Life after the Lottery Ch. 63

"Let's look at it."

"You should get one of those for us," Samantha said.

"That may be an idea," I replied. "But I am not going to be your chauffeur."

"Make sure it has cameras in it!"

"We are making good time. We should be in St. Louis by lunch. What time are they expecting us?" I asked Lori.

"2:00."

"Call the hotel and tell them to make sure our suite is ready by 11:00. We can stop and stretch our legs and freshen up," I said.

Lori got out her phone and called the hotel as we rode.

"They said our room would be ready by noon," Lori said.

"Good, we can eat lunch at the hotel and unload."

"The limo place is about a 15-minute drive from the hotel," Lori informed me.

"Did they have a problem with us spending the day with them Saturday and Sunday?" I asked.

"None. They work on Saturdays and said we could see all the models we are interested in either finished or in production. The owner and two guys are coming in Sunday to show us around and let us take some test drives."

"For $2,000,000 they better show us a good time."

"What do you want me to do?" Samantha asked.

"I brought the small digital camera. I want you to take plenty of pictures."

"I can do that."

"I hope we can select what we want and the options and have them get us a final quote quickly," Lori said. "We need to get things going."

"Did you meet with Linda about the offices?" I asked.

"Last week. Since the place was a car dealership, it has plenty of offices and cubicles already. There is not going to be much to change, just some signs."

"Once we get some fun videos, I would like to put up some large monitors in the showroom and let the videos play on them all the time."

"Good idea. Can Sam set that up?"

"Yes, he can."

"Maybe you should show some of the x-rated videos!" Samantha exclaimed and laughed.

"About the...adult content recordings, how are we going to handle those?" Lori asked.

"This is what I am thinking. Weddings are always a package deal, so the DVD of the recording is easily included. We let the bride and groom know up front about the cameras. Same for the party buses. The others, the drivers can tell the passengers at the end of the trip there is a video, if it is warranted. We will see if that gets the driver larger tips, if it doesn't, we can sell it to them. Either way, the driver gets the money."

"What if someone gets upset about being recorded? Should we tell them up front so the cameras can be turned off if they request it?"

"What are your feelings about it?" I asked.

"I'm concerned that some people will get upset knowing they were recorded."

"Okay, we will have to think about it."

We talked until we got to the hotel about 11:00. We grabbed all of our bags, and I told the valet we would need the Escalade back at 1:30. He said he would park it out front.

We went in and checked in then left our bags with the valet and went to the restaurant for lunch. While we ate, Lori and Samantha talked about school. At 12:30 we went and made sure our room was ready then got the valet to get our bags.

"Are you in town for business or pleasure?" The valet asked.

"We are looking to buy about 20 limousines," I said.

"So, business. My name is Jackson, and I will be on duty until 8:00 if you need anything," he said as I gave him a big tip.

"I'm not sure what time we will be back," I said.

The girls freshened up and were ready to leave by 1:30. We went down, and the valet got the car, and we headed to the limo place.

When we pulled up, it was a large place. It looked like a dealership for limos. We parked and went inside. A receptionist stopped us.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Dr. James Smith, and this is Lori and Samantha. We are here to look at limos."

"Oh, yes, Dr. Smith. You are with Allure Limousines. Let me get Larry."

She called and told someone that Allure Limos was there. I minute later a guy came out to greet us.

"Dr. Smith, my name is Larry. I'm one of the owners. I talked to you and Lori on the phone."

"This is Lori, my partner, and Samantha, my wife."

"Nice meeting you. Come on back to the conference room, and I will get Robert."

We followed him to a conference room and sat while he went to get Robert. When the two of them came back, we went through introductions again.

"We have your list of proposed vehicles," Larry said. "I think you will find we have a wide selection of vehicles and options."

"That sounds good. What we want to do is look over your inventory and options. Lori and we will try and make any changes to plug into our list."

"Once we have that, we want you to come up with your best offer," Lori said. "We have one other manufacturer to visit next weekend, and we will be doing the same thing there. After we evaluate your quality and selections, we will then evaluate the prices and other things we need."

"There are several things we will be factoring into our decision. Delivery schedule, quality of the vehicles, installation of your options and some we have, plus your warranty, and then the price," I said.

