JC: Ed Biggers
Part 2: Equilibrant
Chapter 16
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

The summer sessions at school had ended and the fall session had 
not yet started. There were no major IRS cases that needed his 
attention and John was working on a small FBI case. The wives 
were hard at work with a new training program at the hospital that 
was sponsored by the Fusion Foundation. The net result was that 
Ed had almost ten days free with nothing major driving him. 

Picking up the phone, he dialed the number for Kim's lapidary 
shop. As the phone rang, he quickly counted the rings. At the 
fourth ring, he began to worry that she wasn't there. When she 
answered before the fifth ring, Ed said, "This is the rock police. It 
has come to our attention that you have been keeping underage 
rocks against their will."

It took her a minute to process what he said and then she realized 
who was talking. Laughing, she said, "I swear that none of my 
rocks are less than a million years old."

Ed said, "Well, I'm off for ten days and was wondering if you 
might be interested in hunting some rocks."

There was a long moment of silence and then she replied, "I can go 
from Sunday to Thursday. I can't afford to keep the store closed for 
more than that at this time of year. The week before the university 
opens and the first three weeks are peak business time for me."

"Why?"

There was a moment of silence and then Kim answered, "A lot of 
the college kids come into town and shop during that time period. 
Many of them are flush with cash for the first time in their lives 
and they tend to go a little wild spending it."

That answer actually made sense to Ed. He said, "Sunday to 
Thursday is fine with me. How do you want to do this?"

After a minor pause, she said, "Hold on. I have to ring up a 
customer."

Ed waited on the phone for her to return. It was almost five 
minutes before she came back on the line. She said, "I'm back. I 
was thinking that we could go someplace close where we could 
take the trucks."

Thinking it over, Ed said, "That sounds fine to me."

Hesitantly, she said, "How about I come to your place Saturday 
night and we leave early Sunday morning?"

"That would be great," answered Ed. This was the first time that 
she had offered to come to his place since their outing together. He 
understood her hesitancy was rooted in her disgust at the idea of 
having sex with another woman. Perhaps she was willing to accept 
the presence of Kelly and Beth without expressing her revulsion at 
the idea.

They talked a little more before Ed hung up. He went out to the 
garage and found Bob working on the family van. Watching him 
work, Ed asked, "What are you doing?"

Pulling his head out from under the hood, Bob answered, "All of 
the little maintenance tasks that all cars require. Refilling the wiper 
fluid, lubing the bearings, and rotating the tires."

That sounded like a boring job to Ed, but he didn't comment since 
Bill looked happy at his job. He asked, "Will you be able to check 
out my truck? I'm taking it out into the desert Sunday."

Bob had been considering doing some extensive work on the truck 
when Ed was not going to be using it for a while. He said, "That's 
in three days. That doesn't give me much time."

Surprised, Ed said, "My truck isn't in that bad of a shape."

"I was planning to replace the gasoline engine with a fusion 
motor," said Bob. 

Ed had never really thought about that. He asked, "How long will 
that take?"

"It depends on how busy they are at the gas station. He can do it in 
as little as four hours, but he usually has a waiting list that is a 
couple of days long. After he's done with it, I want to replace the 
dashboard so that it has some of the additional electronic 
capabilities that are standard now. That'll take me about a day." 
Bob knew he was really signing up for some over time to get it 
done in a day. 

Looking at the truck, Ed considered the fact that it was almost 
eighteen years old. He asked, "Why would we bother with a truck 
this old?"

Embarrassed, Bob replied, "I thought that you might not want to 
get rid of it. You've had it for a long time. However, the engine is 
about to blow out on you. It might go out in a thousand miles or 
fifteen thousand miles."

Thinking about it, he still had the money from the last consulting 
job. He said, "Let me go get my checkbook and we'll head out to 
go truck shopping."

Bob said, "Uh, I should remind you that automobiles are household 
expense items. You need to check with Bill."

