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Post by millwright on Sept 27, 2014 20:33:13 GMT -6
Friday ran me through the John Deere shop for generator parts and a pass by their employee appreciation lunch. The owner is a good guy and springs for a catered fajita lunch every 2-3 weeks. He also buys an extra 2 guns on his deer lease for a coupla employees that hunt... they aren't "dues paying members", but get all the advantages of such.
I asked the shop manager about his problem-child tractor and if it was the lifters....with a $#it-eatin' grin. He just hung his head and asked "how much beer of what type?"
"WELLLLLLLL!!!! lets do it this way, IF you can send the bosses wife to the liquor store and get me 6 bottles of really nice Shiraz by quitting time, we will be square. I knew that the owners wife was a very good judge of wine, I had even hunted with the owner and family as a guest on their lease. One of those social/business opportunities that you never pass up.
It was great fun to make him go beg for a favor tho.
He groaned and headed for the office, I caught her attention thru the window, winked and laughed and pointed at the shop manager headed her way. It all worked out well, she went and bought wine. When I stopped by at quitting time, she had to nosy-rosy into my odd request.
When I explained that I had done some work for the big cattle operation outside of town and got invited to their Saturday dinner, she told me that they were good customers and really great to work with, as they owned many pieces of equipment and weren't afraid to take care of it.
As I grabbed the wine from her suburban to throw in my truck she gave me an evil grin and warned me, "watch that operations manager...she is hell on wheels".
Somehow, I knew I'd been had...no proof but gut instinct. The sisterhood of local business-women were plotting my downfall.
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Post by kaijafon on Sept 28, 2014 7:06:42 GMT -6
LOL! oh men are NOT suppose to KNOW about the sisterhood.... guess we need to revamp and check for leaks! LOL! thank you so much! I am just finding this story to be such a delight!
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Post by millwright on Oct 2, 2014 20:33:15 GMT -6
Saturday morning arrived with no major problems in the schedule. The reality being, only a mushroom cloud to the west would have interfered with my plans.
A trip through the car-wash to de-scuzzify my truck and to the grocery store for ceviche making supplies. I thought about a hair-cut and new tennishoes, but NAH. There is no way that I would give her any clue that I was totally beside myself about this dinner.
At the last minute, I decided to drive my old truck. A 1977 3/4ton 4wd battle-wagon. I picked it up from an old farmer years ago and restored it as time and money permitted. It was a show truck by no means, but a really nice driver....with a few upgrades. Nothing flashy, just heavy duty parts for reliability and modern conveniences inside for comfort.
Ceviche......Check Wine.........Check Cold Modelo..Check Limes........Check
I even made a Black Bottom Pie, this recipe came from the Majestic Hotel in Lake Charles, Louisiana that closed in the early 1900s. Its a thorough pain to make, but better than mediocre sex in my book.
OK....here we go. I made it to the ranch and pulled up to a bunch of people gathered around an outside kitchen/pavilion. THERE IS A GOD! I will have other people to mingle with and won't be "The Guest", being inspected and qualified.
I heard classic rock playing in the back-ground....BONUS! Druther swallow a rock than be hemmed up with a constant diet of country music. Its tolerable in small doses, a little Marty Robbins and Willie from time to time is good enough for me.
Some jeans, boots & cowboy hats and some shorts, tennishoes and fishing shirts, even a few guys that could have been military. Things are looking up.
Grabbing the small ice-chest with ceviche, chips & wine, I headed down to the tables under the pavilion.
30yds out people started looking at me, then I got "Your late", "What kinda beer for ya?", "Nice truck" and even a "Whatcha got for me in the ice-chest?". There were guys, gals and kids all having fun...cool beans.
Two tables were full of pot-luck and multiple coolers full of everything in the shade. A horse shoe pit and a coupla set-ups for throwing washers.
Then my heart stopped, Modgirl came walking over in cut-off jeans, a tank top, pony-tail out a baseball cap.......and ropers. Dumb-struck, speechless even, the best smart-ass I could muster was......"You didn't tell me it was formal attire".
Her response, "I wouldn't put a knuckle dragger on the spot, like that. Garage chic is perfectly acceptable".
Touche'
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Post by millwright on Oct 2, 2014 20:33:25 GMT -6
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Post by biggkidd on Oct 3, 2014 20:20:24 GMT -6
MOAR MOAR MOAR
PLEASE
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Post by kaijafon on Oct 4, 2014 6:33:02 GMT -6
HAHAHAHAHA! THANKS!
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Post by millwright on Jan 17, 2015 14:49:41 GMT -6
Modgirl drug me around making introductions. The group seemed to be some military, ranch types and just a bunch of regular folks. Good company indeed. Some were her family along with ranch employees and several friends and coworkers and a few business owners from the area. As we were finishing the meet-n-greet, there was the owner of the tractor shop and his wife, she just gave me a cheesin' grin and said Hi.....small world.
