The Richard Jackson Saga: Book 12 Escape From Siberia

by Earl Nelson

  “How is that?”

  I told her about meeting a consultant named Ed Deming in Japan. He was trying to find work there. He had some success, and after a conversation, Todd Goodson and I asked him to go to Pittsburgh and see what could be done at our plant.

  “From what I have heard it has been miraculous. I’m going to confirm it with Todd. If it is true, I’m going to hire him to help Hong Kong. That is if the Governor agrees.”

  “I doubt he would have the nerve to disagree with you right now.”

  “You are probably right.”

  “What else do you have going on?”

  “Well, I have two golf tournaments coming up. After that, the movie will be finished, so I guess I will have to find something to do.”

  About that time her good friend Tuesday Weld and her latest boyfriend came in the door. As expected, there were the hugs and squeals two girlfriends gave each other when they have spent more than a half-hour apart. Maybe I exaggerate a little, but not by much.

  Tuesday excitedly shared that she had been asked to do a movie with Elvis which would start filming soon for a release in 1962.

  I told them how I had bailed Elvis out of jail in Mexico several years ago. Since then, he has refused to go back there, no matter how much the promoters offered.

  She asked how Nina and I were coping. We told her we were taking it slow but thought we could work things out.

  Her boyfriend seemed like a nice guy, better than that jerk at the dance. His name was Charles Harz, and he was a new screenwriter. Have I told you I don’t like most screenwriters? They come up with scenes that end up with me in water troughs.

  Tuesday and Nina spent time talking about their mothers, Nina was positive because mom was getting back together with dad. Tuesday complained that her mother thought that Tuesday owed her everything in the world.

  I didn’t envy Charles, if he married Tuesday, he would have mother-in-law problems for certain.

  After all that I took Nina home where we parted with a chaste kiss.

  Chapter 3

  After my run and work out I called Todd Goodson in Pittsburg.

  “Todd, I have heard that Deming guy has been a tremendous help to our operations, is it true?”

  “More than true. Just being able to recognize what is a stable process has been a big help. We have spent a lot of time trying to fix things that can’t be fixed.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If a process is stable you have to improve the process to get better results. We were trying to adjust processes, rather than improve them. Using statistical control charts, we have been able to identify which processes aren’t stable. Those we can fix.”

  “He also makes a point that having to inspect your work for quality is a failure. You should have a system in place to make a good product the first time.”

  “Another good idea he pushes is to break down the barriers between departments.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I would guess you have never sat in a meeting where the engineers have come up with a wonderful design. The only problem being that manufacturing can’t make it.”

  “Wow, I would go ape, well I would have a hard time at that meeting. So, do you think his ideas would help industries in Hong Kong?”

  “His ideas will work anywhere in the world. They are based on facts, not opinions.”

  “Can he effectively communicate these ideas?”

  “Most certainly, for example, he has what he calls his red ball experiment. It involves dropping a red ball into a large funnel. It is almost impossible to drop it dead center straight down. So, the ball rolls around the funnel until it drops down.”

  “Below is a rifle target with the rings. He offers money to anyone who can achieve a better score. They can’t because it is a stable fixed process, the only way to do better is to physically change the funnel setup. No matter the language people can understand what they are seeing.”

  “So, you think we could use him in Hong Kong?”

  “Yes, whoever integrates his thinking will do better than anyone who doesn’t. It’s based on real science, not a consensus of how things should work.”

  “Okay, I will arrange for him to give demonstrations to manufacturers in Hong Kong.”

  “I’m all for it as long as we have access to him.”

  “That right there tells me what I need to know.”

  “As usual Todd, I have jumped right to business. How is your family doing?”

  “Thanks for asking, everyone is doing fine. I just wish Mary wouldn’t keep coming out with new collections. My daughters buy every new release. I think I’m working for Mary, not you!”

  “That’s funny, I will tell Mary that. How old are your girls?”

  “The oldest is ten, the youngest seven going on thirty.”

  “That sounds like Mary.”

  “People think it is the job giving me gray hairs, it is those two girls. I don’t know what I will do when they start dating.”

  “Buy a shotgun and be sure to be cleaning it when the boy shows up for the first date.”

  “Yeah, my father-in-law is part Cherokee, he was sharpening his tomahawk on my first date.”

  “That would do it! I have to go; I need to practice for the upcoming golf tournament.”

  “We wish you the best. When you are playing, we announce how you did on each hole on the plant PA system. You should hear the cheers when you do well. Jackson Enterprises employees are proud of you.”

  “When your Dukedom was announced T-Shirts saying, ‘I work for the Duke,’ started showing up.”

  “Wow, well I got to go.”

  “Later Your Grace.”

  I gave a “Bah,” as I hung up.

  From there I rode George over to the golf course. The new tennis courts were in, and several baseball diamonds in place. You could see where a walking trail went off into the woods.

  When completed this would be considered a luxury resort, at least by Forest Service standards.