"Oh, right," replied Ed. He had forgotten that and now he felt 
guilty about wanting to get a high quality truck with extras.

Going into the house, Ed headed for the office where he expected 
to find Bill hard at work. Bill was at the desk talking on the 
telephone to his mother. Watching him from the door of the office, 
Ed noticed the worried expression on Bill's face and let the man 
talk. Noticing Ed outside of the office, Bill excused himself and 
cut the conversation short. 

Ed came in and said, "I just learned that my truck was on its last 
legs. I guess I need to replace it."

Face brightening, Bill pulled out the household account book and 
flipped through the pages. He looked up at Ed and said, "Well, 
your transportation account is a hundred thousand a year. You've 
spent a little less than two thousand in the past four years, most of 
that by Bill performing normal maintenance on it. That gives you a 
balance of three hundred and ninety-seven thousand."

"Pardon?"

Bill explained, "Of course, that is to cover all forms of personal 
transportation. You can use that money to buy automobiles and 
pay air fare."

"Oh," replied Ed. It sounded like a lot of money to him. In fact, it 
seemed like too much. He said, "What if I don't use it?"

"It will just accumulate until you die and will be included in the 
money for your heirs. You are paying taxes on it as a benefit under 
the terms of the family incorporation."

"So how do I spend it?" asked Ed.

After fishing around in a file cabinet for a minute, Bill handed him 
a debit card with a picture of a car and an airplane on it. He said, 
"You have to be sure to use this for transportation costs only. If 
you use it for something else, I'll have to deduct it from your 
discretionary  fund."

Sitting down in a chair in a fashion that reminded Bill of an old 
man, Ed asked, "How much is in my discretionary fund?"

Flipping through a couple of pages of the accounts book, Bill 
frowned and said, "Um, you've never spent anything out of the 
discretionary fund. You have a balance of four hundred thousand."

Ed asked, "What is that money for?"

Shaking his head, Bill replied, "Things like presents, clothes, 
decorations, furniture, and other normal expenses that a person 
has."

Sitting back in the chair, Ed asked, "What other funds do I have?"

Bill went to the books and started reading out the figures, "You 
have two hundred thousand in your recreation home account, eight 
hundred thousand in your entertainment account, and zero in your 
charity account."

Puzzled at hearing that one account was drained, Ed asked, "Why 
zero in my charity account?"

Surprised at the question, Bill answered, "You told me to donate 
all of it to the Fusion Foundation."

"Do the others know about these accounts?" asked Ed realizing 
that he was two hundred thousand short of two million dollars.

Bill laughed and replied, "Of course they do."

Ed asked, "What do the others do with theirs?"

Closing the account book, Bill sat back and answered, "Let's see. 
Beth has a vacation home in Denver that she stays in when she 
visits her parents. That was paid out of her recreation home 
account. She pays for the Christmas party at the hospital, a dinner 
at the regional emergency medial doctors meeting, and a dinner for 
the literary society using her entertainment account. She supports 
the scout groups for the entire county as her charity account. She 
buys a car every other year and uses the rest on air travel. In terms 
of her discretionary fund, she sends flowers to about a hundred 
people a year, presents for all of the people that work for her, and 
other stuff for herself."

"She does all of that?"

"Yes," replied Bill. "Kelly has a vacation home in Santa Fe, which 
she lets her parents stay in for half a year. She pays for a dinner at 
the regional nurses meeting and a fancy luncheon at each Fusion 
Foundation nurse training session. She supports a books for 
children program out of her charity account. She buys a car every 
other year and flies to Santa Fe twice a year. She uses her 
discretionary fund like Beth."

Shaking his head as through trying to clear it, he asked, "What 
about John?"

