Steve and ChuckChapter 55
- 3 years ago
- 27
- 0
Chuck
I got up early in order to call Giovanni. Six our time was two in the afternoon his time, so I was determined to call him before it was late in the day for him. Mina wasn't in the kitchen yet, so I figured out how to grind the coffee beans in an electric grinder and made coffee in a small coffee maker. There was a larger one, but I figured someone who knew how to use it would be up and around soon.
While the coffee was brewing, I went out to the porch and used my speed dial to call. Giovanni answered on the first ring, "Yes?"
"Giovanni, this is Chuck, you asked for me to call. Yesterday became a little busy, so I didn't have time before it became too late to call you."
"Thank you for your consideration, Chuck. My men and I want to thank you for your assistance yesterday. After they delivered the men that were found, they went back to retrieve the boats and to dispose of the houseboat. I'm told that you and your female assistant were very efficient and professional in the manner in which you took care of a couple of problems. Again, thank you."
I told the man, "You asked, it was within my power to help."
Giovanni continued, "My men have scoured the island to make sure there are no more people there. They have also cleaned out the two structures that were on the island so that no trace of the former residents is there. However, they did discover some graves of probably the former island residents. Those graves have been exhumed and the remains disposed of at sea. No sense having that on your island to be discovered at a later date."
"Thank you, Giovanni; I appreciate your men's wise decision."
Giovanni's voice softened, "And I appreciate that you will allow my ah, ah, wife and me to visit you in the United States. We will try to come there next month. I look forwards to you advising me when you have returned to your country so I may have my men stay away from wherever you are. My men down where you are now are convinced you are not to be made angry. Your actions were quite impressive."
"My actions were as much for me as they were for you, Giovanni. I could not proceed with my plans if those other men still inhabited the island. I will look forward to your visiting as soon as you can."
Giovanni ended the call by saying, "I will talk to you soon."
Mina came from the kitchen with a mug of coffee. She was looking a little sheepish and wouldn't look at me. I reached up and lifted her chin to look at her eye to eye, "Thank you, Mina, you didn't have to get up early. We can give you the morning off to recover from the great party yesterday."
Mina blushed and said, "Please forgive us for being so, so, so, wild in front of you. All the people of the island enjoy a special bond that is let loose when we have a wedding party such as that. I am happy you are not angry. This is Monday and Miguel should be up and working, but he has a little headache this morning and will work later."
I asked, "How about you, Mina, do you have a headache too?"
"Oh no, Patrón, I do not drink much, only the champagne to toast the couple. I only enjoy the spirit of the special next day party. It is great enjoyment, but a little a, a, crazy."
When Julie arrived out on the porch, she hugged Mina and me before sitting down with a mug of coffee she had poured for herself. Julie commented to Mina, "You had a good time with the other island people yesterday. I was happy to see you enjoy yourself."
Mina blushed again, wished Julie a good morning and vanished into the kitchen.
Julie said, "My island people can get a little wild. They only do this for weddings and New Year's Eve. Their New Year's parties get a little out of hand. I'm surprised that there are never any hard feelings after their parties, but there have never seemed to be any. I think the only island residents who remained chaste were the over seventy group, and the newly married couple. That isn't always the case, as some of the newly married have just found out how much fun they can have and want to experiment with as many as they are able. I always hope no new life is conceived at these parties."
Mark and Carolyn showed up at about the same time Steve, Sue, Juanita, and Mercy came out. Mickey and Kathy brought mugs of coffee for everyone, so I knew Mina had made more in the large coffee maker. Mark asked, "So how about walking the big island this morning and taking a look at the landscape. I think I will have the men make a ford to get from this island to the middle island so we can begin using some of it for livestock and grain. We still have a lot of unused area on this island, but I would hate to cut any trees here as they add to the beauty of our home."
I asked Mark, "So when are you going to finish your house?"
Mark said, "As soon as we have the workers' duplexes built and they are moved in." Without waiting, Mark continued, "The architects and the men who are going to install our instrument landing system should be here this morning. Gene should be arriving with Sandy, the kids, and the others before ten. I'm sure they were ready to take off as soon as everyone showed up at the airpark."
I asked, "So, do you want for us to wait for Gene and the architects?"
"That would probably be best. We can take the big open fishing boat as it will easily carry a dozen or so." Mark looked at Dewey, "Do you have any special architects that you use for your resorts?"
