Chapter 20

Saturday, Apr., 20

Sam picked me up for work, as always, and I explained about the military reunion in St. Louis over the 4^th. I asked if he thought it would be alright if I took a couple of days off to be able to go. The reunion was with a lot of the guys I had talked to during their stay at Ft. Belvoir and Walter Reed. He thought that I really should go and that there shouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't get paid for the leave, but he thought I already knew that. I said I did.

"Sam, there is something else I need to discuss with you. I am kind of getting burned out going to school and working too. I had a thought that I would lay off the work study program during my junior year, then pick it back up next summer and on into my senior year. By then I should be better able to help you and the company. I'll know more, and be better able to cope with the rigors of working and going to school, so that I can just step in after college. I will continue with the internship if I can get into a college here, but I may not be able to get what I need here. I know this is kind of sudden, but I have been mulling this around for a couple of weeks now. I made the decision to let you know about it, mainly to get your thoughts about my idea. So I'll let you think on it and you can let me know your thoughts next week. OK?"

"Bob, I wondered how long you would stick it out. I figured that you would quit before the end of the semester, but your wanting to stay all summer is commendable. Let me see what we can do about this, but I can assure you that you will always have a place with us when you want to come back. You have made a huge difference by looking at our company with your fresh eyes. You seem to see things that we haven't a clue are either wrong or inefficient. Your insight has made major strides in making this company what it is today. Also, since you introduced Jim Dooley to the company, we have hired fifteen returning vets into the company at several of our locations. Some of them have been injured and have some disabilities, but their minds and skills are exceptional. They were a vast untapped source of knowledge which we now have learned is a boon to a company like ours. So I think that there will always be a place for you at TES."

"I think I will be seeing Mr. Dooley at the reunion, at least I hope I will. It will be good to finally place a face to the voices I have associated with their names. I kind of have a picture in my mind of who they are and what they look like, but it will be nice to see how right I am. Thank you, Sam; I will never forget the opportunity you have offered me."

"Bob, I think this has been a two-way street for us. You gave us something we lacked and we gave you something you lacked and needed too. You have matured so much in the last four months and I certainly will miss you when you leave. But for now, I guess it is time for us to go to work."

We went our separate ways and before I knew it, it was time to go home. I did talk with Kevin and Rachel about my needing time off, when it would be, and I hoped that they could cope without me. Kevin laughed and said, Bob, I'm not sure how we ran so efficiently before you got here. Things run even smoother now, but aren't you going to be over in Section C next month?"

"Oh my goodness, I didn't think about that. I need to call Ms. Sparks, don't I?"

"Not really, Bob, we will keep you on here until you have to leave, and then Beverly can pick you up as of the Monday you come back to work. How does that sound?"

"Perfect, Rachel, thanks for that. Well, this standing around isn't getting the work done. I need to get back to work so I can earn my pay," I said laughingly, as I walked out of Kevin's office to go back to work.

During my morning break, I looked up my bank account on my laptop, WOW!!! How did that happen? I looked expecting to see about twenty-five hundred in savings and maybe about a hundred in my checking after the debit card subtracted my hotel reservations. I had to look a couple of times to make sure what I saw was right. I had close to ten thousand in checking and a little over a hundred thousand in my savings. I had B2 take over for me and I called Kathy. "Kathy, what is the idea of showing all that money in my account? I told you it would only be about $1,000.00 for the room. Why that much, and how can I justify the extra income?"

Wow, that was some conversation. I think Kathy and Harlou were going to explain everything to the core members at the reunion, but I jumped the gun by asking for money to keep me out of trouble with the bank. Not that I really would, my dad would see to that. Oh yeah, I would need to let Dad know that when it came in, I would pay the credit card bill from my reimbursement. It was time for me to get back to work.

I worked out with Steve today before a quick lunch, then it was back to work again. On the ride home with Sam, I mentioned that Kevin wanted me to stay for the two days before my vacation in July so I could start fresh with Beverly on the 8^th. Sam said, "Yes, I know, Kevin and I talked to Beverly, and she was so excited that you would be refreshed when you came to her section."

We had everything worked out by the time I got home. I explained to my parents about my sudden wealth and how everything on the trip would be paid for. I also explained about AOS as Kathy had explained it to me. There would be quite a few other people there who were not privileged with the knowledge they had about this, so they had to be careful who they talked to, which gave me an idea as to how to differentiate, who was who.

I made a phone call after supper. "Nathan, what do you say about us having a special name badge for the core members of AOS? We can have a subdued picture of an asteroid in the center of the badge with lines coming off of it to indicate motion. Then in bold letters, at the top, it says 'AOS Core Member' with our name at the bottom. All others would have the basic badge with their name at the bottom, but not the core member notation, just an 'AOS Member' at the top. That way we can be sure of who we say what to and no outsider will know more than we want them to know. I'm sure that we have some scheduled events for the spouses, girlfriends, and families of the core members, which will give the rest of us time to talk freely about what we have done together. What do you think?"

"Bob, that is an excellent idea. When are you guys coming in? I will be there on the afternoon of the 3^rd."

"Nathan, let me look. We get into St. Louis at 11:05 AM, so figure we should get to the hotel two hours later. So say one PM at the latest, why?"

"I won't be getting in until almost 4:30 PM, so can you get badges made there? So far, you are going to be the first to arrive. I will send you a list of who is coming and the rough times they will be arriving at the airport, well all except TSgt. Pace. His wife is driving them in from Whiteman AFB in Knob Noster, MO, almost 200 miles west of St Louis. I'm not sure when they are coming in. I tried to invite everyone that you either had a hand in on healing, or at least who we associated with when we were in the hospital. I hope that is alright, I wanted to hide the fact that our core group did our country an even greater service."

"Nathan, that is fantastic, I can say that I am a representative of the Angel Bob as he healed me first. Then we can hand out the badges as they come in. I will try to get with Shawn or Catherine and see how soon they can get there. I may have them hand out the badges if they can get there before me. I suspect everyone will be coming in on the 3^rd. Wait, maybe one of us should get there a day early to get things all set up, what about that?"