Nary, Nary, Quite Contrary by David J. Wighton
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"Doc is right that what we're doing now can't be sustained. The family is way too busy. In some cases, we have members assigned to jobs that they don't like but they aren't complaining because they think they'll let the others down. Since we're no longer in battles, our old positions like the Manager of Offensive Operations don't apply any longer. I've proposed some changes in our organizational structure to the Board and they've agreed to them. That Board of Directors – Doc, Granny, Hank, and Yolanda – will continue to have final decisions on all important matters. The positions underneath them are changing. I should say that I've also talked with all of the people who are having big changes in their job and they've all agreed to them. This meeting is mostly to let every family member know about all the changes at the same time."
"Starting as soon as possible, our managers will stop controlling the day-to-day operations of their businesses. We will hire professionals to do that work and we'll give these people the rank of Vice President. For example, Wanda could have a vice president in charge of the Clearwater sawmill and a vice president in charge of the Hinton sawmill. Wanda will be the President of our Lumber Operations. She will make sure that the vice presidents are doing their job properly but won't make day-to-day decisions. Instead she will concentrate her energies on planning how her lumber business will grow."
"Every other Wilizy in charge of a business will hire a professional to deal with the day-to-day operations. The people we hire may come from B.C. or perhaps Ontario. Both places have economies that are doing well and we'll find experienced and capable executives there. We'll advertise for the kind of people we're looking for and offer a healthy salary if they come and work for us. You shouldn't worry about paying big salaries. These companies will be making ample profits."
"We will run all of the Wilizy's business operations out of an office building in Calgary that I purchased last week. Downtown Calgary has been abandoned for years. However as the Albertan economy recovers, new businesses will come to the province. Buildings are dirt cheap right now. They won't be in a few years. The building that will house all of the Wilizy operations is the former Suncor Energy Center and it has fifty-three floors. We will use the top floors for our businesses and rent out the lower floors as other companies start to come back. We'll rename the building The Wilizy Center and the roof of the building will have a diamond-based power generator as well as a laser defense system."
"While our focus is on re-starting Alberta's economy, the source of much of our revenue will come from B.C. With war against Alberta now unlikely, B.C. has some big shopping centers that aren't needed to protect underground military bases any longer. I couldn't buy any of shopping centers, but I have leased a very large retail space in Guilford Center above British Columbia's largest underground military base. The lease is for ninety-nine years and can be renewed. B.C. gave us a very good price on the lease. However we will have to pay taxes to B.C. on any revenue that we bring in from sales. This won't hurt us. We'll build that tax into the prices that we charge to our customers."
"Now let's look at the new jobs everybody will have."
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• "Stu will be the president of our most important organization – the Wilizy Foundation. It's the same job as he has now, but he'll hire all the people who will run that foundation. Stu will have his own office in Calgary, but he'll actually do most of his work here in the compound. All of our presidents will have that arrangement. Working here, exercising here, being relaxed, and going occasionally to Calgary to check on what their vice presidents are doing. All presidents have to remember to delegate everything of a day-to-day nature to their vice presidents. Your job is to look to the future."
• "Dad will be the president of the Wilizy Cloth and Dye Company. This is our flagship business and all of our retail operations will be run out of a WC&D store. All of the clothes that Albertan sewers are making will now be sold in B.C. out of our Guildford store. We will no longer sell Alberta clothes directly to other B.C. retailers. In addition to clothing, we'll sell lumber, construction equipment, and chocolate goodies. Once Dad has everything running smoothly, he'll start selling other types of products in the WC&D stores, for example any inventions coming out of our medical research efforts. This might allow us to have a health section in the store. Once the Guilford WC&D store is running, he'll expand to other B.C. cities. We'll continue to operate the WC&D stores in our five locations in Alberta, but until Albertans become more prosperous, the prices we'll charge will be much lower than in B.C."
• "I mentioned chocolates. I have acquired the last two Chocoholic outlets in North America. One is in North Vancouver and the other is in Toronto. Both of these stores were failing because they had to pay such high costs for their chocolates. As you probably know, Dreamer has been managing the Wilizy's chocolate industry and it's close to being operational. Once it's running, she'll delegate its management to a vice president and take on a broader job as President of Specialty Retail for our WC&D outlets. Chocolate is one such specialty. A second will be Sports and Recreation. All five of Rick's Government of Alberta Recreation Centers have gyms. The WC&D stores will start to sell sporting goods like basketballs and shoes to the people who want to use those gyms. The cartons of shoes and balls that we brought to the compound are a sampling of what we can sell in B.C. and in Alberta. No other retail outlet in B.C. has these products. Dreamer's job will be to get one specialty product up and running, delegate its management, and then create another product line."
• "I've already mentioned Wanda's new role – President of Lumber Operations."
• "Momaka's responsibility will be as President of Agricultural Products. Peanuts, for example, will be used in our chocolate business. But peanuts have an appeal of their own as peanut butter or even raw peanuts. The WC&D stores can sell various peanut-based products. After that business is established, Momaka will develop another agricultural-based product that will eventually be sold in the WC&D stores."
