Adam Blake - 57. Chapter 57

The alarm went off at 4:30 but I wasn’t ready to get out of bed. You know how you say just 5 minutes more and it is longer, that was what I said but I was stupid, I set another alarm at five and you had to get out of bed to shut it off. Ok, I dressed for running, maybe that might wake me up. I passed the cafeteria and got a cup of coffee and headed for the track. Warm-ups help to waken the muscles but running in London didn’t help. On my first lap, Scotty could have “beaten me, but I kept at it and each lap became better. Of course, having the running team coming out helped a little. Johnny ran up beside me, “Sir, you look a little beat this morning. Too much partying in London” That did it, I started to push and when I finished my laps I felt better. Cool down lap, then cool down exercise, and I was ready for my shower and breakfast.

I took my coffee cup with me and wonder if the coach was still there, I didn’t have to wonder long. “There was a little extra in my check, that wasn’t a mistake was it.”

“No coach, the previous administration was charging you for food and room, that will not happen again. The extra was what they charge you less Uncle Sam’s share.”

“Thanks that helps, I send most of my money home to my wife.”

Showered, dressed, and heading toward the cafeteria. “Dr. Blake, after all of the last two days, I noticed my check contained a small increase. I’m afraid to cash it.”

“Bob, it’s right you can cash it. That little bit is what they have been taking from you for food and your room, that won’t happen anymore. Room and board are included in our contract. I’d appreciate it if you told the rest as well.”

Greedy people cheat their fellow employees out of a few dollars. Well, I need to sit down with them and tell them their new salaries.

I always enjoy walking into the cafeteria with a room full of boys. I went and got my breakfast and headed to the Knights table, “Sir, my dad said to tell you, good job.”

“Thank you.” Then I remember the gift I had for Ramon. “Ramon, when you are finished eating and don’t hurry, please come to my office, I have a gift from your mother.”

It didn’t take him long to finish his breakfast, he gulped his food down, “Ramon, take your time, I have to go to my rooms to get your gift. Boys make sure you get enough food so go back and get what you like.”

Ramon kept his eye on me while eating his breakfast. “Ramon, go and get another blueberry pancake and when you are done, come to my office ok.” He shook his head yes. It must be lonely for these boys to be away from home and in a different country as well. I quickly went to my room, got the gifts from my suitcase and headed to my office. I was surprised when he wasn’t there.

“Where’s Ramon, I expected him to be here.”

“He was here but he had to go to the bathroom, here he comes now.”

I handed him the gift, he hugged me and I hugged him right back. He started to leave with the gift, stopped, and turned around, “Thank you, sir”

“You’re welcome, Knight Ramon.” That brought a smile.

I worked all morning on adjusting payroll for staff. I also checked the secretaries and I called their school to ask what the starting salary was for a secretary from their school. Again, ours were underpaid. So I looked at the percentage raise for teachers and applied it to secretaries, now I had another list I needed. “James, can you go to our payroll clerk, and ask her for the payroll of all the secretaries?”

“We getting a raise boss?”

“Maybe a pay cut, I just checked with your school. Your starting wage was above the average wage.”

“Hey, I’m an above-average secretary, jack of all trades, errand boy, is that enough?”

He brought down the payroll. I sat down and applied the percentage increase for the cost of living plus a percentage for performance. As I went through the list, there seemed to be a lot of secretaries. When I had my list completed, I called James.

“James, I have reviewed your salary, this is your new salary,” I effectively doubled his salary.

“You know I was kidding.”

“James you are secretary to the President of this Academy. Plus you were underpaid, to begin with. The number is real. I’ll go to payroll and make sure it’s real. Now start with this list and call them to come to my office.”

From a list of 25 secretaries, we had 10 and not all of them were secretaries, a few were clerks. As the secretaries came, I told them what their new salary would be, some left with smiles some left with tears. One thing they all left with was anger at their previous boss. Now I need to go to payroll.

I sat down with the payroll clerk, and we began to adjust those I adjusted. Those that I didn’t, we deleted after I recorded the bank account number. “I need you to make sure, that no checks are issued to these dead accounts. For the first few weeks, bring the checks to my office, I need to sign them anyway. Destroy that automatic signing plate. Better yet, I’ll take it with me.”

Now I need to talk to the staff. “James I need you to call staff for me again one at a time.”

I went through the same spiel, there were a lot of smiling faces, and the one that smiled the most was the coach. I think he was so angry at the old group if he saw them, he would literally tear them apart.

On one more trip to payroll, we ran the new payroll numbers, again there were two that to my knowledge wasn’t on the payroll, we deleted them, then we ran a dummy payroll and it looked ok. I took the automatic signature stamp. "Make sure there are no more stamps around. If you find one, bring it to my office."

“Mr. President, it's lunchtime.”

“You know I haven’t signed those checks yet.”

“But you will. The staff and non-staff, if you want to call us that, are pretty angry at the previous directors.”

“I imagine they are. I know I’d be mad, but it’s over and in the past. We need to get on with the business of educating the leaders of tomorrow. What we need to do, is to turn that space that Arlene occupied, into a computer room. I’m going to hire someone to teach the boys how to program and operate a computer.”

He just looked at me, “You are a maverick you know that.”

“If you were a student here, what would you think?”

“Father image”

I never expected that “What in the world made you say that?”

“That’s the way the boys look at you. You’re their father substitute.”

“James, I can’t be that. If I was that and had to discipline one of them, it would hurt me too much.”

“That’s just it, they won’t cause you to discipline them.”]

I thought I need to discuss this with Mom and Marie.