Pathways Ch. 05-06

"It's my life mission to find and keep one of those," he said, making sure neither Mom nor Dad could hear him.

"Good luck with that," I smirked.

I think my status with my little brother had risen by quite a large amount when he saw Debbie. I had one more thing to do. Introduce my family to her.

"Debbie, I'd like you to meet my parents, Matthew and Sandra Kiernan, and my brother, Ken. Folks, this is my friend Debbie Cummings."

I watched the look on Dad's face when he was introduced. I don't think he could quite believe what he was seeing. Deb had that effect on most males. Kenny was acting like any other hormonal nineteen-year-old, stealing glances at her chest. Mom took it all in stride, showing a small smile as she watched her three men around this spectacular woman.

Debbie's parents arrived and we went through the introductions once more. Rick and Gail were with them as well. Her mother, Sharon, caught me alone and had something to say.

"Debbie has told me what a gentleman you are, Ian. She says you are the best thing that happened to her in her second year. I'm really pleased I got a chance to meet you and thank you for being a good friend to my daughter. Her father will tell you the same thing. She was a bit aimless for a while, but she's really done well in the last three years. I think you had something to do with that."

"I think you're giving me too much credit, Mrs. Cummings. In fact, Deb was the leader in our projects and she's the one who helped me learn how to study and make my way in college. So ... maybe we helped each other."

"Did she tell you she's coming to help her father with the store?" she noted. "I didn't think that would happen."

"She told me about it a few weeks ago," I said. "I'm really pleased she wants to be part of your family's business. I know she'll be a big help."

We broke up and said our goodbyes. I got and gave a kiss on the cheek to Deb and thanked her once again for all the help she gave me when I needed it most. I couldn't imagine forgetting her in my lifetime.

"And you had her and gave her up?" Kenny asked as they departed.

"Yep. That's the way it goes sometimes," I said with a hint of regret.

~*~

I tossed a coin to see where I should choose to do my implementation thing with the new computerized system. Heads was Vancouver, and tails was Guelph. It came up tails. But first, we had to find a consultant or implementation leader for the overall system. Then we had to choose the programs.

I lost track of how many interviews we conducted looking for the right person to direct the project. Far too many of them wanted to create custom-made systems for us when we felt sure that wasn't necessary. The computer age wasn't that developed in 2001 and we had a number of impostors or pretenders who thought they were just the right people to do the job. I was sitting in with Dave Jacobs (Bob's Controller) on these meetings and he was the guy to weed out the unsuitable candidates. He knew which questions to ask and could tell when he wasn't getting the right answer.

When it was beginning to look like we would spend even more time trying to find the right person, we found our man. Clarence (call me Clary) Trounce had graduated from UBC as well, but his major was business administration. However, he had been fascinated with computers and had dived with both boots into learning and understanding them. He knew enough about accounting to satisfy Dave that he could pick the right system, and he knew enough about COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) systems that he wouldn't make a mistake in choosing the wrong one.

Unfortunately, he said he was unaware of any COTS system that would integrate with our accounting package. He said ours was no longer available and it made no sense to continue to support it. It wasn't what we wanted to hear, but he spent some time with Dave, explaining just why he believed what he did. In the end, Dave had to agree with him. That alone was enough to give me the feeling that we had found the guy to spearhead the new system.

Clary was a handsome, blond-haired, blue-eyed man in his early thirties. He was dressed neatly in an ironed, button-down dress shirt, pressed slacks and polished loafers. He spoke clearly and answered our questions concisely. He was single, living at his family home in the British Properties. His mother had succumbed to cancer a few years ago and Clary moved back home to keep his father company. His father had retired from the mining industry a wealthy man, and now, four years after his wife's passing, was dating again. Clary indicated it looked like he was going to get on with his life.