• "Moving away from direct retail operations, any large organization needs support services. Doc will be president of Communications and Special Events. The WZBN falls into his area of responsibility, but he will delegate that job to a vice president. Special events like our singing contests will also be run by one of Doc's vice presidents."
• "Mom will be president of our Personnel Division which will recruit and hire people to work for us. She is not responsible for paying salaries; Stu's accountants in the Wilizy Foundation will do that. Mom will hire a vice president to run the Personnel Division. When important positions are being filled, Mom or Granny will be in the meeting to read the personalities of the candidates."
• "In addition to helping Mom out, Granny's other role will be to head up the Raging Gardeners. This group will not be mentioned outside of the family for obvious reasons."
• "Another group that won't be mentioned outside the family is our Environmental and Energy Research Group stationed in the satellite compound. William will be president of that group and he will work closely with TG, Wolf, Melissa, Yollie, and Mac. No outsider will be hired to work in that group."
• "My job can be categorized as Acquisitions. One part of that job is to acquire new Wilizy businesses by purchasing existing businesses, as we did with the Chocoholic shops. Or I might develop new businesses of our own, such as what the Alaskan scientists are pursuing in their medical research. We also have Alaskan scientists in Red Deer who are currently field-testing a jumbo freight transport. This is not a copter. It is an airplane similar to what The Citadel produced but better designed, way bigger, and way faster than any copter could fly. Other air transports are in the planning stages. The Wilizy air transports will be emerald green and white in colour with power provided by William's diamond-based units. TG will be the president of our air transport business once we're ready to begin mass production. We will sell air transports under the WC&D name but in geographical locations separate
• "Another function of our Acquisitions Operations is to import manufactured goods from other countries for resale in the WC&D outlets. We will also import raw materials that we will need for our own businesses. Wolf will be in charge of this business and we'll be relying on secret over-night express pallets to handle the bulk of our imports. But as far as the public is concerned, the Wilizy jumbo will explain how we are able to import materials quickly and cheaply from countries around the world. Mathias will be the jumbo pilot. Depending on what Mom and Dad want for his schooling, Mathias' role could extend to something like International Research. Since he'll be visiting a lot of foreign countries with the Wilizy jumbo, he could spend some time playing tourist but actually looking for products that we could import and sell. Mathias was the one who brought home some basketballs and other sporting equipment from Japan about two years ago. That's how our whole sporting goods opportunity arose."
• "Speaking of schooling, Reese does not have any assigned job in the Wilizy operations right now because he has to concentrate on his schooling. He has mentioned that he'd like to be a pilot and we'll look into that for him."
• "Theo and Lucas' roles are unclear right now. Starting in September, they'll be operating the Wilizy Chocoholic store in Toronto. Ontario could be a very big market for us – its population is twice the size of British Columbia's and transportation within the province is way easier. Consider Lucas and Theo as Advance Scouts who test out new business opportunities. I know that Theo is not interested in working indoors, so this job in the chocolate shop is temporary. The same is true for Lucas. He wasn't able to tell me what he wanted to do in the future."
• "Winnie will be working within the Personnel Department as a lie detector who sits in on important interviews. However when she and I talked, she proposed a new job that she'll be very good at. Winnie will be dropping into the offices of our various operations without warning and talking with employees. Patella and Scapula will accompany her to ensure her safety. As far as outsiders are concerned, Winnie heads up our Employee Satisfaction Department. However within the Wilizy, she wants to be known as the Chief Snoop. Her job is to alert us to little problems we might have with our hired employees before they become big problems."
• "Melissa, Mac, and Yollie will be in charge of Covert Operations. In addition to protecting our environmental operations and power unit secrets, they will deal with any emerging threats to our business operations or to our family members. The more we expand internationally, the more we will have to work with dictatorships and other forms of crooked governments. Realistically we have to expect that we'll become targets. Mac's dad was unable to attend today but has agreed to be a consultant if a military perspective were needed."
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Chapter 8
That Sunday, I was able to play with Winnie all morning. At noon, we had a big lunch. Granny had an announcement before they brought out the food. Since Wanda's duties as a president would require her to be at the compound a lot, and since Dreamer had the same type of duties, she said that both of them would be living in William and Melissa's old house in the compound from now on. That brought a round of applause, but I was sitting next to Winnie at the table and she was looking at Wizard. We both noticed that he wasn't clapping.
Dreamer stood up after the clapping died down and started a little speech. I could tell that she had rehearsed it. She even had a folded piece of paper in her hand, but she didn't read from it. She kept her head down and her voice was very quiet.
"I want to thank the Wilizy family for inviting me back into the home compound," she started. "I apologize to the family, and especially to Wizard, for the problems I created for you with my behaviour earlier this year. The person you saw back then is not the real me. Even I don't like that person. The Raging Gardeners are helping me forget what happened to me when I was a kid. But what happened back then is not an excuse for the way I behaved. I'm sorry that I caused Nonny..." and at that point, Dreamer sat down, took some deep breaths, and started wiping at her face. Wanda held her hand out and Dreamer passed her the paper. Wanda unfolded it and continued with the speech.
