Chapter 9

The Biells thought it was good to be back in the States. Their flight landed on Friday at three in the afternoon which gave them the weekend to settle in. When they were at Scott’s condo he could see she gave it a good look. He wondered what her reaction was going to be and he her heard her say that she liked the condo but thought it might be a little too small for the both of them.

On Saturday morning the first thing they did was to take an Uber to an auto dealer since they needed to purchase two automobiles. Scott had previously said that he liked the Honda CRV but Sandi said he would like the top of the line Lexus SUV even better. At the Lexus dealer they purchased two SUVs, one in a white color and one in a bronze color. Scott complained a little at this expense but stopped complaining when Sandi with a big smile on her face said, “My treat.”

After all the paperwork was processed and the insurance company called to insure both of these cars they went their separate ways. Sandi said she needed to do some shopping both for food and a few other things. Scott headed back to the condo to finish unpacking.

In doing his unpacking he thought about Sandi spending the amount of money she had on purchasing the two cars. For the amount of money it cost, they could have bought four Honda CRVs. Scott acknowledged that he was somewhat frugal and watched his pennies. It just bothered him a little to spend that kind of money even though it didn’t come out of his pocket.

He was aware of the money that was being generated by the dividends and interest on Sandi’s investments which was a substantial amount. He knew that after taxes it was close to seven figures a year. It was going to be a big change for him to adjust to what he assumed her spending habits were now going to be.

Sandi came home about three hours later. It took two trips from her car to the condo for them to bring up all of her purchases. In giving a quick look as to what Sandi had purchased he saw it was all top shelf named brand items.

After putting away the perishables she said she still had time to go to the storage locker and pick up some of the clothes she had stored there. He offered to go with her but she told him that it wasn’t necessary for him to go.

When Sandi came back it took three trips to her car for the both of them to bring up the clothes and other wearing apparel items she had brought back. She obviously didn’t need some of this heavy clothing in Central America and it had him wondering if there was sufficient closet space for her in the condo. He had a hard time in comprehending that she needed that many different pairs of shoes.

Since it now was dinner time Sandi suggested they go out to a restaurant. Scott agreed to that and Sandi said she would drive. She did and they didn’t go to a McDonalds or a Greek type family restaurant. She drove to a Ruth’s Chris Steak house and didn’t bother with the parking lot across the street and valet parked the car.

Scott had to admit the Beefeater Martini and his large filet were excellent but they were also expensive. That caused his concern to increase about Sandi’s spending habits.

Back at the condo they sat on the couch to watch television. Sandi who was cuddling up against him with her hand lightly going up and down his thigh said, “Your thirty seven inch television seems a little small. How about we buy a sixty five inch television tomorrow and put this one in the second bedroom.”

Her saying that must have caused Scott to raise an eyebrow which she saw because Sandi mobbing away from him said in a serious voice, “We need to talk.”

“Scott by now I think I know you quite well. I sense you are becoming concerned how I am spending money in that I noticed your reaction when we bought the cars and now to my suggestion of buying a bigger TV. You do know how much money my investments are generating in a given year and what is left after taxes.”

“Yes, it’s a substantial amount.”

“I am fortunate in a way I guess although I had to get divorced to get that amount of money. If I don’t spend that money what would you have me do with it? I don’t have any brothers and sisters and my parents are financially well off. I will give them and your parents some nice gifts as trips because I think they would enjoy doing some travelling. You don’t know this but before we left I spoke to the Isabel and the General about an idea I had.”

“I thought I would pay for the three years of graduate school for someone wanting to become a certified physical therapist. In return after receiving certification they would be required to spend three years working at the country club in the country where Isabel is President. He or she would continue to do what I had been doing there. While it isn’t a full time job working at the club the General says he or she later in the day would be working at their Veterans Hospital doing physical therapy. There will be a decent pay check for this person in doing this for the three years. What they would do after the three years would be up to them to decide but they are like gold since there are few certified physical therapist in that country.”

“As to finding candidates to do this and for them to make a three year commitment Isabel told me she is having someone checking if there are any recent college graduates who qualify because of their undergraduate classes and are interested in doing this. They are also checking if there are any of their citizens who are going to school in the States that qualify and who would want to do this. I will review the applications and interview the candidates probably via Skype. The money to do this is going to come from the Biell Family Scholarship Fund.”

“Oh yes, the General says membership in the country club is an automatic for this person.”

“There is one more thing that I haven’t mentioned. Doctor Rando and Connie are going to install video cameras in the therapy and exercise rooms so I will be able to periodically Skype there and see how the students I trained are doing and maybe offer them some advice or answer their questions.”

Scott was quiet for a while absorbing what Sandi had just told him. He had to admit that she was not just going to sit on her nice butt and just pass the time figuring out how to spend her money.

Finally he said, “Well what you just said confirms what I always thought in that you were more than just a pretty face. I can see you have put the time and effort in to come up with a practical and beneficial way to solve a problem and I am proud of you for doing that. You continue to blow me away in the things you do.”

Sandi was more than pleased to hear Scott complimenting her on her idea.

She then said, “Now how about if I blow you further away and say that I think we should sell your condo and purchase a large one story townhome. I see where they are building some new ones and we can have it built the way we want.”