Chapter 11

At home Matt was going through his mail. He paid the bills and filed what needed to be filed discarding the rest. He would lose his concentration and pause to have thoughts about Shannon. He chuckled to himself because he thought he was an equal opportunity thinker since he would also have thoughts about Rita and her physical beauty. She was something he thought. He still couldn't believe what Rita said her reaction was when he commented to her on the great ass she had.

Going on his trips had been exciting but he was itching to do something different and was thinking more and more about what Shannon had said about the two properties she discussed with him. He knew that his engineering background and work experience qualified him to tackle the job of developing that land. It shouldn't be that difficult he thought and was starting to think that he should go ahead and do it.

Matt had finished doing his Christmas shopping. That holiday was right around the corner. He had already sent gifts to Shannon, Rita, Maura and Kim. He was completing the gift cards on Kyle's and Katie's gifts when he was interrupted by his phone ringing.

When he answered the phone he heard a female voice say, "Mr. Mathew Block, formerly the CEO of Kanza Engineering?"

"Yes."

"Please hold for Mr. John Pope."

John Pope was the CEO of Walker Industries, the company who had bought Kanza when Matt was the CEO.

"Matt how are you and what have you been doing with yourself?"

"I'm doing great. I also have been doing some traveling. There was some traveling on the east coast but primarily in the northwest, the Seattle and Olympia areas in particular. Yellowstone is worth the price of admission as they say. I have had enough of traveling for a while and am thinking of developing some land in the Olympia area that has come to my attention."

"Why there and what kind of development?"

"Single family homes, the land is beautiful and the water views are scenic. The temperature is moderate but they do have their share of light rain. This undeveloped land that I have in mind is very picturesque and has 235 feet of shoreline. Besides this great scenery the salmon fishing is pretty good. One day in a little more than 5 hours I caught 16 salmon that were all over seven pounds each. I was thinking of an upscale single family development on three quarter acre lots, all with water access. Because of the slope of this land the houses would have a great view of the water. There is an excellent marina a short distance away."

"That sounds very interesting and tempting. My grandkids and I like to fish but have never had much success."

"That may not be a problem. I met the father who taught my fishing guide how to fish and who has just retired from his day job. I think I could interest him in hiring out as a fishing guide. It would just about be a guarantee that you would catch fish, in fact knowing him that if you don't catch any fish the next trip with him would be free. Like I said this land development is something I am still kicking around in my head but I think I am going to do it for a number of reasons. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you would do some consulting work for us. We have a big hydro-electric project going on in South America and we are having problems with a labor union down there that is staging a work slow down. There are some problems with some of the material suppliers as well. I understand a Minister Cortez from the government is heavily involved and is contributing this slow down problem or maybe causing it. One of the people in the forefront of the work slow down is a man called Carlos. Someone here at work had mentioned that you had solved a problem with Carlos in the past. Because of your experience I was hoping you would go down there and resolve this problem whether it's the Minister or Carlos that is causing it."

"Going back to work certainly would be different from what I am doing now. What kind of authority would I have to solve this problem?"

"Matt I know you and your reputation. I trust you implicitly. You ran a tight ship when you were here and that is one of the reasons why we were interested in purchasing the company. Anything you say or do or agree to do will be just like I said or agreed to it. You have my full authority and backing."

"When do you want me to leave?"

"In two days if possible. There is a chance that you may not be back for Christmas since it's only a few days away. I am sorry for that but its something your family should be made aware of. Resolving this problem as soon as possible is very important. I will have company identification and charge cards issued in your name along with an open ended airline ticket. A courier will deliver them to you tomorrow. Scott Biell is our head engineer down there. While he is a little young, he is good, but he hasn't been able to solve the problem. I will call him personally and tell him of your flight arrangements and that while you are there you are the boss. He won't like it but he will accept it. Thanks for stepping up to the plate here and helping out."

Matt called both Kyle and Katie and told him what was happening. He sent an email to Shannon telling her of this consulting assignment. He wrote that he could be contacted as email would be available. He told her he was interested in the land she discussed with him and to contact him ASAP if any decisions needed to be made. He finished by saying he missed her.

The two remaining Christmas gifts he still had were packaged and he dropped them off at the UPS store.

Matt wasn't a fan of long flights but flying in first class made the flight bearable. The attention he received from the pretty flight attendant helped pass the time. Her age was a guess but some would say she was 'Experienced.' Others would say she was 'Well preserved." Matt went right for the jugular because he would say she was, "Good looking and well built."