Dewey said, "The best are in Hawaii right now. We could import them, but they wouldn't want to be away from their families for the length of time it will take to build this."
I asked Steve, "What do you think, will Terrell be able to handle this or do we need to import a big contractor?"
Steve said, "When we get the plans near finalized, let's have him look at them to see what he thinks. There is no work at home, other than some road construction and the vet housing that you are doing, so I'm sure as many men as we need to bring down will want to come."
Mark said, "We can buy more FEMA trailers for the men and have them on both the new islands. We'll need to build something like a barracks and dining hall for the single guys, but this could be a real bonus for craftsmen. We should be able to hire some locals who will want to come out, some on a daily basis and others to stay with us until the buildings are complete."
I decided to give Dewey and Steve the good news. "I didn't tell you two, but I was able to purchase the islands for taxes. I'm afraid I'll be contributing to the construction costs almost from the first dollar."
Dewey looked at me, "No way, did you really buy them for taxes? Those two islands would have to bring a minimum of fifty mil plus at a fire sale, much more at market price."
I told him, "I was prepared to do just that, but the deal became screwed up and the local lawyer knew the law, and we were the first to make an offer before it came up for auction."
By seven thirty, everyone was eating on the porch with the kids ready to go exploring on the home island. Sue and Mercy delegated responsibility to Greg and Stevie to be in charge and to make sure the kids stayed together and to keep them safe. Sue said, "They will go with several of the island kids. They will have a great time looking through all of the forests and all along the shore. There are always treasures that wash up for kids to find. They know that they are to come back to the house if they hear the air horn."
Dewey, Mark, Steve, Miguel, and I went down to the utility dock, where Miguel brought the big thirty foot open fishing boat around to the aircraft dock. The rest of us took big passenger truck carts down to the hangars. We had just tied up the boat at the dock near the hangars when a jet passed over us and circled back around. Mark went up to hangar and called on the radio, "This is island one. Is that you, Gene?"
Back from the radio, "This is Citation 74, looks like the runway is done. Any soft spots I should look out for?"
"The runways are done and hard all the way. Bring it in, son – or Citation 74," Mark said and checked the anemometer and temperature reading. "Our winds are from the south at ten, surface is 80 degrees. Altimeter at three zero, zero seven. Come on down."
We watched as the sleek Citation X set down on the runway very close to the near marker. The aircraft came to a stop, turned, and taxied back up the runway toward the hangars. When the aircraft's engines shut down, the door swung open and a set of stairs came down. Three youngsters came running from the plane to run headlong into Mark and Carolyn. There was a lot of excited talking that didn't end even when Gene came up to Mark for his fatherly hug. Gene and Sandy gave Carolyn a hug, showing her she was now part of their family.
The contingent of other passengers disembarked and stood in the tropical sun, stretching, and smelling the fresh ocean breeze that seemed to never be much more than eighty to eighty-five degrees.
While Mark was occupied with family, Steve and I pulled the luggage from the aircraft. Gene must have been close to a full load, as there was a lot equipment and luggage that came off the aircraft. As we set the last of everything on the tarmac, Gene came over and told us, "Even full, that baby is fast. I felt like we were just shy of Mach one all the way down. I know it would have been another hundred sixty or so miles per hour, but we sure did some moving. Hope you don't mind me flying your pride and joy, but we've had several charters with it lately. At twenty-three hundred bucks an hour, I don't think you want to pass up too many charters. Sandy and I did fly dual though. I know you're rated for single pilot, but I'm not rated as single pilot on this or the Lear. I don't know what strings you pulled for that, but it must have been some big ones."
We had brought as many carts as we had people down to get everyone back up to the house. I wondered if the house had enough room for all of the extra people or would some of us need to stay on the boat. The folks from the Irish Bell had already moved back aboard their boat, so that freed some space.
Mark went into the hangar and came out riding a tow motor. He hooked the Citation up and backed it into the hangar on one side to leave plenty of room for the other three aircraft to get out. Mark pushed the button to close the big door and told everyone, "We'll come back down and go over the aircraft and refuel it later. Come on, let's go up to the house and have some coffee or iced tea." Our trip to inspect the big island was getting pushed back again as we all went back up to the house.
Out on the porch, Sue saw the new kids, so she went outside and blew the air horn so the other kids could include the three new ones in their search for treasure. Before Sue could even turn around, a pack of kids broke out of the trees, running for the porch. All of them, out of breath, asked, "What do you need, Mom?"
