Opening Earth Part 1Chapter 6
- 2 years ago
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Cindy was right about us needing a bank. My idea of, me becoming a middleman for my people making deposits to and withdrawals from their Multiverse banks was a stopgap measure that would suffice, but only for a short time. The more I thought about things, it was very evident that the Banking Guild would not establish a bank on Earth in the near future, and we needed one now.
By the time I got to my office portable, I had formed a rough plan to handle this issue. My first step would be to establish an interim system for my people to do their Multiverse banking, to include finding someone to handle the accounting of my interim system. Then, I would create a bank here at the ranch. That meant I would have to build a new building and locate someone to run the bank. The very first thing I need to do was to consult with a few of my key advisors as to the best way to proceed.
As Cindy had pointed out, I was delinquent in finding an accounting agency to handle my financial affairs. Locating an agency should not be a major effort. Once I have an agency, Cindy can hand over the responsibility of tracking my expenses and they could also set up the system for tracking my peoples’ banking transactions. I can hand off the transaction data to Kendrick, and he can transfer the funds between my bank account and my peoples’ Multiverse bank accounts.
Before going into my office, I stopped at Cindy’s office.
“Cindy, I’ve decided to create a bank here on the ranch now. I can deal with the Banking Guild if they ever get around to deciding to install a bank on Earth. I need some advice on the best way to proceed. Please call Matt, Mary, and Abby. Ask them to join me in my meeting room at eleven for a short meeting. If you can think of anyone else whose opinion would be beneficial call them also. I’ll need you in the meeting, also.”
“I always attend your meetings to take notes, Doug.”
“Yes, you do, but I want you there as an active participant more than just a note taker. You were in the meetings with me when I met with Kendrick and Kevin, so your point of view will be essential.”
Everyone showed up early, so I started the meeting with, “I decided to open my own chain of banks here on Earth. Cindy pointed out that the Multiverse members of my staff have bank accounts in the Multiverse that they need to access, and currently they can’t do that. I will also need branch banks in other countries before the Banking Guild gets around to setting up a bank here on Earth. I will begin with a single bank here at the ranch.
“Abby, has Charlie gotten back to you regarding my question of how to go about creating a bank in the US?”
“No, but I’ll call him after this meeting and let you know what he says.”
“Matt, what are your thoughts on me starting a bank?”
“As you’ve said before, you will need a bank here to support trade with the Multiverse. So, I don’t see a problem with that other than the timing. You don’t have enough trading business to support a bank.”
“I know and I hadn’t planned on opening one now until Cindy told me about the banking problems my people were having.
“Initially, I won’t have enough business to justify the expense, but we need a bank now. What I set up will be a very small bank. When I begin trade in other countries, I can expand it, and also set up small banks in those countries.”
Mary said, “I agree that a bank would be beneficial. However, you don’t have to limit your business to just the ranch. With the proper inducement, I think many of the people in the local area will open accounts in your bank. If you include on-line banking, people from other parts of the US, and possibly other countries, will open accounts.”
Matt said, “I hadn’t considered that, Mary. What type of inducements were you thinking about?”
“Think about our current personal checking and savings accounts, Matt. Each month, we draw less than one percent interest on our average daily checking account balance, and the interest rate on our savings account is not that much more. The bank takes all of its depositor’s money and reinvests it, and they receive a much higher interest rate than they pay us.
“If Doug’s bank invested the depositors’ funds, he could easily get a four percent return on the investment, or more. If he made bank loans to other people and businesses, he could get a sixteen percent, or higher, return; a lower interest rate would give him even more loan business. If he advertised a three and a half percent return on checking accounts and a four percent return on savings accounts, I bet his bank would be swamped by people applying for accounts in his bank. I know I’d switch our accounts to his bank for that reason alone.
“He could also advertise very low interest loans for his customers. All of the current banks advertise loan interest on a home at the prime rate plus an amount that varies according to how greedy a bank is. What would happen if Doug’s bank offered home loans at a half a percent below the prime rate?”
“Yes those types of inducements would undoubtedly get him a lot of customers. It would also cause him a lot of problems with the banking community.”
