Consciousness came to me slowly. My two ladies were lying against me, sleeping peacefully.
Life is good. I'm laying here with two ladies that seem perfectly content to be sharing me. I know Sue enjoys Mercy in a way that that I can't provide. Mercy seems to be equally enamored with Sue in the same way. They sure don't neglect me though. I'm pretty damned lucky.
Three kids. Amazing. Who would have believed that I would have three kids that are all so perfect? Actually, it seems like I have seven kids. All of the older ones come to me to be held. They go to their moms and dads too, though. I wonder if the way we are raising our kids to be so open is bad. Probably not.
I wonder what I should do about the business. It's too big for me to do much more than to make an occasional decision or to just give encouragement to a group. Instead of a few dozen people, it's now hundreds and hundreds, spread out all over the place. Tiny and Ryan seem to have a better grasp on what's going on than anyone. Ryan showed me last week that the way we run a business can be successful in other locations. That's one thing I did do right. But just imagine. The Chicago group has almost two hundred employees, and that's just one location. I wonder how many people S&S really employs when you consider all of the remote locations and the park. I don't want to know.
I needed the bathroom so I slid from between the girls and quickly hit the john. Since it was time to get up, I took a quick shower and checked the little ones. They were still sleeping, so I guess I was a little early.
After making coffee in the kitchen, I went out to the patio and turned on the light. The air was fresh and cool, a perfect morning to enjoy a cup of coffee and the paper. As soon as I had the paper open, Glenda came in one door, and Ruth came in another.
"You two are up early," I said, welcoming them.
Glenda smiled and said, "Not that early, it's already quarter to seven. I can't imagine that no one else is up yet."
"I've been up half an hour already, waiting for someone to show up out here," Ruth said, as she settled in a chair.
A cart drove up to park near the door and Juanita came in. "Good morning, everyone, I slept late and figured everyone would already be up."
Another cart came up to park next to Juanita's. It was Henry and Nancy, with Crystal and Bear. As they came in the patio, Susan and Kevin drove up, with Ryan and Michelle bringing Ernie and Nelda.
Shawna came from across the street, carrying Sean with Charlie following with CJ. Hanna and Debbie were coming with their little ones, followed by Samantha and Mickey, who were walking with Drew, Bob, Sandy, and Mandy.
I got up and said, "Better get my bunch up and get breakfast started."
Inside, Sue and Mercy were both up and showered. They were changing diapers, getting ready to feed the critters. I gave all five a kiss and brought Stevie out to the kitchen with me so I could get him started eating. I put him in one of the high chairs next to CJ, Rob, and Mia, and was handed a bowl of cream of wheat for CJ.
I had just begun to feed CJ, when Nelda said she would feed him if I wanted to start Sunday breakfast.
After getting out a couple of the huge frying pans, I put four pounds of bacon on to start. While that was frying, I made up a huge box of Bisquick and put the first two trays of biscuits in the oven. Glenda had begun frying sausage in the another frying pan, and had whipped up a batch of pancake mix. We used the big center grille on the big stove for the pancakes. Glenda and I broke eight dozen eggs open into a huge bowl to get them ready to scramble.
Juanita got out the baskets for the biscuits and directed some of the non-busy people to begin setting the table. It was then that I noticed Margie helping to get the flatware out. Shawna, Mercy, and Sue came out of the bedroom with happy babies and put them in the infant area that was cordoned off from the toddlers.
Pretty soon, I had three big platters full of pancakes, another three of bacon, and was cooking the eggs while Glenda made a huge batch of milk gravy. When it was all done and on the tables, Glenda and I stood at the sliding door, looking out, smiling. The three tables were pretty full of people. It was a great sight to see all the smiling faces dig into breakfast.
I joined the group by sitting in an empty chair between Sue and Margie. Hap leaned forward in front of Margie and said, "This is better than the breakfast at the house. I'm going to send our cooks out here so you can teach them."
"This is usually only on weekends, Hap, mostly on Sunday," I said. "The rest of the week, the menu is usually breakfast sandwiches from McDonald's or Burger King, and donuts."
"This is great, Steve, I think you may even have enough for Bear," Margie added.