"I think we can meet and exceed your expectations," Robert said.

"I have looked at your list, and we have must of the vehicles in stock. The others we will be able to deliver by the end of January," Larry said. "We turn over a lot of inventory."

"I talked to Larry about some customization we want," Lori said. "Most of the vehicles will be outfitted with a video and sound recording system. What does that do to vehicles that are already completed?"

"From what you told me it is an easy retrofit," Larry said.

"We have some drawings of the planned installation. It will give you some idea of what needs to be done. If needed, I have an expert that can come and train your people on the installation and hookup of the equipment," I told them.

"That would be very helpful. We can always bring in a local AV expert to do the final installations if your guy can train him."

"I brought one of the recorders so we can see where it can be located," I said.

"Good. That will help."

"What would you like to do this afternoon?" Robert asked.

"If you have plugged in the vehicles you think will fit our list, let's discuss them," Lori said.

"That sounds like a good place to start. We can give you the brochures for each vehicle, and we can discuss options," Robert said.

"Okay. Let us go and get our computers, and I will get the wiring plans for the audio and video," I told them.

The three of us went back to the Escalade.

"They seem to be organized and ready to show us what they have," Lori said.

"Let's see their proposal, then we can make adjustments if needed. Samantha grab your computer also."

We got what we needed and headed back inside. They now had coffee and sodas along with fruit and snacks in the conference room. Robert came in with a bundle of brochures.

"Let me go over the list you sent and see if anything has changed," Larry said. "I have eight town cars, four four-passengers limos, four eight-passenger limos. That's 16 cars. Then you have two stretch limos for twelve passengers. Plus, one each of the party buses at 10, 15, and 20 passengers. Is there anything else?"

"We want to look at the four-passenger custom Escalade you have," Lori said.

"Okay. Now for the limos you will be using for weddings, how many white ones do you need?"

"I think 2 of the four-passenger limos and two of the town cars," Lori said.

"Is that enough?" I asked Lori.

"I think so. That will allow us four weddings a night if they want white."

"Okay, if we need more, we will just get more white ones."

"We stock the white four-passenger and the white town cars," Robert said. "We turn over a few a month."

"What about retrofitting them with the cameras?" I asked.

"One or two days each."

"Is everything else black?" Larry asked.

"What about the super stretched ones?" I asked Lori.

"What are you proposing for those two?" Larry asked.

"We thought one super stretch Hummer and one Escalade."

"You may want one of them in white for wedding parties and proms," Robert added.

"We will look at both," Lori replied.

We spent the afternoon looking over brochures for different models and different vehicles. By 6:00, we had plugged in models and colors for our new list. All the limos seemed to have all the options on them, so little needed to be added.

"I think we are at a stopping place for the evening," I said. "Let us take all this back to the hotel."

"Good. Tomorrow we will show you the actual vehicles and our production facilities. We can get with Johnny about the wiring for the recording equipment and see what he thinks," Robert said. "Then, you can update your selections if needed."

"Do you have party buses we can look at?" Samantha asked.

"Oh, yes. We sell a lot of them. They go from simple to the extreme. I have plugged in prices for the middle of the road. You will have to decide how fancy you want them."

"Robert, what about just a plain 15 passenger bus?" Lori asked.

"We have those too in all sizes. They have a little customization to make them nicer."

"James, we may want to consider one or two plain passenger buses," Lori said.

"Okay. We will go back to the hotel and have dinner and discuss all of this," I said.

We left with a box of brochures and headed back to the hotel.

"This is a lot to think about," Lori said.

"Lori, I will let you decide on brands and models, you know best."

"We can get an assortment since they have them."

"What did their current quote come in at?" I asked.

"For what we have on the list now, $1,787,500. That gives us some room to add a few things."

"I think you are right about some plain busses. Add two 15 passengers to the list, and we will update the price."

"What about one fifteen and on twenty?" Lori asked.

"Okay."

"I think you should get one of these," Samantha said.

She passed up a brochure for a 20 passenger party bus. It had neon lights, a stripper pole, mirrors in the ceiling, and leather seating down the sides.

"I think you are right, Samantha," Lori said. "I actually think we should get this model for all three."

