A/N Starting this chapter, and over the next few, there will be some discussion about income and costs. You'll understand why by the end of the chapter. Except for one or two instances, I will not be getting into specific amounts about income and costs, it will be more general and in terms of percentages. I'll explain more in future chapters. For those who don't know, The Rathskeller is a place on Caltech's campus, that serves food and has a full bar, for legal drinking age students, and faculty.
Chapter 47 2875
Thursday 12 March, 9:30 AM
Penny had been in her office for about an hour. She had reviewed her email and voice messages and started working on some sales data, for her lunch meeting. She decided to prepare a cup of tea, and had just started steeping it, when her phone rang, "Ms Hofstadter, Northern LA district sales manager, how can I help you?"
"That sounds pretty good there, Penny," she heard Dan say.
Penny smiled and said, "What's up, Dan?"
"Can you come to my office at eleven?" Dan asked.
"Ahhhhh, for how long?" asked Penny. "I have a lunch meeting with Ray Davidson at noon."
"It won't be long," said Dan.
"What's it for?" asked Penny.
"I'll explain when you get here," said Dan. "See you at eleven."
"Okay, bye, Dan."
"Bye."
Penny hung up, wondering what was going on.
Thursday 12 March, 10:00 AM
Leonard's team had found and corrected the problem with the fourth module, yesterday before they left. They had run the test on it the first thing this morning, and it had passed. They were now working on installing the fifth module.
Leonard was looking forward to adding the sixth, the control module, either today or tomorrow, as that module contained all the automatic built-in tests. This would allow them to test the first six, as one unit and after that, test each module alone, or as part of the whole. There were six more modules to install, after the control module.
Leonard watched as his team worked on adding the new module. Looking at it, he figured they would be done with the fifth one, sometime this afternoon, enabling them to test it this afternoon. He was planning on doing the first data run, near the end of the month. He hoped that would be enough time to build and test the rest of the machine.
Thursday 12 March, 11:00 AM
Penny knocked on Dan's door and heard, "Come in." She entered and Dan indicated the table, in his office, she should sit at. Penny sat down and Dan came over, carrying some papers.
He sat down and said, "Okay, Penny, we're nearing the end of your training. We will continue to go over the management book, in the mornings, but, starting Monday, I've told the salespeople, for your district, to call you, if they need something or have questions. If it's a minor thing, go ahead and handle it. If you are unsure or don't know what to do, give me a call, and we'll go over it. I will also be giving you some problems," at this, he held up several of the papers he had, "and I will ask you what you believe the solutions should be." He handed the papers to Penny, and continued, "Here are the first three problems, I want you to look them over, think about it, and give me your solution to each of the problems, by tomorrow."
Penny nodded and said, "Okay."
Dan nodded approvingly, "These are problems or situations, whatever you want to call them, that have occurred over the last year or so. I want you to look them over, then write a short paragraph, as to what decision you would have made, and why."
"Give them to me tomorrow afternoon, I'll look them over this weekend, and then I'll go over them with you, on Monday. The purpose of this is twofold. First, think of this as training for the kinds of decisions you will have to make in your position. Second, it will allow me to get a view of how you think, how you make decisions, and why. Now, if I think there is a problem with how you made a decision, we can go over it. Remember, there may not be a cut-and-dried right or wrong decision."
The important thing is this, there are hints, data, comments, in these problems, that will help you with your decision," said Dan. "I want to see you put those comments, hints, and data together, in your solution. I want to see your reasoning, for your decision. When we get together, we'll go over what actually happened in each case. What the DM actually decided, what you decided, and I'll explain why the DM or you made the correct, or incorrect decision. This way, you can see how you did versus what really happened. I will tell you that not everything the original DM did, was correct, so don't worry about what you think they did. Make your own decision, support it, and stand by it."
Penny took the sheets from Dan, "Can I call you if I have a question?"
"No, I would prefer you didn't," said Dan. "These are training aids, and I want to see your decisions, how you made them, and what you are using to support the decision you made. If this was a real-time problem, and you had questions, then yes I would hope you would ask. However, remember, in a real-time situation, there may not be time for you to call me and ask, you just have to make a decision. But, these aren't real-time problems, I'm trying to get an idea of how you make your decisions."
"Okay, I will," said Penny. "Is there anything else?"
