Chapter 9

Darcy was progressing well into her role as a philanthropist by writing smaller checks. Well, that is smaller checks than Karen was writing. Karen's were in the billions and Darcy's were in the millions or sometimes the thousands. The police had some needs and Darcy ended up buying them a new gun and training range along with new bulletproof vests and new weapons. I know the fire department also loved her.

She was nice enough to fly my grandmother out to present the check for the children's hospital. Grandma loved it and loved seeing us. They'd come to the wedding, but besides time for a few brief talks, we were too busy to spend quality time. She and grandpa flew out on a chartered jet and stayed for the week. During the day, I took grandpa golfing, and he sat in on a night of poker. I spotted him the twenty grand. He felt bad about losing it until I told him that I had won forty-five at the next table.

Karen stopped by my office the next week and said, "We have had a lot of calls about people wanting to invest with us, but our minimum is keeping them out. Is there anything that you want to do?"

"Karen, the investing is done in bulk and then divided into the individual accounts right?"

"Yes. To us, the trading is no big deal. The problem comes with the fees we charge. We charge a half a percent per year or an eighth of a percent quarterly of their total portfolio. If someone has a hundred million with us then their annual fee is five hundred thousand or a hundred and twenty five thousand quarterly. That covers all the overhead, computers, account servicing, and salaries for you and everyone else."

"Yes."

"The average customer calls twelve or actually fourteen times a year and sits down with their contact at least twice a year to go over their personal needs and their portfolio of investments. They can do that as often as they want, but we mandate at least twice a year."

"That's a good practice on our part and a good practice for them as well."

"We even fly out the account manager if they can't or won't come here. If we took someone with a million dollars then we'd have to raise their fees, which would change their rate of return. We'd then be the bad guys picking on the smaller customers. With even a million minimums our annual fees would be five thousand dollars. That isn't what we're set up to do. Blame it on the owner or the company charter, but we have a ten million minimum for a reason, and it's just so we can keep our costs down. If we really wanted or needed more investors we'd leave the enrollment open past when you win your challenge match."

"Why are we doing it anyways? It's fun, but what's the point?"

"Sometime in the future we're going to need credibility. We're going to stand up and say the sky is falling, or the government spending is out of control. At that point, people will look at you not as the person that runs a management company with a personal agenda. They'll look and say, 'She predicted the crash back in 1987. She has so many people begging her to manage their money that she has to turn them away'. They'll say, 'She's so pretty if I could only sleep with her just once, my life would be complete.'"

"You're so full of shit."

"Thanks. What's the next donation coming up?"

"I'm glad you asked. We've found that five billion is too much. They don't have the capacity to spend or invest it, so they start to waste it. Instead of building six hospitals that they can't staff, they build two, but build it with a level of finish that makes them look crazy. I have only seen designs, but we have already placed them on notice that it would be the last check they ever saw from us, if the doctor's lounge had imported water on tap. What we'll do going forward is cut back on the size, but donate to more charities. We're also going to work with them on more planning and extended giving. Our plan will also set up more matching gift donations, so they'll only get from us what they raise from the public."

"These are all great observations and ideas, but it also means more work on our part to manage and research each project. I'm not against it if it's the right thing to do."

"I think it is."

"Well since everyone is saying that you're the thing that completes the circle of life, I'll have to agree."

"I told you that you were full of shit."

"So what's coming up?"

"Higher education. We'll be giving money to universities across the country."

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Probably, because I hear you're a man that women would die to fuck."

It isn't as sexy when you say it."

"What's the favor?"

"Invite some other colleges from around the world. I'd specifically want you to invite Swansea University in Wales and tell them that they were chosen based on a paper written by Linda Petry. You'd like her there to receive the check. Maybe pick a few others from different countries."

"That's the girl that Darcy fucked in Bermuda isn't it?"

"I thought you were the girl she fucked in Bermuda."

"I meant after the wedding, when I flew home to keep your company running."

"You mean your company."

"Our company."

"That's the girl. I want her to meet with Easy Sue to talk about hydro-electric power. I want to attend that meeting."

"I'll make sure that it happens."

"How many universities will you be giving money to?"

"I think about four hundred. We won't invite them all, just a few to represent the group. We can mail the checks to everyone on the list. Some are large and some small. The research team came up with the criteria, and I thought it made sense. We'll change it to three hundred and ninety from the US and ten from other foreign countries."

"Just make it four hundred and ten. I would hate for someone to be cut that was on the list just because I wanted to sleep with you."

"How does that add up?"

