Chapter 62

Steve

Morning, time to get up, time's a wasting.

Those thoughts were running through my mind as I sat up in bed. Sue pulled me back down and wanted to snuggle by pushing a fat titty into my face. "Suck this for a while and maybe you won't want to get up."

"I'm already up with that thing in my face. Now I need to get it down."

Mercy said, "I'll take care of that problem."

"Not if I get there first," Kathy said, sliding down under the covers. "Eek! That's not Steve, but I guess you know that, don't you," Mercy said, with a giggle.

"Come on, let's get going. A new day is starting," I said, discouraging the play.

I slid from bed and used the bathroom before stepping into the shower. The large shower was soon filled with four lovely ladies as they crowded around me groping and hugging while the water warmed up. A good shower in our house is not complete without a thorough cleansing of female parts, with a special male part as the scrubber. I dutifully scrubbed the internal workings of the four women, leaving two large messes behind. My efforts received a lot of kisses and hugs, along with some begging for additional cleaning.

As soon as I turned on the lights on the patio, I heard doors slam and saw Glenda making her way across the yard, and the back door to the patio opened for Ruth and Tiny, along with Sandy, Mandy, and Mickey. Shawna and Charlie came with their two kids, who would soon run into the house and wake up my kids. The day had begun.

Abe and Phil came soon, with Alice and Judy arriving about the same time as the bellhop from the hotel arrived bringing the huge box of breakfast sandwiches and the box of donuts.

It's fun to watch the people gather in the morning. They all seem to come awake together. Some are ready to go to work; some are in robes or almost in sleep clothes.

Stormy was leading the way this morning, accompanying Betty and Shirley, with Mark and Caroline following. Mark said to me, "I'm leaving Caroline with you today while I ride back to Cheyenne with the kids. I just love to ride in the right seat of those jets. It makes me feel like I'm flying again."

"What are you taking?" I asked.

"The little Citation, the CJ4. DeDe is flying us," Mark answered.

"Grab some of those sandwiches and donuts to take with you. DeDe will be happy you remembered her. Have a good trip, Mark."

Mark left with a big bag of food, heading back to his area of the park. I'm sure Gene and Sandy were having a mini-war with the kids about going back to Cheyenne when they had so many new friends right here now.

About ten minutes later, Mark's Escape pulled up outside the patio and the five people got out. Mark came in and talked to Caroline while Gene and Sandy came over to me. Gene said, "The kids want to stay here while we pack up. I would have thought they would like to say goodbye to their friends at home, but I guess not. We're going to let them stay with Grandma and Grandpa while we pack up. Thanks again for the opportunity, Steve. You've really been special to us."

Sandy gave me a hug while Gene shook my hand. The three hugged the two kids and left. The kids mixed in with the rest of the kids instantly. Caroline had a very satisfied look to her as she kept an eye on the kids.

My mind had that song, "The beat goes on," going though it, but I was sort of mentally thinking, "Our lives go on" to the same tune.

The day went by pretty fast, with the usual questions that needed to be answered and the usual comments to folks as I looked in at what they were doing. I did discover something I didn't know had happened. Gerry (Geraldine) had an office in the cubicles near where Deana was. The reason I discovered it was that Gerry and Jeff were standing at the community conference table between the rows of cubicles with blueprints scattered over the table.

Being my usual curious self, I wandered over to see what they were gesturing at. Jeff saw me and said, "Just the man we need to see."

Gerry said, "Does he know about this stuff? I thought we were the only ones who understood composites."

Jeff smiled, "No, don't you see, you help create the composites because of your knowledge of metallurgy. If you want someone who knows metal, ask a welder. Steve is definitely a welder. Come here, Steve, and look at what we're doing and you tell us whether it's going to work."

They sorted through the prints of various objects looking for a specific one. I made the observation, "What are all of these? You have airplanes, boats, cars, military looking trucks, and some kind of scaffolding platform."

Jeff said, "These are just some of the projects we've been working on to see what we could sell to other manufacturers. With our new composite, we can make anything that's out there only better, stronger, and safer. We just have to figure on how to put it together. Here, look at this." Jeff was spreading out a design that looked like an engine block.

Gerry said, "I don't think our composite will withstand the hammering that an engine block will have. We will still have to have sleeves for the pistons and the push rods will still have to be made of some form of alloy for strength. Keeping the engine cool can be done similar to other water or air cooled engines, but I just don't think a composite will last."