After clearing his throat, Bill answered, "He hasn't used his 
recreation home account and I doubt he ever will. He pays for the 
meals at the local chamber of commerce and a visit to a recreation 
lodge every year for all of the heads of the Fusion Foundation 
Centers so that he can meet with each one in a relaxed atmosphere. 
He spends most of his travel money on chartered jets. He uses his 
discretionary account to send presents to about eight hundred 
people every year. Of course, he spends a lot more than that, but it 
is out of his own money."

Thinking about it, Ed realized that he had tremendous spending 
power at his discretion and would be able to do something really 
special for the family. He asked, "So if I wanted to buy a vacation 
home for everyone to use and charter a plane for all of us, then I 
would put a pretty good dent in that money."

Shaking his head, Bill said, "No, that would fall under the family 
accounts. I'll admit that they are almost unspent. I'm sure that if 
you presented that idea at the next family meeting, that everyone 
would all for it."

Frowning, Ed said, "So you are saying that I have to spend all of 
that money on me?"

"That's the short answer," replied Bill. It was a little more 
complicated than that, but those complications could be mentioned 
when he started spending the money. He said, "If I may make a 
suggestion…"

"Go ahead," said Ed, wondering what Bill might mention.

"I would like to suggest that you stop contributing to the Fusion 
Foundation and select a different charity to support. The Fusion 
Foundation has a lot of money and your contribution doesn't add 
much to their efforts," said Bill.

After thinking about it long enough that the silence had become 
uncomfortable, Ed said, "Could I impose on you for about four 
hours of your time this afternoon to discuss this?"

Laughing and shaking his head, Bill said, "I've worked here ever 
since you guys got married. You have never requested my time. 
You are owed about two years worth of my time. Four hours is 
nothing. When you are ready, come in and talk to me."

Ed left the office confused and with four new debit cards 
representing almost two million dollars worth of spending power. 
He entered the garage as Bill returned from test driving the van. 
Satisfied that all was right with it, he stepped around to Ed and 
asked, "Ready?"

Nodding his readiness, Ed answered, "Why don't you drive me to a 
truck dealership? I want to keep the old truck. Maybe the original 
engine can be repaired."

Chuckling, Bob said, "We might as well take the van."

Rather than stopping at one of the local dealerships, Bob drove him 
to the dealerships in Phoenix. They stopped at a dealer and got out. 
Bob said, "You don't want to get the high end truck they sell here. 
It is mostly for show. The best truck is that line over there. It has 
power for hauling heavy loads, a large bed, and is comfortable 
enough."

Surprised that Bob knew about the various lines of trucks, he was 
glad that he had brought him along. As a salesman headed towards 
them, Bob whispered, "Let me deal with him. As soon as he finds 
out who you are, he's going to try to get the most money out of you 
as possible."

Ed nodded his agreement. When the salesman reached them, Bob 
said, "I'm looking to buy a truck for my friend here."

"So what do you want?"

Bob pointed to the truck that he had described to Ed. The salesman 
immediately said, "Now, this isn't the top of the line truck. I'm sure 
that you might prefer that to this one."

Walking around the truck, Ed looked at it and realized that it was 
the same size as his old truck. The bed looked a little bigger and 
deeper. He realized that the designers had not had to include a gas 
tank under the bed. The salesman opened the hood and said, "It has 
a long life fusion engine which is a variant of the Carter engine. It 
also has a Fusion Battery to power all the electronics of the truck."

Ed noticed the small size of the engine compartment and the fact 
that the spare tire was stored there. He went into the cab and sat at 
the drivers seat. The key for the engine was in the typical position. 
The steering wheel was in the right place as was the accelerator 
and the brake. The rest of the dashboard was a confusing mess of 
dials, displays, and controls. Bewildered he looked at it all.

Bob entered the passenger side of the truck. Sitting down, he said, 
"Since everything in the truck is electronic, they've managed to 
miniaturize a lot of high value items. This is the radio and CD 
player. This is the temperature control. All you have to do is set the 
temperature that you want and the cab will remain that temperature 
all of the time. You will notice that there is no off position. There 
is a GPS controlled navigation aid and a hands free cell phone."