We spent almost a day with Clary, going over the objectives of the system and what kind of business we ran. In effect, it was reasonably straightforward. We bought and sold products. We repaired and serviced equipment, charging for both time and parts. We did business with a dozen vendors. All our employees were non-union, either salaried or hourly. There was a profit-sharing plan, the usual medical benefits, and paid vacation up to five weeks for fifteen-year employees. There was no retirement savings plan. That was up to each individual.

In the end, we went to Bob and said we wanted to hire Clary. We also wanted to think about keeping him after the project was completed if he was as good as we thought he might be. Dave was our spokesperson and the only question asked by Bob was whether I agreed. I did and said so immediately. End of discussion. Dave phoned Clary and let him know he was hired, effective immediately. The three of us would get together to outline our path and timeline. I was going to be a busy boy.

~*~

For the first time in my life, I was going to be on my own. I had no idea what to expect, but it was up to me to make the best of it. I was excited by my new job and I think that kept me from dwelling on being alone. My parents were pleased that I had a new career and that I was being given a big responsibility at a young age, but my mother wasn't happy that I would be so far away. She made me promise to phone her once a week to let her know I was okay. I wondered when she would figure out that I was now twenty-two and an adult.

Before I moved, however, there was the task of choosing our software package. Clary and Dave met to discuss the needs of the accounting portion, and that helped us narrow down the potential choices. In the end, we were looking at three options: Willows Software, Treadsoft Solutions, and Deadeye Acuware. After the three of us went over each system thoroughly, we decided to use Treadsoft. It gave us the most comprehensive package with future expansion capability. They had been in business for almost ten years and were well respected in the industry. Dave was completely satisfied with their accounting package.

Clary and I would travel to both Moncton and Guelph to meet the people on site and let them know what was coming. We didn't expect to be welcomed with open arms, and we weren't. We were going to change the way they did things and that was always going to be met with suspicion and resistance. Somehow, we had to find a leader from each operation to take charge of the implementation.

Moncton was a lightly staffed operation and Clary and I spent quite a bit of time talking to the staff, looking for someone to be the point person for the project. It wasn't an easy choice, but in the end, Clary and I agreed that Elizabeth Cormier was the best choice. She was known as "Dizzy Lizzy" among the employees because she was always flitting about, getting things done. She was cheerful and seemingly quite productive, so Clary and I decided to give her a chance. It turned out to be a good decision.

"Thanks, guys," she gushed. "I'm really going to try hard to make this happen. I was worried that this place might go down the drain, but now with new owners putting some money into the place, I think we can be a winner."

It was that kind of optimism that attracted our attention. Elizabeth, or Liz as she preferred, was in her late thirties we guessed, and while not particularly attractive, she was very upbeat and active in the office. I was hoping her attitude would be contagious, but time would tell. One thing for certain, she had all the know-how that I possessed from doing a similar job. In fact, with the smaller staff, she had more experience than me, so that was an added plus as well. I got the impression that no one was going to pull the wool over her eyes.

We would bring Liz and the Guelph person together to do our implementation training with Clary when we were ready. The accounting people would be dealt with by Dave, on loan from Vancouver. He did not expect that it would be too taxing, since it was a straight case of transferring information from one format to another. It would take time, but it wouldn't involve too much change.

The Moncton operation itself was a bit worrisome. It was an old building and wasn't in the best of condition. If we were to make some progress in the Atlantic Provinces, I was thinking we might need to move to a better building. I thought I had better alert Bob Maxwell to our thinking after discussing it with Dave. He was in agreement with me. I wondered what that might do to the budget, but Dave said to leave that to him. He would come up with some numbers for Bob.

After spending a week in Moncton, we moved on to Guelph. This was a much more familiar environment. It was little more than four years earlier that my family left Ontario for B.C., so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I liked Guelph from my previous visits. In fact, I had looked at Guelph, Kitchener, and Waterloo as university possibilities before my dad moved us west. It was a fairly prosperous area of southern Ontario, part country and part city. I felt somewhat at home here.