HEH!
I told her that all the socializing had worked up a severe thirst, we wandered over to the ice-chest corral and grabbed a beer and sat down for the pow-wow that I had been mentally getting ready for.
"You must be really appreciative of a knuckle-dragger that saved you on the side of the road and fed you some left overs, I didn't expect this kind of shindig just for that?"
She growled with a gleam in her eye, "I remember it as some REALLY strange guy that would have wrecked his truck if I had been leaning over the fender with these shorts on. Good thing you had refreshments in your truck because you were getting dehydrated with your tongue hanging out."
Jeeeeez....no mercy from her.
"Well it was a bit of a surprise to run into some stunningly beautiful cowgirl on the side of the road out there in BFE...and then to find out that I already knew you was kinda hard for me to process. It also seems that we have some common friends? So, how much intel have you gathered on me since then?"
With a innocent yet dangerous smile she said "Enough" and walked off to get towels for some kids that had been swimming in the small lake.
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Post by kaijafon on Jan 17, 2015 15:22:36 GMT -6
yay! MOAR!!! thank you!!!
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Post by biggkidd on Jan 17, 2015 16:49:57 GMT -6
Yes yes we need moar!
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Post by fightheat on Mar 17, 2015 13:54:54 GMT -6
Pleeeeeeease sir... May we have another??
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Post by millwright on Mar 20, 2015 9:40:33 GMT -6
The afternoon was thoroughly enjoyable. The nature of my work and life limits the amount of social contact I get, when I am around people, more often than not, I get reminded that the company of my dog is a better option. All the folks at Modgirl's shindig were a joy to be around, it was refreshing to have an intelligent conversation with whoever happen to walk up...all liberally sprinkled with a sharp sense of humor. All the kids were polite and fun too, not the norm in today's world Modgirl was kinda scarce during the afternoon, or more accurately, she was everywhere. Things just seemed to happen when she got involved, activities started, the right people got put together to solve a problem, guys who were getting their beer-goggles out of focus ended up by the pit to get some food and rehydrate before finding a hammock in the shade...right after they gave her their keys. She is obviously a force of nature to be reckoned with. After awhile, catching snips of conversation here and there, I realized there was a lot of business going on. Not only dollars & cents type business, but networking for any & everything. I got to spend some time with the owners of the tractor shop, she was one of the few people enjoying a glass of wine, it just so happened to be the wine she bought for me to bring. HEH It became apparent that there is a hidden layer to the area that just doesn't get observed.......... Very Interesting Indeed. Later in the afternoon, many of the folks had migrated into the pond with a mix of floaties, tubes and pool toys. I had wandered in to cool off and take a break from gravity. A couple of shouts and squeals came from behind me, I looked just in time to see a couple of guys trying to fling Modgirl off the dock. They had tangled with more than they expected....all three went in. I had to join the hoots and laughter, until she came underwater, grabbed my feet and gave me a serious dunking. WOW, didn't see that one coming.
After everything calmed down, she came up to the other side of my floatie with a beer to replace the one she sank with me. With a serious face, she commanded "You and I need to talk".... OHH JEEEZ here we go?
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Post by millwright on Mar 20, 2015 10:52:28 GMT -6
I guess the look of fear on my face was pretty obvious, she gave that evil grin and asked, "Whatsamatter, are ya' skeert?" with a red-neck twang.
"NOOOOO, I just had a vision of getting volunteered for something that I couldn't refuse, and coming from you, refusal doesn't seem to be an option" Like I could tell her no on anything......I'm so toast, its pathetic.
She laughed and then got serious, "I really do want to thank you. Not just for helping me, one of those soldiers you helped out by the rest stop on the highway was my brother. You noticed that several of the guys here are military, my family and everybody here is, was or has family in the armed forces. We have a network of sorts, that tries to keep as much business as possible amongst ourselves. It is also communicated between us when we find someone around that sucks to deal with, they get avoided if possible. In the last few months, it has been noticed that you don't suck"...(evil grin again)
She then frowned and gave me a "be right back", walking out of the pond soaking wet she grabbed a Gator and came back. "I am volunteering you now, help me load that ice chest and lets go get some more clean ice and make more cool-aide for the kids". I hopped on and we headed up to the barn/office. The office part of the operation was well appointed, it equaled any operations center for a business that size that I had encountered. On the way through she ducked in an office with weather equipment and a few monitors showing radar and commodities tickers. There was a man in there I had met earlier, not knowing exactly who he was.
"Daddy, I want you to meet Manic Mechanic".
He gave me "the look" and said "I have run your previous security clearance and had you discreetly checked out by way of your last two commanders from your time in the ARMY (calling them by name).....I guess you are OK". My jaw hit the floor on that one...I see where she gets it.
