I woke up seeing the numerals on the clock click to five fifty. After taking a deep breath, I slid from bed and began my morning routine. I wanted to make a list of things I wanted accomplished before Christmas. I also wanted my head clear for the Lear school I was attending.
Kissing the girls awake brought the usual protestations, then they all did get up and begin the day.
I had coffee with Glenda while I made my list. It wasn't that long, but it covered a variety of areas that I would need all of my leaders to help me with.
First this morning, I asked Tiny whether or not it was our responsibility to house the crew onshore. He said he thought so, but would check with John. He said it was a tradeoff though, because if we paid for onshore housing, they got a lower salary.
I kissed the girls goodbye at seven forty-five, in anticipation of the class starting at eight. Boy, was I wrong. When I entered the operations building at the Aero Park, Paul asked why I was so early.
"I figured the school would start at eight or at the latest eight-thirty."
Paul laughed, "Please, these guys are hardly awake at eight. This morning, they are supposed to start at nine, but they will probably tell you ten tomorrow and Wednesday. They do fly late though and they do tend to continue teaching long after five. They are definitely not early birds like you and your whole company."
Instead of just sitting, I walked over to the charter office and up to my office there, to look over any reports they may have left for me. I was able to sit in my office and watch activity both outside, in front of the building and hangars, and inside the hangars on both sides of me. By eight thirty, almost all of the little 152s and 172s were out of the hangars, prepared for student pilots. Ryan's plane was parked ready to go too. When it was getting close to nine, I went back to the ops building, ready for the school.
The three instructors introduced themselves and discussed the agenda over the three days. We then watched an hour movie on the Lear navigational system. When that was complete, they handed out workbooks that would help us learn the system. Next was another movie about intricate instruments and gauges of the Lear. It was comforting to know that the instructors said that we would eventually learn them all, but right now if a gauge was reading out of the ordinary, a cockpit alarm would go off and a small flashing red lamp would appear within the gauge. We could interpret the reading on the gauge by using the flip chart and follow the description line to the contents. They did make it simple, considering how complicated an airplane it was.
We ate a catered lunch and went back to class. The afternoon was more of the same. We studied the navigation system completely, from startup through landing. It really wasn't far off from the way my instrument instructor had taught me, so I didn't really have a problem.
Around five thirty, the lead instructor said he would meet us with our flying clothes on around nine-thirty to ten o'clock. He reminded us that we should not drink anything twelve hours before we were to fly. The other five men and I just nodded, knowing we would have a few beers for supper anyway.
When I arrived home, the place was busy. I usually experience people coming in after work until the place rocked. This time when I got there the place was already rocking. The four little ones were wound up, running all over, playing one form of chase that only they knew the rules to. The women were busy getting food on the table and the guys were all gabbing about their day.
I hardly had a sip from a frosty mug before it was time to sit down to eat. Sue said that Mercy, Juanita, and she had a ton to tell me but would wait till later.
Finally, when the tables had been cleared and some form of order had been established, Sue and the girls had me sit with them in the living room with the three little ones.
Sue began, "The Magellan people came today and began the remodeling. I changed a couple of things in anticipation of chartering it with a crew. They said the changes were inconsequential, so it wasn't a problem."
"We went through the big boat very carefully so that we would know what was there and what wasn't. They left enough linens to last the whole trip without washing a sheet. Not really, but it seems like it. There are plenty of towels and bath stuff. They have not just a couple, but a case of extra toothbrushes on board. So if we have unexpected guests, they can have clean teeth. The onboard stockroom has lots of personal hygiene products, tons of soap for the body, the dishwasher, and the clothes washer."
Mercy said, "The way the bedrooms are is perfect for us. There is a small study off the master stateroom that we will convert to three beds with rails. We can change this room around constantly, as it has enough room to hold even the five additional kids we're getting."
Juanita then added, "We're going to store some of the furniture that is now in the below deck lounge so the little ones have more room to play. We're also going to put some gates up so they won't get out easily. I'm sure Carson will figure out how, but Kate said he minds well. The good thing is that we're having the one wall removed between the galley and the lounge so we can see into the lounge from the galley. Whoever is cooking or preparing anything can watch the kids."