I asked, “What type of problems, Matt?”
“I’m not sure of all the problems, but you can bet that they would complain to the Reserve Bank about your bank practicing unfair business practices.”
“Matt, would the Reserve Bank have a problem with my bank paying higher rates on account balances than the banks that complain or on my bank charging less interest on loans than those banks?”
“I don’t know, Doug. I am not familiar with the Banking regulations that control interest rates. I suspect the interest rates the banks pay and charge their customers are based on what they think will get them more business. So they set their interest rates to be slightly better than what other banks pay and charge.
“If you come along and set interest rates they consider ridiculous, then they will complain. However, if I’m right about what controls the interest rates is correct, then the Federal Reserve Bank wouldn’t cause you a problem.”
I asked, “Abby, do you agree with Matt and Mary?”
“I definitely agree with what Mary said. Like Matt said, I don’t know enough about banking regulations to say if he is right or wrong. You will need a lawyer familiar with banking regulations in order to file your applications, so ask them.”
“Okay. The way I see it is, I have the funds to start the bank, so my next step is to find a lawyer who will assist me with filing the application to start a new bank. While the application is being processed, I can find the people to run the bank and discuss things like interest rates with them. Anything else?”
“Mary said, “You will need a place to do the banking. Have you thought about where it should be located?”
“I was thinking of a new building, but haven’t decided on where to build it.”
Cindy said, “Doug, you and Sandy talked with William about designing your Trade Center. Instead of a new building, add it to the Trade Center. If necessary, you can build another building later.”
“That is a good idea and it will solve a few related problems like security. The only problem is the Trade Center won’t be completed for three or four years.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, Doug. You can use a portable until the Trade Center is complete.”
“Let’s talk about it later. Anything else?”
Cindy said, “A new bank will take time. What about our discussion regarding you being an interim bank?”
“Yes, I plan to do that, but I didn’t mention it. What Cindy means is, I will personally act as a bank for anyone that wants to withdraw money from one of their Multiverse bank accounts or make a deposit to an account.”
Sereine asked, “How will that work, Doug?”
“To make a deposit to your Multiverse account, give the Earth currency to Cindy, or to whomever I designate as my banker. To make a withdrawal from your account, request the Earth currency from my banker. We can do a General Funds Data Chip transaction to transfer the equivalent amount of Multiverse funds between our Multiverse accounts. We can start out by using my estimated exchange rate. We can adjust things later if my people are short changed.
“Cindy, I believe everyone has a General Funds Data Chip, but we don’t have a chip reader. Add buying a chip reader to the things I need to do during the next trip to the Multiverse.
“Anything else?”
Cindy said, “I looked at the list of facilities you and Sandy will have in the Trade Center and I notice one thing that I think you will want to add. You won’t want the traders to be coming to the Embassy to use our Twixt terminal, so start a Twixt business in the Trade Center or in the Hotel.”
“You’re right about me not wanting them to use our Twixt terminal, and I think the Trade Center would be the best location for the business. I’ll talk with Sandy about your suggestion.”
Matt said, “Most of your banking business will be with Earth customers. You may not want them in the Trade Center, so it may be best to locate the bank in the Hotel.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it.”
There were no further comments, so I ended the meeting. Cindy and I went home for lunch.
Abby was waiting for me when I got back from lunch.
“Doug, Charlie let Aaron know about you starting a bank. So far, the President hasn’t commented on your intent.
“Charlie also asked the chairman of the Reserve Bank about what is involved in creating a new bank. He was told that most new banks need about twelve to twenty million dollars in capital to get started. They have to apply to the regulatory agency, and once the regulatory approval process is complete, your bank can go into business.”
“Sandy and I have the bullion we brought back from our last trip to the Multiverse. We intended to use that to fund our new LLC and the creation of its subsidiaries. I’ll talk with Sandy about using some of the bullion to finance the bank, and I can replace what I use on our next trip to the Multiverse.
“If I recall correctly, you said the Federal Reserve Bank is the regulatory agency that I have to submit the application to. Is that right?”