As usual, when we were finished there wasn't a biscuit or a stray piece of bacon left. Every pancake had been eaten, along with eight dozen eggs. It looked like we went through about four gallons of orange juice, and another three gallons of milk. It's always good to know that people are well fed.
Phil and Judy announced they were going to get ready for church. Samantha said she wanted to go with them. Susan and Kevin said that they would take the kids to the church down the road for the ten o'clock service.
The conversation this morning became centered on Hap's and Bear's moving into the park. Crystal was a little peeved that Bear didn't let her know he wanted to move out to the park, as she would have made sure the pad next to hers would have been open.
Bear said, "That would have been good but what if one of us decided we weren't compatible. That would have been pretty uncomfortable. I thought if we had some distance between us for now, we could learn how compatible we are."
"You know, you big lout," Crystal answered him with a punch to the shoulder that made him flinch. "You're pretty smart for the big bubba you are. Who would have ever believed you graduated from Michigan. It may take some time, Bear, but I think I'll convince you we need to spend a lot of our free time with each other."
Bear's face turned red, as Hap and Margie were laughing. Hap asked me, "Would you consider helping Margie and me get married? We want to have a ceremony at the house, but we also want to have a ceremony for all our non-biker friends somewhere else. Could we have it out here?"
Sue spoke up, "That would be great, Hap. We'll get the big tent and the altar, just like the other weddings we've had. You know the caterer we can get, he's one of yours. It will be a wonderful wedding for you, Margie."
Sue had me change seats with her so she and Margie could begin planning. Hap and I went over to the lounge area to have a nice cup of coffee. Someone had turned on the fans to blow the smoke off the patio as several people had lit up. I asked Hap, "So you and Bear are really stepping down. What prompted that?"
Hap took a sip of his coffee and began, "Bear's men all want to settle down up there in New Port Richey, but Bear wants to be as close as he can get to Crystal. He's got it bad. I've wanted to step down and get out of the sights of every punk that wants to rise in the national club for a long time. I've told the others that since I'm getting older, it was time for me to step down and let the next guy take over. I want to settle down and enjoy life with Margie. We're done living on the edge. She's going to become a house mouse, and I'm going to have a regular job. Bear and I could both get some retirement money from the clubs, but we would then be under their control. This way, we retire, take a bike with us, and get sent out to pasture in a nice way. This is sort of getting out while the getting is good."
"I can understand why Bear decided to live out here, but how come you decided to come?"
"Easy," Hap smiled, "You."
"Me?"
"I feel good being around you. Margie even asked me if we could move out here near you and Sue. She says that you will watch out for us. That's funny isn't it, a bad ass biker having some GDI look out for him."
"Fucking independent motherfucker," Bear said, as he plopped down in a big chair next to us. "As bad as I think I am, I'm with you Hap. I feel a hell of lot safer out here with Steve than anywhere else we could be."
"Thanks guys, but I don't think you two need to worry about where you are. You're both leaving in good standing. Both of you have led your clubs through some pretty hairy shit. I bet your members understand that you two just want to relax for a while instead of having the constant pressure you've had on you."
Both of the men nodded.
Crystal had been talking to Sue and Margie, but was now standing behind Bear. "Come on, Gorilla, Nancy said she will help me trim you up so you will look human for your new job. Nothing like a shave and haircut to make you pretty."
"Just don't cut it all off, okay? I'll shave the beard, but I want a mustache like Steve's. He has long hair so I don't know why I should cut my hair short," Bear complained.
"Because your hair doesn't lie down," Crystal protested. "It goes in a dozen different directions. Nan and I will wash it first and see if it will lie down. If it does we'll put it in a ponytail."
Hap smiled and said, "When they get done with Bear, Margie and Nancy said they would work on me. Did you know I haven't been without a beard for nearly twenty years? Margie is going to think she's with someone else."
As soon as the two retiring club presidents left, Tiny came over to sit with me. "So how did you like the way the stores looked?"
"I only went to a few, but they all looked really good. I'm impressed that the managers have been able to bring the buildings up to our standards so fast. A couple of the managers showed me a bunch of numbers that they were proud of, but I didn't really know what I was looking at. They must be doing well, as they were happy."
