Chapter 27: Dealership Woes and Chantelle

I asked, “Is she the new sales manager?”

Nelson said,” She’s close. She still needs some seasoning. We are advertising for a sales manager; she is the assistant sales manager now and is in charge of new car sales. We may shift our used car manager to the Sales Manager position and hire a new person for used cars.

Nelson said, “Vivian will ease whoever Gladys recommends into the sales manager position. That or the used cars manager. I will let her decide.”

“Whoever we select, we need to get some females and minority salespeople very soon. I will work with Gladys to get several interviewed and hired next week.

Nelson said, “We also need to rethink our advertising. That’s another Bart special. We can talk about that next week.”

I had to think about that. I felt Vivian was a perfect match for the Sales Manager position. She had been in the department a while, and she was a female. I may push her on Nelson as the overall Sales Manager. What better way than to let the old salesmen here know we mean business. “The times they are a-changin” is an old saying that popped into my head.

I asked, “How many salesmen have left us?”

He said, “Eighteen so far. It’s early. A few more will go after they get their first new paycheck. I see more leaving when we start hiring women and minorities. That should be the bulk of the useless and narrow-minded ones. We may not need to fire any ourselves. Who would have thought it? It took two guys to ruin this whole place. A weird thing. They were my golf buddies, for Christ’s sake.”

I asked, “Anyone else?”

He said, “No, actually. Gladys moved two women over to the credit department to work with John. He will be the boss and work with them part-time. One is to be his immediate assistant. The other helps by going back and forth with the customers and doing errands. She’s sweet and pretty, but she’s an airhead. She’s a candidate for my wife’s job.”

Nelson said, “Gladys set John’s pay in the middle between his pay at the IT position and Bert’s base pay. She said Bert’s pay with all his underhanded bonuses was absolutely ridiculous.”

Gladys says the IT job has never kept John busy. His calls were mostly because so many people are not very computer literate.”

I said, “We should test their abilities with a PC before hiring them. Are we just trusting their word? Maybe they should be referred to a junior college that teaches computer literacy.”

He said, “Gladys mentioned that years ago. The department heads went bonkers at the suggestion. She has let them know that SHE and she alone have the hiring authority. New hires will be based on many factors, including experience, knowledge, and testing. That includes the PC now. She told them if they keep it up, she threatened to hire who she found suitable, and they would get no say at all.”

He laughed, “She has your number. She knows nobody will come in here and cajole and connive YOU into giving them what they want over Gladys’ head. Er, like I would have. I’m too soft, I know. I let the managers run this place, and they got completely out of hand.

I hated some of them for what they did; I may be too much of a people pleaser. I let them do it. My issues with my ex-wife had me tied in knots for years. A few weeks of you coming in will do me a world of good.”

I said, “So, did you hook up with Sam before or after your divorce?”

He said, “After it. My ex was home alone a lot; she got bored and started boning a neighbor. He’s a house husband, and it was too convenient for the two of them. If we lived in the days when you could challenge someone to a duel, I would have. At least we were childless. She said she wanted to wait a while.”

I said, “None of my business, but is she tapping your wallet hard?”

He said. “Yes. Florida sucks in that regard. When did women who fuck around on you then get to take you to the cleaners in a divorce? In the old days, a slut wife would have gotten Nothing.”

He continued, “Nowadays, it’s like the state does not want to end up supporting a lazy, promiscuous woman. They screw over the men so the state is free and clear. So much for the feminine revolution. No matter what we do and no matter how innocent we are, we take it up the ass.”

I said, “So, you went out and married again? Uh, how is that working for you?”

Nelson said, “Did you not see me fucking Samantha right here on that desk? Did you LOOK at her body? No, she’s wonderful. She’s sweet and attentive, and best of all, she likes to fuck me. She was a virgin on our wedding night. Statistics say a woman who is a virgin on her wedding night has an 80% chance of staying married her entire life.”

He said, “A woman who has had five partners or more before marrying has a 75% chance of divorcing her husband. It’s like their loose morals make them keep looking for sex with strangers. They can’t stop doing it. My ex had a lot of experience when we married.”

