Clarion - 29. Chapter 29

Christmas was here before we knew it. The carport was finished, Cody ordered the gym equipment which included a weight table and weights. Christmas morning, Cody took the boys and showed them the exercise room as he called it. When Andy came over, the boys had to show him as well. I wasn’t sure if Cody realized that he just had a growing membership in his gym. That gave me an idea, I was wondering what Cody could do, he could start a gym in town. He wouldn’t have to be there all the time. He could hire people to keep it clean and a trainer. This wouldn’t interfere with his teaching but it could provide another interest in case he found teaching not to his liking, I thought that wouldn’t occur but you never know something until you get involved.

Our trip to Canada was something the boys would remember for a long time. At the end of our week, the boys were able to master the small sky hill. Cody said he would try the adult hill, Andy said he was on the ground more than the snow. Sitting around the lodge was best for me. The boys would talk about what they did and who fell the most. I convinced them to try ice skating, one try and they said it was enough. They complained their ankles were sore, James said Pop said his butt was sore from landing on it so often. I did join them for one activity, snow ball war. Cody was one captain, Nels insisted I be the other captain. James was on Cody’s team and Nels was on my team. Andy and Rich had a conference to determine who’s team they would be on. The contest was who could throw the biggest snow ball at the other team. I ended up with Rich.

On the way home we stopped at Niagara Falls. The boys wanted to ride the Lady of the Mist, but it wasn’t operating. We stayed there for one night, then drove home the next morning.

Returning from the Christmas-New Year vacation, the boys buckled down at school knowing that next recess would be Easter. I had a project also. I called Paul and told him that I was looking for a place to build a gym. He said he had the perfect place but it would need to be cleaned and may need some repairs. I made an appointment to see him the following day at 1:00.

When I arrived home, I called the gym I used in New York asking them for the name of the company who supplied them with their equipment. I told them that I was planning on opening a gym here in Clarion, Pennsylvania. They offered to send one of their trainers to help me set it up. I accepted their proposal, the next week-end we had our first overnight guest. I introduced him to Cody and I had to tell him what I was doing. I inspected the place with Paul, it was perfect but did need a lot of cleaning and renovation. I knew the man to do the job, so I called Noah and told him about my project. I hired some boys from the senior class at the boy’s school to clean the place. I had to answer what I was going to do there. To my surprise, a lot of them were very interested.

Noah took his team in, after the place was clean, there were certain sections of the walls that needed to be rebuilt, the area where the lockers and showers were to be installed, needed partitions. I didn’t need to tell Noah much. He seemed to have an idea of what I wanted and did an excellent job. Noah wasn’t cheap, but his work was always first class. I introduced Noah to Tony, who came from the New York gym. Between the two of them, they laid out the gym, I left them alone, they knew what they were doing. Noah had to put the table on hold while he worked in getting the gym ready.

Excitement about the gym was building at home. When Tony wasn’t working with Noah, he and the boys would work out in the garage gym. Tony would tell the boys about the different type of equipment the gym would have and what muscle group each piece of equipment would target for development. Nels wrote everything down. He went on internet to copy pictures of the muscles Tony was talking about. I thought we could use that information in the gym.

It wasn’t all work, the boys conned Andy in taking them fishing. I don’t think Tony ever went fishing. There aren’t many places in New York City where one could fish except the rivers and no one ate anything from those rivers. The first day they came home from fishing, Tony caught a trout, the boys were laughing. When I asked what was so funny they told me Tony kissed the fish, he was so happy he caught one.

The gym opened right after Easter. Tony stayed and helped Cody set everything up, he had drafted a contract, which was identical to the one I signed at his gym in New York. Cody and Tony spend two weeks setting up the equipment with the help of Andy and the boys. I asked Nels if we could make posters out of his muscle photos he took from the internet. He thought we could if we had a negative, I gave him his camera. He got the idea and soon he had a poster not only of the muscles but a small definition of the muscle and the work out needed to develop that muscle. We took the chip to a photo shop and I told him what size poster I wanted on the photos from the chip. He said he would have to send it a professional studio and it would take two to three weeks. I told him to do it and I would pick it up in three weeks.

