Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2022 17:22:17 +0000 (UTC) From: Mike Simmons Subject: It was always about the bets 352 My phone woke me up and it was JJ. All he said was MJ, I'm not going out all day, -3 how the fuck does it get that cold. I laughed and said, well I'll see you at the gym at 5:30 it will be 10 by then and I hung up and reset the alarm and pulled the covers up. The extra sleep was great and the alarm woke me. It was a shower and jeans and another crew neck and coffee and I was off to school. At school I went straight to English and when I sat down I almost laughed, wondering why I was here as I had no fucking idea what we would be doing. I simply took the easy way out and just sat quietly and listened. History was a little better as we were starting the Eisenhower Administration and the first question was what was the major accomplishment of his 8 years as President? I responded immediately with the interstate high way system. I was immediately asked why I thought that? Well the intent was to be able to move troups and materials easily from one place to another. Thankfully, that hasn't been necessary. It has however lead to the developer on the trucking industry and the ability to get goods from one place to another easier. It also benefits all of us as travel is easier. That all lead to a discussion, which I stayed out of it. Science was pretty much the same and it was a lecture and as usual, I took very few notes. On the way out Winnie took my hand and said that Friday would work. Then she said Mick, you know you are taking me to VT sometime soon. I smiled and said, yes dear. I walked her to class and then signed out for work. At work it was the usual security check and I stopped on the 2nd floor for coffee and took the back stairs to my office. There I found a stack of notes all asking for some time. That worked for me as I needed to check in with Kyle and meet with the Major, Dillon and Tim. I called Kyle and he said Mike, I'll be down in 15 minutes and we need to make some decisions about the new Jet. I went to see if dad was in and thankfully he was and I knocked on the glass panel beside the door and was waved in. Dad, I don't have a lot of time but the new Jet needs trimmed out and I was wondering how we should have it painted. He smiled nd said hell, I always thought Mike's toy would be appropriate? I laughed and said well, you choose, Technologies or Enterprises? Dad was quiet for a bit then asked Mike, does it matter? Dad, I would like it to have big letters saying MJS TECHNOLOGIES and smaller letters under that saying a division of MJS Enterprises. There was a big smile and he said Mike, that would be great. Mike, please don't paint it Black and Gold. I laughed and asked, what would you suggest? There was no hesitation and he said Navy with a Silver nose and underbelly. I smiled and said, done and thanks. Back in my office I found Liam drinking coffee and sitting in the club chairs. So Liam, does the coffee help? He laughed and asked, so what did I miss? I hear it was a lot. Liam, it was and your spot here is safe and we need to define a position for you and that will make things easier for you. I have a very busy day so let's deal with that and we can have lunch tomorrow at South Hills. Kyle will be here any time now and I need the Major here with him then Dillon and finally Tim. Tomorrow at South Hills you and I at 11:30 and at 1:00 get J & J architects there. No lunch just a meeting. I get us a private room for that. Oh, coat and tie for lunch and appropriate dress for the J & J people. Once that done, go home and get some rest. Liam smiled and said, thanks but I'm good, I did get some rest on the plane. Ok, Liam, suit yourself. Just then Kyle arrived and Liam asked if he should stay? I smiled and said Liam, I'll never need anyone around when I meet with this dude. Once we were alone Kyle said Mike, Liam wasn't on my agenda today but what are your plans for him? Kyle, last week i remover everyone above you here at Technologies, well except for me. Kyle, I will be leaving in about 5 months. There will be multiple construction projects underway and I'll need a lot of help. While I think Heidikamp is doing a good job at Standard Property but he is sales. Kyle, I'll have a jet parked there but my availability will be limited. Technologies is yours to ru and you know that. You and Liam will have a phone number for me and no one else. Liam will be my "Chief of Staff" the gate keeper and have the ability with Allen, construction manager, to make decisions that need to be made quickly. There will be a time every day when I will be available to take calls. Ok Mike, one more question, do you plan to spin Technologies off or take it Public? Kyle, I have no intention to do either of that. Kyle, are you good with all that? Mike, I just needed to hear you say that as rumors are flying. Mike, you know I trust you but when you make the number of changes you made, with no explanation people ask questions. Well Kyle, just ask and you always get an answer. So Kyle what does Textron need? Just then The Major arrived and I waved him in and he joined us in the club seating. Kyle said that the jet was ready and all flight tests were complete and that they would paint it but needed a color scheme and logo. Then Kyle said they would