Tiny laughed, "That's a good gauge. If they are happy then they must be doing something right. Actually we don't have any underperforming locations. Everyone is meeting projections, and is managing within the costs we budgeted. The next time you decide to wander around, let me know where, so I can brief you on what to look for with the numbers."
"Tiny, I have to tell you. I'm getting a little lost. The size of the company has become so large that I don't know most of the people. I don't even know where all we have stores. I can motivate and help direct. When I have all the information, I can make a decision, but I'm not the big business man."
"No one is, Steve," Tiny said. "I stay up with the overall by looking at numbers in files for each location. I have a big spreadsheet that is continuously being updated, showing expenses and revenues. The expenses are broken down in understandable areas such as payroll, utilities, shop expenses, vehicles, etc. When I see a number out of line, I pull the file and try to find out what has that number out of kilter. I'll teach you how I do that so you can review them with me. It's not rocket science; it's just plain old evaluation."
"There were a couple of good ideas out in the field that Ryan and Abe said they would implement here and the other stores. That was the best thing that came out of the trip. The Chicago stores have really taken off. The man up there said that the union is the most content they have been in years, so we are doing something right."
Tiny said, "You're doing what a good manager or owner should do. You've delegated responsibility to others. You stay in touch with what's going on but you leave the day to day stuff to those that you delegated it to. You can't run all of the shops here, much less all of the country. We're still growing, so there will be more and more locations to bring up to our standard. Ryan has become your ambassador, he mirrors your attitude to do it right all the time. I've encouraged him to begin hiring and training people under him, so he can oversee all of the locations without having to be in them so often. He will have his men do that. You have Ryan, Phil, Abe, and me to be your eyes and ears. Don't worry yourself. We will oversee those that take care of the daily stuff. We report to you. The buck still stops in your lap, but you have a lot of men making change for you."
Tiny and I got another cup of coffee, and sat back down. He began again, "Take the truck and RV shops. Kevin is managing the mechanics and service people in both shops. He takes care of scheduling, warranty, parts, and oversees all of the mechanics. Crystal watches Kevin, and watches his reports, while directing the sales people, the office staff, and Kevin's people when necessary. She also coordinates activities between the body shop and the truck store, so she has Drew working for her as well. So far, everyone gets along great while she oversees all three entities. As soon as she sees a problem beginning, she directs Drew or Kevin to head it off quickly. That's what a chain of command does. She reports to me for numbers and to Phil for sales. I put their numbers in the file and if I see something that may not be right on the spreadsheet, I open the file. It's the same with the golf cart plant and store, the same with the T-shirt plant, and the same at the utility body shop. The employees are making the company money because they are making themselves money. They get a statement on their 401K balance every month. They see it growing, so they know they are earning more money."
"Thanks, Tiny. I worry that I'm not doing enough for the company. I worry that the whole thing is now so big that it can't be managed. I feel lost sometimes."
"You know what you need? You need to go on a trip somewhere. You need to take your family and go somewhere for a couple of weeks so you can relax. Call me a couple of times a week and I'll keep you posted. Every one of your key people has been taking a week or so a quarter, so you can go without feeling guilty. Figure it out and get."
"Thanks, Tiny, I'll talk to Sue about it."
"She needs to let her people do the same for her, as her company is just too big to run any more. She has multiple managers, but she needs that one strong person to oversee the place. I'd hateto lose Henry, but he might be the one to do it. He's really good and is very cautious with a buck. But he's not so cautious that he'd let an opportunity go by. He's a good judge of character, so he could hire some good industry people to manage these divisions of hers."
Sue had been standing behind Tiny. She said, "Good idea, Tiny. I need someone like you to watch all the numbers, but I also need some more people to manage each division. We manufacture a too diverse group of clothing to be run and marketed together. Come with me to talk to Henry. He'll trust you to direct what he does."
Tiny pulled his cell phone from his belt, "Better yet, I'll call him to come over and we can talk now."
