Curtis and Carol ... Update: Big Picture
. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50167142311_7a59455592_k.jpg Curtis Stevens Update When we left off with Curtis, he and Susan had just failed the 112 Day Challenge. More importantly ......
Forum Discussion
Coming Clean
Welcome back friends … Good to see you made it.
When we left off with our story, we had taken a glimpse back
and tried to figure out what might have happened at the lab.
Liam had gotten a little upset about the way things were going and quit,
while Cindy and Martin were busy figuring out what to do about that.
Meanwhile … Curtis and Carol had gone to a party at Liam’s
and he had asked Curtis for help getting started on a possible
new career choice writing some fan fiction.
Curtis had agreed to meet Liam at the Java Hut one morning
and pass on a few tips and information that might just help Liam out.
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It was a beautiful morning and a great day for a fresh start when Liam and Curtis met up.
They both settled in with a hot cup of Joe, and traded a bit of small talk.
After finishing up with their drinks, and as the chit-chat was running thin,
Curtis decided to try and get things on track.
Curtis
”So Liam, where do you want to get started?
Do you have any ideas on a story, or are you more worried about the process?”
Liam, who had been suffering the effects of caffeine overdose
and chatting his head off, hesitated and drew silent for a moment.
Liam
”I hate to have put you out Curtis,
but there’s something else I need to talk to you about.
I’m a researcher … I don’t really want to be a writer.
I didn’t even like writing the reports I had to when I was working at the lab.
No … I made a mess of things at the lab
and I need to talk to you about that.”
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Curtis
”Like when you say you made a mess of things …
are you talking about something that means
everyone should start packing a bag and getting out of town?
The last I heard, you and DHE were working on some pretty sensitive stuff.
If it’s something we need to know … You have to say something.
I don’t care what legal obligation you have towards DHE.
We can help you handle that if necessary.”
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Liam
”Not at all … DHE brought in a specialist,
Cindy from Bridgeport.
She’s smart, knows her job,
and would lock everything down if there was a credible threat,
even at a cost to advancing the research.
No … I’m not bragging, but I am kind of a smart guy.
Likewise, I don’t have a heck of a lot of experience
with being either careless or wrong, and I don’t know what to do.
Don’t take it as an insult,
but I figure you might be able to help me out with that.
We can’t talk about it here though …
Let’s go to the park or something.”
Well … This is kind of odd.
Curtis was as curious as all get-out to find out what Liam was carrying on about,
but he was careful to give Liam some space as they walked to the park.
Whatever it was … It was weighing heavy on Liam,
and some things, well, you just have to give them time.
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Curtis
”Okay Liam, what are we talking about here?
Are you sure you don’t need legal representation?
I have to warn you that I am not your lawyer.
If someone were to call me to testify in regards to anything you tell me,
I can’t afford the trouble and I would have to tell the truth as I know it.”
Liam
”I understand, and I don’t think that will be a problem.
Even if it is … You do what you have to do.
No … It started back when DHE took over.
I came to the lab straight out of SIT, and worked my way up.
It’s the only place I have ever worked,
and by the time DHE took over, it was all mine so to say.
Even when you and Susan owned it, I could work on whatever I wanted.
I kept us in the black and with some profit.
I applied for grants when necessary, and just kept things rolling right along,
There was plenty to do and plenty of money in it.”
Curtis
”Well that’s true … Susan and I never had a problem with any of it.
You kept the books clean, filed reports when necessary, handled the Feds,
and I wasn’t that interested in what you were doing anyway.”
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Liam
”Well, you see … When DHE took over, they cared about what was going on.
More importantly, they didn’t want the government nor grant money involved at all.
They pulled the plug on two of the three projects I was working on immediately.
The other one was basically funded by overlap from the two that got axed.
I had to pack up my research, then send it and the money back to the government.
I was literally as mad as a hornet; I had written the grant applications
been approved, got the money and they were things I wanted to know more about.
Furthermore ... Continuing with those projects wouldn’t have cost DHE a dime.
I couldn’t see what the problem was.
Meanwhile … Mr. Dixson had funded the remaining project to the gills.
He had given me enough money to put three researchers in the field twelve hours a day.
Looking back, I know neither DHE nor Mr. Dixson gives a rat’s -rear
about the Migratory and Reproductive Patterns of the Greater Northwest Swamp Newt.
It was a peace offering, and on a silver platter.
I was so mad about the other stuff, that didn’t even register with me.”
Curtis
”Yeah, I can see a problem with that.
We all get caught up in things though, and the lab was in transition anyway.
It’s understandable, it shouldn't be that bad, we can find a way to walk that back.”
