Cracking Up!

Chapter 5

 CHAPTER 5

EXAMINATIONS

 

I wanted to take Julie to the appointment. I didn’t feel she was ready to drive herself, what with the drugs and all. She promised me she was fine and for me to go to work. I did have more important issues to deal with at work then spending the day at a stuffy doctor’s office. I couldn’t argue with her logic, but still, I would have much rather gone with her then to work. She was right about me going to the office. What she didn’t know was the big job we were working on in University Park was making a head long dive into the toilet. When I signed up with JDJ, the guys told me I’d be running a satellite office in Plano, Texas. They would be in the main office in Odessa. Sounded like a pretty sweet arrangement. I would be able to run the company as I saw fit. In an effort to save a few dollars, I would be office sharing with the company accountant and several other men. Instead of having a full blown, nice office, I was being placed in a 10’ by 10’ box office. Okay, I could deal with that, but when I found out the accountant, Hans Ryder was also going to be involved with the bidding process; I wasn’t too excited with this requirement. Don’t get me wrong, Hans was well known in the commercial end of the fraternity. He felt he was a master at shopping bids. I never did shop bids. I put the job out for pricing and accepted the low bidder. In the civil side of construction, bid shopping was a sure way to piss off some of the best sub-contractors in the area. Do that, and you’re stuck with relying on companies who couldn’t pour shit out of their boots with written instructions. I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

When I was bidding our first big job, the price was coming in around 1.2 million dollars. I felt comfortable with the price. I knew who all the other bidders were and how tight they would hit the project. As I was finishing up the final numbers, Hans came in, asking the total of the bid. I told him and he informed me the bonding company would only guarantee a one million dollar bid bond. My reply, “Too fucking bad. That’s the best price for the project. You aren’t familiar with the inspectors of University Park and I am. The job is worth every penny I’ve put in it.”

He didn’t stutter, “Joe, don’t worry about it. Cut the price and I’ll help shop the bid.” My gut said no, but my buddies had a lot of confidence in him, so, against my better judgment, I cut the price. What a mistake. We weren’t a quarter of the way into the project and the initial numbers indicated we were going to lose at least $150,000! Hans wasn’t convinced. My partners weren’t convinced. I was. The numbers weren’t lying. Each day we were falling deeper into red ink, so yeah, I would have much rather gone with Julie than faced the disaster waiting on my desk.

 

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She was a little skeptical about seeing a chiropractor. She wanted to visit Doctor Camry, the orthopedic Doctor Anderson referred, but the idea of surgery didn’t sit well with Joe or Julie. She was determined to try an alternate method. If it didn’t work, she’d check out the surgical option, but not quite yet.

The receptionist welcomed Julie to the clinic. It didn’t seem like a doctor’s office, more of an open air emergency clinic. The receptionist, Sandie, gave her three pages of paperwork. Nothing like the reams of paper the hospital required. She told Julie to fill everything out. What shocked her was, no payment required on her first visit.

They would introduce her to the unique program they offered their clients. They would give her a full examination, take X-rays and introduce her to Doctor Waters. He would explain how the treatment plan would be developed. She would also receive a free adjustment. FREE! The word took her breath away since she and Joe had paid out over $15,000 to the hospital for her surgeries.