Edison Joseph (EJ) McKay made the trip from Cedar Rapids (IA) up to Tomah, Wisconsin with a little reluctance, but his cycling friend (and best referral source) Freddie Louden had said that the owner of the successful John Deere tractor parts supplier there was in critical need of advice on the financing of an addition to the plant. EJ felt like there had to be a long line of suitably competent financial advises between CR and Tomah, but Freddie was insistent.
Karl Mandel had been a high school classmate of Freddie's in Brainard, Minnesota, and the two had stayed close over the years. While Freddie went to law school, Karl had taken an apprentice's job right after graduation at the local dye and machine shop. He worked hard, made a few promotions, and then started dating the owner's daughter. The rest is history. The wife's father bought the Badger Agriculture Machining plant in Tomah 25 years ago and put Karl in charge. It was a home run for everyone.
But Karl never developed a keen sense for the accounting and finance aspects of the business, and relied upon a CFO who had come along with the original acquisition. The CFO had finally retired last year, and Karl had yet to find the right guy to come in as a successor. With the new deal approaching quickly, he had asked Freddie for some advice, and his advice had been to bring in EJ. So the appointment was set for 0900 Thursday morning, and EJ made the nearly four-hour drive after leaving the office Wednesday evening.
Check-in was seamless, and the room had a nice king size bed and a work area with desk and side chair on the far side of the room. EJ sat down in the chair and opened the bottle of Rodney Strong Cabernet he had brought along to satisfy his night-cap habit, making a generous pour in one of the in-room plastic coffee mugs. Very classy, he thought with a smile. He fired-up his laptop to check the email that had pinged-in throughout his drive, thinking that it was a mixed blessing to have the technology that created access 24/7 for his business. "You're never below radar, Hotshot," he said to himself.
He had finished handling all of the email that required some kind of response by shortly after 10PM. With the cup of wine also gone, he was inclined to take a quick shower to wash the grime of the drive away, and then watch Leno's monologue before calling it a day. As he reached for the computer's "Off" switch, another email popped-up, this one from Karl Mandel's executive assistant, Rhonda Reynolds. "Emails this late are usually not good" thought EJ. His instincts were correct.
Rhonda's message was brief:
"Mr. Mandel's trip to Chicago today has extended into tomorrow morning. He can still meet tomorrow, but the new time is 3PM. I hope that this isn't too inconvenient. There's nothing we can do at this point. Please call me in the AM to confirm the new time. Thank you. RR"
EJ knew that practice development meant that the prospective client almost always had the upper hand during the initial courtship. Service providers like himself were there to sell themselves as being of-value to the customer, and businessmen like Mandel often tested the limits of just how much effort, inconvenience and energy EJ might extend to an undefined professional engagement. "Right, Karl. You're busy. I'm just a schlump anxiously waiting around for you since I couldn't possibly have anything else to do."
With his morning appointment now delayed, EJ elected to have another plastic mug of Cab, and flipped the TV over to ESPN to catch a late game from the Left Coast. "Freddie will owe me on this one", he muttered to no one. The game was dull, kind of like the headache that he had developed after Rhonda's email, so he took some ibuprofen and turned out the lights shortly after 11. He figured he'd make the best of it in the morning, maybe now being able to get an unscheduled workout in before his trip to the Caribou shop.
Thursday Morning
The nice thing about the newer Hampton Inns was that they usually had a pretty good fitness room. The Tomah hotel was no exception as the room had a total of five machines, a couple of stability balls and a nice mat area. EJ stepped onto one of the treadmills shortly after 0600 and turned the ceiling-mounted HDTV to Squawkbox on CNBC. There wasn't a lot of pre-opening action in the market, and the show degenerated into the guest-hosts spouting the talking points of their respective political affiliations.
Around 0630 the door to the fitness room opened and a women walked in, taking a spot on the elliptical machine next to EJ's treadmill. She had the look of a traveling executive, athletic and dressed like she had spent some time at a club. Their gazes crossed and she gave EJ a hint of a nod and a very demure smile as she put in the ear bits to her iPod. "Pretty gal", EJ said to himself as he returned his attention to the business news.
EJ completed his seven miles a little before 0700, wiped down his machine with the disinfectant-wipes and headed for his room. Executive Gal was still pounding the elliptical as he left the fitness room. EJ stopped at the breakfast area off the hotel lobby on his way back upstairs and grabbed a couple of oranges to insure his daily consumption of fruit. He always figured that the hotels could do little harm to un-peeled fruit. Not so much so for those waffles and iffy-looking muffins.