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Liam got nervous, and looked at the ground,
before taking a breath, looking up and continuing.
Liam
”Oh no Curtis … That’s not all, and it gets worse.
So anyways, I am mad and I start being a pain.
I might have said some things I shouldn’t have,
to people I shouldn’t have been saying them to.
I didn’t completely understand why I was working on what I was …
and still don’t know to tell you the truth.
The next thing I know, Mr. Dixson comes to visit.
He isn’t thrilled, and lays down the law so to say.
I nod my head in the right places, and pretend like everything is okay …
Thinking the road is just going to be rocky, but we can move along.
Two days later I get this box in the mail from Mr. Dixson.
In it is a nice hardcover copy of a book … ‘Who Moved the Cheese’.
I crack the cover, read the dust jacket, and wonder how it was ever a Best Seller.
It’s a silly story, written on a third-grade level, and about two mice.
I immediately took it as an insult to my intelligence and salt in the wound.
I didn’t read any further, and went back to work the next day
madder than I was the day before.”
Curtis
”Well, did you ever go back and read the book?
He might have sent it to you for another reason.
Did you ever think about that?’
Liam
”Uh Yeah, we’ll get to that,
but we aren’t there yet … There’s more.”
Curtis
”Dang Liam … What did you do?
I’m going to let you finish this time,
but you were digging one hell of a hole dude.”
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Liam
”Well, while all this is going on. I’m still working on the research
and I figure out exactly what I need to do to move forward with the research.
I mean I figured out how to give DHE what they wanted.
At the same time, I’m still mad, and everyone at the facility is upset and confused.
I start getting worked up with other people,
and dragging my feet moving forward with the research.
Then I find out Mr. Dixson is bringing in two people from Bridgeport.
I panicked and started trying to cover a few things up, muddy the water.
That was a mistake, and I should have known better.
That’s because I lied to Cindy when I said I didn’t know Martin Jackson.
We went to SIT together, and I knew it wouldn’t take him long to figure out
I had been dragging my feet and not doing right by DHE on the research side.
When Cindy implemented Immediate Corrective Action on one of the Lots ...
Nothing for you to worry about, because it was the right thing to do by the way …
I knew right away it wouldn’t take Martin long to be on top of everything,
no matter how hard I tried to hide it.
I got nervous, and I lost it with Cindy.
I got ugly; It’s not like me and I handled it poorly.
She didn’t do anything unreasonable or wrong,
and to the best of my knowledge, neither has DHE.
It’s all on me.”
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Curtis
”Go ahead … Tell me about the book.
There’s no reason to stop now.
This doesn’t sound like you Liam.
There's got to be something in all this.”
Liam
”Oh there is … And Mr. Dixson knew it all the time.
Last night, I read the book, and it isn’t that hard to understand.
In the story, these two mice live in a place.
Every day they do what they want to do, and don’t worry about much.
Every morning when they wake up, there is cheese on the table,
until one morning they wake up and there is no cheese.
They sit around and talk about it for a short while.
They start to wonder where the cheese comes from, how it gets there, and who moved it.
Then one mouse starts to lose it; starts running around the place searching everywhere.
It gets upset about there being no cheese,
and the idea someone obviously doesn’t care about the fact they have no cheese.
The upset mouse is screaming and carrying on,
when it notices the other mouse is calmly putting its shoes on.
When the calm mouse walks to the door, the upset mouse asks it what it is doing.
The calm mouse simply says that it’s going to go out and try to find some cheese.
It says it thinks some cheese is out there somewhere, doesn’t know what it will find,
but knows there is no cheese where they are, and has no reason to think it will be back tomorrow.
Mr. Dixson knew what I was going through.
Insult or not, he cared enough to send me the book.
It’s a simple blueprint to what I needed to do.
I’m embarrassed more than anything else.
I don’t know what I need to do, and don’t know how to fix any of this.”
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Curtis
” Relax Liam … It will be okay one way or another.
Everyone makes mistakes, even someone as smart as you.
I’ll tell you what … Call Mr. Dixson.
When you get ahold of him, tell him what you just told me.
Tell him exactly the way you just told me.
I don’t know what will happen, and I don’t know what he will think.
But … You will be clean, and you will feel better.
Nothing good will happen out of any of it, if you don’t come clean.
People understand more than you think when you lay everything out.
You have to remember that Mr. Dixson has always
been a step ahead of you ... In this case anyway.
One way or another … He already knows.”
I got to say that I think that is sound advice Curtis has offered.
I hope things work out well, and I know Liam already feels a little better
just telling someone else.
Thanks for stopping by again,
and I look forward to next time.
Y’all have a lovely day!
To Be Continued
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Happy Simming!
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