Sue took over again, "I worked out with John where we wanted phones in addition to the boat's communication system. We also fixed locations for computers, TVs and personal radar displays. If we had to, we could leave next week, but we have over a month, so we'll get everything done we want to get done."
John was sitting with us and finally spoke up. "I've found two more boats of hundred and five feet and one that is a hundred and twenty-five feet. Both of the boats have been used for charter cruises so they are both ready for paying customers. They both had recent bottom cleanings, and both have existing crews that we need to run through Interpol and the FBI. We ran the crew from your new boat and they are all clean. I think you can have three crews for four boats, since they won't all be out at once. If it comes to that, we'll get more people."
"John, you need to talk to Tiny about more boats since he's the one gung-ho on starting this charter cruise company."
John replied, "I already talked to him, and he said to mention it to you to see if you have any major objections. You don't, so I guess it's a go. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. We bought a hundred and fifty foot motor launch today. This thing is plush and ready for any kind of party known to man. It was such a good deal that Tiny and I couldn't keep from buying it."
"That's not normal, John. How many charters are we going to get to keep up a hundred and fifty foot boat?"
"Lots Steve," John said. "The boat is chartered continuously up through next July. I think we'll do okay with it."
"So why was it on the market if it's in so much demand?" I had to ask.
"Easy," John said, "the couple who own the charter company are busting up. The finance company they own boat with said that they had to sell it immediately or they would repossess it."
"Okay, I'm game, what did you steal a hundred and fifty foot yacht for, you gangster?" I asked John, laughing and almost crying.
"Enough that I could immediately remarket the boat and almost double our investment. They don't have time, I do."
"I suppose I should look at all of this and say 'sweet, ' then go smoke some of the loco weed that you guys are using."
John said, "You bring the luck out. People who don't know you, shake your hand and know you won't screw them, either short or long term. They are willing to take their rock bottom number because you are involved. You have that lucky horseshoe up your butt."
Shawna had heard some of the tirade said, "He not only kissed the Blarney Stone, he fucking made love to it."
I smiled at everyone and said, "The luck was always right here. I just came along and unlocked it so we could all enjoy it."
Tiny said, "Amen."
When we went to bed, I questioned Sue, Mercy, Juanita, and Kate about whether they had gone through the boat completely. They said they would do it again tomorrow to make sure they had looked and poked around the entire boat.
Sue said, "We didn't notice before but the big bed is much bigger than a king. It's a custom that's almost two feet wider than a king size. It's big enough we can get another candidate for the harem."
With that I grabbed Sue and put her over my knee gently and squeezed and patted her luscious butt, telling her how naughty she was to even think that way.
This night, Juanita demanded some loving, then Kate said she needed to feel loved. Of course, it was then time to love up my second and then my first wives. By the time ten-thirty came, I was limp, my dick was limp, and no amount of cajoling would get it back up.
Wednesday became a big day in my life, Ho, Ho, Ho. At breakfast, before running out to the Aero Park, Sue wanted to fit me with a Santa suit, Ho, Ho, Ho. The entire time I was trying it on, I was either being groped by horny ladies, or laughed at by my comrades, Ho, Ho, Ho. They even had me try on the fake beard, then asked me if I wanted to eat any pussy. Ho, Ho, Ho. Apparently there was going to be a Christmas thing at the two clothing factories, one at the main shop and one out at the business park, which would include Santa giving away presents. Ho, Ho, Ho. The clothing fit, the extra pillow helped make the pants fit, and the fake beard made me unrecognizable. Ho, Ho, Ho.
I made it to the Aero Park by nine-thirty, which was still early. When the four guys showed up, the students were ready to go. All of us had done the preflight inspections on the four aircraft. One was mine, and the other three were Lear training school aircraft. We divided up into teams then took off to continue to learn the aircraft characteristics and the flight navigational system. We flew till we were low on fuel then landed, refueled, and took off again. When we finally settled on the runway at four forty-five on Wednesday, I felt confident I could fly the plane anywhere, anytime. I had also learned a lot about being an instructor pilot. This had been a good course.