  I spent my time on the practice green setup for Troon. I was looking forward to playing the course.

  I had lunch at the canteen on the grounds and then went back to alternating between the driving range and the putting green. I wasn’t going to lose the upcoming match due to lack of effort.

  John had been over in Scotland scoping out the course. He told me that the course was deceptively simple-looking if you viewed the course map.

  The first six holes on the old course went almost due south, running parallel to the Firth of Clyde. They were the easiest holes on the course and where you would have to go for it to break par.

  Holes 7 on moved inland with hillier dunes and deeper bunkers, this is where those birdies made on the six holes went home to roost. To make it even more fun the rough was covered in gorse. This grass was about six inches tall and overlaps each blade so much that you could lose a ball a foot off the fairway.

  They had spent generations fine-tuning this course starting in 1878 to make it one of the best in the world. Read best in the world as being as difficult as possible while still being playable.

  He told me from records it would take about ten under par maybe an eleven, to win the tournament. It was doable but involved some luck. Like no wind to knock the ball down at the wrong time.

  Later I returned home to clean up to go to the wrap party for the movie. As I had told John Wayne and Mr. Monroe this was my last B-movie, especially westerns. I was afraid one more western would have me typecast forever.

  I would consider taking a part in a spy movie, they still sounded like fun, but it had to be in a leading role. I still thought my movie career was about over. I was doing movies for the fun of it and the comradery on the set. This movie had been a disappointment in all departments.

  I had dinner with my family before going to the party. I asked Mary if she was going to let Nina model again.

  “No, I haven’t forgiven her for what she did to you.”

 
“I’m working on forgiving her, so you should too.”

  “I will as soon as I see that she treats you right. I saw a picture of her ‘Prince McDreamy,’ he looks like a jerk. How she could pick him over you I will never know.”

  I related how Nina had been raised on stories of the Prince showing up and sweeping the commoner off her feet to live happily ever after.

  Mary thought that was nonsense. That was when I remembered that this eight-year-old had been raised on stories of the common girl rescuing the dumb prince, then meeting a real man and living happily ever after.

  Mum’s stories had a different slant. I think they were based on her real life. I wonder who the Prince was? Maybe one from Morocco? I still wanted to find out what went on there during the war.

  Looking back and forth between Mum and Dad I could tell there was something there, but no one was talking.

  Denny proudly announced that the third franchised studio had been opened. Both he and Sam Nielsen his former boss and now partner were doing well. This was good to hear.

  After dinner, I headed over to the Beverly Hills Hotel where the wrap party was being held.

  At the party, there were the usual gag gifts. They had a photographer there so everyone that wanted could have their picture taken with the two Dukes.

  They had outtakes to show, and they had to highlight me ending up in the water trough. If nothing else, I wasn’t making any more of these movies and ending up as a joke in the outtakes.

  When did I become such a crotchety old man?

  There came a point where the alcohol level had risen in the room so that inhibitions were being discarded. I had nursed a beer all evening and decided it was time for me to leave.

  I mentioned to the guys I was standing with that I needed a restroom. They just nodded and one pointed to a doorway. Now if it had been a group of women, they would have accompanied me.

  Thankfully, guys don’t do that. When I got to the restroom, I kept on moving and retrieved my T-Bird from the valet. I considered going over to Nina’s as it was only nine o’clock but thought better of it and went home.

  At home, I called Government House in Hong Kong. I had been given the name of the Governor's chief aide as my contact. I caught him just as he was heading out to lunch.

  I told him that Jackson Enterprises was making marked improvements following the advice of a consultant by the name of W. Edwards Deming.

  If they were interested, I would sponsor a trip to Hong Kong where Deming could share his ideas with any industry leaders that would care to come.

  He thought that was a great idea but had one reservation.

  “They won’t want to come to hear a consultant they have never heard of, but if the Duke of Hong Kong were present…”

  I sighed, as I started to realize what I had started.

  “I will plan to attend. Keep my LA office Manager Jim Williamson informed of the dates.”

  That did make me think that it was time to give Jim a new title, vice president of something, and a large raise.

  Chapter 4

  Even if you own the company some formalities must be followed. I wrote a letter to my Board of Directors recommending that Jim Williamson be elevated to the title of Executive Vice President of Operations Jackson Enterprises, with a commensurate salary. It would be approved but done this way there could be no legal repercussions.

  They would vote on it at our quarterly meeting. There is no doubt it would be approved. Since the meeting was the next day, I sent Jim a copy as he would be attending the meeting and I didn’t want to blindside him.

  On second thought I also called him and told him how much his work was appreciated and what promotion I was putting him in for. There was strong emotion in his voice as he thanked me.

  In the morning after my normal workout, I donned a suit and tie and made one of my rare appearances at my office. Mum, Dad, Mr. Wingate, Jim, Todd, and Don were all present. Mark Downing couldn’t make it, something about Sharon having a baby.

