.This morning I got notified that my services were no longer desired by Don Kelland Materials and that they would pay me each week for the next three weeks.  

As Pat knows, this does not come totally out of the blue, as there have been some storm warnings over the last three months, but nonetheless, it still is a shock and a hurt.  I have been "looking" for awhile, and may have even answered a blind ad for my own job a few weeks ago.   The reason cited was "lack of communication" with management. 

The fact is that Don had frozen me out ever since Mar/Apr when we temporarily lost our bonding after our year-end financials were released.  It was clearly a case of "shooting the messenger".  At issue was $500 thousand in Inventory that was reclassified as Long Term due to its unmarketablility.  This lowered our Current Ratio closer to reality and it scared the bonding company off for awhile, and ADOT dropped us from the approved list.  Both have since been restored, but the damage to Don's ego had been done.   

Somehow Don felt that I had plotted against him in concert with our CPA firm (which has also been replaced).  I was his hero for three years, but suddenly became the devil.  Don didn't have the guts to tell me himself, he sent his former drinking buddy, now consultant, along with his son, Mark to give me the ax.  As I told them this morning, I understand that I can no longer function if Don does not have confidence in me, but that I can make no apologies for my actions or efforts.  Mark said that his mother, Kay, who really runs the office, was sick about it, but Don's will will be done.  

OK.  That 's the bad news that was preceeded by this.......................  

Oh, by the way, the Laser died in El Cajon two weeks ago.  Melanie had gone over the mountains, once too much, to see Julian Lennon at the Viejas Casino.  The timing belt went out in the casino parking lot, but was fixed by a brother-in-law of the gal she was staying with.  She called me the next morning to say that the Laser was smoking.  I sent her to the local Pep Boys who promptly fixed her up for $230 and change.  As she picked the car up, they said that the head gaskets were now blown and she needed to pony up another $1000.  She had had to borrow some money from her girl friend to cover the $230, so she called me again.  I mailed her the title and a week later, she arrived back in Yuma via Greyhound.  

Kudoos to Pat for offering to risk driving his car from LA to deliver her to Yuma.  I told Melanie that if Steve could take a bus from Harlingen to Purdue, she could take a bus across the mountains and desert to get home to Yuma.   

As I waited for her bus to arrive at the seedy terminal in 95 deg heat at 9:00pm, I was almost looking for David Janssen to get off the bus, looking both ways for Inspector Gerard.  It also evoked a memory of how upset your mother was once when our limo was a bit late at LAX and she had promised some fellow passengers a ride.  In contrast, Melanie got off the bus with a huge smile, just happy to be home and to be with me.  You can't put a price on a smile!  Or the ability to love someone other than yourself......  

Just a bit more....................   Last Friday, I had decided to splurge and have lunch out.  I went to the bank to cash my check and was still trying to decide where to eat when my clutch pedal in the Mazda staying on the floor.  I limped over to the local Pep Boys and told the service manager to adjust it or replace the cable if necessary.  I trudged over to Applebee's in the 108 deg heat, had lunch, and trudged back.  Some new guy said that they recommended that the timing belt be replaced for an extra $150 due to the high mileage.  In the meantime, they had not done anything.  I politely told them to do what I had asked for in the first place and spent another 1.5 hours waiting.  After 4 hours and $100 cash, our clutch worked.  

Wednesday, Melanie took the Mazda into Sears to get the front brakes fixed (the right front was squeeking).  After an hour and a half, they told her the brakes all needed work and the cost would be $800+.  I got them fixed yesterday at Midas for $257 with the understanding that the back brakes eventually need work.  I had to rush over to the bank this morning to cover the check that I wrote.  There went half of my miserable paycheck.   Please don't panic. 

This is not a poor-me memo.  It's a cathartic outpouring designed to vent my frustrations, so that I can rise once again from the ashes.  When we divorced, your mother's goal was to see me pushing a shopping cart down Culver Blvd.  That vison will keep me going to insure that it doesn't happen in my lifetime.   I've already visited with our former CPA and our former banker to nail down good referances and put them on the lookout for openings.  There's an opening with Yuma County for a Management Analyst that I have been prepping for.  I start this Tuesday night teaching a class in Finance at NAU.  I will be at the Unemployment office at 8:00 am Monday morning.  

OK?  I feel better already.

Dad

9/01/99 Follow up

As luck would have it, Melanie got hit in the rear at the freeway exit and Fortuna.  Smashed in the trunk and back bumper pretty bad.  Its going to be tricky getting it fixed since its our only vehicle. Fortunately, the car was drivable and I made it to class on time.    When I got home, the hard drive had crashed.  Today, I changed the power box and attempted a "rescue".  I ultimately got it working, so I am feverishly attempting to back up my files.   Good to see you, but I admit that my mind was elsewhere much of the time.

Dad

 

 

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