Nelson continued, “Plus, Sam’s already loaded. She doesn’t need my money. I wish I had known those marriage percentages before I married my ex. Samantha works here because she likes to work, and she loves to help people.”

I said, “I’m glad. So that you know, I’m a lot older than I look. I just turned 46 and have never been married. I am happy not being married. Well, I should get out of here before something happens and I get stuck here. I really need to get my house fixed up. It’s a fixer-upper, but I saved a lot buying it.”

He said, “Well, you have fun spending money. Gladys is coming by to discuss shifting more people around and how to push some dead weight out. She’s got a head of steam up. We have at least five more that she wants to let go.”

I said, “Well, if you get rid of them, it will make the people staying here more willing to work. Nothing demoralizes a place quicker than a coworker who is lazy and unconcerned. Eventually, it slows everything down.

He said, “See you soon, Tom.”

I said, “Bye, Nelson.”

—— I drove towards the house and saw a pool place in passing. I think there are more pool stores than churches in Fort Lauderdale. I had noticed a couple of these stores have the same name, so I went in. An older, chubby guy came over.

I said, “I just bought a fixer-upper. The pool is green and cloudy. I have no idea how to care for a pool. I need someone to clean it up, and I probably need someone to care for the pool after that.”

He said, “Hi, I’m Noah Hunt. I manage this store. We are a franchise, but this store happens to be company-owned. I have been with Florida Pool Centers for most of my life. In all probability need your pool drained and the green scrubbed clean and treated. After that, we will refill it. Do you know how big the pool is?”

I said, “No, not really. It is kidney-shaped and small in size. Maybe 12 by 20?”

He said, “Yes, that’s on the small end. You can barely get up to speed swimming. It’s more of a dipping pool for cooling off. If you give me the address, I will have my senior tech come out tomorrow and start right on it. Let me write this up for you. We also have an agreement where we come by each week to test the water, sweep it out, and add the necessary chemicals.”

I signed some stuff and paid him for the initial pool work.

I left there and drove to “Everett and Moran Pier and Seawall Contractors.” They were the ones who started to fix the seawall south of my property. I walked in and was shown into an office. After introductions, I told him of the property and explained that I wanted them to finish the job.

He called it up on his computer and gave me the price. I used a card and paid a lot of money. I headed back to the hotel.

I suspected the job had already been paid for fully, but I had no contracts or receipts to prove that. I assume the drug dealer-grower would have paid cash. The drug pusher would have loads of cash, and it was almost impossible to get illicit drug money into a bank legally.

I got to the hotel, and the girls were not back yet. I took a quick shower and went outside to take a dip. The pool was climate-controlled. That’s good because pools can get really hot in Florida. 90 or 95-degree water is uncomfortable. This was set for 82. Still a little warm, but it’s good enough.

This pool is rectangular and has seating around the western side. You could sit in the pool on a shelf and look out to the ocean. The beach was out of sight. The pool has a short privacy wall and is high enough that you can’t see the beach from inside the pool. The pool predates the infinity pool craze.

The girls came home. They had spent hours at a flooring place. I gave them free rein to pick all the materials and colors. They decided on natural cherry flooring for the downstairs. It looked like a young cherry before it had aged, a light beige with a pinkish influence.

They picked a thick underlay pad to go under it. Stripped of carpet, the existing flooring downstairs was bare cement. That would be cold in winter. Cement and terrazzo floors stay close to the ground temperature. A thick underlay pad would provide the necessary insulation. Where I grew up in the panhandle, it got colder.

That was scheduled for a week from now because of the painting. The girls had also visited a cabinet shop. The existing kitchen cabinets were off-the-shelf, contractor-grade. The old cabinets had to go so the painters could paint everything. The cabinet guys had already removed all the old cabinets from the kitchen and the bathrooms.

Luckily, the painters had to mask everything. The two groups should be able to coexist for half a day.

We ordered two pizzas from our hotel for supper. I got a 12” meat lovers, and the girls shared a 12” veggie pizza. (ick) Tomorrow was Saturday, so we planned to sleep in. We made love for a while and then went to sleep.