Upon finishing up for the day, we met in the operations building training room. There, the instructors began giving out our certificates and entries for our logbook. When they addressed me they said, "Our thanks to Steve and his company for hosting this school here. As all four of you know from flying with him, Steve is one of our best pilots, and certainly one of the safest. To commemorate your accomplishment, here is a plaque from Lear to show our appreciation and to honor your flying ability."
"Now the good part for most of you guys. If you have flown a Lear with their navigational system, you will be able to fly most Gulfstreams and their navigational system. Steve, I understand you haven't flown the Gulfstream yet, so we have one reserved tomorrow morning. You will be checked out on the Gulfstream V. If you do it the way we think you will, you'll be cleared to pilot the bird in either the right or the left seat."
"Thanks, guys. But you know what I want to fly? I want to fly a fighter, I want to go up to Mach 2, I want to do loops, rolls, and dives that pull your guts out at the last minute. I want to fly crazy for a few minutes. Sure, I know it's important to fly safe but I want to be nuts too. Right now though, I want to thank all of you for saying nice things about me."
One of the instructors said, "Too bad you're getting a late start on this stuff. Otherwise, we could probably get you into a Navy fighter school. The Air Force is all stacked up with people who can fly, but not the Navy. They have carrier positions open all the time."
"I'd do that. I'm only thirty-one going on thirty-two, so I still have time."
"Naw, you don't," the instructor said. "They like to get guys out of college and teach them to fly. They're flying hot stuff by twenty-five to twenty-six max. Even with your experience, they would never let you fly current stuff. If you want to take a chance, join the Air National Guard and see if you can get into a fighter wing. They might let you fly fighters."
"That's a thought," I said, contemplating the comment.
"Remember though, that you could be in an immediate call-up that might send you to the Near East to fly sorties over sand."
"There is that, isn't there," I said, thinking a little more practically.
We finished up and the instructors refueled their Lears, then took off heading home.
The students all shook hands and departed to our homes.
The meal was just about over by the time I arrived at the patio. They had saved me some meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and lots of gravy. I stuffed it down with a couple of beers and joined the guys in their discussion of the day.
Star was with them, discussing her tool finds for the day. She was handing out CDs that contained photos, the write-up, and a short video of the creator using the item. We put one in the player for the big screen and let Star emcee the show. Each tool was unique. Of the seven she had, three were definitely marketable. The other four could be, but would not be as profitable.
Abe said he would try to duplicate the manufacture of the pieces and get back with us. Star said she had a full day tomorrow, and the rest of the week, with scheduled showings of various instruments. She then inserted a CD that had a PowerPoint presentation on it. The presentation went through some common problems that companies had with marketing, then gave a few brief descriptions of what our company did to become a multi-national, multi-billion dollar company. The conclusion to the presentation was a brief speech by Phil, saying that to find out when the next seminar would be held to call our 1-800 number. The whole thing was very professional.
I congratulated Star, and asked how she was going to get the presentation out to corporations. "Easy, Steve, I'm having CDs made up a thousand at a time and sending them to companies within specific geographic areas. When we have sufficient clients paid up for a class, we will work up where the class will be held."
Phil said, "I just about have four days worth of material to teach from. If they go out and use what I give them, they could take us on, except we are already first in the market."
"Star, do you have a preference for when the first seminar will take place?"
"I sure do," Star exclaimed. The first one will be the last week in January, right here in Tampa. The second one will be two weeks from then in St. Petersburg. From there we're going to Miami, Orlando, and then Jacksonville. We may have enough people for a seminar in Tallahassee. We'll see, but we already have enough people to max out our first five seminars."
I answered her as I was leaving the group, "Sounds good to me, keep it going, and be sure to ask for help any time you need it."
As I was getting ready to shut down the patio, Tiny came to me and asked, "So you're qualified to fly the Lear, right?"