"If Linda flies in for the presentation you may end up in my bed if you want to get any sleep."

"We have like six or seven bedrooms."

"But you hate to sleep alone, and I'm offering to sacrifice my sleep to hold onto you."

"Thank you my brave knight."

That's how in November we had ten representative schools in our briefing room. The media attention was again there to see who won the jackpot. Mike Miller was there from the Journal. Karen gave a nice talk about education and focused on her own journey to and through her Master's Degree. During her speech, she spoke about special teachers and opportunities she remembered, and she challenged the education system to challenge students to become responsible citizens and leaders. When she finished her speech, she then introduced the schools that were represented, and provided a highlight of what they were doing. Karen focused on the fact that the money was a reward for the great programs that they'd already started, and this was to further those programs or launch new ones. I laughed that UNLV was on the list for their new computer science initiative that they'd enacted and started on. They recognized Swansea for their Aquaculture program.

Mike Miller was the first with a question. "It seems that you have given more organizations funding this time around. I count ten universities at twenty-five million each or two hundred and fifty million. That's a step down from what you have given in the past. Is that due to the flat spot in the market?"

"Mike, thank you for the question. We have been making presentations every other month. That could increase or decrease based more on our research and the needs we find. The amount isn't fixed. We only invited twenty universities. If you look in the packet we handed out there is a total of four hundred and ten universities or ten billion two hundred and fifty million that we gave out today. It would have been silly to try to fit over four hundred people on this little stage."

"I was discussing earlier with the board about lowering the amount per recipient since we're finding that they're having trouble dealing with the large amounts. We'll work with the groups going forward to understand their immediate, intermediate and long-term needs, and come up with gifts that will help fund those needs. We have also instituted a grant. For charities that want to apply, if approved they'd be eligible for matching funds raised for more local charities."

There were other questions and Karen handled them well. Linda came home with us, and Darcy attacked the co-ed. Karen showed up in my bed, and we had sex, with Karen on top. I'm not sure if she was horny or jealous, but she was aggressive on me. Linda came in the next morning, kissed me, and thanked me for bringing her to the states.

We met later that day with Sue about the Hydro plans. I also mentioned that since the barges were in the plan, we could incorporate other opportunities into the design.

"Tides in Wales can see a change in elevation of over ten meters. That's enough to make a difference. I'd like to set up a program to help the country, the city of Swansea and the University. I'd like to get permission to take up a large area of water. We'll then build an infrastructure that installs generators. If we look at Sues initial projections, depending on the amount of space we can get from the government, we could potentially power half of the country pollution free."

"On the barges I'd like to install a system of ropes to grow mussels and cockles. This is an industry of farming renewable food. On top of the barges, we could build a floating city for manufacturing that includes hotels, office buildings or whatever the local community needs. The only problem would be from the possible smell of the shellfish. We'd have to design it so that the possible smells were addressed before they became a problem."

Linda asked how much it would cost.

"We'll have to work with the government. We can invest quite a bit if we can recover the cost over the first ten years. After that it will be a profit that we can split with the government. We'll also allow the University to use the facilities for research on sea life and electrical engineering. I think that some additional grants from the foundation for a renewable energy co-op should smooth the way to get things started."

"Sue is also looking for other areas that have large tidal elevation changes that are near civilization and where additional jobs and resources would help the local economy."

Linda said, "I graduate this year, would there be a permanent spot for me?"

"I think that you'll be a key part of this going forward. I think that Sue will be visiting soon. Either Karen or I'll be coming along to meet and greet the officials that will give the final approvals."

Linda seemed happy about her new position.

I tempered it just a bit when I said, "All 'A's' from now on. We don't hire slackers."

"OK, I'll work hard."

She flew back to Wales to present the check and the ideas to her university. When she returned, she became a minor celebrity and she found herself invited to dinners to speak. As we requested, she lined up the meetings with the higher powers. I flew over with Darcy and Lilly. The Falcon had the range to reach Wales without refueling. It was a good trip and the local government and the university were happy to entertain our ideas. They were strong-arming us for more money, but when I mentioned that this was our first look outside the US and the University of Glasgow has a science and engineering program that would work well instead, they backed off and were fair with their demands.

Darcy talked Linda into our bed instead of her bed, and we found out that she was a fun little girl. Sue looked at Linda funny when we came down for breakfast and she was with us, but she didn't say anything. To get the project moving, we set up some accounts for Sue to draw on as needed. We also had a few project managers come in to run the program. It was Sue's job to make sure that the requirements were being met, and Linda would work with her when not in class or studying. To make sure that she could get the job done, Sue rented an apartment near the university.