Jeff countered, "I say let Abe make that determination. Let the guys over in R&D try to burn the thing up. Let them run a couple of experimental gas engines similar to the diesel Abe is experimenting with. If we can build it to last, we'll have an instant winner for automobiles as well as airplanes. We can shave two to three hundred pounds off the total weight. That's more fuel, more luggage, more everything."

Gerry softly said, so it wouldn't carry, "I sure as hell don't know how Abe has a composite diesel engine running over there. How did you make the water jackets and how are you keeping the heads from flying off that thing."

Jeff waved his arms, "See, Steve, she doesn't even want to accept the success Abe is already having. She has made an alloy based composite that's stronger than anything on the market, and she doesn't want to use it."

In defense, Gerry said, "Yeah, but it's still new and I don't know how some weather and environments will affect it."

"Gerry, Gerry, Abe is putting the engines through salt water, intense moisture, very heavy sand conditions, and very dirty dust storm conditions. Every day those engines exist in a chamber is like a month in a normal storm. Let's give it a chance and design a ported head that we can insert valve seats into. The blocks are strong enough to handle a crankshaft, so why can't we build a head that will handle a cam?"

"Nuts, we're trying to make a bunch of plastic do the job of cast steel and in some cases, aluminum. Okay, make one. Make small motors first then we'll make a larger motor the size of the diesel or perhaps a little smaller." Gerry was still shaking her head when she went to her chair in a neighboring cubicle and sat down while she keyed in some information on her keyboard." She turned around in her chair to face us and said, "I just told Wes we were trying to cut the engine weight by a third. That should get his attention."

As he handed me a small sheet of composite, Jeff said, "I'm trying to figure out how thin I can make the walls of the engine block. The thinner I can make them, the smaller they will be and we can have water jackets that are really close to the cylinder walls. If we could come up with a composite that would be slick enough for a piston to run up and down within, that would be even better. Then we could start trying to make pistons from composite. I wonder if the bearings would hold up."

I said to both of them, "Why not go ahead and build an entire engine mostly out of composites. Use all of your knowledge and just build it. As soon as you begin testing, you'll find out what components won't work. Just replace failed components with lightweight metal alloy and go from there."

Gerry said, "We have a composite that acts like a bearing that is self lubricating. We can try that for the pistons and cylinder sleeves. Okay, Jeff, let's build it and watch it disintegrate."

Jeff was smiling, and when Gerry wasn't watching, he winked at me. He said, "This won't be a couple of hour project, it will take several days to form and cure. There is the ceramic quality of the block similar to what we used for Abe's diesel. We'll fire the finished block the same as before. We may have to experiment and do it in layers, but we'll figure out the most stable method. That's how we've come up with what we have now."

As I walked out of the area, I could still hear Gerry muttering, "It ain't gonna work, no way, no how, not an engine block."

Phil and Tiny were in my office drinking coffee when I walked in. Tiny said, "Phil and I have some thoughts about expansion that we haven't approached you with before."

I sat at the table with them and was happily surprised to have Ruth walk in with a cup of coffee for me and the pot to warm up the cups of the other two. "So what kind of expansion are you talking about?"

Phil said, "We've always had very positive acceptance in Canada. We have a modified cart with tracks for snow and rough terrain, plus the regular carts have sold well there. With that knowledge, I want to open a dealership up in Alaska. We haven't done that before because of the cost of shipping. There is a trucking company that specializes in hauling to various places up there. I think we could use them and still keep our cost competitive with the market."

I asked, "Besides carts, what are you planning on selling?"

Phil excitedly began his sales pitch on me, "We can sell our full line of generators, compressors, welding equipment, and possibly our utility trucks and bodies. If we go after construction and highway departments the way we do in the lower forty-eight, we should be able to do some good business. We could set up a customer service group to canvas the entire state, and if we find it profitable, expand our dealerships to other major cities."

Nodding, I asked, "Where would you put your first dealership to experiment with?"

Without hesitation, Tiny answered, "Anchorage. We could do well in Juneau, too, as that is the capital, but Anchorage has the larger commercial possibilities."

I suggested, "If we're going to experiment up there, why not open dealerships in both Juneau and Anchorage. That would give a cross inventory that you could draw on and also show our intention of becoming fully established up there."