"Yes sir, I have it down now. I'm not afraid of it anymore."
Tiny looked at me funny, then said, "Can you fly us up to Montreal in the morning. We may be able to pick up the largest dealer in Canada."
"Tiny, it's the middle of winter. How are you going to make a decision on a place that's beneath a couple of feet of snow?"
"No problem, Steve, It hasn't snowed up there for several days and the place has been cleaned out. Cleaned out of everything, snow, equipment, parts everything."
"What happened?"
Tiny looked a little sad, "The company was in debt and couldn't meet their payments. The mortgage holder filed for the place and we'll be buying it from them.
"How does Onan feel about this kind of piracy?"
"They were the ones to call me about it. It's their idea that we should buy the company."
"Can you get me a meet with the owner? I'd like to talk to him before we go charging in there. Let's find out what's involved here."
Tiny said, "I'll call right now. If we are going to take advantage of this deal, we need to do it quick, like right now."
"Okay, Tiny," I said, getting my wind, "Find some Canadian attorneys and accountants to tear the books apart, and get it all to me as fast as they can, like tomorrow morning. Find me the former or current owner and let me talk to him tonight. Let's get it done."
Five minutes later, Tiny handed me the phone. A French-Canadian accented guy began talking to me. As soon as I told him my name and what I was calling about, the guy spilled him guts. "Mr. Sharp, I made bad decisions. I make bad deals. I let people take advantage of me. I know what I've done wrong, but now it is too late. If you want to hire someone who knows where he's gone wrong, I will work hard for you to make the dealership work."
"As soon as I get some numbers back, we'll be up there, and hopefully give all of your people hope their jobs will still be there."
Tiny told me he had two agents from the Chicago area going to Montreal to check on the business. I called the former owner again and advised him of the people arriving, the dinner, and the breakfast that was to be held there for all the employees.
"I'd like to take Henry with me, Tiny asked. "I need some backup on this one. There is enough going on that we will have to look at every needed part of a filter or mechanism going past aging or warranty. Thankfully, he's sold off most of his other inventory. We should be able to move a sales team in and begin making sales."
"Isn't Henry buried with Sue's stuff?" I asked, thinking we had just dumped into Quality Wear.
Tiny grimaced, "Henry's knowledge is necessary for this. I'll send two or three guys over there to cover for him while he's gone. He's only going to be a cell phone call away."
Later, I told Sue and the girls what was happening in the morning. Sue said, "Why don't you fly up there tonight and hit the place first thing in the morning. It's eight-thirty now, you could be in the air by nine, nine-fifteen. Fly up tonight, wake up early and hit the floor there when the door cracks. You can get with the bankruptcy people quicker and make your deal."
I called Tiny and told him to put his clothes on as we were flying tonight. I called Henry and asked him if he could go at the moment. He laughed, "Yeah, I can go, but I have to finish what I started with Nancy. She'll be pissed if I don't get her off." You could hear Nancy scoffing at Henry.
While I took a quick shower and dressed, Mercy made coffee and sandwiches, and Sue called the airport up there to find a hotel for us. She also called the Aero Park to get the Lear out and prepped so we could leave instantly.
At nine-ten, I was lifting off the runway toward Montreal. We were armed with our passports, our wits, and a lot of paper. We were back in bed by two in the morning at the airport hotel. We left the plane in an inspection spot so Canadian customs could check it out.
Thursday morning
Where am I? Oh yeah, Montreal. What time is it? The clock says six. I crawled from bed, showered, and dressed. Tiny called just as I was going to go down to the restaurant, saying he and Henry were also on their way down.
We collectively woke up drinking some coffee and having breakfast. Tiny said the desk clerk told him our rental car was at the front door, so all we had to do was go get it. After we ate, we got directions to the distributorship and headed straight there. It was just seven and no one was there.
At seven fifteen, a big Mercedes pulled up and a prosperous looking guy got out, heading toward the door. I got out, telling the other guys to stay until I found out who it was I was talking to. As soon as I introduced myself, he was happy to meet me and wanted to know how we could make it so fast. I told him we flew. He shrugged his shoulders and led us into the building.
