Chapter 4 The Situation Changes
During the following weeks things settled down a bit. I was still applying for jobs, most of them a lot further away from home, but the responses were discouraging. My housekeeping skills improved to the point where I now had free time on my hands and I was getting bored stuck at home. Walking the kids to and from school had the unexpected benefit of allowing me to lose those extra pounds I had put on. I was now fitter than I had been for years. But the problem of not having any transport added to my frustration as it limited my options on how to spend my time. I reconciled myself to this, as I did not have any spare cash to spend even if I did have transport to get there.
Anne was still keeping a tight rein on the finances and I learned not to ask about household expenditure. That really started to bug me, I was a trained accountant, I knew how to handle large sums of money, but I was being excluded from any access to the details of our finances. I didn't even have my credit card! Anne insisted that I didn't need one as she paid all the major bills now.
The saving grace in many ways was 'Gordon's Harem' They ladies guided me through a basic course in household skills and I learned the basics of how to prepare quick simple meals. The kids certainly appreciated the improvement. Anne was less forthcoming, she questioned me about what she now called 'Gordon's Coven' I think she was jealous of how well I had adapted to the House Husband role so she re-christened them.
It was Andrea Carter who was responsible for giving me the opportunity to break out of the life of House Husband, even if only for a short time each week. At one of our coffee mornings she asked if I was interested in doing some part time accountancy for her Brother-in-Law, Sam Rawlings. It turned out he was the owner of a Used Car Sales business and had the Inland Revenue breathing down his neck. His accountant had taken ill and his annual accounts were well overdue. I said I would be delighted to help. I had thought of trying to set up my own Accountancy practice, but felt that I had insufficient contacts locally to make a success of it.
Now, I thought, here was my chance, if I could impress Sam Rawlings, maybe I it would lead to more business. I thanked Andrea and called Sam straight away. He asked me to come down to his garage that afternoon to discuss the problem of his books. I arranged for Andrea to collect our two when she was picking up her own brood and set off to see Sam.
When he showed me his books and handed me a plastic shopping bag full of receipts.
"These are all sundry operating expenses, I made sure to get receipts for everything." He said as if expecting me to pat him on the back.
"Receipts for what? I need to know what was purchased with each receipt, so I can itemise them. The taxman may ask for proof of purchase, have you delivery notes to support each item?" I asked.
He told me he had them somewhere, so I tasked him with rooting them out while I made a start on the Sales Ledger. A quick inspection confirmed that this was going to be a much bigger job than I had thought. Everything was recorded in ledgers, purchases, sales, expenses and salaries. First job was to get all this transferred to my computer and then I could take it from there.
After about an hour of digging, I got a rough idea of how he controlled his business. It was not good and I suggested that the best thing would be for me to take away his records and develop a computer based accounting package that he could subsequently use on a daily basis. I gave him a budget figure of how much it was going to cost him and he blanched a bit at the price, but I told him that I would save him twice that amount in the first year, but only if he played his part in using the system religiously. He perked up at that and my first customer was hooked.
I got home that evening after collecting the kids from Andrea's, slightly later than Anne and she was annoyed that I had not prepared dinner. I was about to tell her about my new business venture, when something deep inside me warned me to be cautious. After all, it may go badly and I could do without any further humiliating sarcasm from her.
So I just said. "I got sidetracked with something and forgot the time. We can phone for a take away if you like."
She agreed and after checking what everybody fancied, we opted for a Chinese. Fortunately they delivered and we sat down to eat some forty five minutes later. Over the meal, Anne told the kids and I that she had booked our summer holiday at Euro-Disney -- Paris then a week at the west coast resort of La-Baule. I was somewhat put out as we had discussed Euro-Disney pre Christmas before I was made redundant, but nothing had been discussed since. I was about to take her to task on the subject when she deflected any further discussion by engaging the kids on what they would like to do first. After seeing the excitement in their eyes at the prospect, I decided to wait until later to have my say. After we had finished our meal we both played with the kids until their bedtime and after they were settled, Anne said. "I have a surprise for you too!"
I wondered what sort of surprise and started to ask her what sort, when she shushed me and taking my hand led me to the garage. She opened the door and instead of our battered old Ford stood a brand new Lexus saloon. I was gob-smacked, how on earth could we afford such an expensive motor and when asked she said airily. "My probation period was completed earlier than planned. Jim said he was delighted with the impact I have had in the four months I have been working full time. Part of the perks of this new permanent position is access to the Company Car Loan scheme."
She told me that Jim had made all the arrangements for her new car weeks ago and it was delivered today. Do you like it?" she asked failing to keep the excitement out of her voice.
"Sure." I said rather sulkily, "but where is the Ford?"
"I sold it to one of the staffers. Her car had just died on her and she needed wheels to get to work, so I sold it to her there and then."
This seriously pissed me off! Had she even considered keeping the Ford for me to use?
"How long have you known about this new car then?" I asked acidily.
"Oh, it was ordered weeks ago, but I had to wait for delivery in the colour I wanted." She relied totally unaware of the warning tone I had used.