As the gym became a reality, Cody mentioned to Tony about the need to hire a manager for the gym who could help train or train trainers. Tony now had spent a good 4 months with us and I think he was beginning to like the small town of Clarion. I was sure when he asked if he could bring a guest to dinner on Sunday night. I was surprised when he brought this lovely lady to dinner. Cody told me later she was a college student and would be graduating this year.

Dinner that night was entertaining and very informative. Tony shared with us his background and his family, he was raised in the City and never was out of the City. He worked his vacations and grew up in the suburb of the City. When he was old enough, he worked for a contractor and then got interested in body building. He did some modeling for gym equipment and swim suits. The gym where he now works used him to advertise and that’s how he came to work for them. He said he took some night courses to understand muscle development and read quite a bit about the equipment and the muscle group they were designed to improve.

I noticed the boys listening very closely to what Tony was saying, I knew as soon as he could, Nels would be writing this all down. I told Tony I was glad he was here to help with Cody’s project. I then realized I never told Cody this was his project and not mine. He thought it was just a business adventure of mine. I just winked at him when his expression changed as it donned on him that this gym was his and not mine. I just chuckled more to myself than anyone else.

Tony took his date home and returned about an hour later. “Alan, could we talk?”

I thought a New Yorker for sure, “Yes, Tony, what would you like to talk about. I assume you knew all about the birds and bees.”

“Yes, for a long time now. I’d like to live here. The pace of New York gets to you after a while. Life here is a little slower, well actually a lot slower. Cody needs a manager and trainer, I could do that for him.”

“Then you should ask Cody, you have my support.”

“Where is Cody? I’ll ask him now.”

“Probably working out in the garage after all that food he ate.”

I hope that Tony would stay, he could be a good friend for Cody. He’s knowledgeable about the operation of the gym, we may have to expand the locker area for women. I’m sure he’ll attract a lot of women to the gym.

That night in bed, “Tony asked to stay and work at the gym. What do you think?”

“It’s your gym, what do you think? That’s more important than what I think.”

“By the way, why didn’t you tell me you were building that gym for me?”

“I just forgot. I got so wrapped up in building that gym I just forgot to tell you it was part of your Christmas present.” Yes, that got me a hug and kiss. “So what are you going to do about Tony?”

“I’d like to hire him, but what would I pay him? I have no idea what a manager and trainer would make.”

“Talk to him, in New York he was a trainer. Here he would be a manger and trainer. Meet his New York salary and then offer a percentage of each new customer that signs up.”

“What do you mean a percentage? Do I add that to his salary?”

“No, pay the percentage as a bonus.”

“I’ll talk to him tomorrow. He’ll need a permanent place to stay. I think Andy wants his room back.”

“I’m sure we can find a house for him close to Town. I’ll talk to Paul tomorrow and see what he has.”

The next morning I was up before the kids. I showered and dressed then went to start the coffee. I guess I made more noise than I knew because the coffee just finished when Tony came into the kitchen. “I’m sorry I woke you Tony. I’m so use to no one being here, I forgot you were sleeping.”

“I was getting up anyway. I usually run in the morning so I always wake before normal times.”

“So how did your talk go with Cody last night?”

“I’m hoping that he will say yes. I really like the slower pace of living here and the air smells so much fresher.”

“I assume that if you do stay here, you’ll have to give your notice back at the New York gym.”

“Yes, I should give them at least two weeks notice. If I do come here, I’ll have to pack and move my belongings here.”

“Do you own or rent?”

“I rent a small apartment from my brother so that won’t be a problem. All I have is my clothes and some personal items. I could load it all in my car and drive it here. That isn’t a deal breaker. If Cody is agreeing to me working here, I probably could be here in less than two weeks. If they let me go sooner at the gym, I could be here in two days after I leave to go back to New York.”

I knew Cody was standing in the doorway listening. I looked at him and he was smiling. He looked at me nodding his head yes with a question in his eyes, I nodded back. He smiled and walked into the kitchen. “Is the coffee ready yet?”