have the jet ready next Friday at Pittsburgh International. Kyle then said that the Palmer jet would be delivered to Orlando the Wednesday before ours. Kyle, Allegheny would be better as we could have more people and advertise the flight school. Not to mention we would have to fly it from Pittsburgh International to Allegheny. Then The Major asked if there was any discussion about a tail number? Kyle replied, that didn't come up. The Major said guys you can request a custom number or simply take what is given. Understand every tail number starts with an "N". I was quiet for a minute and then said guys, I don't care about the number. Hell my initials are all over the thing and having a jet is enough visibility but nothing at all to deal with football. We discussed the colors and marking dad and I agreed upon and The Major said that he would reverse the colors on the NASA jet and as he was leasing it the logo would reflect the flight school. I shrugged as I was tired of all this and while it was important brand wise it was silly vanity shit. Kyle had to go as he had an appointment and Jim asked if I had anything else for him? Well I have meetings all day Friday and want to take the jet to Annapolis. Mike, why is that a problem? Well Jim, I need a copilot. Ok, who is going on this trip? Well it is Dillon and our girls with dinner and an overnight and a return late Saturday morning. Jim looked at me and asked Mike, why not JJ? Well Jim, it is a business trip. Jim laughed and said, so the girls are long for what purpose. Mike, JJ is a big boy and he can afford a room, besides you both could use hours in a jet. Well Jim what about the girls? Ok Mike, what's with you? You have punted on everything since you got here today. You had you dad pick the paint and logo on the jet and had no input on the tail number, that shit was once important to you. The you are looking for me to provide an excuse for not having JJ be your copilot on this "business trip". I don't give a fuck but if you want a guy sitting beside you at 40,000 feet while you are going 500 MPH, who you have no idea about his capabilities. Then you need to manage the DC air space. As for the girls, there isn't a person alive that doesn't understand what will happen when 2 or 3 young couples go away overnight. Well let me be perfectly clear there will be 2 or 3 rooms and each couple, once alone, will fuck their brains out. Mike, I don't care what it takes but make a fucking decision on something and get back to normal. We all need that. Mike, I'll have paint options and tail number possibilities tomorrow when you get here and it will require a decision. Then he wrote a phone number on a note pad and said, if you don't want JJ call this company and rent a copilot. Oh you will need to pay for the room and meals. He simply, at that point, stood up and started for the door. As he got to the door I said Jim. When he stopped and turned around I said, thanks. He simply shook his head and continued on his way. I had no opportunity to think bout all that as Dillon appeared. He had a bunch of items with him and was short and to the point. Lunch was with the Admiral and his staff at 11:30 in the officers mess and the meeting with the 4 cadet officers was on campus and in the Admiral's conference room. Dress would need to be business. I laughed and said Dillon, I asked to have the meeting with the Cadets off campus and that didn't happen, so I'm not doing a jacket and a tie and neither are you. Dillon, this isn't a sales situation and we have had a successful rollout and the client isn't in control. It is not becoming a one sided relationship. Dillon, we were paid to do something and we did what was requested so what we wear to a meeting is insignificant but sends a message. I was then handed a user manual and asked to be familiar with it. Mike, I have this shit down cold but it's important that you can talk about things. Mike, they will ask and we have made it as secure as possible. The biggest threat is password sharing but that only shares information not access to the program. Mike we need to do this for a public school district. This is the right time as before the start of the year would be a great sales opportunity. Dillon, I'll see if our district is interested. I'll offer it at no cost. Mike, let's think about it for a few days. I shrugged and said Dillon, pick a district and just do it. Oh, wheels up at 7:30 on Friday. Is your girl going? Dillon smiled and said yes, it will be fun. Once Dillon was gone I just sat there thinking about things and what The Major had said and JJ being on the trip. Then I remembered Winnie asking if JJ was going on the trip. For some reason I took that to mean she didn't want JJ or Mia along. I would talk with her about that tonight. When Tim came in he handed me a Contract for J & J and the Marina Complex, as he called it. He said that they were given the general terms and have verbally agreed. He ask that I look it over and schedule a time to have it signed. I smiled and said that I was meeting them tomorrow at South Hills after lunch with Dillon and that he should come for that meeting but I needed Liam lone for lunch, as we needed to discuss a few things. Tim said he would work is schedule around that and be there around 1:00. Tim then moved to the potential hangers at VT. I was