“That’s my understanding, Doug. You need to be aware that the regulatory process is very complex and will take a long time to complete.”
“I wasn’t aware of that, but I didn’t think it would be quick or simple.”
“Are there lawyers who specialize in banking laws?”
“I suspect there are, Doug, but I don’t know of any. Your best way to find someone is to check with the Colorado Bar Association. They can suggest someone or tell you where to find someone who specializes in that area of the law.”
“Thanks, Abby. Anything else?”
“No, I’ll let you get back to what you’re doing?”
When Abby left, I called Sandy. She and Carla were at Carla’s home with her mom and grandmother doing the final planning for the wedding. I told her about Cindy’s suggestion of including my bank in the Trade Center and adding a Twixt Center to the hotel. She agreed with locating the bank in the Hotel and the Twixt Center in the Trade Center. She also agreed to my using our bullion for the bank if I had to prove I had the funds before I submitted the application to start the bank. If I didn’t need the funds up front, I would bring back more bullion when we went to the Multiverse for the weddings on Halpern and Fangler.
I mentioned that it’s a shame we don’t have the Hotel built so Sandy and Carla could hold their reception there. We agree that we should add several banquet and meeting rooms to the Hotel that can be rented out for wedding parties and other events. I said I would contact William and tell him we wanted to add the rooms to the Hotel.
After I left Timson, Maribel had twixted a few comments on the document’s content and several suggestions for additional content to Kendrick. He gave them to me just before we left Slave World. So when we got home, the rest of my day was spent updating the draft of the document I would give to the Trade Guilds to explain that Earth was a dangerous place for traders, and the policies I intended to put in place to protect them from the dangers.
Sandy was in the office the next day, so I stopped at her office to talk with her. I could tell she was nervous.
“Morning, Sandy. You seem a little out of sorts today. Are you okay?”
“Yes. Carla’s mother told Carla and me that brides are frequently anxious before they get married, and we should relax and enjoy the pre-wedding excitement. I don’t think I’m very relaxed.”
I’d experienced the nervous bride syndrome when my sister got married, and when my wives and I married. Sandy’s wedding was in two weeks. Two weeks before the wedding was about when my sister and wives started getting tense. Sandy seemed worse now than they did two weeks before their weddings.
“If you recall, my wives were nervous like you are before they married me. Talk with Fitz, he can help you relax.”
“If you mean sex, that is what men always think will help; it won’t.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. Sex seemed to help my wives to relax; at least they always seemed calmer at the start of the next day.
“I did have something else to talk about with you. It has been a while since I asked you to work on the technology level assessment of Earth. Have you made any progress?”
“Some, but not as much as I would like. My other tasks don’t leave much time for me to work on it, and when I do, I find it difficult to define the degree of sophistication the different technologies have relative to comparable Multiverse technologies.”
“Why is that?”
“I think it is mainly because I’m not an engineer. If I were to compare a Multiverse computer to an Earth computer, I can tell you what I as a user see as the differences. But, I can’t tell you what is causing the differences. I know it has something to do with computer architecture and software, but I don’t know anything about those subjects.”
“I see. This is going to be a problem for us. We don’t have the technical background to assess Earth’s technology, and without that background we can’t determine a rating relative to the Multiverse’s level of technology.”
“Yes, that is a good way to define the problem I’ve had. I thought about discussing this with an Earth engineer, but he doesn’t know anything about Multiverse technology. The same would be true of a Multiverse engineer. I also thought about having a Multiverse engineer return with us to help in the evaluation, but I don’t want to put him in a position where he might be exposed and become a sugar addict.”
“It occurs to me that we have two solutions, Sandy. Take samples of Earth technology to the Multiverse so the samples can be evaluated by Multiverse engineers, or find a Multiverse engineer who already has a problem with sugar addiction and is willing to emigrate to Earth. It may be best to do both. Betty and Carol mentioned they don’t have enough to do, so I’ll have them buy a selection of things that a Multiverse engineer can evaluate, and I’ll have Kendrick find an engineer who is willing to join us on Earth. I’m certain we can use them once the study is complete.”