"Hey, Henry, if you're not exceptionally busy, come back over to the patio for a few minutes. We have some things we want to talk about." Tiny paused a minute, then said with a smile. "It's all good. You're gonna like what we're going to talk about."
A couple of minutes later, Henry slid to a stop in his cart. Once he was sitting Sue began, "I need someone to look after the plants like Tiny looks after S&S. We've really grown from the first plant, to now being six times larger than we were, and are even considering more expansion. I want you to be that person, Henry. I want you to oversee all of the numbers of the different divisions. I need to further separate them so we manufacture separately, and market separately. That means you need to help find industry people to run each division. I know that is a lot of responsibility, but Tiny has confidence in you, so I do too. I think we could use an overall manager that I could work with. If you think one of our existing people could be that person, let me know, and we'll consider it. Take your time, get together with Tiny, and learn about all of the ins and outs of the business. Spend time with Joan, Betty, and Hanna. They will teach you a lot. If you think one of them or all of them should be division managers tell me, but I think they would rather design and implement production instead of pushing paper."
Henry looked at Tiny, then me, then back at Sue. "You're serious aren't you?" He didn't say it as a question, but as a statement. "You really want me to be like a CFO of your company? Amazing, I'm down here less that a year and you're already offering me this?"
Tiny assured him, "If I didn't think you could do it, I wouldn't recommend you for the job. I'll help you get a handle on it, but then you're on your own. Use me to bounce ideas off of, but it will be your job to be the watchdog so you can head off a problem before it ever starts."
While looking at Sue, Henry said, "Thank you for the confidence in me. I'll work hard to earn it. This is an amazing job you're giving me. I really can't believe it."
"Believe it, Henry," Sue said, "You'll have to take the raise that goes along with it too. You'll earn it, as my company is a monster. I hope you'll still like me when you find out how much work this will be."
"I don't mind hard work at all, Sue. This is actually better than working for S&S. Everyone there thinks I have a good job because I'm Steve's brother, but working for you, they'll know I earned it."
Tiny laughed, "You earned it all right. I've had you busting your ass since you arrived here. You've taught the new three guys exactly how to keep track of what's going on. They now know to tell me when anything shows up differently. You've done a good job. You'll have to train the guys working for you at "Quality" how you want things. Make them understand that any deviation from what you expect should be reported. That's the only way to fly."
I wanted to say something so I raised my hand like a kid in school. When they all looked at me I said, "I want you to still work with me, and I want you to still work with Tiny. One way to keep us all together is to keep working together. Use Tiny or even me to bounce questions off of. I need to still ask you to do things that may be a cross over into S&S but your main attention will be Quality.
"Can I go tell Nan? She's gonna shit. Do I start Monday, tomorrow?"
Sue smiled at him, "Go tell her. Tiny will work with you beginning tomorrow. Steve and I may be gone, but the girls will help you settle in. Take your time, learn our business and help us remain profitable."
Henry floated out the door and had his cart racing home in seconds.
Sue told Tiny, "Thanks, Tiny, I needed someone. You've watched both sides of the street so well, I figured you to be my guy forever. It's too much isn't it? My company is so big now, and S&S is getting huge. It needs to be split up. I think I want you to remain as a consultant over Henry if you don't mind, but you won't have to keep such a close eye on the business."
"I can do that. I have guys doing most of the work for S&S now, and I'm thinking of having a roving accountant or team to go to the stores to work with the managers on finance stuff."
Something caught my ear. I turned to Tiny and asked, "Finance stuff? Do we finance our product? Do we give credit?"
"We give accounts credit on some things, but it's only thirty to sixty days. If we gave more than that we would have to get some pretty good interest out of it," Tiny said.
"What about the trucks and RVs. I'm sure there is financing going on there," I said.
Tiny nodded, "There is, but we sell the paper to various banks and finance companies."
"Tiny, how about we set up our own finance company. We'll have to run credit checks and all of that, but that could be another revenue stream we haven't even thought of."
"It might be something to look into, Steve."
"We have surplus cash, right?" I asked.
"We do, and we put it in money market accounts, as well as in some high and low risk Fidelity accounts."
"Tiny, would the interest we could charge equal the high risk interest numbers we receive?"