The good news was that there were no new email concerns that had come in over-night. So after downing both oranges, and then showering, EJ figured that he deserved an Americano at Caribou Coffee where he could list-out the tasks that he would try to get done from the hotel that morning. A meeting cancellation did have the benefit of creating some open-time to make calls or do research that would otherwise have to wait for another free moment. So with iPad in hand, EJ left his room, hustled down the stairs, and took the short walk across the parking lot to the coffee shop.
Caribou was not that busy, and Barista Mary Pat was a cheery girl with a good chat. She put an extra shot of expresso in EJ's cup, and her smile earned a dollar tip in the jar by the cash register. EJ also bought a copy to the New York Times from the rack, figuring that he would disregard the op-ed page and concentrate on the sports section and the crossword. He took a seat in one of the two easy chairs with good natural light near the front window.
The Americano hit the spot, and EJ had reviewed all of his client accounts on his iPad by 0800. The data-processing company responsible for all of the record-keeping of his trading activities had developed a program last year that downloaded to a single spreadsheet the end-of-day account balances as well as any prior day trades for his key clients. If there were big variances from day-to-day, EJ would see it first thing in the morning and be able to make any client calls before a worried customer made the call to EJ. "At least no fires today. At least not yet," EJ mused to himself.
By 0815, EJ had moved on to the Times with the thought to move over to his business planning by 0830. The door to the coffee shop opened and he looked over to see Executive Gal from the fitness room at the Hampton walk in and over to the counter. She had surveyed the customer seating area as she waiting for her drink, and gave EJ another brief nod as their gazes crossed. EJ returned to his paper and was intently digesting a box score a few minutes later when he was startled by a small forced-cough and an unexpected greeting, "Good morning again! It looks like you have the best seats in the house. Do you share?"
EJ smiled and made a welcoming motion with his hand in the direction of the open chair . "Absolutely, and at no cost," he said. "Good morning to you as well. Good work-out? I usually don't see many co-masochists on the machines that early. I'm EJ McKay."
"EJ," she said, seemingly doing a quick inventory, as if to confirm a prior meeting. "I don't think that I've seen you here before. I stay here at least a couple of times a month. And I don't see many folks in the hotel's fitness room either. Glad to meet you. I'm Madeline O'Rourke. My friends call me Maddie."
"My pleasure Maddie. And this is my first time at this Hampton, as well as my first time in Tomah. Business. I'm from Cedar Rapids on a sales call. The meeting was supposed to be this morning, but got pushed back to this afternoon. I'm treating myself to a little leisure time before heading back to my room to hopefully make this morning a productive one on the phone or computer. Technology helps these situations not be totally lost causes. How 'bout you?"
"Oh, I live in Highland Park, north of Chicago. I come here to look in on my Mother as frequently as I can. She's in an assisted living place about a mile from here. She's 83 now and isn't doing quite as well as before. She has some dementia, but still recognizes me. We always have the same conversations. It would be easier if I could get her to move down closer to me, but she won't have any of that. She's lived here all her life."
EJ had had some of that same experience with his parents. And he had seen it over the years with both elderly clients and with younger clients and their parents. Lots of hard decisions. So EJ moved the conversation in a different direction with Maddie, "Do you work? Kids? Are you training for an event?"
Maddie responded, "I serve as the Executive Director and sole Trustee of The O'Rouke Family Charitable Foundation which I have re-located to Highland Park. Daddy was a very successful businessman in Tomah many years ago and his financial and tax advisors put together some extremely creative things that not only took care of our family, but also provided a legacy fund for the town. My work is basically oversight, as we have a full-time staff of five who handle all of the day-to-day stuff."
She continued, "I have a daughter, Jessica, who is a senior at Northwestern this year. She thinks she wants to be a lawyer! Don't we have enough lawyers in the country? Jessi's dad is a lawyer and my biggest thrill from our divorce was getting rid of that office in home where he literally lived the last two years of our marriage. Jeesh! Anyway, with the Foundation not requiring me full-time, and with Jessi out of the house, I have been doing some low key weekend running events. I may do a half-marathon later this year if nothing else comes up to interfere. Are you a runner too? You seemed to know what you were doing there on the treadmill."