When I went home for lunch, I explained the problem Sandy was having, and asked Betty and Carol if they would help by buying a selection of items that we could take back to the Multiverse. They could store the items in one of the empty freight shelters until we left.
My request got me in trouble with Rita. She was upset that I was cutting her out of going shopping with Betty and Carol. I quickly explained that I thought she would be too busy to go shopping with them. She just gave me that Stupid Man look and told me she was never too busy to go shopping.
Time passed quickly until it was time for the wedding practice and dinner. Up until then, the only thing of any significance that occurred was, Layla Cutler made a formal complaint to the Department of Justice that the Multiverse practiced slavery. She said anyone associated with the Multiverse should be extradited from the US, and if possible, kicked off of Earth. Eric Mannes, the Patriarch, was back in the news. He announced a nationwide invitation to a conference to discuss how to deal with the Multiverse heathens and bigamists who came to Earth.
I asked Abby if Layla Cutler’s complaint would cause us problems. She called Charlie and he told her that when Layla’s complaint had been submitted to the Justice Department, they informed her it was not credible without evidence to support the complaint. They made it clear that her opinion of how whites treat blacks was not evidence.
Matt and Bill told me we needed to monitor what Eric was doing, but at this point there was nothing we could do. Eric’s meeting was scheduled for after we left for the Multiverse, so Matt and Bill would respond if and as necessary.
During lunch, my wives reminded me the wedding practice was that afternoon at four, and we had to leave by three. Carla lived in Greeley with her parents, and that is where her church was located. They wanted to know if I had made the arrangements with Bill for a security escort. I told them I had and Bill had made all the arrangements for us to leave at three. Fitz and his security detail would use one of our SUVs to drive Sandy to the church, and my wives and I would go in my limousine.
When I returned to the office, Sandy was waiting for me. She wanted to make sure I knew the practice was at Carla’s church at four and that I had the address. I assured her that I had given Bill the address and we would be traveling as a convoy that would leave at three o’clock. Beginning at two o’clock and at ten minute intervals, Cindy reminded me of how much time remained before we had to leave.
We arrived at St. Peter Roman Catholic Church ten minutes early. The priest met us at the church and he walked us through the ceremony one step at a time. We then went through a practice session where we actually walked down the aisle and the priest went through what would happen during the wedding vows. Carla’s dad and my parts were easy. Getting everyone to their proper positions was a bit more difficult.
Our rehearsal dinner was in a banquet room at a local steak restaurant not far from the church. The evening was pleasant with good food and conversation. My only problem was I couldn’t talk with some of Carla’s relatives who only spoke broken English, which was better than I was doing for I spoke no Spanish. Our rehearsal dinner ended early and we left for the ranch. The wedding would start at three tomorrow afternoon. Sandy didn’t go home with us for Carla’s family told her it was tradition that the groom not see the bride until she was coming down the church aisle. Sandy and two of her female security detail members were staying at Carla’s home for the night. Fitz and the rest of her security detail returned with us.
The next day, Fitz, Andy, and their groomsmen left the ranch at twelve thirty so they could get to the church in time to change into their tuxedos. They were uneasy for Carla wouldn’t let them carry their stunners and energy pistols while in the church; they had to leave them outside in their cars. Several of Bill’s people would be fully armed and would set up a security perimeter around the church.
The church was full and the wedding went smoothly with only one minor hitch. When it came time for Carla to put the ring on Andy’s finger, she kept trying to put it on the ring finger of Andy’s right hand and he kept pulling his hand away and telling her it was the wrong hand. It took a few moments for Carla to get the message, but all worked out fine. The two brides and grooms led their procession out of the church and we all followed. The brides and grooms were surrounded by well-wishers, and the groomsmen went to their SUVs to rearm themselves.
After a leisurely breakfast the next morning, Betty, Misty, and their helpers set up an area to work on the translation. While they were busy doing that, Cindy, Kendrick, I, and our bodyguards left to go to the Guild Office. We only had a short trip to get to our destination, and when we arrived, we went directly to the reception area of Guild Master Kevin Moore’s office. My bodyguards insisted on checking the area before I entered, which alerted Ann Tinny, Kevin’s secretary, to my arrival....