Tiny and Phil looked at each and grinned. They high-fived each other and Tiny said, "I knew if you had anything to do with it, you would tell us to open two dealerships and not just one."

"So now we need to look for property and people to staff these locations. We'll need to use local people with knowledge of the construction industry as well as the local governments. You'll need to have trained techs to work in the field the same as down here, but they will need some extra equipment to do the job because of the environment up there."

Phil said, "Abe's been working with us to find men in our lower forty-eight and Canadian dealerships that have experience up there. We should just about be able to have the key people from our existing employee base. There will have to be a lot of training up there, but we should be able to put the project together pretty quick."

"What are you doing about facilities?" This would be important, I thought.

Tiny said, "Dewey put us in touch with some commercial realtors and property managers up there and we're compiling a list to look at. We should be able to go up to begin checking out properties any day."

With a happy smile, I said, "Sounds like you guys have it together for trying our hand in Alaska. Let's do it. We need to get it all done while there isn't that much snow on the ground this summer. Now it's cold and snowbound up there, so we might have trouble converting property for our use. Let's get prepared early and see what we can do."

Phil said, "We need to be open when any major highway construction begins up there for the summer. We can set up a lease program that should be beneficial to the companies working on projects. I've contacted the heavy equipment vendors up there and they would welcome a good program for generators and compressors. One of the companies up there bought one of our big trucks with a boom that they use for signing and maintenance. I think if we have one or two more trucks available up there, we could have some sales."

Phil and Tiny got up, thanking me for agreeing to their new project. Phil left, but Tiny hung back. He said, "We've sort of stagnated a little and this will give some new life to revenues. With this recession, a shot in the arm would be good. The increased revenues and profit will offset our costs. I've looked at this several ways to see where the pitfalls are and I feel comfortable with the project. We can also shift people from slow dealerships up there. I'm sure that given a choice of working up there and no work down here we'll have plenty of people willing to open stores."

"That's good, Tiny. I've seen the numbers where several of the dealerships are having problems. Now that spring construction is beginning, orders and maintenance have picked up, but we're still way behind last year and two years ago."

"Everyone is working on it, Steve. The company or companies are really doing well to keep up. The sales staffs are working hard to find all the business they can. We're doing alright, actually better than alright, a hell of a lot better than a lot of other businesses. Just keep coming up with ideas, Steve."

I asked, "What do you think, Tiny? Is this trip I'm planning something that should be put off until business picks up?"

Tiny shook his head, "No way. You're planning on seeing the Italian group, as well as the Ireland facilities. If you can get a chance, you can go peek in on the Germans. If there is a boondoggle out there, that is it. They are making a profit, but for the size they are, and the cost of startup over there, it is a marginal profit at best."

"Well, you know why we did what we did. That plant gave us the in to sell Germany a lot of equipment, and we've set up a major maintenance facility that is very profitable. Our cart manufacturing is almost a loss leader for everything else. But you're right; I should take a side trip and check out our facility in Germany."

When Tiny left, I began listing some of the business goals I had for the trip. I needed to make sure I talked to Sue about these too, as she probably has several independent goals to accomplish while we are in Europe.

My stomach was telling me to check the time and what do you know, it was time to head out for lunch. When I walked down the stairs, I looked through the big windows of the showroom and saw Sue's car across the street. I walked over there and met her as she was coming out the door. She said, "I was just coming to get you to have lunch in your cafeteria. The rush has already begun, but the lines are fast. Let's get something and take it up to your office."

That's what we did. Sue's people from across the street ate in the cafeteria in shifts, along with groups of folks from the S&S side. Today's special was a choice of stuffed peppers, baked chicken, or pot roast. Sue and I both chose the stuffed peppers and loaded our trays with bread and drinks before heading up to my office.

While we ate, I told Sue about the Alaskan expansion and the conversation I had with Tiny. She said, "If you get too tight over on this side of the street, we can always begin cross-training your folks into seamstresses." She laughed a little at that.

I said, "Tiny says we're good, but the Alaskan expansion could help with some redistribution of employees."

"It's amazing," Sue said, "that you have been able to keep people working throughout this crazy downturn. My group would be toast if we didn't have all of the military business. We're getting more and more foreign orders because our fabric is of better quality than the other manufacturers. We'll both have to just keep our hands on the pulse to make sure we don't miss any signals."