I was hoping to have good results, but only time would tell. Tony was nitpicking through the wind farms and their equipment providers, as well as spending time visiting labs and conducting field tests. He'd hired two assistants so he could expand his coverage.

Ken was a world traveler and was logging a lot of miles on his journeys. He had ten universities that had bought into the research program or we brought them in to do our research. I was surprised that the University of Georgia was jumping out to an early lead in detecting small traces of electric flow through the root systems of plants during daylight hours. One of the biggest challenges was that they didn't have testing equipment designed for what they wanted to test, so there was a big learning curve and different approaches that were all similar, but still unique.

Thanksgiving came and past while we were in Wales. Christmas was coming up soon. I felt like I hadn't seen Beth and her family much at all since moving to Las Vegas, but the good news was that the houses were ahead of schedule, and I was looking forward to soon having them as neighbors. For Christmas we got together and then we took off the week between Christmas and New Years to go camping with them. We hiked in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks while camping just outside of the parks. I took two of my cameras and a tripod. I love black and white, but I had heard from Nicole, who'd hiked there before, that the color was spectacular. Mary was growing, and it appeared that Johnny was adjusting well to living in the southwest. They were both doing well in school.

Lilly was an excellent hiker and never seemed to get tired. Karen and Darcy seemed to enjoy it, but they weren't amazed at the beauty like Lilly, and I were. John was the leader of the pack and he enjoyed planning the trips and was comfortable sleeping in a tent and cooking over an open fire. It was wonderful how we learned from each other as we took pictures in different locations.

1987

We made it back to Vegas in time to celebrate New Year's at a big party at Bally's. Although we had fun, many of the people were shit-faced drunk, and I had to slow Darcy down from taking advantage of them. She'd already had three girls up to the room and back before the ball dropped. That was New York time. We still had three hours before our clock would chime twelve. She finally slowed down, and Karen seemed relieved. Darcy took Karen up to the room for a while, and they were back in time to sip champagne, and give out kisses. Lilly and I enjoyed the spectacle, and except for receiving a quick blowjob around ten-thirty, we stayed at the party.

What happened next really surprised me. Unexpectedly, Lilly asked me to teach her how to play craps. They'd set up tables in the party to make more money, and so we went over and found our way to the rail. I never left home without chips. It was as easy to grab a ten or twenty-five thousand dollar chip as it was to grab a quarter. If I wanted to carry that much cash, I'd have had to wear bigger pants or carry a man purse.

Lilly got into it fast. She was wearing a tight cocktail dress of red silk that accented her Asian features. She rubbed her ass on me as I stood behind and beside her and played along with her. We played for a little over an hour until just before midnight, when Darcy and Karen came up to us at the table. Just as they walked up Lilly made a big mistake. She'd just won five thousand dollars, and she wanted to tip the dealers a thousand dollars. However, she was distracted by Darcy walking up and briefly forgot about the chip that she'd dropped on the table. The hug she got from Karen was a second distraction. Before she could turn back around and tell the dealers that the chip was for a tip, they'd frozen all betting, and the shooter rolled the dice.

The chip she dropped for them landed on the sucker bet, "Two on the next roll." I wouldn't bet it in a million years. With this bet, she only had one roll to hit snake eyes, double ones. You guessed it. The shooter rolled snake eyes, and Lilly didn't know what to do when they stacked thirty grand in front of her. Unexpectedly, she started to cry. I took two grand out of my stack, tipped the dealers, and asked them to color up our stacks, (give us higher denomination chips). It's like asking them to take your 100 singles and instead, give you a hundred dollar bill. It's a common practice, and they did it without a question. I held onto the chips as Darcy and Karen celebrated with Lilly.

Later we were up in the suite when I asked Lilly why she cried at the craps table.

"I have always spent everything I had on taking care of my daughter. I never had that much money before. It's your money since you gave me the money to gamble, but for a moment, I forgot that."

"Lilly, please understand that I was just picking up the chips for you. You won it, so it's your money. Your total winnings were thirty-six thousand, and I gave you five, so you won thirty-one thousand. I take it from your comment on your own money that Darcy has been behind on giving you your paycheck as well."

Darcy looked sad, as she said, "I'm so sorry Lilly. I'll get it for you right now." She went to her purse and came back with a check that she handed it to Lilly and said, "Here is your pay for the last year. Get with Karen to have a tax accountant help with your taxes."