All of the kids knew each other and were soon headed back to the woods. Sandy looked at Sue questioningly, who said, "Greg and Stevie have been in charge and now Mark, your oldest, can help. They should be safe out here."
Sandy said, "That is amazing, all those kids enjoying themselves running around an island like this. This is better than some farms. I'm sure some of the local kids have chores to do and their folks are letting them mingle. There must be almost thirty of them now."
I couldn't help but think that in a couple of more years there will be another batch of kids running around on the island. I want that, and hope the friendly five want something like that too.
Mark got his maps out and began explaining what he had surveyed to the landing system people. He gave them the prints and told them the equipment that had been shipped was in the second hangar. They would be supplied with a dozen men to help with the necessary clearing, concrete work, and heavy lifting. He advised them that the island had all of the heavy equipment necessary to do the planned work. He added, "We have some trunk feeders from down there already buried up to here so that we can have dual control over the runway lights and landing system when an aircraft is coming in and can't access the runway activation controls. Everything else is pretty standard. We built an excellent runway that should be able to handle just about any size aircraft. All we need now is a proper radar and instrument landing system."
Mark turned to the architects and said, "We will go to both islands over the next couple of days so you can have an idea of what I think will work. What we want is a first class resort, or rather resorts, that will rival anything south of Key West. Chuck is looking forward to employing around five hundred people and that will pump some great money into the local economy. Your job is to provide the plans for the outdoor activities such as multiple golf courses, a riding stable, swimming facilities, both pool and beach, and great dining at all of the resorts. The two islands will be joined so customers on one island can explore the other. We will want to provide space for additional livestock grazing and for garden areas to provide a continuous stock of fresh vegetables. This map has the topography on it as reported to the Limon courthouse about fifteen years ago. The geological formations have changed a little as the earth pushes upward a little, and that is giving the islands more surface. We will contract a pro golfer to help design the course. It's always neat to say you have Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, or someone like that, design your course for you."
Finally, Mark told the geologist, "We need more water and I want to investigate what you think might be possible from a deep aquifer. At the same time, we will need more natural gas for use on both islands. Let's find out if we have enough to sell some. I've ordered the parts to convert all of our carts to natural gas so we will make better use of our resources."
I looked at Mark, "Wow, you've put a lot of effort into this, Mark, a lot of thought and effort. It was my lucky day to ask you to come down."
Steve said, "If he was not having so much fun, I wouldn't let him stay, but now both he and Carolyn have just about made a new home here."
Mark turned to Steve, Dewey, and me; "Okay, let's go walk the big island. We'll walk for about two hours, come back for lunch, and go back for anything we might have missed. The architects and geologist will want to go with us, so let's ride down to the aircraft dock and go out to the island."
Like a magnet, we found the small dock where the other boats had been docked yesterday. Mark made the observation that it looked like a lot of people had recently visited the island. I offered, "You know what it probably was, when some people heard the islands were going to be offered up for taxes, several potential buyers probably came out to look them over."
I think everyone bought it except Steve, who looked at me a little crooked, probably thinking of what he thought were gunshots the day before.
While we walked the island, the pontoon plane flew over, wagging its wings. I could see what looked like the three boat girls with their faces pressed to the glass. Mark asked, "How do you like that engine, powerful and very quiet? We did some extensive testing on it back in Tampa with that size and a smaller version that's in my LSA, and it will now have some everyday use. This will be a great test."
We covered all of the open areas of the island and headed back to the boat to go back to the main island for lunch. When I looked into the galvanized structure that appeared to be a big machine shed, it looked perfectly empty but was a little too clean for being empty for a long time. Everyone was excited about our plans and the geologist wanted to get some deep core samples started. He was having an intense private conversation with Mark, when I was waved over. Mark pointed at me and said, "Tell this guy, who's the one who is footing the bill."
The geologist said, "I'm positive we will access good water in the deep aquifer in this area. What I'm excited about is the possibility of us finding more than natural gas. The topography is perfect for oil. I think if we were to drill in the deep sea trenches around the south end of the big island, we stand a hell of chance of finding oil. If you wanted, we can drill from land at an angle to reach those areas I'm curious about. It would be a lot cheaper than leasing a platform. You can do the preliminary drilling instead of letting a big company in on the find. What do you think, want to drill for oil?"