"Usually," Tiny answered. "The fund manager does a good job but we could get at least that much out of the interest. We would have expenses though and it would require some licensing."
"Look into it. See what kind of interest we could make and see if this would be a good place to use our spare capital, especially the high-risk amounts we invest now. I don't think financing trucks and RVs would be as high a risk as the fund, so let's compare some numbers."
Tiny sat back, sipping his now cold coffee, "I love this place. We hire someone for Sue and come up with an idea that will probably be worth several million in revenue a year. Good going, Steve. So now there's going to be an S&S finance company?"
"How about making it 'S&S Investments?' I'll bet we can help some of the big truck buyers, as well as our utility truck buyers. Let's expand our market a little."
Tiny was laughing, "You take one of my good accountants away to run the clothes company, then you come up with an entirely new company that will need even more accounting than the others. It won't be long before I have more accountants than our accounting firm."
I turned to Sue, "Tiny suggested that you and I needed to take off for a week or so and go somewhere. He said we were becoming inundated with business and need some time away. What do you think, want to take off?"
"As long as we take Mercy," Sue said, with a smile.
"Of course, Mercy would come. So would our kids. Do we need to bring Juanita with us to watch the kids?" I asked.
"No, we can do that," Sue answered. "There's only three of them, and Stevie is the only one we'll have to keep on a leash. He's pretty busy, so we'll just have to watch out for him. When do you want to leave?"
Since I had not thought it over too much I just said, "Whenever."
Sue thought for a minute then said, "Why don't you call Dewey and see if he wants to go with us to Hawaii. We could fly out to Seattle and go from there. Call him."
I called Dewey and he was instantly excited about an adventure. He said he would order up the plane for whenever we wanted to go. Sue had gone in to talk to Mercy who came bouncing out of the house excited about Hawaii. She was holding Mike, saying that she could be ready in an hour. I told Dewey that we would meet him at Friday Harbor on Tuesday and then we could leave Seattle Wednesday or Thursday. It would be up to him. Dewey said he would take care of reservations in Hawaii for all of us and that he would see us Tuesday afternoon or evening.
Sue and Mercy had to get the kids ready to go to Ben and Beth's for Sunday dinner. I put on some dressier clothes, then we loaded up the Expedition and drove down to the Bay Shore mansion. Visiting with the three little ones was much different than when it was just Sue and me. We arrived with a bustle, and a couple of large diaper bags. The butler couldn't keep a straight face, and instantly gathered up little Steve to hold for a second before the squirming kid demanded down so he could run to find Gamma.
The sedate Ben and Beth changed their demeanor as well. Kids do that. Ben held Lizzy, while Beth cooed over Mike. Stevie was making a running tour of the house, going into the kitchen, the dining room, trying to go up the stairs, but always being gathered up by the attentive butler.
When Ben and Beth heard we were going to Hawaii, they wanted to go too. Sue said, "The plane is going to be full."
She thought a minute then said, "Well, not really. We could take you two to Seattle but if we took you to Friday Harbor we wouldn't have room for Dewey, Sheila, and little Dewey coming back. Let me call Dewey to find out if his plane can handle two more."
Sue called out to Friday Harbor and talked to Dewey, then came back into the sitting room. "Dewey said we would all fit in his Gulfstream with the extra seats installed. The four little ones have to be in car seats for most of the ride, but can get down on the floor for a little exercise. The rest of us have to have seats so it will be a pretty full airplane."
Early Monday morning, we were all at the aero park, loading the plane. The attendant and I went over the service history as the plane had been on rental quite a bit. Everything was current with no write-ups on anything. I did the preflight inspection, while Ben seated himself in the right seat. Sue and Beth, with Lizzy and Stevie, were in the back four seats, with Mercy and Mike in the front two.
I had Ben do the startup checklist with me and we were soon on our way. We stopped in Columbia, Missouri, as their fuel prices were still some of the best, and had some lunch. An hour later we were headed toward Salt Lake City. There was no headwind at all, so we were making great time.
We landed in Salt Lake City early enough to have a reasonably early dinner, with time for the little ones to roam around on the floor in the hotel room. Steve was busy checking and touching everything. Sue and Mercy had brought a few of his favorite toys, so he was satisfied.