At the airport baggage claim he spotted a man holding a sign with his name on it. This man introduced himself as Jesus and said he was sent to meet Matt. Since it was already late in the day Matt was driven to a new Hyatt Hotel. Jesus said he would pick him up at nine the next day. After a nice meal and one drink Matt called it a night in an attempt to beat jet lag.

Jesus was there with the car waiting when Matt exited the hotel. Jesus didn't say anything during the drive while Matt watched the country side go by. He could see some of Walker Industries construction efforts as they approached the project.

On exiting the car he was greeted by a young man in his middle thirties.

"Mr. Block, I am Scott Biell and happy to meet you sir."

"Please call me Matt and I will call you Scott. While it is nice of you to say that, I would think you are not that happy to meet me under these circumstances. If I was in your shoes that's what my reaction would be and I can understand that. I will try and not step on your toes and be out of your hair as soon as I can. Do you have somewhere we can go and have a cup of coffee and you can tell me what is going on."

There was a little conference room next to Scott's office. He asked his pretty secretary to please bring them two coffees.

Once they had their coffee and the door was closed Scott started by saying, "The basic problem is that we are having an orchestrated slow down by our labor force. Carlos who runs the unions down here has called for this slow down. The reason for this slow down is that we are being micro managed by Minister Raul Cortez who is the government official in charge of this project. With the economy down here in the crapper pretty much like it is in the States, Minister Cortez wants to save as much money as he can on this project. He has mandated a reduction in the hourly wage rate of 20% from what the going union wage rate is here. We are saving some money out front but in the long run it is going to cost us more because of the slow down it is going to extend the time for us to complete this project. There are going to be penalties for us to pay if we don't meet the deadline for this project. The Minister is also directing where our materials should be purchased and by-passing the competitive bidding procedures. I don't know if those suppliers are greasing his palm but the prices we are paying seem to be on the high side."

"Have you tried talking to the minister?"

"Yes I have but I might as well have been pissing against the wind."

"What about this Carlos? Have you tried talking to him?"

"I didn't think there was any reason to talk to him with Cortez standing firm but I tried. The argument of a low paying job being better than no job at all did not go over well."

"Can you give me the phone numbers of Carlos and Cortez and let me use you office?"

Scott asked his secretary to comply with the request and left Matt use his office.

When Matt dialed Carlos's phone number the female voice said he was out of the office and she wasn't sure when he would be back. Matt left a message for Carlos.

A phone call to Minister Cortez's office resulted in a female voice taking a message but saying the Minister wasn't expected back till after Christmas, which was in two days.

Matt spent the rest of the day and most of the next day talking to Scott and looking at the project. He also talked with a number of the workers. He reviewed invoices and made some phone calls. He asked a bilingual engineer to check some prices by making some calls speaking only in the local language and not mentioning the materials were for this project.

Christmas Eve was a work holiday but Matt was in the office as well as Scott and his secretary. Around noon Carlos returned Matt's phone call.

"Mathew it has been a while, how are you?"

He told him how he was and asked him the same question. After some more chit chat Carlos asked Matt what he could for him. Matt told him he wanted to talk to him about the problems at the project. Carlos said they could talk at his home and invited Matt to spend Christmas Day with Carlos and his family. Being alone in a hotel room on that holiday didn't present an appealing picture so Matt accepted the invitation.

That evening Matt used the internet to check his email and to send Merry Christmas notes to a number of people. He was surprised to see he had an email from Maura. In it she told him she had been on a 29 day cruise traveling with Ben a widower who lived in her complex and was ex-military who was now retired. He was a nice man who took good care of her and treated her very well. He was hinting at asking her for a long term commitment and she thought that she would say yes if he asked. She thanked Matt for the wonderful way he treated her and often thought about the long drive they had made out to Yellowstone. She said she would stay in contact.

After a good meal and a few drinks, Matt went to sleep watching television. This was the first time in his fifty three years he had spent Christmas Eve alone. This was not going to happen again he vowed.

On Christmas morning he checked his email and received a double surprise. Both Kyle and Katie sent him messages telling him they each had become engaged last night. They gave him a little history on their fiancées and said they wanted Matt to meet their fiancées and their parents. Matt responded and told them the information they sent him was the best Christmas present he had ever received.