"What was the price difference from the middle of the road model they have on the quote?" I asked.

"About $10,000 more for each one."

When we got to the hotel, we took all of the information up to the room.

"Let's eat first," I said.

We cleaned up, then went down to the restaurant and had a nice dinner. By 8:00, we were in the room and making adjustments to the quote they had given us in Excel.

"Here is what we have now," Lori said.

"One four-passenger black Lincoln,

One four-passenger white Lincoln,

One four-passenger black Cadillac,

One four-passenger white Cadillac,

One eight-passenger black Lincoln,

One eight-passenger black Cadillac,

One eight-passenger black Benz,

One eight-passenger black Chrysler,

One super stretch Hummer in white,

One super stretch Escalade in black,

Two white Lincoln Town Cars,

Six black Lincoln Town Cars,

One loaded ten-passenger black party bus,

One loaded fifteen-passenger black party bus,

One loaded twenty-passenger black party bus.

We are adding two plain twenty-passenger buses, and we are going to look at the four-passenger loaded Escalades. Anything else?" Lori asked.

"What are we at now?" I asked.

"$1,890,900 with the party bus upgrades. Add about $40,000 for each plain twenty passenger bus. We will have to see what the outfitted Escalade cost?"

"Let me see the brochures for the modified Escalades," I asked.

I looked it over. They had one model that had nice seats in the back, two sets facing each other. They had another model that they had moved the two seats back and had a console in front of them outfitted with a fax machine, fridge, printer, and a large computer monitor that would connect to a portable. Both had raised roofs for a lot of room. The back seats had pull-up lap desks. I thought it would be good for a traveling business person.

"Did you get a price on this Escalade outfitted for business?"

"Yes, $120,000. The one with just seats is $105,000. You want to add one of them?" Lori asked.

"Add both of them. I like this business one."

After a minute Lori responded.

"That puts us a little over $2,200,000. A little over budget."

"That is at full price?" I asked.

"Yes. I will expect a big discount off that price," Lori said.

"Wonder what they will charge for installing the recording equipment?" I asked.

"It shouldn't be much with all this."

"Samantha, is there anything you can think of?" I asked.

"Is that Hummer going to be fixed up like this picture?" She asked Lori.

"Yes, it and the stretch Escalade will be outfitted with all the lights and everything."

It was 9:30 and we were tired.

"I think that is enough for today. I'm tired, I know you are Lori," I said.

"I think I will shower and go to bed," she said.

"Sounds like a good idea," Samantha added.

"We will eat breakfast and head back by 8:30," I added.

"Sounds good," Lori replied.

Samantha and I went to our bedroom while Lori checked her email.

"Those are some nice looking cars," Samantha said. "Will they be enough?"

"I hope we get a little better price. We plan on picking up more limos from the other businesses once we put them out of business."

Samantha took her clothes off and went into the bathroom while I got undressed. She came out a few minutes later.

"I forgot my computer. I need to check my email," she said and went to the door and opened it and walked out into the larger room.

I went into the bathroom and cleaned up, then went back to the bed. Samantha came in a few minutes later, laughing with her computer.

"What's funny?"

"Lori wanted to know if I always slept naked. I told her all the time."

We got on the bed, and Samantha pulled up her email and went through it. After that, we got in the bed, and I turned off the lamp.

****

We got our wakeup call at 6:00. I got Samantha up, and we showered together then dried off.

"You want to go see if Lori is up?" I asked.

"Sure."

Samantha left while she was running a towel through her wet hair. I was shaving when she came back.

"She has been up, she is like you and Dawn."

"Get ready then."

By 7:30, we were in the restaurant ordering breakfast.

"Make sure you see all the models and brands today and make a final decision on what you want," I told Lori.

"I want to look closely at the quality of the upholstery. If it is not well made it will wear out quickly," Lori said.

"See if they have an eight-passenger you can take for a drive. I want to make sure it has plenty of power."

"I'll check out the party buses!" Samantha exclaimed.

"Okay, that is your job."

We finished breakfast and went and had the valet get the Escalade. We were back at the limo place by 9:30.