Looking at all of the gadgets in the truck, Ed was a little 
overwhelmed. He asked, "Can I get one without all of that stuff?"

Laughing, Bill answered, "That is the standard configuration on all 
of the cars now. You can get them with windshield display system 
that will overlay the route you need to take on the street. There are 
also collision alert systems and other advanced features that I don't 
think you want."

That was an understatement. Ed preferred simplicity in his life 
believing that it led to fewer errors. He said, "Yes. This truck 
seems fine to me."

The salesman replaced Bob in the passenger side and said, "Let's 
take it out for a test drive."

The truck drove more like a car than a truck, but the feel was okay. 
It handled well enough although it was hard to tell how it would be 
on rough terrain. When they returned, Ed told Bob, "It's good 
enough."

Bob began to negotiate the price with the salesman. When they 
reached a price that Bob thought was fair, he said, "Write up a 
quote. We are going to go to another dealer and look at a different 
model."

The salesman was stunned at the announcement. Bob and Ed 
returned to the van. At a different car lot, Bob parked the van. 
Turning to Ed, he said, "I know that you're partial to trucks, but I 
want you to see this vehicle. It is a miniaturized version of a 
military vehicle that is designed for everything you want. It can 
tow an incredible load, handle really rough terrain, and because of 
its size it can be used in everyday life."

Not sure that he believed Bob, Ed followed him over to the 
vehicle. When he saw it, he had to walk around it several times to 
confirm what his eyes were telling him. It was slightly smaller than 
his old truck, but it looked solidly built. The back was enclosed, 
but could open up into a small truck bed. The rear came with a 
heavy duty trailer hitch mounted on it. There was even a wench 
mounted on the front. After looking it over, he asked, "What is it 
called?"

Bob said, "It is called the Hugger."

Ed got into the cab and liked the way it was laid out. The controls 
made a lot more sense to him. He turned to Bob and said, "I like 
it."

Bob smiled and went to talk to a salesman. He would let Ed drive 
it and see how he liked the way that it handled. The salesman 
joined Ed in the Hugger and pointed to the open field behind the 
lot. He said, "Drive across there to the road on the other side."

Looking at the salesman, Ed smiled and took off across the field. It 
felt solid and hugged the ground while remaining comfortable. He 
purposely went over a few bumps and dips to see how well it 
handled. He was sold before they hit the road. On the road it 
handled extremely well. He pulled into the lot. The salesman got 
out and talked with Bob about the price. 

When Bob returned to Ed, he asked, "Which one do you want?"

Ed said, "This one."

"I thought you would say that," replied Bob. He could tell that Ed 
was really impressed with the Hugger. 

The three men went into the office. When asked how it was to be 
paid for, Ed whipped out his debit card checking to make sure that 
it was the one with the car and plane on it. The salesman said, 
"This is forty thousand dollars. Are you sure that you want to pay 
it with a debit card?"

Ed could hardly believe his ears. This was a forty thousand dollar 
vehicle? He turned to Bob and asked, "How much was the truck?"

"Thirty thousand."

This was ten thousand more and he wondered if the difference was 
worth it. He was about to change his mind until Bill said, "Just 
think about the differences in the test drives."

That decided Ed. He lay the card down on the desk and said, 
"Process it."

Ten minutes later, Ed drove out in his new Hugger followed by 
Bob in the van. On the drive home, Ed learned more about his 
purchase. He couldn't wait to show it off to the family. He could 
imagine the amused look that John would give him, but it was his 
first new car in eighteen years.  It was amazing how much 
acceleration that it had on the open road.

Rather than heading straight home, he stopped in town at Shirley's. 
Entering, he was pleased to see Shirley behind the bar. Sitting 
down at the counter, he said, "Give me a wimp."

Shirley slid a coke over to him and said, "You look happy today. 
Did something good happen?"