We met with the staff on a Monday and almost immediately ran into a roadblock. The current manager, Owen Street, was unhappy with the acquisition and made sure we knew it. The fact that it was a "done deal" didn't seem to occur to him. On top of that, both Clary and I were considerably younger than he was, and he looked down on us as impertinent youngsters, out of our element. It was Dave who set him straight.

Dave Jacobs had just celebrated his fiftieth birthday in May and was a long-serving employee at Maxwell Marine. In fact, he and Bob were very close and Dave benefited handsomely from the sale of his shares and the formation of the new company. Dave would continue to be the comptroller of the new business. I wasn't in the office when he laid out the facts of life for Mr. Street, but I did hear some raised voices from time to time. In the end, Dave emerged with a somewhat red face and a sour look. Mr. Street didn't come out at all for the rest of the day.

"So, what happened with your discussion with Street?" I asked that evening as the three of us had a drink before dinner.

"I've phoned Bob and told him that I didn't think we were going to be able to work with Mr. 'One Way Street.' He's living in the past and thinks everything was just fine with Algonquin until we came along. He was one of the original employees and he's taking the sale and changes very poorly. I gave him chapter and verse about just what the financial condition of his former company was, but he didn't want to believe it. I offered to show him the balance sheet, but he said it was probably cooked. I don't think he knew how to read one anyway."

"So ... what do we do now?" I asked.

"I've phoned Bob and let him know that Street has to go if we want to make this work. It'll be expensive, but letting him stay and undermine everything we want would be a lot more costly. Bob's not happy, but he doesn't see an alternative. I've got to check Ontario labour law and see what our obligations are. But one thing is for certain. Mr. 'One Way Street' will be Mr. 'Dead End Street.'"

I couldn't help snorting a strangled laugh and I could see Clary on the verge of the same. But it was a relief that we wouldn't have to deal with the man. This job was going to be tough enough without him throwing obstacles in the way. On top of that, some of the staff may decide to go along with him and make things even worse. Having him out of the picture would send a message to those who were having doubts about how serious we were.

It was time for me to look for a place to live. The three universities in the area made apartment vacancies a problem during the school year. Fortunately, it was late June and I had a decent chance to find a small studio apartment to my liking. I expected I would be in Guelph for at least six months. That worried me that I could find a nice place to live. I spent almost every weekend looking at places before I found something I could be satisfied with.

I found what I was looking for in the most unexpected place. About halfway between Guelph and Elmira, on Highway 86, there was a very fancy estate with several outbuildings, including a small cottage. One of the lucky men who were in on the origins of Blackberry had cashed in his shares near the peak and bought himself and his wife fifty acres of land. Noel Fleming had built a mansion, a large horse barn, and a cottage, supposedly for the manager of the horse barn. The man they hired lived in the immediate area and chose to commute from his home. The cottage remained empty.

Leanne Fleming, the wife, wanted someone in the cottage to keep an eye on the house and property while they were on one of their frequent trips around the world. She suggested renting it out to a responsible couple, and it was only good luck that I was able to convince them that I was responsible and had a full-time job in Guelph. I'm pretty sure it was Mr. Fleming who talked his wife into renting me the cottage. He was very interested in my project and our business. I offered to take him on a tour, and he said when he could find the time he'd take me up on that.

So, the upshot of it all was that I was living in a six hundred square foot cottage that was far and away better than any apartment. I met the barn manager and we got along easily, so I didn't have any problems there. In fact, when I wanted a break from the project, I would join him in mucking out the stalls, or filling the water troughs, shifting hay bales, or whatever else I could help with.

The barn had twelve stalls, but only eight were occupied. The Flemings owned two horses, while the others were boarders. Over that summer, I met most of the owners of the boarded horses and became familiar with both them and their animals. Some of the young ladies who came out to ride were very attractive and if I'd had more time, I might have dated one or two. I made sure I got along well with all the people around the barn. I didn't want to give the Flemings any reason to end my tenancy.

To Be Continued...