We were up early, had breakfast, and were on the final leg to Seattle by eight. We landed and were directed to a tiedown parking area next to Dewey's Gulfstream. A limo came out for Ben and Beth and they left for a good time in Seattle for a day and two nights.
After refueling, we left for Friday Harbor and landed in no time. While on approach, Sue called Sheila to tell her we were landing. Sheila told Sue there was a car there to bring us to their house.
An hour later we were hugging and hand shaking in Dewey's living room. Little Dewey was growing like crazy a little smaller than Stevie but still pretty active. They had a padded area for the kids to play on the floor where they could easily be observed.
We visited until it was time for us to go into town for supper. Dewey said his friends were looking forward to seeing us. At the bar/restaurant the nine of us caused a stir, having four little ones with us. They were used to Dewey and Sheila bringing little Dewey, but were surprised by Sue, Mercy, and I with three more. For those that didn't already know Sue and me, Mercy and Sue were both introduced as my wife. This caused some strange looks, but the two girls didn't even bat an eye. They were busy settling the three kids.
We had a great time, drinking some drinks and beer, joining in with all the chatter then having a great salmon dinner. Sheila made the comment that they hardly ever had salmon as they usually only had it when they came into town. Dewey made arrangements for one of the guys there to help him and I go out on the sloop in the morning. He said he needed to find a small day sailor so he could sail around the islands but since he didn't have one, we would just go out on the big boat.
Back at Dewey's, Sheila announced that two of her friends and the housekeeper were going to watch the kids while we were all out on the boat. She said they would be at the house by six thirty so we should be up early so we could get a full day of sailing.
Mercy was very excited. She had been on the sailboat before staying overnight but had never been sailing. It took a while for Sue and me to put her to sleep.
Wednesday morning found us up and dressed at five. While the girls were feeding the little ones, Dewey and I went out to the boat in the dinghy to take the tarp off the cabin and the covers off the sails. He cranked the engines and the generator letting the cabins warm up. We left the boat idling at anchor and went back to get the girls and the guy who was going to go with us.
Dewey's friend had called and said he was sorry but was really sick and couldn't come. Dewey said, "No matter." He looked at me and added, "You and I took the boat all the way down to San Francisco by ourselves, we should be able to handle the boat for a day."
Once everyone was on the boat and the dinghy was on the davits, Dewey had me release the bowline, then pull the slip knot at the stern. He used the big motors to maneuver out into the channel so we could head toward open sea. Once we were in the open channel with a little breeze, we began hoisting sail. It's a thrill to watch the canvas unfurl and fill with wind. You can feel the boat lift slightly with the push of the wind.
As you float through the islands, you see lots of seals on the shore, as well as floating in the water. Some bark, some flap the water with their flippers or tail. Between two islands, Dewey was quick to point out some tall fins swimming away from us. A pod of Orcas were swimming that way.
Dewey had me steering, by using the depth scope and the GPS through and between the islands, until we were heading toward nothing but smooth rolling water with the islands in our wake.
We sailed northwest for about four hours, using some wind from a low pressure area that was passing through the area. As the front approached, Dewey swung the boat around and used the prevailing winds from the Northwest to push us back toward the islands.
Mercy was totally captivated by sailing. She spent the entire time on deck with Dewey and me. She bombarded Dewey with questions till he turned to me and said, "You'll have to get a boat, Steve. You don't have to get one this big. Try for something around fifty feet. If you want, I'll come down and we'll look together. Mercy has salt water in her veins now and won't settle for less than the excitement of feeling the wind in her face."
On the way back, we let Mercy take the wheel, watching the big compass and keeping the signal of the GPS on track. We dropped sail in the channel near Friday Harbor and motored up to Dewey's buoys. I dropped the dinghy and tied the bowline first, then the stern line. I took the three girls to the dock and came back to help cover the sails and help wash down the decks. The last thing we did before going to shore was to pull the cover over the main cabin. Back ashore, we lifted the dinghy from the water with the dock davits.