Grinning like a kid with his first bike, Ed answered, "I bought a 
new truck today. Would you like to see it?"

"Sure," answered Shirley as she slipped out from behind the bar. 

Together, they went outside to look at the new truck. Pointing to it, 
Ed said, "There it is."

"Neat, it's a Hugger," said Shirley. Glancing over at him, she said, 
"That's what I thought you would buy one of these days."

"Really?"

"Yes," she said with a smile. There were times when Ed was so 
much like a kid that it almost hurt to watch him. This was one of 
those times when she just wanted to pull him to her breasts and 
hold him there. 

Shaking his head, he said, "It sure was expensive."

It was clear from the tone of voice that he was awed by how much 
he had spent on it. She could hardly believe her ears.  Beth and 
Kelly had spent twice that on their cars and they replaced them 
every other year. She said, "I'm sure that you got a good price for 
it. They run between forty and fifty thousand. My car cost thirty 
thousand and it isn't even half the vehicle that one is."

Ed realized that he hadn't kept up with the price of cars. Eighteen 
years ago, his truck had cost ten thousand dollars and it didn't even 
have an air conditioner. He said, "I guess buying a car every 
eighteen years one could suffer from sticker shock."

Shirley laughed at his innocence and pulled him into the bar. She 
said, "Who did you take with you to the dealer?"

"Bob," replied Ed wondering how she had known that he had taken 
someone with him. 

She said, "You owe him big time."

Nodding, Ed realized that it was true. He would have blundered 
through the whole business, buying the first truck not even 
understanding the options that were available to him. He said, 
"You are absolutely right."

As he sat down at the bar, Shirley said, "I'm happy for you. You've 
needed a new truck for ages. Congratulations."

"Thanks Shirley," said Ed. As he looked across the bar, he said, 
"You know, you're the first one that I've showed it to."

This admission complemented Shirley far more than Ed would 
ever realize. To think that she was the first person that he showed it 
to meant that he really thought of her as someone special in his 
life. Afraid of showing her feelings, she decided that it was best to 
send him on his way. "The coke is on me. Go on and show off your 
car to others."

Returning to the house, Ed showed off his new Hugger to the staff 
despite being afraid that they would feel like he was boasting. Ed 
knew that there was a fine line between sharing ones joy and 
boasting. It was funny, but he was surprised to learn that his car 
was still the cheapest in the garage. Everyone of the staff had more 
expensive cars than him. 

Going into the office with Bill, he decided that it was time to 
establish how he was going to spend some of the wealth that he 
now realized was his. It wasn't as though he wanted to go on a 
spending spree, but having heard how the others were using their 
money he had come to realize how he had not been meeting some 
responsibilities that came with such wealth.

Seated at the desk across from Ed, Bill opened a notepad and said, 
"I suggest that we start with your entertainment account. This 
should be used to thank peers and those that work under you."

Puzzled, Ed said, "I'm just a college student. I don't have anyone 
that works for me."

At this, Bill burst out laughing. He managed Ed's schedule and 
knew better than that. After calming down, he said, "Right. You 
are on the board of the Fusion Foundation, work for the IRS, and 
have working relations with the FBI. On top of that you are a full-
time student at the University."

Hearing it put like, Ed realized that he had a lot of peers. He said, 
"Okay, so what do you recommend?"

Bill said, "You can pay for a Christmas party for the IRS and host 
a meal for the members of the board when you have your annual 
meeting. I might suggest one or more entertainment activities at 
the University."

Sighing at the amount of work that it would mean for him, he 
signaled his agreement with the suggestions. Ed said, "The 
Christmas party and meal sound good. How about a back to school 
party on the first Friday and a weekly pizza party every Friday 
after that?"

Nodding Bill said, "Perfect. I'll schedule those activities."

It sounded to him that it was going to be a lot of work for him. It 
meant going in every Friday and picking up pizzas every week. He 
had no clue how to go about arranging a back to school party. He 
asked, "Can you suggest how I do all of this stuff?"