told that hanger space either long term or short term was at a premium and expensive. I actually thought that was good. Then I was told that the Airport Authority Owens all the land and that none of it was available for sale. I shook my head and Tim said Mike, they will however lease segments of the property at a reasonable rate for terms of 20 years, with restrictions on what can be built. Hangers are good but nothing commercial. So Tim, I lease the land and build a hanger or two? Tim replies, yup. Well then what happens at the end of the lease? Well Mike, you can renew the lease or simply walk away. Tim, can I tear down the hangers and then walk away? Mike, before you go off on a tangent I need to look into all this and will need to go down there. Tim, how about you do some of this on the phone and we fly down together over the long Presidents Day weekend? I need to take Winnie down there and you can bring the wife. Mike, that sounds good to me but let's see how this goes. Tim, is there anything else? Mike, you need to find a slot that makes sense for Liam. Tim, that's why we are having lunch tomorrow, thanks. Mike, he can't be seen as your eyes and ears, that isn't fair to him. Thanks Tim, I get that. I looked at the amount of reading I had just accumulated and shook my head as I was determined to get caught up in English and be ready for the physic experiment, whatever that was and finally I had to read and try to understand the contract for J & J. I picked up the contract nd started reading. I found it very boring and very wordy and terrible phrasing. I smiled and thought no wonder Tim got pod so much he spoke a different language and must have a giant vocabulary. The document was 6 pages and I was half way through the second reading when Liam appeared saying he was headed home and that he had reserved 3 room in Annapolis for Friday night. I said thanks and I'll see for lunch. With that I packed up and drove to meet JJ at the gym. I was at the gym before JJ and quickly changed clothes and started to sets the weights and decided it was time to increase the amount of weights and added a few more pounds to make the total for bench presses 315 and would not increase the reps. I noticed the manager looking but as I finished adding the weights JJ appeared, all smiled and went right to the locker room to change. When he returned he looked at the weights and just shook his head and said let's get to it. The last two lifts were a bit difficult but when I finished JJ looked at me and asked, why the increase? I smiled and said why not? MJ, if you become a weight lifting jerk it will slow you down and I like your current build a lot so don't fuck it up. We set the weights at 250 which was JJ typical weight and he did is normal routine. It was time for the squats and set the for me at 440 lbs and since that wasn't an increase I got through that easily, well I didn't struggle too much. JJ then had his set for 410 and he did breeze through his reps. There was then simply sit-ups and very light other weight work. In the sauna JJ asked why the increase and I'll need a real answer? JJ, it was time and when we get to VT I want to be doing more than anyone else and yes I am aware of the speed issues. JJ, I have a business trip on Friday in Annapolis at the academy and I would like to take the jet. Would it be possible for you and Mia to plow off school on Friday and join me. It will be Dillon and his girl. I'm thinking the 2 meetings and then a dinner near the water, inside of course. Then fly home sometime Saturday. JJ looked at me and said well you know I'm the pilot on one of trips? JJ that was always understood. Oh, I am not doing the required suit and tie. JJ laughed and asked, what till I be doing? I shrugged and said shopping with the girls or tagging along with Dillon and me. MJ, it's none of my business but these guys and even these cadets are set in their ways and you should rethink you dress code. With that JJ said MJ, I need to get going and we are good for Friday. I said JJ, thanks and sat there as he left, wondering what was going on. JJ - POV The first time I saw MJ he was leaning against a hot car chatting with my buddy Rod. Dad had "invited" me along for a ride and I knew we were moving and I was hoping it wasn't to this place as it was too far north and not country enough. I knew dad was done with NASA as there would be no more flights and I was pleased about that as every launch was more than stressful. I also knew that the rents wanted me out of my current environment, the drinking and the girls and Texas football. Well this kid was ripped and looked to be about 6'2" and a good bit over 200 lbs. what struck me the most was how relaxed he was as he was about to get into an F-18 and I would bet that his only flying experience was in a commercial airplane. I laughed as he was in for quite a ride and I wondered how long it would take for him to use the barf bag, dad had a reputation for that. Rob introduced us and we shook hands and MJ said, it's nice to meet you Jim and he looked right in my eyes and I knew he instantly had a read on me and I didn't know what to think. Then Rob said, let's get out of here and we jumped in his car and as we drove away I saw Mike turn and smile and I knew I was good if we ended up here. As we drove away Rob said Jim, that