He led us to a small conference room and began making coffee for us. I asked him if he could help Tiny and Henry get some numbers together. He said he had some very current numbers, but I was welcome to all the information necessary to bail him out.
At eight, the man's financial people were there. He introduced our guys then left them to determine what was needed.
We toured the shop where he had a small rebuild area. He didn't have welding or sheet metal shops. He was primarily into sales of new product. He didn't even resell any rebuilt equipment. I noted several areas where we could build the business and what we could do to succeed.
By noon, Tiny and Henry said we could go talk to the bankers. The owner, a Mr. Phillip Bustaine, made an appointment with the banking officials.
Henry cornered Tiny and me in the restroom at the restaurant we went to, "I'm not comfortable with what we have. Something's missing, I can't track the goods shipped from Onan through here. The only goods I can verify is that which was drop-shipped the way we do it. There is quite a bit of merchandise that was sold just prior to the bankruptcy, but that is all easy to track. If you buy this thing, the owner should be responsible for everything prior to the minute you buy it. A contract has to be worded exactly like that. I know some attorneys up here; I'll call one out here so we can draft a deal if you want."
"Good work, Henry, you know what I want. Get us a legal eagle."
Tiny said, "I feel like everyone in the office is hiding something. The only thing we really want out of here is the distributorship. The building would be nice, but we don't need it. I'd bet Onan would give us the distributorship just for the asking and you can have this guy go pound sand."
I thought for a second then said, "When we get back to the table, I'll call Onan and ask them that exact question. This Bustaine guy will know we're serious and that we can get the distributorship without taking his buildings. Let's see if he changes his tune."
When I was on the phone with the head of Onan, I said, "We're not real comfortable with the numbers we've seen here. We can't track all of the equipment and there are several numbers missing that we need. My question is, can we just get the distributorship and buy or build our own buildings?"
I listened while the guy said, "You sure can. That guy owes us a bunch. You've never defaulted or reneged on a dime. You don't even have to buy it; Onan will award it to you. How's that?"
I pushed the speakerphone button on my cell phone and asked him to repeat what he just said. He said again, "You don't have to buy; Onan will award the distributorship to you. Is that good enough? A little advice though, don't go digging that guy out of his hole, then lose the whole thing in some scam he's dreamed up."
I thanked him and hung up.
You could see the face of the local owner turn white. "You would totally cut me out? How could you do that?"
Tiny said in defense, "How could you forget to give us so much information necessary to make a reasonable deal. By the time we refurbish this building to make it into what we like; we can build a new one. So far you haven't given us one reason to buy this place out. Give me one now."
The man looked at me like I had two heads, then sputtered around for a few minutes. I decided to help him. "You have quite a few employees, are they all loyal, will they work for a new owner? That sort of thing is important to prospective buyers." I gave the guy another push, "Are you current on your property taxes, and know that I'm not buying any debts you owe at this time, either known or non-disclosed."
He had been staring at the table, then looked up and said in a quieter voice, "Will you buy the property? It is without debt at this time."
"I won't buy it today, but I will buy it for the average of what two independent appraisers say it's worth. If the number is not to your pleasure, you can sell it on your own."
Bustaine asked, "What about my parts inventory, what about all of our tools?"
"I don't have time to inventory them and price them. I'm not comfortable doing business with you at the moment, and don't feel as if we can do business fairly. My advisors are terrified I'll give you a nickel, and I listen to my advisors."
"You're just going to walk out? You're not going to give me a chance?"
"A chance to what, cover up more of what you're hiding or don't want us to know? Come on, I was eager to do a deal today, and now I feel as if I've wasted good jet fuel getting here. Come on Tiny, Henry, let's get out of here. Mr. Bustaine, if you decide to clean up our deal, call me. Otherwise, watch for our grand opening."
