Chapter 384

Wednesday was like Tuesday only, a little smoother. We were all making the time zone transition and the men the shift transition; everyday was a little easier. Two more ambassadors came to see me on Wednesday. The Brazilian and Australian ambassadors came in the morning. Two more off my list that I needed to present credentials to.

Wednesday was the UPS announcement at Morton Field in the terminal. It was noon when it began and the girls had bought our own TV type camera and was broadcasting it on our SVOL system that we used with our college security.

The Office could now broadcast live to all of our locations important events and conferences at one time. The girls were no longer trapped with only the people we could cram into my or Marcy’s office.

I was using my laptop with the Department’s satellite internet and I was in the theater room with my group watching.

The UPS executives made their announcement followed by Lorrie and Marcy and then the local politicians. I sent “Congrats, you did a great job,” by text.

Thursday Andy and his men started building the flag wall. The John Deere dealer did in fact have a post hole digging attachment in stock at twice the price. I guess ocean shipping was expensive. An adjoining dealer had a gas powered concrete mixer that Andy had bought. I wondered why we needed it.

Thursday must have been a free day for ambassadors; four came in the morning and four more in the afternoon. At this rate all on the list were going to beat me to the punch and come to me before I could get to them

Some of them had really done their homework on me and JBG. I wondered if the State department had sent out a fact sheet on me or something to the diplomatic world.

It was after supper before Andy and I made the tour of the grounds. On one side of the embassy the sand for the volley ball court had been leveled and the net was up. At last, a place to exercise and I needed it.

“All the sandbags that we need are on the roof, so I had the men level the rest for you,” Andy said.

“Thank you, I need the exercise,” I replied.

On the other side of the building that was the area that we suspected the terrorists would strike, the heavy framework was completed for the blast deflector.

Andy explained that he was using heavy 6x6 timbers for the frame and braces, bolted instead of nailed. They had several string lines run to keep it straight. I saw what he had bought the cement mixer for; they were filling all the holes with concrete from those redi-mix bags; just add water and mix.

“The lumber yard will have all the wood in tomorrow morning to start on the front of it along with the barn wood screws. The paint will be here at noon,” Andy said.

“Oh, the owner of the lumber yard wants you to stop by so he can personally thank you for the business. I gather things have been terribly slow for them; he even gave you a contractor’s discount. I did have to pay with cash,” Andy said.

“Give the receipts to Linda and I will show her how to get them to Marcy. See me in the morning and I will replace the spent cash,” I replied. “Everything looks good. How long will it take to finish the front?”

“Not that long; I ordered 12 inch lumber so it will fill space quickly. It is heavy but with the skid steer it will be no problem,” Andy replied. “When the front is up and painted we are done with everything we had planned so far. Then it will be time to look at it again.”

I spent some time on VCATS checking in with embassies where JBG had security. I would complete that task tomorrow. Tomorrow I was also going to start hitting the forty newly contracted embassies to start transition planning.

I spent an hour on VCATS with Jenny and the girls; they were pumped up about how well the news conference went for the UPS announcement.

Linda, Alice, Ellen and I were finally getting comfortable around each other. At first I was the only one sleeping naked, now all four of us were.