I looked up at the guy, "First, let's get the water and gas harnessed, then drill for oil. If you can do all three at once, do it, but we might be limited on facilities for your crews. Mark, how soon can you have about a hundred of those FEMA trailers down here?"
Mark thought for a moment and said, "The barge will hold ten at a time and it takes about four days to get them here or eight to nine days a round trip. I can make better time if I lease some extra barges and tugs, you decide."
I asked the geologist, "How soon can you have your equipment over here to begin looking for water?"
He said, "We haven't tried for deep water on your home island yet and we should probably do that first. When we have the deep water well in place, we can dismantle the drilling equipment and move it to either the small island or the big island next. I asked, "I thought you said we could drill for water, gas, and oil simultaneously?"
With a little frustration in his voice, the man said, "I did, but that is going to be very expensive. Multiple drilling rigs are going to be very expensive to transport and will require a lot of men. It's really your choice. At the same time we're drilling on this island, I can lease some more equipment and operators to begin drilling the slant well for the oil. With two more rigs, we should be able to have most everything in place within say four to six months. If we do find oil, a lot of your plans might be changed."
I looked at the guy who apparently had not been listening, "What do you think I wanted a hundred more FEMA trailers for?"
I told Mark, "You had an idea for sewage disposal, do you have any drawings or engineering plans yet? I think we need to get some engineers down here to work with you on your idea and try it out on our home island. We can work our way through the other two islands as we build on them."
"Good idea, Boss, I'll show you what information I have gathered so far when we get back to the house. I think you'll like it."
I told both Mark and the geologist, "I like to make things happen and not just plan on it to be done. That guy over there, Steve Sharp, is the same way if not more so. If he gets excited over this project, he's going to be standing over everyone's shoulder. So let's make this happen."
While we ate lunch, Mark showed me some drawings of what he thought would work for sewage disposal. The plant would use gas to boil the liquids down, and make the solids into a powder to use as fertilizer. Mark said he had checked with the University of Florida to find out if this was a safe disposal method. They said this was already being done on a small test area, and has been successful. He also said that if we handled the expenses and gave a little donation, the University of Florida could use our island as a test area supplying all of the engineering, construction, and site supervision for us.
Mark said, "Because the process will be sealed, we should be able to keep any odor down. Because we have what may be an unlimited amount of natural gas, we will use the grey water from the distilling process for irrigation and cook the solids to a powder. There are multiple air scrubbers in the plant and there is some maintenance associated with it, but it should work great."
I told Mark to pick an area that will not be built on in the future, that is away from housing on this island, and build our first plant. "Let's see if this works and whether the smell is acceptable. You'll probably have to have some big tanks to store the distilled grey water and a pretty good sized pumping station to get the water to the fields. It sounds like it will work."
Mark sat back; satisfied he was going to be able to make another environmentally safe project work on his new home island. Mark looked up at me and asked, "What do you think about some solar collectors? We could ring the sewage conversion plant with a big solar farm and perhaps give ourselves some additional power. If we do this right, we may never need any diesel for power again, and we will be cutting down on the demand we're putting on the turbines. We should probably refit our generators with engines capable of burning natural gas since we have plenty of that. I think we can be good for almost any weather condition that way. We'll need more turbines for the other two islands, and I think we can do it aesthetically if we put them near the garden and livestock areas."
I just said, "Plan it and do it."
Steve
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Chuck Waking up in a strange bed, or in this case, on a strange couch is disconcerting. I had to look around to find my leg before going to the bathroom. As I traversed to the toilet, I thought I smelled coffee brewing. When I left the bathroom, I went straight to the kitchen and found Julie and Missy sitting at the big kitchen table with fresh cups in front of them. In a chair across from them was a steaming cup of coffee. Julie smiled, pointed to it, and said, "Good morning,...
Steve Last night had been strange. Chuck was in a fight, no that wasn't right. He really didn't have a fight. That monster guy attacked him, and Chuck just tossed him. He did whack the guy in the nose, but it could have been the heel of the hand into the nose, a killing blow. We all learned that one. That wrist thing Chuck did was so quick that it was just something that happened as the big guy went over the top of him. I was sitting drinking that first cup of coffee contemplating what...
As soon as we all made it back to Mac's after the kidnapping, Sue, Mercy, and Kathy cornered me. Sue said, "You shouldn't have been involved in that. You are the father to a bunch of kids with another on the way. What in the world were you thinking?" Before I could answer, Mercy said, "I know you felt you had to help Chuck, and we all love him, but you have to be careful, Steve. We need you, we don't need you hurt." Kathy actually defended me, "Steve is a man. He has to defend his...