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“Those are the main points that Maribel and I discussed, Kevin, and here are your copies of my replies to the questions that her committee sent you over the past year or so,” I said. “Maribel said that for the next year or two, she will have future questions routed to you, and will expect me to reply through you. That will change once I have a Twixt System in place. Maribel and I did this first set of responses to her questions this way, so we could work out any problems between the two of...
For Alma Walcott it was all in a day’s job as a freelance stringer. She started her day on the phone by calling her normal news sources, but it was an unusually unproductive day for news. Then she called her contact in the Sheriff’s office. To ensure confidentiality, she never used her real name when dealing with someone she had registered with her paper as a confidential informant. She was always Sheila and her informant was either Bob or Babs. Her contacts were aware of this duplicity, but...
From Vora it was only one hop to First Stop. Since we were now based on Slave World, we needed to consider a different planet as our point of arrival and departure. It didn’t make much sense to make three hops to and from Slave World when that would be our first stop. A planet along the route we used to travel between Slave World and Vora would be a better First Stop planet, as it was not commonly used as a rest stop by other D-Hoppers. I would discuss that with Sereine during our return to...
Arriving at the Archer home, Doug rang the doorbell. “Good morning, I’m Doug Smith. This is my Administrative Assistant Cindy Smith, and my lawyer, Kendrick Jones. We have an appointment with Mrs. Archer. Is she available?” “Yes, sir. Mrs. Archer is expecting you. Please come in and I will show you to the sitting room, and let Mrs. Archer know you are here.” The sitting room was a nicely furnished and pleasant place to meet with someone. I decided that I would like to have a small meeting...
Kendrick and I were talking and he said, “The Judge outsmarted the media. The case number and parties associated with the case, have to be posted for at least one hour prior to a hearing. Normally, the case number and all of the main parties are listed in the posting. He listed the case number and your name followed by the phrase ‘and others’, which satisfied the requirement of the law. The media expected the Archer family’s name to be listed. Since it wasn’t, the majority of the media missed...
“Are you ready to go, Doug?” “Go where, Bill?” “To put in another order for vehicles. You were going to put me on your calendar for a vehicle shopping trip.” “Sorry, Bill, I forgot to tell Cindy. I can’t think of anyone I was to meet with today. Let me check my calendar ah, yes, I have the rest of today clear; except for my regular tasks, which I can put off until later. I was talking with Matt about this, so will we need him and when did you want to go?” “Matt told me that as far as...
I was awakened at two in the morning by the siren alert of my comm unit. Someone had sent me a Twixt, and had flagged it as urgent. By the time I got to my comm unit, my eyes were open far enough for me to read the message. The message read, ‘Urgent you and Abby return to my office at once, Kevin Moore.’ I went down the hall and knocked on Abby’s bedroom door. When she said to come in, I opened the door, and said, “You need to get up and dress. We need to leave for Vora as soon as we can. I...
I needed to talk with Matt, Bill, and Sue about presenting my credentials and a few other things. “Matt? Doug, here.” “Hi, Doug, what’s up?” “I’ve finished the immediate things that I had to do. Do you have time to go over the arrangements for my presenting my credentials?” “Yes, when do you want to do it?” “I’m still at the ranch. We should be back at my home, shortly. Let’s meet there in two hours.” “See you then, Doug. Bye.” “Hello, Sue, Doug. Matt is going to be at my place in two...
The media had gotten word that my entourage was staying at the Trinity Hotel in Cinnity. They had staked out the hotel’s ground-level entrance and the landing pad on the roof. The only way my people could come and go undetected was for Sereine to hop them in and out of the hotel. Since her ability to hop was limited by her recovery time, it was very inconvenient for all of my people. My bodyguards decided that the media representatives needed to be taught a lesson; namely, do not harass the...
