Chapter 13

Week 7 - Monday

Missy and I had a nice leisurely breakfast, then drove back to GM. I knew everything was okay before anyone even said anything to me... Jim Driscol met us with a big smile on his face.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"They had to run two shifts on Sunday, but everything ran smoothly. The maintenance guys had to make one minor change in the sort controller's training, but that was a five-minute job."

"Are you all caught up, then?"

"All caught up. I know this is going to sound vindictive, Ed, but we don't want the young man who caused that second failure back on site. The plant manager and my boss agree. Even if it takes longer to get the new system in and operating, they want someone else to do it."

"I don't have a problem with that," I said. "I'm not sure who else Marty has, who can do it, but we'll work with you."

"Actually, Jerry Bostwick was the man who designed the software, and did most of the programming," Missy said.

"Why isn't he the one on the job site, then?" I asked.

"Jerry has a broken leg. He's in a walking cast and he gets around pretty well, but they didn't think he could handle the ladders."

Driscol laughed and said, "We'll assign a cherry picker to him that he can use as an elevator. There's more than one way to skin a cat."

"Okay, we'll assign someone to him to be his gofer. We should be able to get hold of a golf cart for him to get around in, at ground level," I said.

We talked for a few more minutes, then Missy and I took off to catch our plane home. I managed to upgrade us to first class, again, so the trip was pleasant.

When we got back to the plant, Missy took off to R&D and I went in to see Mike. I gave him a rundown on everything that had happened at GM and then watched as he thought over all I had told him.

"Well, it could have been worse," he said. "So, what do we do about this Abdul character?"

"I don't think we have any choice in what we do with him. Mike, he didn't even seem sorry that it happened. He just said that we couldn't blame him that someone had made a wiring error. I told him we could blame him for turning the power on, when he had been told not to, and he just shrugged it off. I think we have to fire him."

Mike nodded. "That would probably be best. This other guy knows the new sort controller program as well as Abdul?"

"Better. Jerry Bostwick designed the program. Abdul just did some of the programming. We didn't send Jerry to the site because he has a broken leg."

"Okay, fire him. How did everyone else do in the crisis situation?"

"Except for being a buffer between their engineer and our people, I just sat back and watched Marty Dunn handle things. He did an excellent job. The controls engineers Gene sent down were all competent and all of them were willing to put in as many hours as the job required. I didn't hear any grumbling at all."

"I understand you took Missy Gerard with you. How did she do?"

"Missy was right in there working with the rest of them. As far as I'm concerned, she did an excellent job. It was Marty that requested she be there."

"Are you and Missy still dating?" "Mike, I've asked Missy to marry me. She said 'yes'. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Not as far as I'm concerned. As far as the company is concerned, as your wife, she can work directly for you. Congratulations, Ed."

"Thank you, Mike. Missy is a ball of fire as far as work goes. I'm really proud of how she has jumped in on this slot controller thing."

"Ed, I realized something when all of this information started filtering back about Pete, after he had retired. I realized I had lost touch with what was going on, in the company I was supposed to be running. I decided I needed to do something about that, so I've been keeping better track of things that are going on."

"I noticed that you had missed a lot, Mike, but I didn't want to say anything."

"Well, one thing I've been keeping track of is your relationship with Missy, and how it affected either of you at work. So far, I haven't seen any adverse affect at all. From what I've heard from independent sources, Missy was a house afire at GM. I also heard that the two of you acted with the proper propriety."

"Thank you, Mike. Another person I should mention is Jim Shear. I've had him paired up with Alan Sharp since I moved him in to Project Management. I've talked to Alan a couple of times since Jim started working with him. So far, it doesn't seem to be working out."

"How's that?"

"Alan says Jim is surly and uncooperative. Alan isn't sure if it is just a personality conflict between him and Shear, but he says he's ready to stuff Jim down a manhole."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Mike, I want to give him every chance. I'm going to put him with Paul Freund for a couple of weeks and see how that works out. If he can't get along with Freund, I'll have to fire him."