Steve I woke up several times during the night, hearing things that were normal sounds. Sure wish Chuck had stayed, I would have felt a lot more secure. Funny how a guy like that can make you feel safe. He's just a guy, a one- legged guy with a crooked smile, who is as friendly as a kitten. He can be vicious when he's on the job though. Drinking coffee at 5:55 in the morning is a good way to enjoy the day. I called down to the gate guard to see how everything was going and he said that...
Steve (Tuesday) Mercy and I were in the restaurant early, having coffee, when a couple of salt and pepper guys came in. I stood and both came toward me with their hands stuck out to shake. They sat with us and were brought coffee. Bud Anderson, said, "I've been working on this case for a year and thought we had most of it put to bed. There must be more to it, as you've turned up a significant group here in Nevada." Jim said, "Chuck split me off as his backup a while back to work with...
Chuck A few days later, we were passing Gibraltar. Everyone on board was out on deck to view the sight that was so familiar from the kids' geography books, the thick yellow National Geographic magazine pictorials, and advertising. The iconic view we all remember from the Prudential Insurance ads, though, is visible only from one angle, on the Mediterranean side of the Rock. Fortunately, our course kept that view in sight for quite a while. Gibraltar looks unrecognizably different from...
Steve As I passed through the galley, I was confronted by Glenda, still in her robe. I asked, "Are you going to stay in today?" Glenda said, "I think Martin and I have been overdoing it. The scooter thing we did yesterday helped, but we were both so tired last night that we thought we should stay home and rest a little. I can spend the day doing some dusting, and I need to wash some clothes for my man. The two of us could use the rest. I thought I might give home a call this afternoon to...
Chuck The last baby had been fed her middle of the night feeding, and I was really deep asleep. Lisa was shaking me. When I came out of my fog, I heard her say, "Your cell phone is ringing. Hope that isn't a problem." I got up from bed and hopped into my closet/dressing area to retrieve my phone from the tray I put pocket junk in. "Johnson," "You son of a gun, we did just like you've been doing and let it ride, all of it, we kept letting it ride. Brother Chuck, Tiny and I have hit...
Chuck I woke being hugged between Julie and Brandy. The two were really hanging on, but I needed to offload pretty soon. Sliding from the grasp of the two women, I saw that Lisa was sleeping with her head on Gina's cushions. I was going to go back to bed after using the head, but saw it was five fifty already and we were going to shove off early this morning. Instead of going back to bed, I hopped back to the head, showered, shaved, and quickly dressed to go see if anyone else was up. The...
Steve On Monday and Tuesday, Sue and I went through our local plants, visiting with the managers and workers, assuring them of what a great job they were doing. A highlight of the visits was my time spent in the recently expanded R&D building. The new guy, Sandy Flowers, had become an integral part of the team there. After setting up software to track testing and modifications, Sandy had begun helping Gerry on one of her quests to create a special polymer composite that would resist...
Chuck Life was settling down all around. I was just doing the usual office work with no flying everywhere on an almost daily basis for a change. John Scott seemed to have settled down in DC and was enjoying his job again. I had the flying lessons and was checked out in the new Citation X but had no reason to go anywhere. The charter company used it once for a quick trip to San Diego and back, but Lisa took that one. She said it was great to have an aircraft that could fly that far, that...
Steve Oh, what a night! My lovely ladies must have thought I needed the attention as they were absolutely on fire. I think they were trying to help me set a record as they all had some of my loving and started over again. The surprise among the players was a sneaky person, as all of a sudden, when Mercy fell to the side, two large bazooms were in my face and they did not belong to Sue. Sue's mother was sitting on my pride and joy, smiling down at me. She said, "Oh, Steve, this feels so...
Chuck How can that be? My cell phone is ringing. I don't remember leaving it on. Jesus, who could be calling at, I lifted my head to see it was six thirty? I was on the outside of the pile of female flesh, so I was able to get up and hop to the table where my pocket stuff and cell phone was. "Hello." A sort of familiar voice said, "Hey, Chuck, how're you and that sweet Lisa doing?" Trying to figure out who this was I said, "We're all fine, ah, who is this?" "Hey man, this is...