It was nice to be inside the warmth of the house. The kids were happy to see their parents, with the two littlest happy to be cuddled by their mothers.
The housekeeper had prepared a great leg of lamb for us, so we ate and talked of our great adventure. Mercy told Sue that we really needed to look into a boat at home, as she really liked sailing. The two women agreed to begin a search for a beginner boat for us. Sue suggested we get a sailboat and a large cruiser, like a fishing boat. She said we could entertain customers on it, as well as use it for pleasure.
A little later I used Dewey's PC and sent Tiny an e-mail. He had suggested a boat so many times that I knew he had many ideas of what he wanted. He was always talking about various people and their cruisers or big fishing boats. "Find us a boat that we can entertain customers on, one big enough to sleep at least ten. I'm told the Coast Guard has several big confiscated boats that are a deal. Have fun."
Doing that was like giving a kid a buck and sending him into a penny candy store.
Thursday morning, we got up reasonably early, had breakfast, and packed up to head for Seattle. At the Friday Harbor airport, we loaded the plane with luggage and people, then with Dewey riding in the right seat, flew into Seattle. We were again directed to park next to Dewey's Gulfstream, but this time several attendants came for the luggage and assisted the three ladies and four kids up the stairway into the Gulfstream.
Ben and Beth were already on board. They had taken two of the back seats in order to give the kids room toward the lounge area in front.
Once everyone was inside, had found seats, and strapped the kids in, the senior hostess asked me to come up to the cockpit. The pilot waved me into the right seat, handed me the checklist flip chart and said, "Start at the beginning." We went through each item. He took time to explain what each item was and what each reading was. He pointed to the green lamp that indicated the door was closed and sealed and announced to the passengers that we were preparing to take off.
We went through the engine start procedure and checked all of the gauges, then he called in to open his flight plan. He told me to keep my hands on the yoke and feet on the pedals to feel what he was doing on the ground and advanced the throttles to begin taxing to the main runway.
He told me to set the flaps, which was easily done, then we waited to be cleared on the runway. As we pulled onto the runway, he advanced the throttles, held the plane until the engines had spooled up, then released the brakes to accelerate till I felt the gentle pull he gave the yoke when the plane was trying to lift off at takeoff speed.
Once aloft, flying is flying. He pointed out each dial and gauge to explain its function and what readings would be suspect. When I said I thought the 200 had a lot of displays until I saw this, he said that if I went to a school, they would have me proficient in very little time. I thanked him for the lesson then left the right seat for the other pilot and went back to join Sue and Mercy. Sue said, "I wanted you to get the feel of a big plane. I think we might want one soon."
"These things are too expensive. The 200 is worth a bunch of bucks but a plane like this is probably five times what the 200 is," I said, not even considering something this expensive.
"If we had one of the new Gulfstream Vs, we could probably rent it out and charter it at a profit. Then all our flying would be free." Sue smiled her little girl smile and said, "If Mercy gets a sailboat, I get a big plane."
Dewey, Ben, and I broke out laughing. Wouldn't you know the two girls were plotting? Mercy and Sue were looking at each other with sheepish grins.
Dewey helped Sue's cause by saying, "I have two of these Gulfstreams now, a 200 similar to yours, along with a couple of 185s and a 210. They stay busy all the time. I'm actually showing a profit from the charter services. That's a profit after maintenance, fuel, airport services, and flight crews. I now have a charter office and even advertise. It's a great way to have some toys that don't cost you an arm and a leg to own."
Sue looked at me, grinned, then said, "See, you could haul more people around when you go on your jaunts to see stores."
I moved up to the seat with the computer terminal and turned it on. Once it was linked, I sent Tiny an e-mail that said only, "Build a hangar at the Aero Park, a big one with room to build a second one next to it."
Tiny had sent me a couple of e-mails. One said that the Chicago store had just signed a big sales contract with the State of Illinois and another with Great Lakes Shipping for both generators and compressors. Phil is floating around the place on air. Another e-mail said he had found three prospective boats and included pictures and descriptions of each. I printed out the information and pictures, and shut down the computer.
I showed the pictures to Sue, with Mercy looking over her shoulder. Mercy said, "That isn't a sailboat."
