how the whole system
worked and Mae said she thought it might be a good idea to educate the
customers with those facts. I fully understood how the data was
transmitted but when I’d call in that we were having problems no one
from the data center had ever told me that it was more than likely a
telephone line problem. Mae and I talked about it and I agreed that it
would be helpful to pass it on but didn’t know how to do it. When we
were leaving I thanked her for the input and promised I’d work on it. As
she drove away I kind of shook my head realizing that the bank really
had a ‘diamond in the rough’ with Mae. Her annual review was coming up
and I knew she deserved to be recognized. The only thing, I was pretty
much the only one to have witnessed some of the things she’d done.
The
race car crew was meeting at the garage at 2pm. It’d been my plan to go
home, eat lunch, load up the trash and garbage and go to the landfill,
then go to the shop. Because I was late in leaving the bank Elle was
gone when I got home… and she hadn’t left anything for me to eat. Cliffy
hated it when anyone was late for an agreed upon project so I skipped
the lunch part. I was on time but the others were already there and had
the car up on jack stands. Even though we’d gone over every nut and bolt
before heading for the championships in October and really hadn’t run
all that much in practice or the race, Cliffy wanted it all done again.
He’d broken out a list of what needed to be done and who was to do it.
The rear end of the car had been my area for maintenance and I fully
expected it to be again. I can’t tell you how much of a shock it was
when he told me to go over the motor. That was usually his
responsibility. I didn’t ask why but listened as he told me what I had
to do. It was definitely a step up in responsibility. It also made it a
reality that the first practice session was in two weeks and we’d be
racing again in just a month.
Saturday had been the first time
the race car had been a part of my life since the end of October… and
Elle wanted to make a point about it as soon as I got home. She reminded
me that for the next four months I’d be going to the races on Saturday
nights… and she’d be at home. I knew, immediately, she was angling for
something. It didn’t take long for me to find out what it was… she
wanted to go the movies. Going to the movies had been a rare occurrence
for a few years. Growing up and up to just after we’d moved back to town
the movie theater had been located over the public library. It was a
wooden building and it was old. About three years prior there had been a
small fire in the popcorn machine. There was no real damage but
everybody had to vacate the theater. As with any fire where the fire
department was called a report had to be filed with the County Fire
Marshall’s office. That triggered an inspection by them and the result
was the building was deemed to be uninhabitable… and eventually
condemned. There was a building available to temporarily locate the
library but the movies were gone. The previous Summer the township
passed a very controversial piece of legislation allowing for the first
strip mall. One of the concessions the developers had to make was to
provide a movie theater in the complex. It was a typical strip mall… an
‘anchor’ retail store, supermarket, liquor store, luncheonette, drug
store, dry cleaner and a movie theater. Parts of it had opened right
after the first of the year and the theater had opened in conjunction
with the Easter break with the school. Because of the rural nature of
the area none of the movie theaters got first run movies and usually it
was a couple of months after the initial release before they’d show up.
Some of Elle’s friends had seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the city and
told her to see it if it ever showed up. It did and Elle was right on
top of it. I had no idea what it was about but knew it was useless to
protest.
We dropped the kids off at Elle’s parents house and
headed for the new movie theater. Neither of us knew but there were
three screens with three different movies. One of the three theaters was
a bit larger but none of them was very big. As to the movie… you know
I’m a car guy but this thing was a bit much. It was funny but not
something I would’ve chosen on my own. The real downside was running
into people who’d heard that I’d been approached to run for the school
Board. I still hadn’t made a decision choosing to wait to see what, if
anything, was going to happen with the bank’s application for another
branch. If it was to be approved there was no way I would run so I had
to be non-committal. I hated to be that way.
A very positive
result from the trip to the movies was that we’d be home alone… and even
with the uncertainty of Elle’s pregnancy I was looking for some ‘play
time’. Elle was more than willing to accommodate my desire for some wet
fun. I have a ‘star’ marking my notes which indicated that it was good
sex for us both. The next morning we both slept in, a real rarity, and I
went to the late church service with Elle and the kids, another rarity.
An additional ‘positive’ was that the other “Elle” that I’d met on
Easter weekend was there again. It was a surprise to see her as she was
supposed to go back to North Carolina the day after Easter. As I’d
mentioned after seeing/meeting her she was a good looking woman. Being
with Elle I didn’t make an overt effort to go over to her after she
walked in. Another surprise was that her mother wasn’t with her as she
was the reason for being here. It was my hope that she’d join in the
‘meet and greet’ in the undercroft after the service was over. She had a
coat on, which she didn’t remove, so I had no idea what she was
wearing. If she did join us downstairs I was hoping for another chance
at a DP or, at the least, a VPL. It was a lot more interesting thinking
about that possibility than in listening to the minister’s sermon.
To be continued…
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