Lori and I looked closely at the four and eight-passenger limo models. Lori was pulling on the upholstery to see how well it was made. We went and watched them building some limos and doing the upholstery work.

"Where is Samantha?" I asked.

"She went with Robert to see the party buses," Larry said.

Lori and I went into the plant and watched as they built several eight-passenger limos. The people seemed to be taking their time and doing a good job.

"Let's find Samantha and go eat lunch," I said about 12:30.

We went to where the buses were parked, and Samantha and Robert had one fired up and all the lights going along with a loud stereo.

"Do you like it!!" I shouted.

Robert turned the stereo off.

"What?" Samantha asked.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes! It is fabulous!"

"Come on, we are going to lunch."

While we ate, we discussed what we had seen. Lori seemed impressed with the quality as she talked about a few limos she had driven in the past that had problems. Samantha was telling us about the party buses.

"Lori, are you happy with the models you picked?"

"So far, I am."

We took our time eating and talking then went back. We went into the building, and Larry met us.

"What would you like to see now?" He asked.

"I want to drive one of the eight-passenger Lincolns," Lori said.

We walked out to the lot full of limos and Larry opened the doors to an eight-passenger, and we looked inside for a while.

"Let's see how it drives," Lori said.

Samantha and I got in the back while Larry got up front with Lori. Lori started it up and pulled it out and got us on the road.

"This is nice," Samantha said.

We checked out the insides as Lori put the car through its paces. We were finally back at the lot. We got out, and Lori checked the trunk.

"James, look up front and see if you think the recorder would go up there," Lori said.

I looked, and there was a lot of room on the passenger's side.

"Let me go and get the recorder."

I went to our Escalade and grabbed the recorder and walked back. The recorder was rather compact for a four channel DVR that had a DVD in it. I held it up under the dash and next to the console to see if it would leave enough leg room.

"It may go up here."

"I'll let Johnny see what he thinks," Larry said.

We got in the back with Larry and pointed out where the cameras and microphones should go. Larry had the idea to put them in a fixture that normally had a small light in it. He went and got one, and we experimented with placing it.

"We add these small lights all the time. I don't think the cable for the camera would be a problem."

"Do you have a super stretch Hummer built?" Lori asked.

"We have one that is ready to go out."

"Let's go check it out," Lori said.

We walked to the other side of the lot, and there was a super stretch Hummer. Robert showed us the gullwing doors on the back; they were nice. We got in the back and looked around as Larry demonstrated the lights and the stereo. We then experimented with placing the light fixture for the cameras. There was plenty of room up front for the recorder. It would be an eight channel, but it wasn't much larger.

They were building a super stretch Escalade so we looked at it then looked at some other models.

By 4:30 we were ready to leave.

"What time would you like us to come tomorrow?" I asked Larry and Robert.

"Let us look over the new list you have now and put some prices on it," Robert said.

"We can meet here for lunch about 11:30 and go over our quote," Larry said.

"Sounds good."

We left and headed back to our hotel.

"What do you think, Lori?" I asked.

"I like what I see so far. I have driven some of their limos before, and they are nice."

"Maybe we can get some good prices tomorrow."

When we got back to the hotel, we went to the bar. Samantha was stuck with drinking sodas. We stayed in the bar until about 6:00 talking then went and had dinner.

"I want to go to the pool after we eat," Samantha said. "Lori, you want to come with me?"

"I didn't bring a suit."

"There is a boutique in the hotel," Samantha said. "I'm sure we can find you something. They have a nice pool."

After we finished eating, I headed back to the room while Samantha and Lori went shopping.

I was working on the quote when then came in about 8:15.

"Did you find a suit, Lori?" I asked.

"I did."

"We are going to the pool for a while, do you want to come?" Samantha asked.

"You two go ahead, I'm crunching some numbers."

"Maybe I should stay and help you," Lori said.

"Go swimming, I'm just going over what we have so far."

"Okay."

Lori went into her bedroom, and Samantha went into ours. When Samantha came out, I looked at the skimpy bikini she had on, what there was of it.

"Did Lori get a bikini as skimpy as yours?"

"You'll see."

A few minutes later, Lori came out with a towel around her waist. I looked at the top of the bikini, and it was pretty skimpy. She looked nice.