  I would have to ask Mum what an appropriate gift would be, but that would wait until after the meeting.

  Popeye was among the missing. He was in South Vietnam right now settling some dispute on the docks.

  Thinking of Popeye reminded me of something. When it came to new business, I had an item.

  “I have scheduled the Pride of Liberia, to be at the intersection of the International Dateline and the Equator on September 23 at midnight.”

  That got some raised eyebrows. I explained about the Order of the Purple Porpoise and that it was the one sailor's honor that Popeye didn’t have. That made sense to them. Popeye had done so much for the company we owed him. Besides everyone present, even Mr. Wingate wanted to go on the trip.

  There were two more items that I brought up on the new business agenda.

  “As some of you know I made an extremely lot of money off the people attacking Jackson Enterprises. More than half that money is being invested in a new bank in China. It is the Bank of Guangzhou.”

  “I have done this to try to keep the region stable as their government transitions. It is a commercial venture that I expect will make a profit. I’m also underwriting bonds to upgrade their infrastructure with the same goal in mind, the long-term stability of China.”

  Dad joked, “China seems to have followed you home, are you going to keep it?”

  I didn’t reply to that, it was too dumb to consider.

  I continued.

  “Our freight forwarding business is extremely profitable. We created it to even out the cash flow when container demand was down.”

  “Maybe I have been sitting on an airplane for too many hours, but what if we created an airline system for Freight forwarding. I call it a system because it won’t be your typical, pick up at point A and deliver to point B. I’m thinking bulk delivery of many small packages.”

  “It can be done by creating a series of hubs. For example, if we started here in the US, I would have a major hub around Memphis, as it is centrally based on population distribution.”

  “Any package going from California to Florida would be picked up at a local airport by a light plane and flown to Ontario where the packages from all California airports would be accumulated during the day.”

  “That night they would be flown on a 707 or other large aircraft to Memphis. From Memphis, the package would be flown to Orlando, where it would be broken down and delivered to its hub airport. From there we would need a fleet of trucks to deliver it to the final address.”

  What I thought was a wonderful idea got shot down unanimously by my board. It would cost too much to set up and there was no guarantee of success.

  I still thought it was a good idea and I would figure out a way to do it, even if I had to set up a new company with a different board of directors. Unlike my early days in business, I was now a known commodity and was of age.

  Maybe I should have started with a local version in California and expanded from there. That is what I should have pitched in the first place. Oh well, too late now for that meeting.

  Dad reported for Dennis Lawson and his business reporting. It was in the black and picking up stations weekly.

  The financial report showed us making a ton of money as usual. I hope I wasn’t pouting because no one went along with my idea, but I was bummed out when the meeting ended.

  I did remember to ask Mum about a gift for the Downing’s and their new child. She said she would take care of it from the family. It would be something like a paid-up college fund.

  That sounded good to me. From my days in Bellefontaine, I thought you gave things like an outfit for three or four-month-olds, knowing full well they would outgrow it in weeks.

  I went out to the practice green for one last round before heading to Scotland for the real thing. John and Sam were all packed and ready to go. John had finally talked Sam into leaving his beloved greens for a week to see the tournament.

  Several of the rangers had volunteered to make certain t
he water came on when it was supposed to, which was what kept Sam awake at night.

  What was keeping me awake was the fact that I hadn’t got in any early practice rounds at Troon. I would only have three days, Monday through Wednesday to practice on the course.

  The whole family was going, but not on the same planes. Dad and the boys would be on one airline. Mum and Mary on another. I would be on my own.

  We had started doing this, so if a disaster happened the whole family wouldn’t be lost.

  After golf, I drove over to Nina’s house where I had been invited for dinner. Her parents had finally reconciled and gotten married. It was by a Justice of the Peace with Nina the only other person plus the hired witnesses. They had talked of having a “small ceremony of only a couple of hundred people.” But had given that up as too much work.

  The dinner was low-key. I think Nina’s parents were tiptoeing around our recent breakup. I could see why; I still was trying to sort out things in my mind.

  Mr. Monroe asked me. “What are your duties as the Duke of Hong Kong?”

  I told him I was making it up as I was going. That I felt I shouldn’t have any direct involvement but provide opportunities for improvement.

  I went on to tell him what I was hiring Dr. Deming to do. I would lead them to water but not attempt to make them drink.

  “Rick, ever since you helped us restructure our studio's business flow, I have known you have a good feel for these things. Now you are doing it for what is essentially a country.”

  “Oh, I’m also working with the government of South Vietnam to eliminate the corruption in their government.”

  “How are you doing that?”

  I went on to explain how the new South Vietnamese President, Trần Văn Hương was contacting the groups I had recommended around the world, like MI5 to set up their FBI equivalent.”

  “Why not the actual FBI.”

  “I’m trying to spread the different agencies around the world. Also, I have heard some disturbing things about J. Edgar Hoover. Not corruption in the money sense, but how he tracks people he considers enemies.”