Chuck Sunday mornings are fun out at the park. The women wear near nothing, driving us men crazy. I anticipated a good time. When I woke and began my exercises, John joined me on a treadmill, followed by some weights. He said, "It sure would be nice to have you close by. We could workout together. It's a lot more fun to do this stuff when you have a buddy." About that time, Lisa, Brandy, and Tiani came in and began using the other treadmill and the stationary bikes. Little Tiani said,...
Chuck Sunday Waking up in a strange place is always weird, but this is too much. I'm hugging someone different, my hand is around a soft full breast, and if what I feel is real, I'm balls deep in a very juicy unfamiliar pussy that is sliding slowly back and forth. I can feel breath on my shoulder and hear Lisa breathing. She has a little catch to her breathing when she is sleeping and when she's excited. But her hand is holding and squeezing my balls so she is probably not...
Steve We picked up a nice wind the first day out. There was a low pressure area stalled to the northeast of us, providing us with an almost direct stiff wind from the south-southeast. If we can keep this up, we'll be home in four days easy. Chuck had the helm this morning and seemed to be contemplative about going home. I went up and handed him a fresh mug of coffee. "What's on your mind, Guy, anything to worry about?" Chuck smiled and said, "I love being out on the water, but I...
Steve It was after seven when I woke up to an empty bed. I was still sleepy, but got up to at least start the day with everyone. When I sat down and joined the regulars with a cup of coffee, Sue came over and kissed me good morning, "Morning, Sleepyhead. I know you didn't get back until after four, but it's unusual for you to sleep late." "If there was not so much to do today, I would just go back to sleep for a while," I said, looking around while hugging my wonderful wife. "I see...
Steve Perhaps things are getting back to normal, or for what may pass as normal lately, and that has been near chaos. Everyone at the shop that had some activity to report visited with me, until Ruth looked in on me and said, "Its lunch time, and Sue has called to make sure you come home. DeDe said you are scheduled for a flying lesson this afternoon too. What's that about? I thought you could fly already." "I can, Ruth, but I need to be checked out in the new aircraft, and I have to...
Steve I feel as if everything is going faster. Time was rushing by the closer it comes to the time for us to sail. When I woke up Monday morning, I felt a sense of urgency to get up, do something, prepare for something, to take care of last minute anything. Mercy hugged me and whispered, "Relax, everything is taken care of. You have wonderful people who will take care of everything while you're gone. They can call you anytime, and can even e-mail you with pictures or other information, if...
Steve I had slipped out of bed while the girls were all sleeping soundly. Sue raised her head, smiled at me, looked at the clock, and lay her head back down. While I was taking a quick shower, Kathy joined me and was very amorous this morning. It wasn't long before the shower degenerated into doing her while she leaned against the wall. When we both successfully and enjoyably completed our coupling, we clung to each other as the water rained on us. Kathy said, "This is nice. Sometimes I...
Steve Monday mornings are always fun. Everyone is getting started on a new week, with new energy, new ideas, and new motivation. My first task was to return a stack of non-urgent calls that had come in the previous Friday. The first was that the St. Louis cart plant was concerned their production was not keeping up with orders. The easy solution was to ship the extra production from Florida since the local plant was working at less than sixty percent capacity. I think the St. Louis plant...
Chuck For me to not sleep well means there is a crisis. I guess there were many crises going on. It was just after five, but I was wide awake, so I slipped from bed, used the bathroom, mounted my peg and went outside to relax by forming for a few minutes. I was concerned about getting the cash and gold down to Ben in Costa Rica. If I could get out of here with all of it, I could leave here and fly direct. I might have to pull some tricks in Costa Rica to get the stuff to a bank, but I...
Chuck This had been a busy day. We docked in Ireland this morning and have been busy all day. The kids demanded a lot of Lisa’s and my time, as they wanted the two us to help the Irish kids to learn what they had learned. The Irish kids were lucky to have Serene to teach them at home, since she was a lot more accomplished than I had thought. That was the fun part, and then there were Julie’s adult kids. Sue had made the call for me so they could take the ferry to Ireland, be here for the...
Steve Thursday Tiny, Sue's dad Ben, and I were in the helicopter shop with Bret and Carter. Tiny handed each of the two men a check and said, "That's exactly half each of all the numbers we agreed upon. If you two have some cross debt, handle it yourselves. We can put a fork in this deal." Bret said, "You should have heard that asshole from Alcam when I told him I'd already sold out. He cussed and threatened me until I finally hung up on him. He called back and demanded to know who...