EJ replied, "Mostly I do fitness for conditioning. I haven't been competitive for years, other than against myself. I like to do some road cycling from late Spring through early Fall. Working out four-to-five days a week seems to be the right amount for me." EJ checked his watch. It was getting close to 0900 and he felt like it was time to get back to his room and make some calls.
Maddie saw the look at the watch and said, "That's the look of a man needing to leave. No worries. I have my Kindle in my bag. I don't go over to see Mother until eleven, and then I usually stay until just before her dinner. She eats better without me there for some reason. I haven't decided whether I'll stay over another night or not. That depends on how well things go with Mother."
EJ would have enjoyed more conversation with Maddie, but he knew that there were several items that could be done before his meeting that afternoon. And it wasn't like there was much likelihood that a social arrangement between Cedar Rapids and Highland Park was in his future. "Maddie it was a pleasure meeting you. I think that I'll be headed back home this evening. Good luck with your mother."
"Nice to meet you too, EJ. Good luck with that meeting. Say, you never said who it was with. My family goes back a long time here. I bet there's a connection."
EJ thought for a moment about Maddie's inquiry and concluded that he had no fiduciary issue with sharing the name, and said, "The guy's name is Karl Mandel. The company is Badger Ag. You heard of it?"
Maddie gave no sign that she recognized the names. But she said, "You know, I bet Daddy did know that company. But I've been gone from town too long. Maybe Mr. Mandel will remember the O'Rourke name."
EJ thought that he detected a slight flicker in Maddie's face as she gave her response, but if there was something, it was gone in less than a heartbeat. He stood, gave here a final, "Have a good day," departure greeting, and walked out of the coffee shop.
Thursday Morning
The nice thing about the newer Hampton Inns was that they usually had a pretty good fitness room. The Tomah hotel was no exception as the room had a total of five machines, a couple of stability balls and a nice mat area. EJ stepped onto one of the treadmills shortly after 0600 and turned the ceiling-mounted HDTV to Squawkbox on CNBC. There wasn't a lot of pre-opening action in the market, and the show degenerated into the guest-hosts spouting the talking points of their respective political affiliations.
Around 0630 the door to the fitness room opened and a women walked in, taking a spot on the elliptical machine next to EJ's treadmill. She had the look of a traveling executive, athletic and dressed like she had spent some time at a club. Their gazes crossed and she gave EJ a hint of a nod and a very demure smile as she put in the ear bits to her iPod. "Pretty gal", EJ said to himself as he returned his attention to the business news.
EJ completed his seven miles a little before 0700, wiped down his machine with the disinfectant-wipes and headed for his room. Executive Gal was still pounding the elliptical as he left the fitness room. EJ stopped at the breakfast area off the hotel lobby on his way back upstairs and grabbed a couple of oranges to insure his daily consumption of fruit. He always figured that the hotels could do little harm to un-peeled fruit. Not so much so for those waffles and iffy-looking muffins.
The good news was that there were no new email concerns that had come in over-night. So after downing both oranges, and then showering, EJ figured that he deserved an Americano at Caribou Coffee where he could list-out the tasks that he would try to get done from the hotel that morning. A meeting cancellation did have the benefit of creating some open-time to make calls or do research that would otherwise have to wait for another free moment. So with iPad in hand, EJ left his room, hustled down the stairs, and took the short walk across the parking lot to the coffee shop.
Caribou was not that busy, and Barista Mary Pat was a cheery girl with a good chat. She put an extra shot of expresso in EJ's cup, and her smile earned a dollar tip in the jar by the cash register. EJ also bought a copy to the New York Times from the rack, figuring that he would disregard the op-ed page and concentrate on the sports section and the crossword. He took a seat in one of the two easy chairs with good natural light near the front window.
The Americano hit the spot, and EJ had reviewed all of his client accounts on his iPad by 0800. The data-processing company responsible for all of the record-keeping of his trading activities had developed a program last year that downloaded to a single spreadsheet the end-of-day account balances as well as any prior day trades for his key clients. If there were big variances from day-to-day, EJ would see it first thing in the morning and be able to make any client calls before a worried customer made the call to EJ. "At least no fires today. At least not yet," EJ mused to himself.
