I made an appointment to meet with the folks at Environment Canada on Tuesday to discuss the details of the contract which was suggested in the first place. He told me that his name is Herold and he disconnected the phone.
Once I got off the phone, I sat there for at least five minutes to try to understand what had happened. I was happy that we won another ABC contract which was nothing but the good news as big companies like IBM were trying very hard to get ABC contracts with the federal departments and they were not happy that small companies like us were winning the contracts against them.
I was totally convinced that Environment Canada wasn’t going to be happy if I decided to go back to Vegas leaving somebody else to manage the project. Herold appeared to be totally impressed with my credentials, and he sounded as if he would be looking forward to working with me.
I knew that Adam is quite capable of managing ABC projects, but in the interest of keeping Environment Canada happy, I should stick around for now to get the project going.
However, what really bothered me was how I was going to convince Lynda that I needed to be here for a while. There was no way in the world she would agree to live in Ottawa in the winter. She got used to living in Vegas, and she already had enough of Ottawa, and she wanted to get back to Vegas ASAP.
I decided to call Adam and ask him to meet me for lunch.
He asked what’s up, dad, and I said I need to talk to you, son. He said he will be at the restaurant ASAP.
I had only a few hours to come up with a plan to deal with the situation, and the plan had to be very convincing to get Lynda’s cooperation.
When I got to the restaurant, Adam was already there. He had no clue what I wanted to talk to him about. Once we ordered our food, Adam said what’s up, dad.
I said the good news is that we won the contract with Environment Canada.
He said – how did you know that?
I said, somebody called Herold telephoned this morning to let us know that we had won the contract and spoke to me on the phone for at least 30 minutes.
Adam was very happy that we won the contract. I told him that I thought he was an excellent project manager and managing the project with Environment Canada would be superb excellent experience to add to his resume.
Adam said I know I am a good project manager, but I never managed any project as big and complex as this project. Furthermore, they must have checked your references, and they want you to manage the project. He continued; we cannot afford to take a risk of losing the project, Dad.
I said I know, but perhaps the best thing we can do is to go ahead with the meeting and see what comes out of the meeting. In the meanwhile, I need to discuss this and come up with some kind of compromise, if possible.
The rest of the afternoon, I spent time in the office working on something and thinking about how I am going to explain this to Lynda. I realized that we both wanted to go back to our lives in Vegas.
I decided to call Lynda when I got back from lunch and told her that we were going out to eat tonight. She was curious on the phone and wanted to know “Why” and she wanted to know if I had any bad news to tell her? I said sorry I cannot continue to talk as I have another call to take.
As soon as I disconnected the call. Adam called and asked if I would like him to be there when I was going to tell Lynda about the situation, but I said, no. I told him that I needed to come up with a compromise before even I was thinking about speaking to his mother. He agreed and disconnected the phone.
I tried to concentrate upon reviewing the proposal that I had written for Environment Canada, but I could hardly focus on anything as I was in the process of developing a scenario to deal with Lynda.
In any case, I picked up Lynda around 6:00 PM and we didn’t have to drive too far for the restaurant.
When we got to the restaurant, Lynda said, what’s up.
I said, let’s order the food before we start talking.
She gave me a strange look to express her displeasure but went ahead and ordered her food.
Once we finished ordering our food, she said she had already started packing things to take with us and she wanted to know at what time we would be leaving in the morning on Saturday. She also said maybe tomorrow she would drop me off at the office and take the car for an oil change.
I said we need to discuss something, before we decide that.
She said, why am I not surprised.
I said Adam had me writing a proposal for Environment Canada not too long ago and the good news is that we won that contract.
She said, “Great. That’s indeed good news, isn’t it?
I said, of course, it’s. However, there’s a problem with that.
She said, spell it out, please.
I said Adam had convinced me to propose myself as Project Manager, which I did. In the first place we didn’t expect to win the proposal, and we thought if we did, we would be able to get Adam to replace me. But after talking to the guy on the phone, I realized that Environment Canada would like me to manage the project.
Lynda said, what are you trying to say, my love.
I said I am trying to tell you that I must be here to finish the project.
She said how long we were talking about it.
I said the current project is only for a year, but I had included recommendations in the proposal to expand it to another 18 months.
She said are you saying that we would have to be back to living in Canada.
I said no, but at the same time we cannot abandon Adam. He already has too many things on his plate and it’s a big project to add to his list of the things to do. Furthermore, Environment Canada may not like the idea of changing the proposed project manager which also means that we could lose the contract.
Waitress brought our food and stopped talking for a few minutes.
Once we started eating, Lynda said – what’s that you are suggesting.
I said I am suggesting that I stay here for a year which will allow Adam to demonstrate how capable he is. In other words, if they bought my recommendations to expand the project, Adam would be able to manage the project without my help.
I said, my suggestion is that you don’t have to spend winter here in Ottawa. I will make sure that every month I come to see you in Vegas and will try to stay as long as I can. This way we can keep our place in Vegas and at the same time I get to help Adam.
She said I don’t like the idea of leaving you here in Ottawa.
I said I understand that, but we don’t have too many choices.
She asked if I would live in our home with Adam and Jenifer”.
I said in the first place we have already given the house to Adam. It’s not our house anymore.
I continued “No”, I will continue to live in the condo where we are living now.
She said what would you do for the meals.
I will start eating TV dinners and probably try to learn how to cook.
She laughed and said, “Are you really sure that you don’t need me to stay with you”.
I said I am certain that you can go back to Vegas anytime you like.
For the remaining few minutes in the restaurant, we talked about her sorority sisters who wanted to come and stay with us in Vegas.
I told Lynda that now that I am not going to be there, you may like to invite more sorority sisters to do things together.
She said nevertheless, I will miss you.
As soon as we got home Adam called and asked me how did it went with mom, dad?
I explained to Adam that we decided his mother will go back to Vegas and I will stay here in this condo to complete the project.
Adam appeared to be happy with my reply and said sorry, dad.
I said there is no need to apologize. I am glad to do something to help you, son.