"I understand you have met with all the salespeople?" said Dan.
"I have Ray today, and tomorrow, it will be Jim Branch," said Penny. "That will be everybody."
"Have you had any problems, any pushback from anyone?" asked Dan.
"No, I haven't," said Penny. "As a matter of fact, they've all been quite supportive."
"I thought they would be," said Dan. "From talking to them, they all think well of you. After all, you do have the best sales record and don't forget, they will expect you to help them increase their sales. That's all I have, just give me your solutions tomorrow afternoon."
"I can do that before I go see Jim tomorrow," said Penny.
"I'll see you then," said Dan, going back to his work. Penny got up and left.
Friday 13 March, Noon
Penny stopped by Dan's office, giving him the three problems, along with her paragraph describing her solution, attached to each of the problems.
Dan looked at the sheets and said, "Did you have any problems?"
Penny shook her head, "Not really, but I did spend last night going through them, and really had to think about one of these."
Dan chuckled, "Yeah, you probably did, but I'm hoping you will have done a good job. You have to meet with Jim right?"
"Yeah, we're going to have lunch, then go over his numbers for this month," said Penny.
"Well, after you get that done, why don't you take the rest of the day off and just relax," said Dan.
"Really?" said Penny in surprise.
"Yeah, you've been working hard on all this training," said Dan. "We don't want to push you too hard, and since there really isn't anything for you this afternoon, take it off and we'll see you Monday,
"See you then," said Penny with a smile. She then turned and left.
Friday 13 March, 2:00 PM.
Leonard called his team together, and they approached him. Looking out over them he said, "We've got the control module installed and it passed the external test. We could start the test, do the individual test and if it passed, do the test for the combined unit, but that will take five to six hours. So, here's my plan, all of you close up everything, and put it away, then take the rest of the day off."
"I want everyone to get a head start on the weekend, take it easy, if you have some studying to do, do it. But, otherwise, don't think about this experiment. We are just going to leave it, as it is, and start the test when we come in on Monday. If you can make it, meet at the Rathskeller at three. You don't have to come, but if you're there, I'm buying the first round."
There were smiles on everyone's face and few yells of acceptance, as everyone started covering the apparatus and putting the tools away. Leonard left to go to his office, where he checked his email and voice messages, and not finding anything that needed to be done, closed up his office and headed for the Rathskeller.
Saturday, 14 March 10:00 AM.
Penny woke up, stretched, and reached over for Leonard. Not feeling him, she slid over to the edge of the bed to get up, as she was starting to have trouble rolling. She got up, put her pink robe on, and headed toward the bathroom. When she was finished, she walked out toward the kitchen. Coming around the corner, she spotted Leonard, and even from the back, he looked as he had for much of the last week, lost in thought. Probably thinking about his experiment, thought Penny. She wondered if she should mention what she had been thinking of the last two weeks, whether the apartment was big enough, and if it wasn't, what they should do.
Maybe today, I'll bring it up, thought Penny, as she continued into the kitchen, to get her one cup of coffee. She rubbed Leonard's arm as she reached the kitchen, and he turned to her and they kissed, saying good morning to each other. After pouring her coffee and taking a sip, she noticed Leonard had a pained look on his face, and she said, "What's wrong sweety?"
He took her by the hand and said, "Come here," leading her to the couch. They both sat down and to Penny, it looked like he was trying to gather his thoughts. He tried several times to start, but nothing was coming out, finally, he said, "Penny, I don't think this apartment is going to be big enough when the twins are born."
Penny was surprised, as that is what she had been thinking, and said, "I was wondering the same thing. With the furniture not fitting in the bedroom, and not only that but what about our desks? If we get a playpen, there won't be any room for them either."
Leonard nodded, "I know, but if this place isn't big enough, then we have to find somewhere else to live, and that involves all sorts of decisions. Do we rent, do we buy? Where to find a big enough place to rent? If we buy, what do we buy? House? Condo?"
"Shit," said Penny. "I haven't got the slightest clue, I'm still trying to wrap my head around having to leave. Do you have any ideas?"
Leonard sighed, "Actually, I do. I'm thinking we'll have to buy a house…and before you say anything about me doing the lawn, yard work, or fixing things, I've talked to Howard."
"You talked to Howard?" said Penny, in surprise.