By 0815, EJ had moved on to the Times with the thought to move over to his business planning by 0830. The door to the coffee shop opened and he looked over to see Executive Gal from the fitness room at the Hampton walk in and over to the counter. She had surveyed the customer seating area as she waiting for her drink, and gave EJ another brief nod as their gazes crossed. EJ returned to his paper and was intently digesting a box score a few minutes later when he was startled by a small forced-cough and an unexpected greeting, "Good morning again! It looks like you have the best seats in the house. Do you share?"
EJ smiled and made a welcoming motion with his hand in the direction of the open chair . "Absolutely, and at no cost," he said. "Good morning to you as well. Good work-out? I usually don't see many co-masochists on the machines that early. I'm EJ McKay."
"EJ," she said, seemingly doing a quick inventory, as if to confirm a prior meeting. "I don't think that I've seen you here before. I stay here at least a couple of times a month. And I don't see many folks in the hotel's fitness room either. Glad to meet you. I'm Madeline O'Rourke. My friends call me Maddie."
"My pleasure Maddie. And this is my first time at this Hampton, as well as my first time in Tomah. Business. I'm from Cedar Rapids on a sales call. The meeting was supposed to be this morning, but got pushed back to this afternoon. I'm treating myself to a little leisure time before heading back to my room to hopefully make this morning a productive one on the phone or computer. Technology helps these situations not be totally lost causes. How 'bout you?"
"Oh, I live in Highland Park, north of Chicago. I come here to look in on my Mother as frequently as I can. She's in an assisted living place about a mile from here. She's 83 now and isn't doing quite as well as before. She has some dementia, but still recognizes me. We always have the same conversations. It would be easier if I could get her to move down closer to me, but she won't have any of that. She's lived here all her life."
EJ had had some of that same experience with his parents. And he had seen it over the years with both elderly clients and with younger clients and their parents. Lots of hard decisions. So EJ moved the conversation in a different direction with Maddie, "Do you work? Kids? Are you training for an event?"
Maddie responded, "I serve as the Executive Director and sole Trustee of The O'Rouke Family Charitable Foundation which I have re-located to Highland Park. Daddy was a very successful businessman in Tomah many years ago and his financial and tax advisors put together some extremely creative things that not only took care of our family, but also provided a legacy fund for the town. My work is basically oversight, as we have a full-time staff of five who handle all of the day-to-day stuff."
She continued, "I have a daughter, Jessica, who is a senior at Northwestern this year. She thinks she wants to be a lawyer! Don't we have enough lawyers in the country? Jessi's dad is a lawyer and my biggest thrill from our divorce was getting rid of that office in home where he literally lived the last two years of our marriage. Jeesh! Anyway, with the Foundation not requiring me full-time, and with Jessi out of the house, I have been doing some low key weekend running events. I may do a half-marathon later this year if nothing else comes up to interfere. Are you a runner too? You seemed to know what you were doing there on the treadmill."
EJ replied, "Mostly I do fitness for conditioning. I haven't been competitive for years, other than against myself. I like to do some road cycling from late Spring through early Fall. Working out four-to-five days a week seems to be the right amount for me." EJ checked his watch. It was getting close to 0900 and he felt like it was time to get back to his room and make some calls.
Maddie saw the look at the watch and said, "That's the look of a man needing to leave. No worries. I have my Kindle in my bag. I don't go over to see Mother until eleven, and then I usually stay until just before her dinner. She eats better without me there for some reason. I haven't decided whether I'll stay over another night or not. That depends on how well things go with Mother."
EJ would have enjoyed more conversation with Maddie, but he knew that there were several items that could be done before his meeting that afternoon. And it wasn't like there was much likelihood that a social arrangement between Cedar Rapids and Highland Park was in his future. "Maddie it was a pleasure meeting you. I think that I'll be headed back home this evening. Good luck with your mother."
"Nice to meet you too, EJ. Good luck with that meeting. Say, you never said who it was with. My family goes back a long time here. I bet there's a connection."
EJ thought for a moment about Maddie's inquiry and concluded that he had no fiduciary issue with sharing the name, and said, "The guy's name is Karl Mandel. The company is Badger Ag. You heard of it?"
Maddie gave no sign that she recognized the names. But she said, "You know, I bet Daddy did know that company. But I've been gone from town too long. Maybe Mr. Mandel will remember the O'Rourke name."
EJ thought that he detected a slight flicker in Maddie's face as she gave her response, but if there was something, it was gone in less than a heartbeat. He stood, gave here a final, "Have a good day," departure greeting, and walked out of the coffee shop.
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