Shaking his head, Bill answered, "You don't understand, do you?"

"I guess not."

Bill explained, "That is my job. You tell me what you need set up 
and I handle all of the details. I spend forty hours a week doing 
that."

How can it be that one is giving something, when someone else 
does all of the work? It didn’t seem right to him. He shook his 
head, still not grasping what Bill was trying to tell him. He said, 
"Explain this to me one more time. I come up with some idea and 
you do all the work while I get the credit."

Realizing the true nature of Ed's problem, Bill searched for an 
analogy. Finally, he said, "Look. You want to give flowers to a 
girl. Do you grow the flowers, cut them, arrange them, and deliver 
them yourself? Or, do you go to the florist and buy them, allowing 
them to do the growing, cutting, and arranging?"

Understanding crashed upon Ed. He said, "I see what you mean. I 
go to the florist and usually have them delivered. So you are saying 
that you are my florist."

Nodding, Bill said, "Exactly. I am also your agent. Rather than 
talking to the florist, you talk to me and I talk to her."

"The weekly parties?"

Bill said, "I will probably arrange an account with a pizza place 
and have them delivered to the department secretary. She will 
schedule a room for it to be held in and at that point, it is a matter 
of advertising to everyone that it will be occurring. I will take care 
of that as well. You have a choice of doing this anonymously or 
taking credit for it. I might suggest doing it anonymously. That 
way you won't have to attend every time and act as host."

The idea appealed to Ed even more now that he didn't have to run 
all over the place every week to get pizzas and attend. He said, 
"Let's do it that way."

"What about the back to school party?"

"Ah, that is a good question. How big of a party do you want? 
Would you prefer on campus or off-campus?" asked Bill. 

"I suppose that a good sized party would be good and off-campus 
sounds interesting if there is a good location."

Sitting back, Bill said, "This is rather short notice, but it shouldn't 
be that difficult. I can try to rent the Desert Botanical Gardens. I 
will have it catered with a buffet. People will be able to eat and 
wander the garden. I can possibly arrange to have guides to 
describe various features of the gardens. I might have to shift by a 
day or two to accommodate the Gardens schedule, if that is all 
right with you."

The entire idea appealed to Ed so much that he was happy that he 
would be invited. He said, "Great. Let's do that."

The men went on discuss the next topic concerning his money. Bill 
explained how Ed could come up with a birthday list and he would 
remind Ed in time to make arrangements for appropriate gifts. To 
simplify things, he would provide several catalogs so that Ed could 
pick out presents from the catalog. The idea pleased Ed 
tremendously.

At the end of almost five hours, Ed came to the conclusion that he 
had not been very smart about a lot of things. There was still one 
question that bothered him and he decided that Bill might be able 
to clarify it. He asked, "Is this a normal thing that people do that 
I've missed somehow?"

Looking at Ed like he had come from the moon, Bill answered, 
"You may not realize it, but you are a very influential person. The 
decisions you make and the work that you do have significant 
consequences on thousands of people. That kind of influence 
places obligations on you that you must meet. I know you think of 
yourself as a simple student, but others see you as a very important 
person. With the least bit of effort, you could join the board of 
directors of half a dozen of the fortune five hundred companies."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You might want to talk to John about that. I'm sure that 
he could place you on several boards in a week," replied Bill. He 
shook his head as he added, "With your truth sense, you could 
prevent a lot of very bad business decisions. I bet a number of very 
weak corporations that have products that could really help the 
world would begin to flourish under your advice."

Ed walked out of the office realizing that he had not been holding 
up to the full scope of his responsibilities. The money that was his 
to control was not really for his benefit, but to use as a tool to 
effect positive change. Reliable transportation and the ability to go 
somewhere on a moment's notice was just an integral part of his 
tool box. Gifts were to maintain relations and entertainment money 
was to meet and influence people.  