We walked out of the conference room and out of the building to our rental car. Tiny was driving, so I told him to go through the area and look for a real estate office. I had Henry write down the names and telephone numbers of the commercial for sale and for lease signs as we passed them. An office, with one of the names on a commercial for sale sign, appeared on our right. I had Tiny pull in. We walked into the office where we were greeted in French, then English. I asked for a sales representative who could help us find some property.
We were introduced to an Anthony Fontaine. He was all business and began doing the question and answer routine to find out what our needs were. I thought for a few minutes then said, "Tiny, call the office and have them e-mail the floor plan and pictures of the new St. Louis building. That way he will get an idea of what we need, either in building or land." Anthony gave Tiny his e-mail address while Tiny was talking to Ruth. She said we could expect her e-mail within a few minutes.
Anthony had the receptionist get us coffee. She had just brought it to us when the e-mails appeared on Anthony's PC. Ruth sent us a drawing of the property with the building placed on it, and a scaled down floor plan showing how the building was divided up. The last was a photo of the front of the building and an aerial photo that Ryan had taken.
I told Anthony, "This would be the minimum we would like. I'll give you some time to either find an acceptable building we can remodel, or find us the property to build on. If we build, I want sufficient surrounding property so we can expand."
We all gave him our contact information and asked him to report his progress three times a week. As we were getting ready to leave, I asked, "Do you have offices in other major Canadian cities?"
"Yes we do, Mr. Sharpe, we have twenty-seven other offices. I can assist you in all of our areas. Let me know where you wish to do business so I can begin the search."
As we drove back to the airport, Henry said, "We're going to have to pay the attorney I called. We left before he could get there. I called him to cancel, but he had already left his office."
"That's fine, Henry. Pay him and send him an additional retainer so he can represent us in the city. Make sure we get some form of non-disclosure agreement from him, but let him know we're happy he was willing to come to our aid."
It was just after two, so we decided to fly home instead of spending another night away from our family. It took me longer than normal to do the preflight inspection, but I am just getting used to the plane. I called in a flight plan as we were warming up. I was diverted to Buffalo for a customs inspection. I told Tiny and Henry that we might as well get it done then beat feet home.
We landed in Burlington, Vermont and were directed to an area where small fixed wing airplanes tie down. The Lear wouldn't fit so I sat in an aisle burning fuel until someone finally answered me. The controller said, "Oh shit, you're a Lear, damn, go to the front of the building with all the glass at eleven o'clock from where you're at. I'll call customs for you."
Two uniformed men came out to do the inspection. The checked my log and my fuel level. Smart. I could have diverted before coming here from Montreal. They went through our bags and the storage areas of the plane and declared us clean and terrorist safe. A fuel truck had been called for me and we tanked up quickly, paid our airport fees, and prepared to leave. Henry came running back with a big bag of sandwiches and a bunch of water, Coke, and coffee.
On the way home, Tiny and Henry swapped places so that Henry could experience flying up front. We had a nice chat about how we had finally ended up in Tampa. Once we were near home, I aligned us with the runway and used the instruments right down the middle until I touched us down.
Luckily someone was in the maintenance hangar when we landed and went over to the big hangar and opened the door on the side the Lear usually sat. I was able to spin the Lear so that its tail was pointed at the open door. After we had pulled our stuff from the plane and cleaned out our trash, I used the tow motor to push the plane back into the hangar. I set the chocks then pushed the button to shut the doors. I wrote up the low fuel and cleanup tickets, and laid them on the administrator's desk as we left.
I was impressed with the security. As soon as we got out of the plane a security guard was watching us, and when we had buttoned everything up he even double-checked the office door to make sure I had locked it. We shouldn't lose anymore planes out here.
It was late by the time I dropped Henry off at his trailer. I took Tiny back to my place, where we had a beer to relax before heading to bed. Sue, Mercy, Juanita, and Kate all came out to visit with me while we unwound. Ruth even came back with Tiny after he took his bag home. It took Tiny and I at least three mugs each for us to feel as if we were ready for bed.
I was treated royally. Juanita suggested they give me a massage to relax me. They did such an excellent job, I feel asleep after only about five minutes.