"... so much additional stress at a time that she was suffering herself. I want you to know that I have a full queue of dreams, but I'm not paying any attention to them. I have stopped letting my dreams guide my life. Seeing into the future has caused me nothing but grief. I will work as hard as I can on the job you have given to me. I'm sorry for what I did."
Nobody knew what to say. Dreamer was hiding behind an arm and snuffling into one of her sleeves. I looked at Wizard and he was giving an imitation of Luke's stone face. Granny started to rise, but Winnie beat her to it.
"Changing the subject," she started. "I want to ask the family a question. How many people here have personally seen Stu and Momaka either holding hands, or sneaking a kiss, or hugging? If you have personally seen them doing that, would you please stand up."
Chairs scraped backwards. Stu and Momaka were on opposite sides of the table and were stunned. First, that Winnie would ask the question, and second, that everybody else in the room was now standing. Even Wanda and Dreamer.
Winnie continued. "So my question to Stu and Momaka is: Who do you think you're keeping your secret from?"
Doc stood up. "The ancients held dinners after their weddings and they'd perform a certain ritual. When someone in the audience wanted the newlyweds to kiss, he would pick up a glass like this." Doc held up his glass. "Then he would take a fork or a spoon." Doc picked up his spoon in his other hand. "Then he would click the spoon against the glass like this." Doc began to clink slowly. "If other people in the party also wanted the newlyweds to kiss, they'd join in."
Doc continued to clink. After a two or three second hesitation, the entire room had been clinkified. When it was clear that nobody was going to stop clinking, Stu rose, walked around the table, and held his hand out to Momaka. She got up holding Stu's hand up in the air like they were planning to dance and stepped back from the table. Then they clinched and Stu planted a kiss on Momaka that bent her back in his arms. Everybody clapped and cheered. Wolf, who had been sitting next to Momaka, walked to the empty spot on the other side of the table so that they could sit together.
"Thank goodness, that's over with," Granny said. "I was getting hoarse from coughing every time I had to enter a room the two of you might be in."
"We have a couple of empty houses," Yolanda said.
Stu and Momaka left to bring in the food. As he put the big bowl of mashed potatoes onto the table, Stu said quietly to Yolanda, "We'll take Yollie's old house. Thank you."
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The lunch dishes were all done, the community hall was back in order, and the Wilizy/America had been cleaned. That meant that it was time to go to the basketball court where Theo and Lucas would explain a game they had just invented.
Lucas began the explanation. "We'll form four teams of five players. Liset will be an extra player on Yollie's team."
Theo spoke next. (They kept taking turns so I won't tell you who's talking from now on.) "We found four different coloured tops with the sporting goods that Wizard ordered. Green, red, blue, and yellow. Each team will wear a different coloured top."
"In this game, each team will try to put a ball through the other team's basketball net, like in real basketball."
"But we won't be running on the gym floor."
"We'll be flying in the air."
"If you are playing defense, you have to be visible."
"If you're on offense, you can try to get open for a pass by making yourself invisible and flying to an open spot in the air. When you touch the ball however, you have to be visible and remain that way. At that point, you can't fly anywhere. You either have to shoot or pass."
"After that, you can turn invisible and try to sneak near the basket to get another pass."
"When you think you can score, you can shoot."
"But remember you're visible and someone from the other team will be trying to stop you."
"You must remain visible on defense at all times."
"As soon as a defender sees a visible player on the other team, you have to try and stop her from passing or shooting."
"The defense can't just hover in the air around the basket and stop anybody from coming near."
"We think the way to win this game is to make a lot of quick passes and sneak into openings that aren't being covered. Remember you can fly anywhere you want inside the gym walls."
"We'll play with the small rubber ball so that nobody can get hurt."
"We'll start a new game with different teams every ten minutes."
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It was a blast. Nobody could stop Granny. She could score from anywhere near the basket. At one point, Wanda wrapped her arms around her body and wouldn't let go when she went invisible. Granny just dragged her through the air. Doc was a great passer – he even passed to me when I was up in the air above the basket and I only had to drop the ball in. Wolf and Mac had a play where they made a whole bunch of quick passes as they came down the court and scored. They were only visible for a second before they passed. Theo and Lucas had plays too, but they only played on the same team once. After that, everybody agreed that they had to be on separate teams.
To finish the afternoon, we had a shooting contest. You had to hover in the air and put the basketball through the hoop. Kids had a short distance to shoot. The teenagers were further back. Granny was furthest back. Whoever scored three baskets first won. Theo, Dreamer, and Granny all made three baskets on their first three attempts. To break the tie, they had a shoot out and Dreamer won. I saw Granny hug her in congratulations. She may have whispered something to her too, because I saw Dreamer nod at her and sort of smile.
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Chapter 9
It was mid-July. Five weeks had passed since the family weekend. Advertisements for the vice president positions had been placed and Yolanda was hiring. She hoped to have all positions filled by the end of August.