Tony jumped as he didn’t realize that Cody was standing there. “It’s ok Tony. If I were you I’d called that gym in New York and turn in your resignation.”

Tony had a smiled from ear to ear, as he went to call New York. “You made him a happy boy. I’m going to get the boys out of bed so they can get ready for school.”

After breakfast, I was alone. Cody went to school, Tony went to the gym and the boys went to school. I took the opportunity to call Paul asking about anything for sale within the area close to the gym. He said he had some rental property that the owner might be willing to sell. I suggested we meet tomorrow morning and we can take a look at what he has.

That evening, Tony told us that the owner of the gym told him he could leave whenever he wanted. He said he would have his pay available when he returned, he was sorry to see me go but he understood about getting out of New York City. The next morning Tony drove to New York to pick up his clothes and personal things. We would see Tony in a few days.

The next morning after everyone was gone, I drove to town to see Paul. We looked at several rentals but there was one house I really liked. It was a two story with three bedrooms on the second floor, a large kitchen, dining room and living room on the first floor. The rent was reasonable, but I wanted to purchase not rent. I noticed that the roof would need to be replaces, the furnaces was very old as was the water heater. It wouldn’t be long before the house would need painting. I asked Paul what the cost would be if he had to do all of these repairs. Paul gave me a figure, I spoke to the owner. I told him I would take the house and agreed with the rental price but he would have to put on a new roof, replace the hot water tank and furnace as well as a new paint job. He looked like I was nuts. I told him he’d have to do this sooner or later, if the roof leaks and my possessions are ruined, it would cost him to not only repair the roof but to replace my possessions. The same with the furnace, if it fails and my tropical plants die, he would have to replace them plus whatever damage the furnace caused when it blew. He could save all that money for the repairs and subsequent law suits, if he would sell it to me at a fair price. I started to leave when Paul said something to him.

“OK, I’ll sell it to you as is.”

That suited me fine. I told Paul to work up the contract and I would meet him back at his office when he was done with a check for the full amount. I went to the bank to arrange the transfer of money from my bank account to Paul’s. I then stopped and had a cup of coffee while I waited for Paul to call. I was on my second cup of coffee when Paul called and said the papers were ready for signature. I stopped at his office, signed the papers, I called the bank and had the money transferred to Paul’s account. Now that I had bought the house, I needed to have some repairs done.

When I got home, I called Noah and told him about the house. We set an appointment to meet at the house tomorrow at 10 in the morning. That evening after dinner I told Cody what I did.

“Cody, have you discussed salary with Tony yet?”

“No, we never got around to it. He was so glad I said yes, he never brought it up.”

“Well, I was thinking the house I bought he could buy it from me and pay for it from his salary. Let’s say you pay him 3000 dollars a month, and then you pay him 2200 and the 800 goes toward the house. Do you have any idea what he will ask for a salary?”

“No, we should have talked about that before he left.”

“Let’s wait till he comes back and then we can talk about it.”

Noah got on the house right away; the first thing was the replacement of the roof. He ordered a new furnace and hot water tank. They would be installed within a week after arrival. Some of the heating ductwork needed replaced, he subcontracted the heating job so he could continue working on the roof while the heating was being removed from the house. The hot water tank was replaced with a gas heated tank. The last thing would be to paint the house and he subcontracted that as well. By the time the furnace was installed and checked out, everything was finished.

Tony had returned from New York and was busy opening the gym. He hired Andy and Rich to keep the place clean. They were paid minimum wage but they could use the equipment free of charge. When the house was finished, Cody showed the place to Tony. Noah had done a good job and it showed. Tony really liked the place, he and Cody figured out a way for him to buy it from me. The price I set was the price I paid for it before all of the repairs. Considering the value of real estate in New York City, Tony saw this as a bargain. We helped Tony to furnish the house as a house warming present. I bought him a bedroom set, Cody bought him a sofa and chair for the living room. The kitchen had a refrigerator and stove that will need to be replaced within a few years. I put that on my Christmas list for Tony.