They both started howling with laughter at my response. He then reached out to shake my hand, still grinning and told me "Son, I really do want to thank you for helping out my kids, it means a lot to me knowing there are still guys around that we can trust to make things happen. If there is anything we can do for you, don't hesitate to ask, and I hope I can call on you if we need help".
"Well sir, I can honestly say that I will do whatever it takes.............to not be on this woman's shit-list. I have no doubts that is a bad place to be".
He smiled and whispered loudly, "Yeah, I kinda avoid it myself".
She grabbed a yard stick and smacked my shoulder and told me, "You need to get out there and load some ice...and I don't know if its a good thing for you to hang around Daddy too much" then took off jogging down the hall to the ice machine in the barn.
He cocked one eyebrow and said "I think you might already be in trouble".
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Post by kaijafon on Mar 20, 2015 17:11:49 GMT -6
oh awesome awesome chapters!!!! thank you SO much!!!! I needed me some moar story!!!
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Post by ydderf on Apr 6, 2015 19:02:21 GMT -6
Thanks I think a more please is apropos.
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Post by millwright on Apr 11, 2015 15:36:58 GMT -6
The get together started to wind down that evening, a large time was had by all. Kids were carried back to their vehicles, a little sunburned and just wore-out puppies in general. I made new contacts and even met a few folks that seemed to be worth spending social time with.
There really wasn't much clean-up, but I did stay till it was done.
I loaded up and was climbing in the truck and Modgirl walked up and gave me a peck on the check, "I'm glad you came and really enjoyed spending time with you. Everybody thought you fit in well with the group...and there is more depth to this group than you saw here. Everybody gave a thumbs up on finding out if you were interested in being active in the more preparedness side of things. As you can tell, nobody takes themselves too serious and we are pretty informal about it, BUT... it is something that everybody is very committed to and nobody just half-asses their responsibility. I'll let you think about it for a few days and we can discuss it more in depth."
"And what if I don't want to get involved?"
"Welllll, no harm, no foul (grin) and they might never find your body".
"Somehow I thought this was a deal I couldn't refuse, did you used to do collections for IBM? Italian Business Men, I think you could give Vinny & Guido a lesson or two".
She leaned in the window "Some would say that I usually arrange for things to go how I want them to". No doubts on that one
"OK Let me think about it, my schedule slows down Wednesday. Sushi in town if that works for you?"
"I can get to town about eight, call me if your schedule changes and be careful going home." and she turned around and walked back to the barn on that note.
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Post by kaijafon on Apr 11, 2015 17:50:03 GMT -6
short but sweet! thanks!
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Post by millwright on Apr 11, 2015 19:24:27 GMT -6
I got called out on Sunday and the phone didn't stop, it was looking like a cancel dinner situation. I was none too happy about it either, surely all the machines weren't conspiring against me?
Even though the troubleshooting part was easy, considering my....ummm, special talent, more often than not I got tangled up in the repairs. As my customer base gets bigger, I'm getting more complex issues to sort out. On production facilities with multiple lines there are cascading failures that take a little while to sort through and make sure every thing is working. Walking up and just finding the actual failure isn't an option, I don't leave until they are up and running. Another pattern is developing, never are two calls within a hundred miles of each other. My easy job is turning into real work, why couldn't I have been "affected" with the ability to make slot machines pay out on command or some gravy deal like that? Oh Well, its only a boat-load of money falling in my lap.....I shouldn't bitch too much.
Finally, a break came Wednesday afternoon. There was just enough time to get a shower in the customers locker room and head for dinner.
Modgirl showed up just as I was walking in the door. She was in a skirt & heels, heads turned when she walked by. The owner had become a friend through the years, I always brought him back some fresh crabs or oysters for personal consumption when I came back from the coast. He took us to a favorite table that had a nice view of sunsets over the town.
Two Asahi beers showed up without a drink order and Modgirl said "I guess they know both of our favorites".
The owner came out to visit a minute, after a little chit-chat she asked him if it was time to butcher another one of "his" cows. Apparently the ranch keeps a few select cows and finishes them on a special feed just for this place. Its not Kobe beef, but almost as good for about one third the price. No wonder their steaks are to die for.
"So, is he in the group too?"
"Not really" she said "But we do have a working deal for trading beef with him for commercial quantity foods. It keeps things off the books for both of us."
"I do the same with his mechanical repairs. Our worlds seem to have been in the same orbit without colliding, go figure".
"Actually, I have known who you are for awhile now, you drew my interest on the board and I did some homework once I figured out that you lived in the area. Then when I found out we had some common business associates, it was my plan to meet you and see if you were a candidate for the group. Running into you on the road was blind luck....and here we are".