My wives said I needed a new wardrobe for the office. Rita was the most insistent, and she had arranged for an appointment with a tailor at a men’s specialty store that Charlie had recommended. Charlie always looked good in the office while he had been with HS, so I accepted his suggestion. Rita knew exactly what I needed as office casual and my other wives agreed, but Charlie had said that whatever I got as off-the-shelf clothing had to be tailored to fit me properly. Cindy had some work to...
During breakfast the next morning, I talked with Betty about her translation efforts. She said she needed an office in which to work. I suggested she get with Misty and set something up in the Hospital portable. Then the conversation took a turn that I wasn’t expecting. Rita said, “Carol and I have been talking to Betty and Cindy about your trip to visit with Harry at his office at the Archer Conglomerate. “Betty and Cindy think you are interested in the receptionist at the front desk and...
Within a sealed cavern, encompassed by blackness, sitting crossed legs, Zax prepared himself to tackle the fifth bottleneck of insight. Smell, touch, taste, sight ... These were the four bottlenecks of insight Zax already perceived and proceeded to comprehend. Zax was not oblivious. By now he could tell that the bottlenecks of insight have something to do with the five senses. The issue was with him unable to figure out if the remaining sense, sense of hearing, which will probably make him...
Our status meeting went well. Matt was making progress on getting a building permit for our temporary facilities and William was finalizing the supporting drawings. I let Matt know that we would have to install the utility equipment at what would be their permanent location, since Chairman Smart had bought me the equipment I would use for the Embassy Compound. I let him know I would get the equipment’s technical details for him when I had a chance and we would get with William to give him...
The Reyes and Rivera families remained at the clinic for the remainder of the day and well into the evening. Misty would periodically check her patients with her analyzer. By early evening, it was apparent that their condition was improving. After Misty informed the families, they returned home except for the mothers, who stayed with their sons for the night. They didn’t want a bed in which to sleep, so we provided them with a couple of our comfortable office chairs. They talked until the...
I arrived a little early for my appointment with Sergei, and was immediately ushered into his office. “Yarl Wilson, who is my installation foreman, Tim, and I, were reviewing the pictures that Tim Hart took at your ranch. Tim told us that you plan to set up a temporary Embassy Compound on your ranch, and live in it for a year or two. Is that right?” “Yes, but we hope it will only be a little over a year from the time we move in, until we can move into the Embassy.” “Yarl mentioned that you...
It took a bit longer than I had planned before we were ready to depart. Sereine hopped us to our first intermediary stop just as the sun was rising above the horizon. Three hops later, we arrived in the backyard of Mister Tam’s home. They had started to worry about whether we would get there for the wedding. Mister Tam said they had expected us to arrive three days ago so there would be plenty of time to make any final arrangements that may be necessary, and the wedding was scheduled for...
The four security people traveling with us were new to me. I had just a few minutes to introduce myself before we left Slave World, and I was having trouble recalling their names. Edgar said they were four of the better people that he’d had assigned to him by Kendrick. I would make a point of getting to know them better as I rested between hops. Our first stop on Vora was at my parent’s home. I had timed our departure so we would arrive early enough to have lunch with my Mom and Dad before...
Kendrick wanted to know when I would hold my media conference. The media was in a frenzy to find me. They wanted to know everything about me. My task during the interview was to limit my answers to my public life. He also wanted to set a date for me to meet my Board of Directors. He had contacted the Chairman of the Board and explained how I had inherited the conglomerate. The Chairman wanted at least a week to finalize their presentation. Kendrick and I settled on dates and times for my...
My wives woke me early the next morning. They enjoyed playing in bed yesterday morning, and were thinking of another romp in our bed. We had just started our usual sex play, when Carol made a mad dash for the bathroom. We could hear the sound of her retching, so Rita went to check on her. When Rita returned, she said, “It’s time for Carol to be checked out by Misty. I think she’s pregnant.” “Pregnant!” I exclaimed. “Didn’t she just finish her ovulation period? I didn’t think morning...