Sue answered her, "We need a powered boat for entertaining and fishing. We can probably charter it like the planes, because people down there love the water."
"How about sailboats, Steve, can you begin looking for one soon?"
I smiled at Mercy and said, "Certainly. I'll ask Tiny to find a surveyor for me to hunt for prospective sailboats."
Back at the computer, I turned it on then e-mailed Tiny to find a boat surveyor to help begin a hunt for a sailboat. When he found the surveyor to give me the number and I will advise the agent of what to look for. Mercy looked over my shoulder the entire time I was sending the e-mail.
Mercy went back to her seat, satisfied that I was going to find what she wanted.
Back in my seat, Dewey commented that it was a good thing I wasn't the type to want a lot, and that I had a super successful company. He said the girls wanted enough that they would take up my share. Sue gave him a glaring look, but smiled at him, while Mercy tried to look innocent.
I spent a lot of time on the floor first with Stevie, then later with Liz and Mike. Little Dewey joined me in rolling around sometimes too. We had a great meal, as well as a few refreshments. Neither Dewey nor I really wanted liquor other than a beer in the afternoon. We were all a little butt weary by the time we landed in Hawaii.
We spent a week enjoying the beaches, did some deep sea fishing, some snorkeling, and even tried to surf some. I had forgotten everything I had learned before, and spent most of my time wiping out trying to dive into a curl. It was fun, but it seemed that I was trying to drown myself. I kept wondering how I had done it so easily the first time.
The week was perfect. No wild excitement and lots of time palling around with Dewey. We did a lot of things as a group, but the girls did a lot of shopping and beach time together while Dewey and I were out seeking adventure. Ben spent as much time on a golf course as he could. Beth went with him a few times, but was not the golf nut Ben was.
Dewey and I rented some diving equipment and we hired a diving instructor to work with Dewey to certify him. Once we were through with the preliminaries, we convinced the diving instructor to hire a boat and get several other divers to go out for a day of exploring some old wrecks. We had a great time, with Dewey vowing to get his own equipment and do some diving up in the islands. I made him promise he would find other experienced divers to go with and to never dive alone. He agreed, remembering the dead diver we had found in Hawaii before.
The trip home was uneventful. Dewey had his pilot fly him and his family home in the 210 and we loaded up our junior rocket and took off for San Francisco. Missy and Merlin met us at the airport where we had bought our two airplanes. We headed into the city to enjoy an evening at home with good food and good conversation. Merlin and Missy could hardly put Mike down long enough for him to squirm around. They were very clutching, but understandable for grandparents.
Mercy spent a great deal of time talking about the day we spent sailing. Missy said she had only been sailing once and loved it, but Merlin had tried it and was terribly sick the whole time out in the water. Mercy said that we were going to get a sailboat as well as a big fishing boat to entertain our customers. Missy said she would love to go on a trip with us when we did get the boat.
The second day in San Francisco, we went to the club so Mercy could show Mike off. Merlin strutted around, bragging about his grandson, while Missy held court with Mercy, showing him off to all of the female staff. Mercy agreed to do a small part of the evening's show, so we went home so the three, Merlin, Missy, and Mercy could practice a few things.
Missy had two experienced babysitters come to the house so we could all go to the club. There, we ate early with the staff and performers, then they all scattered to their various responsibilities as the restaurant opened. About an hour later, the lounge where the shows were performed opened, and that's where Sue and I enjoyed each other's company while watching the antics of some of the young magicians.
They had a new early show that not only performed simple tricks, but revealed and taught several tricks. They had members of the audience do the trick with the magician, then try to do it on their own a few times. It was a lot of fun and produced a lot of laughter as some tricks failed horribly, and applause when someone was able to smoothly do the trick.
Mercy and Missy did a show together then were joined by Merlin. They did several illusions individually, and then one collectively, where the three seemed to become one person with three heads on stage, then poof, they became three people in three separate locations. The audience applauded and cheered wildly, as it was so realistic.
The two ladies did not do any mind reading or mentalist demonstrations this night. Mercy later said that neither she nor her mother felt very clairvoyant tonight.