Chapter 5
After a few days of intense negotiations, all parties agreed to the plans for the construction. The ground breaking was attended by everyone involved in the project and was written up in the papers. Jim made sure that a complete account of the agreement with Parameter, the contractors and the building trades was written up in the Sunday newspaper in the business section.
The construction started in earnest On September 15th. The unions had little problem manning the project since work was a bit slack in the area. Jim held off on the third shift until the site work was well under way and the concrete contractor laid out the slab. After the slab drawings were approved he ordered the concrete contractor to start work.
Each day became increasingly more hectic. He hired 2 retired project managers to assist him and they helped head off a lot of the problems before they got to his desk. As with all accelerated construction projects, there was a new crisis every 10 minutes that had to be solved immediately. He insisted that each contractor's foreman attend a 20-minute progress meeting every day. He sent a memo to the foreman outlining what would be discussed that day and asked that they come prepared to help with the problems that were going to be discussed.
Ann Bristol attended the progress meetings every day. She was starting to have to spend a couple of hours each day on the site to offer direction. He found that she was invaluable to the project, many times offering suggestions that saved quite a bit of time.
By the first week in November, both of the slabs for the additions were poured and machinery was starting to be brought onto the concrete floor of the first addition. He had to take care not to damage the slab, as the concrete had not had time to cure yet. He had to admit that the reason for the progress they were making was because of the fantastic cooperation between the contractors, unions and the workers.
On November 9th Ann came to him and asked him to meet with Rolf and her for lunch. She explained that they had an important matter to discuss with him and that they needed to know about a change in the machinery in the third phase of the construction.
Jim went to Rolf's office at noon. Ann and Rolf were already sitting at the conference table and he saw that the lunch had already been delivered.
Ann turned as he walked in, "We always have whatever the special of the day is in the cafeteria and I ordered the same for you. I hope that's Ok."
He assured her that it was and sat down. Rolf started to ask how the construction was going and Ann interrupted him and reminded her uncle that Jim would be anxious to get back to his own problems.
"Well Jim," Rolf started, "We've been trying to get into a new area for years, but we haven't have the machinery or the room to put the machinery in. We've just been offered a contract to do that type of work. The problem is that we will need to install additional machinery in the secure building. As you know, that is in the third phase of construction. This machinery is so precise that we will be able to drill a hole in a needle and not bend the needle. We need the machinery installed as soon as possible. Is it possible to do the secure building next and let the existing section wait?"
Rolf pulled out drawings of the machinery and gave him a rough idea of the conveyors and feed in machinery that would be needed. Jim stopped eating and spread the drawings out on the end of the conference table. He asked for a pad and paper and started to make notes. There was a set of drawings for the additions and the new machinery in the conference room and he spread them out next to the other drawings. After reviewing the drawings he felt that he could make it work.
"When we designed this project you told us you wanted a little room for expansion. We designed in additional room for expansion as you requested. We can use that room for this machinery. The electrical bus duct will allow us to feed the machinery from overhead, so electricity won't be a problem. The main thing is that I don't want to design something and find out after I've designed it that I've created problems somewhere else. I'll need a lot of input from you."
"How long do you think that it will take to design this addition?"
"About 5 to 7 days. I'm flying back to my office over the Thanksgiving holidays. If Ann could go back with me and work with us in our office, I'll have a crew work with us over the weekend and she can make sure that we don't create problems for you with our design. Without input from you I would be afraid to try and rush it through."
Ann looked at Rolf and he shook his head.
"I'll make arrangements for travel. Is there a decent motel close to your office?"
"I have a four bedroom house. My son and his wife will be at her mother's for a week. They're leaving the day before Thanksgiving. I'm sure that I can find a place for you to throw a sleeping bag."
Ann started to say that she couldn't do that and Rolf reminded her how important that this was to the company.
"Ann, I promise you that I won't sell the company while you're gone," Rolf said with a smile, "You know how important this is to the company."
She nodded her head and looked at Jim and nodded again. The meeting was finished and they went back to work. Jim had told her that he would make the travel arrangements, as she would be busy making sure that the people she picked to run the plant in her absence knew what to do. Because it was so close to the most traveled holiday of the year, he had to call several airlines before he found 2 spots open. All that he found were 2 first class seats.
Bill Park was in Europe, so he called his company and told the man that was running the design team while he was on the Parameter project that he needed 2 designers that would be willing to work on the Friday after Thanksgiving and through the weekend. He figured that with the intense efforts of all of them, he could finish the changes in 5 days. He had made arrangements for he and Ann to fly back to Parameter on Tuesday evening.
He discussed the changes that Parameter wanted to make over the phone and asked that his designers start working on the changes right away. If Bill Park was in the office, he knew that it would not be necessary for him to have to fly back to his office and work on the changes. Bill Park had flown to Europe the first week in November and he had told Jim that he might have to be in Europe until after the first of the year.
On the day before Thanksgiving Jim picked Ann up early and drove to the airport to fight the holiday crush. He had trouble finding a parking spot. The airport was people from wall-to-wall. Luckily, they were both experienced travelers and they had both packed just enough for the trip.
After the plane was in the air, the seat belt sign went off. They talked for a while about the ongoing construction. After a while, as the conversation about business started to bore them, Ann turned to look out of the window. When she turned away from the window he saw a bit of sadness in her face.
"I didn't think about it until just now," he said, "What about your Daughter. She wasn't coming in for Thanksgiving dinner was she?"
Tears came to Ann's eyes, "No. She called a few days ago. She said that she would be spending Thanksgiving alone. When I asked her what she meant, she said she had to go and hung up. I'm so afraid that things aren't going as well as I thought they were. I feel so helpless, not knowing how she's doing. If she's not Ok, I can't be there to help."
"I think that if she needed your help she would ask for it," he said.
"It's just so hard to think that your child might be in trouble and she won't let you help."
The tears started to run down her cheeks; Jim took her hand and held it. He didn't say anymore to her, as he knew that she needed this time to herself. Ann didn't pull her hand away.
They were silent for to rest of the flight.