Alpha males vs earth sissies revolution part 1 "Pink or blue?" "Or should i say light pink or powder blue, we cant make you think blue is a boys color, it can be feminine also... or a sissy yellow... hmm." the deep alpha manly voice asked his soon to be sissy prisoners as he and the other alpha men laughed. the captured "men" were asked. "It doesn't matter soon to be sissies," the tall, huge super alpha man said grinning as the captured men of earth struggled. "You'll look...
Alpha Males Vs Earth sissies; part 2 A few weeks later.... "Stacy... are you ready to come out and show your new feminine self to me your new master?" The strong alpha male called from outside her girly room. Jack/Stacy stared at slender self in the mirror still not quite believing what had come of herself.. The servants had taken their time get "her" ready... slowly stripping away the earth masculinity and showing the inner girlishness all earth men naturally have, but has...
Alpha Males with earth girl sissys part 4 final. John tried to get away, but it was hopeless, as she looked down at his new feminized body, the restive pink skirts did nothing to help with getting away as he tried to escape. The nightly ritual of letting the now conquered earth sissies try to escape from their manly super alpha males, now their strong boyfriends/husbands. They never got that far, with their girly clothes always giving them away, the light pink yellow pastel colors...
“Morning, Betty, are you feeling any better this morning?” “Yeah, knowing that you really care about me as a person helps a lot. The way my parents and friends treated me is going to bother me for some time to come. I’ll get over it, but it will take time.” “That’s good ... at least, the getting better part is. Rita, Cindy, and Carol should be back tonight, unless they comm and extend their visit for another day. “I think we should plan on getting back to Vora tomorrow or at the latest the...
Matt and his wife Mary were to join my ladies and me for dinner at my home. We had to discuss the trading hop and to make plans for outfitting Matt and Mary for the trip to Vora. Mary turned out to be a moderately attractive redhead in her mid-forties, with the lithe muscular tone of an athlete. Betty had been in her element all day for she had been busy preparing our meal. My ladies tolerance to sugar had increased, so I had cleared them for eating a wider variety of foods. Betty was making...
Rita met me at the door with, “Doug, Aaron called you and he asked you to call him back.” Bill and Sue were still at the house, so I asked everyone to stick around until I finished the call. Once the pleasantries were out of the way, Aaron said, “Doug, I wanted to discuss the President’s event with you. “I had my assistant reserve three, two-bedroom suites for you at the Embassy Suites, and each bedroom has two queen-sized beds. I don’t know what the sleeping arrangements are for your...
As I said, we arrived at Wayside two hours later than I had expected. During one of our rest stops, Mac and Martha’s son Timmy wandered around the clearing. He was tired, so he stretched out on a comfy looking bed of leaves and fell asleep. Unfortunately, the leaves were on the far side of a boulder. So, when Dan prepared to hop us to our next stop, no one noticed him behind the boulder. Mac and Martha each thought the other was holding his hand. Martha knew Timmy wasn’t holding her hand,...
The first thing I did was to call William on his direct line at HRD. “HRD Architects, William Chambers speaking.” “Hello, William. Doug Smith here. I was able to complete my business on the East Coast sooner than expected. I would like to arrange an appointment with you for tomorrow morning.” “No problem, Doug, would nine be alright?” “That will be good. I will be bringing Matt Crane and his wife Mary with me. “Matt will be setting up mobile homes, portable buildings, and utility...
Days 4 & 5: It was Day 4 and Sereine was to make her presentation to our attackers and the lawyers they had retained. Yesterday, Sto, Coral, and the kits had moved back to their home with Sereine. The kits were doing fine. Aunts Sereine, Misty, Betty, Carol, Rita, and Cindy were taking turns making sure they had everything they needed. Sereine started her presentation with a detailed description of the laws pertaining to the commission of an act of violence against another party and the...
“Hello, Bashira, it’s Doug. How are things going with you and Amir?” “Good, Doug. Are you and your wives starting to settle in as married people?” “Well, not yet Bashira. The honeymoon trip has ended and we just got home yesterday, but our honeymoon is continuing. If I’m lucky it will continue for some time to come. I’ll have to wait to see if married life is different from just living with my ladies. What is Amir doing?” “He is busy with a number of issues, Doug. Canceling your visit was...