Read Online Three Sides of the Coin (Catherine I) by Carole J Lennon - Free Book Online
Authors: Carole J Lennon
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pretty minor.
Our job requires us to travel to various sites, sometimes if it is a greenfield, we go to the site where the office will eventually be built to get a feel for the sun, neighborhood ambiance and customer vision, then to the partial build we go to get an understanding of how the plan is suffering from the ravages of building codes, inspections, budgets and time constraints. Toward the end of the project, we return to the site to find the minor tweaks due to material shortages, builder changes and the forever changing local building codes and inspectors, as well as the 'while you are at it, we had another idea' adjustments the customer will come up with. If it is a remodel, the first step is mostly conceptual, and the later steps mainly revelational. Nothing seems to make Catherine angrier in these discoveries than finding some slipshod base work. "Don't they know how much extra work they are causing everyone else?" She would exclaim. I was always amused at her various rants as she always seemed to do them with a grace and humor. She kept her standards high at the same time she kept a better than depressing monologue for anyone working on our projects. They would smile, but not let her catch them using shortcuts.
It was this easy confidence she possessed that made her fun to be around. On many occasions, due to the need of our clients to be back to their work sooner than we anticipated, or often due to her, or my, quick insight to the client desires, we would find ourselves with extra time to kill before we needed to be back to the airport. Once you have been to airports as often as we have been, you have no desire to go early. It is never comfortable, and seldom any more interesting than the average mall.
So, one time we found ourselves taking the slightly less onerous destination of a mall, rather than going early to the airport and as we ate a hamburger at the food court, she regaled me with her opinions of the dressing decisions of people passing by.
"What is that? Do you think they belong to a religion where they are not allowed to look in a mirror? Perhaps they are vampires. Mike, do you suppose the clothes or just their image doesn't show up in the mirror?"
I replied, "You know, every movie where their image doesn't show in the mirror, neither do their clothes."
"Well, it is too bad that we have to look at those outfits, but then again, it is better than the alternative. Looking at them in those hideous garments is better than seeing them naked, I suspect." She said with a shiver.
"And them?" I said pointing to a trio of people exiting a store across from the food court. All three were somewhat dumpy and had no idea on how to dress around their figure faults. One, an overweight teenager had a long light blue camouflage shirtdress over black lace leggings, with black ankle boots, and her homage to fashion was a French foreign legion looking cap that exactly matched the dress. Her brown hair was straight and cut three inches below the cap. With her was a younger girl who found red, orange and green clothing items simultaneously acceptable. The third person was the mother with a black spaghetti strap tee shirt that was losing a battle in containment efforts on her massive cleavage. Matched with blue denim jeans that fit her, maybe twenty pounds earlier, all three of them were glancing at their phones as they hesitated at the door.
"Perhaps a team of synchronized blind texters? Do you know what is sad? I have been watching them check out. That woman just bought the outfits the kids have on. I watched the clerk undo the magnet ‘thingees’ on their clothes. Think of how terrifying the clothes in the bag must be!
Our job requires us to travel to various sites, sometimes if it is a greenfield, we go to the site where the office will eventually be built to get a feel for the sun, neighborhood ambiance and customer vision, then to the partial build we go to get an understanding of how the plan is suffering from the ravages of building codes, inspections, budgets and time constraints. Toward the end of the project, we return to the site to find the minor tweaks due to material shortages, builder changes and the forever changing local building codes and inspectors, as well as the 'while you are at it, we had another idea' adjustments the customer will come up with. If it is a remodel, the first step is mostly conceptual, and the later steps mainly revelational. Nothing seems to make Catherine angrier in these discoveries than finding some slipshod base work. "Don't they know how much extra work they are causing everyone else?" She would exclaim. I was always amused at her various rants as she always seemed to do them with a grace and humor. She kept her standards high at the same time she kept a better than depressing monologue for anyone working on our projects. They would smile, but not let her catch them using shortcuts.
It was this easy confidence she possessed that made her fun to be around. On many occasions, due to the need of our clients to be back to their work sooner than we anticipated, or often due to her, or my, quick insight to the client desires, we would find ourselves with extra time to kill before we needed to be back to the airport. Once you have been to airports as often as we have been, you have no desire to go early. It is never comfortable, and seldom any more interesting than the average mall.
So, one time we found ourselves taking the slightly less onerous destination of a mall, rather than going early to the airport and as we ate a hamburger at the food court, she regaled me with her opinions of the dressing decisions of people passing by.
"What is that? Do you think they belong to a religion where they are not allowed to look in a mirror? Perhaps they are vampires. Mike, do you suppose the clothes or just their image doesn't show up in the mirror?"
I replied, "You know, every movie where their image doesn't show in the mirror, neither do their clothes."
"Well, it is too bad that we have to look at those outfits, but then again, it is better than the alternative. Looking at them in those hideous garments is better than seeing them naked, I suspect." She said with a shiver.
"And them?" I said pointing to a trio of people exiting a store across from the food court. All three were somewhat dumpy and had no idea on how to dress around their figure faults. One, an overweight teenager had a long light blue camouflage shirtdress over black lace leggings, with black ankle boots, and her homage to fashion was a French foreign legion looking cap that exactly matched the dress. Her brown hair was straight and cut three inches below the cap. With her was a younger girl who found red, orange and green clothing items simultaneously acceptable. The third person was the mother with a black spaghetti strap tee shirt that was losing a battle in containment efforts on her massive cleavage. Matched with blue denim jeans that fit her, maybe twenty pounds earlier, all three of them were glancing at their phones as they hesitated at the door.
"Perhaps a team of synchronized blind texters? Do you know what is sad? I have been watching them check out. That woman just bought the outfits the kids have on. I watched the clerk undo the magnet ‘thingees’ on their clothes. Think of how terrifying the clothes in the bag must be!
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