"I guess that explains how your beautiful self catches me flat footed most of the time, you have been one jump ahead from the start".
She laughed and filled me in some more, "I didn't realize it was you the day we met, until I got in your truck and saw a business card in the console...then it was on".
"I have been shanghaied, you kept me in the dark and let me stumble around just for your own perverse jollies, you are a devious, twisted woman....which are admirable qualities in my book sometimes".
"After a couple of years of you yankin' my chain on the board, you earned every bit of it, don't act so innocent and abused there Mister Manic".
"Somebody needed to yank your chain and you enjoyed the challenge".
"Don't make me write you another infraction right now!" we got tickled and laughed loud enough for the closest table to start watchin.....oops.
They came to take our order about then and saved me.
"So fill me in on the group, why should I join, why do you want me there, whats the commitment in time and money, how well thought out are your plans, how many others are there and who has the final say on things?"
"The whole thing was started by my Pop when I was little, it has changed & morphed over time. He has the final say on the part that affects the ranch, but everybody values his council. We have a big shelter under the big barn that is well stocked for about 60 people for two years comfortably, another 2 years of staples. A couple of resturaunt owners are in and we use them to rotate our food stocks long before they get outdated. It helps with menu planning also, should we ever have to use it they are set up to serve a lot of what they are already used to cooking. There are about 75 people in the group, some have their own shelters and smaller sub-groups. About 40 will be using our shelter if needed. It is standard for someone new to pay for 1 year of our standard rations initially and a second years worth by the end of that first year. Everybody has a storage area for their individual preps and gear and such, we try to use all common gear if possible.When someone has a big project we try to get together and help out, some have skills and equipment that are more in demand than others, those folks get covered on their business side. Everybody gets to take advantage of our purchasing power in bulk orders. We do trips for gun training occasionally and have medical types that do training in house. Its not the ultimate, money is no object, dream compound that you read about, but we are better off than most."
"So why me?"
"I feel confident that you already have a good prep plan and aren't just a keyboard ninja. Your business is doing well and you seem to be a private person. Most important, you are the best mechanical troubleshooter around. As far as machining and welding, design and fabrication, you are well recommended. You would be an asset if we had to become mostly self contained."
"Considering what I do, what would be expected of me for improving the shelter & equipment?"
"You already are getting an idea of how we work together as businesses, every deal is worked out on an individual basis, everybody tries to come out with a win-win deal. I have never heard anybody say they think they were taken advantage of. The ranch does provide a lot of financial backing for the projects, since it is mostly improvements to our property, that is to be expected. If we are doing something that you might be the best person for, you will be in on it from the planning stage and work the project outward from there. Frequently, prep projects get rolled into other ranch projects for obvious reasons."
"Everything sounds like y'all have a well thought out, quality operation. My first instinct is to say yes, but I would like to think about it some more and possibly look at what is actually in place and hear some of the future plans. Since your dad is the driving force, I would like to spend a little time with him also, if that is not a problem".
She raised one eyebrow and gave me "the look", "I guess it would be OK, but I don't want you two plotting anything without adult supervision. I see the possibility for trouble there."
We finished dinner and discussed the board for awhile, everybody had left, they had cleaned up the kitchen and the owner was coming our way, "Do I need to give you two a key so you can lock up on your way out?"
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Post by kaijafon on Apr 12, 2015 7:09:57 GMT -6
LOL! thanks! another wonderful chapter!
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Post by biggkidd on Apr 14, 2015 17:07:20 GMT -6
MOAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL Thanks for the new stuff!
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Post by nancy1340 on Apr 16, 2015 1:52:10 GMT -6
Thanks.
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Post by jdavidboyd on Oct 20, 2015 15:08:42 GMT -6
More? Please.......
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Post by millwright on Oct 20, 2015 16:10:28 GMT -6
ACK! He's a MOAR monster....right out of the gates... Everything has kinda stalled on this one, but cold weather is coming and I will try to get my head back wrapped around this and throw something at the keyboard to see what sticks.
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Post by 9idrr on Apr 10, 2016 18:42:17 GMT -6
Well, millwright, it's this story that's made me finally sign up on this board. I've enjoyed lots of the others, but I'd sure like to see some more posted on this one. Thanks for what you've written up to this point.
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Post by millwright on Apr 10, 2016 20:14:49 GMT -6
Well, millwright, it's this story that's made me finally sign up on this board. I've enjoyed lots of the others, but I'd sure like to see some more posted on this one. Thanks for what you've written up to this point. I'll try to get back into this story. My muse took an extended vacation... It will be like working on someone else's story...:lol: Thanks for joining and commenting.
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Post by ydderf on Apr 18, 2016 11:16:31 GMT -6
Thanks for the update. By the way I hear muse traps are available online.
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