kid has more money than God and he runs the fucking school and a lot of other things. He is building a couple of buildings and moving his dad's company. At school, he had the football coach fired and if he doesn't like something they change it for him. Yet he is a nice guy and doesn't seem to ever cross a line. We are not friends but don't ever cross him and yet he will give you the shirt off his back. I just shrugged and thought I would make up my own mind. Back at the airport Rob dropped me off and Mike was coming out of the building holding his flight suit. I saw the barf bag and asked so you didn't need it. Mike laughed and said nope and your old man isn't happy. I simply shook my head. What I discovered at lunch (at a Country Club) was that Mike was very comfortable wherever he was and he was always in control. Yet he elated to the staff at the club. When we sat down in the men-s grill he asked dad what he was drinking and he ordered that nd added two iced teas. I almost shit when the drinks came and ours were the same as dad's, beer. Mike and I chatted about football, school nd girls and while it was friendly I had the feeling it was an interview. Mike seemed pleased when I mentioned that I had a verbal to VT. At the airport dad and Mike chatted and then dad and I changed into flight suits and we were off. What I discovered that day and found to be true until recently is that MJ is very comfortable in his own skin. He knows what he wants and how to get it done. Sometimes he cares and sometimes he doesn't but he doesn't hold a grudge, he simply movs on. He is very hard to get close to has he has been deeply hurt by people close to him namely Ray and Carrie. He is pretty much over the issues with Ray, as he has rehabilitate himself. Neither will ever be close to each other again. Carrie is a big issue as she has died and that relationship became about winning and she won the last fight. Lately however MJ has changed as he still gets what he wants, the problem is that he no longer always knows what that is. I'm the only one he trusts and he might love Winnie and yet he can't let her all the way in and that is becoming a problem. Then he has painted himself in a corner at VT as he has let it be known that he wants to start, first game. That's what the added weights are bout. Hell he already exceeds what a Pro Linebacker a does in weights and speed and vertical jump. He simply needs to show up and do his thing. Oh, then there is his ability to simply control a large group of people. If he was evil and he isn't, he could be another Hitler. They just simply respond to him and they feed off each other. I can't help with Carrie and I wish Winnie was going somewhere else for school next year but I can deal with the weights and VT. I'll call the weight coach and get him to require a program for MJ. This do what your doing bullshit needs to stop or he will over work and over think shit. I need to see if MJ has truly let me in. Once JJ was gone I sat in the sauna for a few minutes and was thinking about the weights and realized he had a point. VT said to do what I was doing and I went and changed it. I realized that he was right and that I could add a pound or two but I would go back to the same weights. I decided to do just do what I was doing and talk with the conditioning coach when I was down there in a few weeks. With that, I showered and drove to my place. There I went inside and found Cole playing with Ashley. Colleen asked if I would be staying for dinner and I said, sure if it it isn't a bother. She laughed and said well it will be ready in 30 minutes and there is plenty as you dad will be eating at the club. Cole said that it was a good trip and that he had a long chat with is Pro and AP and both want me to reign it in. AP and I will talk again and we agree that it was a good event and that I belong out there but I should do nothing but be in the Pro Am at the Pebble Beach Tournament but not enter the event. That would get me some competitive rounds and yet I could be relax and see how hard I had to work during an event. He is afraid I'll burn out. I asked about Liam and was told that he had a great time and fit in with the Pros and the other caddies. I asked if he thought he would want to do that full time and Cole said MJ, ask him as I'm simply not going there. All I know is that at some point he will have to decide as I want him. MJ, right now there are a lot of guys who would take him on their bag. It will be what it becomes. I laughed and Megan saw d guys, it's dinner. When dinner was over I helped Cole clean up and went to my place and spent 3 hours on school work. Once I was reasonably caught up and ready for physics, I called Winnie. We chatted for a while about nothing in particular and I brought up that JJ and Mia were going on the trip as I needed a copilot she was less than pleased. Then she asked if JJ could leave Mia home. I ask why is that and Winnie said Mick, if she hits on you or tries another 3 or 4 way I'm going to deck her. Other that that things are fine. Ok Winnie, I deal with that then I said I love you nd hung up. I reread the contract with J & J two more times and jumped into bed. Thanks for reading and for the comments, I enjoy reading and responding to them. As always please consider a donation to nifty. It is actually important.