"Yeah, I did," said Leonard. "I told him you had a question about it, but he said he has neighborhood kids cut his grass and do the yard work. And, he doesn't do any of the house maintenance, he has a list of people that do that. Of course, that all costs money, but I don't think that will be a problem for us. Not with your promotion, and my raise."
Penny was surprised, but she smiled at him, "You have thought about this, haven't you?"
Leonard grinned at her, "Yes I have. As you said, you didn't expect me to do all the yard work, did you?"
Penny's grin changed to a smirk, "What about me?"
"What about you?"
"Leonard, I lived on a farm, remember?" said Penny. "I've done yard work, I've done maintenance. Hell, I put a tractor engine together when I was twelve. Why didn't you think about me doing the work around the house?"
Leonard looked dumbfounded, "I…I, um, uh…
Penny chuckled, "Yeah, I'm a girl, right?"
"No, that's not it," said Leonard, then he paused. "Okay, yes it is, a little bit. Since you're always getting your nails done, I didn't think yard work would interest you. I just forget that you lived on a farm."
"Well, to be truthful, I really didn't do all that much after I turned thirteen," said Penny. "So, I probably won't be looking to do yard work or maintenance around a house. Anyway, about getting a house, did you think about how we're going to pay for it?"
"Actually, yes I did," said Leonard. "With what we are making now, I would think we can easily afford a payment for a house we need."
Penny was interested now, wondering how much Leonard had looked into this. "And what do we need?"
"It's going to depend on the type of house we look at," said Leonard. "For example, if we have a two-story house, we're going to probably need three bathrooms, or maybe two and a half. We'll need one bathroom for the master suite, one for the other bedrooms, and one for downstairs. If we only have a single floor, we might be able to get by with two baths."
"How many bedrooms are you looking at?"
"Again, it depends," said Leonard.
"On what?" asked Penny.
"Well, I was thinking we might need a den or office," said Leonard. "So, if we find a house with a separate home office, we could get by with three bedrooms. If the house doesn't have a separate home office, then we may need four bedrooms, and convert one of those to an office."
"Anything else?"
"I kind of like the setup here," said Leonard. "With the open floor plan. Although, I would like to find one with a dining area, near the kitchen. Something like this, with a dining area between the living room and the kitchen."
"You really have thought about this," said Penny. "While you were doing this, did you ever think of what I might want?"
"Actually, no," said Leonard. "My ideas were more about what I thought we needed, size-wise. If you have other ideas or if there are things you want, then please tell me, and we can work on it together. For example, I said four-bedroom, but we could have a three-bedroom, with a bigger room for the twins, if that what you want. As far as the interior design, you can do all of that, as long as I get some space for my things. I don't think we need a large yard, but if you have a reason, for one, I'm very willing to talk about it."
"But, what about paying for it?" asked Penny. "I mean there's a down payment, then the monthly payment, taxes, insurance, all of that. Where are we going to get the money?"
"The down payment might be tricky," said Leonard. "But, we have some ways to come up with it. As for the payment, the rule of thumb is no more than 28% of our income. I looked quickly at some houses, and at current interest rates, our payment will be right around 17 percent of our income. So we should be good. First, we should look at the price of some houses with our requirements and other things we want. That way we can get an idea of how much of a loan we may need, and then we can apply for a loan and have the financing ready if we find a house."
Penny smiled, he really had thought this through, although she wanted to know more about how they were going to get the down payment.
"Sweety, there is one thing I should tell you," said Penny. "I've also been thinking about this place not being big enough. But, you've done way more thinking about it, and I'm glad. I just worry about whether we can afford it."
"Penny, we're in a rather high-income bracket," said Leonard. "Since we got married, we've paid off your credit cards, my school loans, put money in our retirement accounts, and have a nice sum in savings." Leonard smiled, "Ask your guy if buying a house is a good investment."
Penny smiled, "Yeah, okay, you're right. So what should we do now."
"I suggest, for the rest of the weekend, we look at some houses online to get an idea of what kind of loan we're looking at," said Leonard. "Then, gather up our tax returns and our pay statements, and after your appointment tomorrow, we can go to the bank and apply for a mortgage."
Penny smiled, nodded, and said, "Huh, who would have even thought we'd be being a house?"
Leonard grinned and nodded.