"Your choice, Ed. Fire him now if you think you need to. When it comes time you feel you have to do it, just go ahead."

"Okay, Mike. I think putting Marty in that position has been a good decision. He's tackling things with vigor. There were no complaints at all from him, when I asked him to go to Libby and crawl around in the mud for a few days. Also, he really pulled things together at GM."

"I'm getting good reports on him, too. 'Sales' says he's a godsend. How is Gene doing?"

"Believe it or not, I think Gene is coming along. He's had a big attitude change, and is showing some of the management qualities I'd hoped were there."

"Did you know he and his wife have separated?" Mike asked.

"No, but it doesn't surprise me. I heard she was a very dominating person. Gene seems happier than he's been since I got here."

"I've heard that myself, in the last few days. I don't suppose we've heard anything more about Mr. Patrick Miller?"

"I'm afraid not. Is our insurance going to cover the stolen car?"

"I hate to tell you this, but I've found out that we're self-insured on something like this. We'll be stuck with the entire bill."

I decided to go to R&D and talk with Marty about the Order Picker system and about Abdul. He seemed genuinely glad to see me when I knocked and went into his office.

"How's it going, Marty?" I asked.

"Not too bad. Here, let me show you something."

I sat down across from him and he said, "I just wanted to show you the package our most junior engineer left for me, when she went to Atlanta. I don't expect you to go through everything, but just glance through it."

I took the folder and started leafing through it. There was, of course, a schematic. Then there was a drawing showing the shape and dimensions we'd need to have laid out by a design house. Next came a drawing showing where certain components that had to interface with the case were located. Everything was dimensioned, and tolerances were shown. The drawings looked like 'release drawings', rather than something an engineer had thrown together.

The next sheet showed two design houses that could lay out the boards, and their costs and lead times. The next document recommended a manufacturer who could make the board and populate it for us. This also included the lead times for different quantities.

Next there were documents that established the communications protocol between the main console and the slot controllers. I was impressed. I must have been showing it, because when I looked up at Marty, he was smiling like a kid at Christmas.

"You cannot imagine how happy I am that Missy is working for me."

"So, what kind of a timetable are we talking about on this?" I asked.

"Well, it's going to be at least two weeks before we can expect the layout to be complete. Then, we'll get a half a dozen boards made and we'll install components so we can test them. Missy already has parts ordered to build them. After we're satisfied with them it'll take about a month before we can have production quantities built and are ready to start installing them."

"What do you have Missy scheduled for at the end of this week and the beginning of next week?" I asked.

"Nothing urgent. I'm going to have her checking into all of our current product for anything we're having trouble getting parts for."

"I haven't mentioned this to Missy yet, but would it be a problem if she took Friday and Monday off?"

"No," Marty said. Then he grinned and asked, "Are you planning a big weekend?"

"She wants me to meet her parents. This might be the best weekend to do that."

"I'll tell you what," Marty said as he stood up. "I'm going to take a walk. I'll send Missy in so you can ask her."

Marty was grinning like an idiot when he left his office. Missy came in a few minutes later. I closed the door behind her.

She looked at me quizzically, so I asked, "It's about a three-hour drive down to Muncie, isn't it?"

"Yes... Three to four hours."

"How would you like for us to drive down to your parents' place on Friday, and come back on Monday?"

Missy squeaked and threw her arms around me. Then she kissed me like she meant it.

"You're going to get so lucky, tonight," she said when we broke apart.

"Does that mean that you want to go?"

"I'll have to talk to Marty, and see if I can take the time off."

"That's already taken care of, love. Do you think your parents will mind if you show up with a fiancé?"

"They'll be tickled to death. They think I'm an old maid."

"Well, you are getting a little long in the tooth," I said... just before she hit me.

I had an errand to run that afternoon. When I got back to the office, I told Brenda I was going to be gone for a while. Actually, I didn't get back into the office for almost two hours.

Missy called her mom as soon as we got home, and asked her if she could come home on a visit this weekend.