Chuck There was a noise in the room. I couldn’t place it right away, but I finally realized it was my cell phone that was still in my pants pocket. I moved over Tiani and Lena and hopped to my pants. I pulled the phone from the pocket, flipped it open, and said, “Johnson.” The voice was very dry, very curt, “We have a job for you. You need to be in DC in four hours.” I said, “Who are you?” The voice once again with a very curt response, “We have a job for you. Get in your plane and get...
Steve My pile of women was surrounding me, with Sue doing her sleeping best to smother me between her triple Zs. No boobs are that big, but Sue has enough for three or four women. Don't you just love those big balloons? I sure do. I slid to the edge of the bed without waking anyone, but knew that we needed to get up and get going this morning. We have to leave around seven-thirty. I stretched before beginning to gently wake the women. Oops, there were two extras next to Juanita. Trixie...
Steve I rolled over and almost rolled off the bed. My movement, while catching myself at the last minute, woke Sue who looked at me funny. She smiled at me and asked, "What are you doing up? You were on duty until two this morning! Sleep a little more." I looked at the clock and said, "It's already six and we should be near port by now. I want to be up when we enter that lagoon at the yacht club. Chuck probably won't have a problem but I should probably be there to help tie up. Let's...
Chuck I checked on Lisa as soon as I woke up. Yesterday's encounter was too close to the confrontation on the island. This time it wasn't her adrenaline that got her, it was the cruelty of the men who had been dumped into the sea. It's hard to believe people could just kill the young couple and make the parents watch them get tossed overboard. It makes me shudder. Then that poor older woman, about Missy's and Beth's age, just walked out and shot those men in the head. There could have...
Steve As I opened my eyes, I realized it was Wednesday and we would be sailing in a week. That almost scared me, thinking there were suddenly too many loose ends for me to be taking off like that. As I thought about it a little more, I realized that it will always be that way, and that's why we have good people working for us. I sat up and made a decision, the guys needed to get on their horses, or airplane in this case, and get over to Hawaii as they needed to be back at home while I'm...
Steve Ah, Wednesday morning! I was still half-asleep, but knew something was happening today. I sat up straight and said, loud enough to disturb the sleep of the ladies next to me, "We're going sailing today!" Mercy rolled over, looking up at me while stretching, and said, "Only because Chuck is back." I asked, "He is? Did he call last night?" "No, Silly, he came home while we were playing up at the hot tub. His girls should have called, and may have tried, but I think they were...
Steve The girls have been all over me for letting Mark be everywhere, helping as many people as he could, and I had not put him on the payroll. Crystal should have done that, but she didn't really know whether he was going to be full time or part time. Ruth sort of made up my mind, as she signed him up as a full time employee with the employee benefit plan. I suppose that was alright, but you never knew. My cell phone rang, "Steve here." "Steve, this is Chuck. Can I use your shop up...
Chuck Julie whispered into my ear, "It's almost four. Get up and get a shower to get your motor running." When I slid from bed and checked the clock, it was only three thirty. Wonder why so early. I can do everything necessary in five minutes flat. As I slipped from bed, peed, and started the shower, a sexy older, or more mature, lady stepped under the spray with me. Julie whispered some more as she held on to my growing interest. "I need you, Lover; you make me feel so good, so alive....
Steve Life around the park and S&S is going very well. The family was busy getting the kids through their current school year so they could be free of most classes while on the coming sailing adventure. Chuck is busy with some kind of intense investigation out in Omaha that has him tied up for a while. Mercy is acting worried, so whatever Chuck is doing has her concerned. Lisa and Mercy have been seen huddled together, obviously discussing what they know Chuck is involved in. The...
Steve Monday As soon as everyone was eating breakfast this morning, I checked with Abe about the engine he had been working on for our entry into the light sport aircraft market. So far, the engine showed it was generating between 115 and 125 horsepower. This would put it in competition with the Rotax 914 or the Continental engine. We knew that the Rotax engine retailed for about thirty five grand and the Continental for around twenty, but Abe figured we could sell ours, fully certified,...
Chuck I awoke when the clock clicked over to five thirty. My internal clock was working as always. As I moved from between Lisa and Tina, Tina raised her head, "Do you have to get up so early? I don't have to go in until nine this morning." Lisa also woke up and told her, "The man is flying to his islands this morning with all of the investors and architects. I'm sure he's strung pretty tight this morning." Tina grinned at me and patted the bed, "Lie down here, Lover, and let me...