The Ocean View Motels

(A wee bonus - just need to post & record this before I lose it again. Thanks Lloyd!)

Doctor Stevens finally finished reworking his script and rehearsals went on for the Operatic Society's show about the "true" history of Kaimoana. It was far from true really, it was all a lot of nonsense, but it was all good fun. Everyone agreed that it was going to be an excellent show. With the talent they had, it couldn't be anything but great. They were all amateurs, but they were as good as anything a much larger town could produce.

This was going to be the best show that Kaimoana had ever seen and it would be well worth filming it so they'd have a permanent record. Gary thought he'd even be able to sell it in the music division of his planned shop, which would generate some much needed funds for the Society. Mrs. Braidwood mentioned that she wished she knew of someone who could video the show. Gary advised that he would find someone to do it. No worries. Gary telephoned Peter Lewis in Westpoint. Peter made a CD of Gary’s piano playing for Lachlan and Gary thought he might know of someone who could video the show.

Peter responded, “Actually Jay and I can do that for you. For a project such as you describe we would want to use three cameras, but that is not a problem. We have two friends here in Westpoint who often help us out when we need extra camera support. They are both artists and you may be able to get them to do the art work for your DVD package as well. Our cameras are state of the art. They are light weight with image stabilization and are easily used with only a shoulder brace. We do not need dollies. Also, the cameras and all our microphones transmit their signal to our master console wirelessly. We do not need cables. We will need to park our van near a building where we can connect to the mains so we do not have to run the generator to charge the camera and microphone batteries. We should come to Kaimoana at least two days before the show. Make a reservation for us somewhere for two rooms each with a king size bed for two nights before the night of the performance as well as for the night of each performance. Jay’s last name is Kynnersley. The two friends that will help with cameras are Jason McDonald and Jordan Taylor.”

Gary thought the Ocean View Motels would be the place to make the reservation as it was one of the nicer places in Kaimoana. He went round there to do so. The manager and his wife were in the office. Gary asked if he could make a reservation for two rooms each with a king bed for the necessary nights.

The manager said, “What’s this, a bunch of queers? Who’s going to be paying for this?”

Gary was taken aback, but said he would pay for it and offered his bank card.

The manager went on, “You’re the kid that lives with his cousin in the caravan at Griffin Marine Engineering in South Bay. You don’t work, where did you get that bank card? Steal it did you? What is this, some kind of scam? You better get out of here before I call the police.”

His wife made a comment, “The foreclosure will probably take place before that date anyway.”

Gary controlled his anger. He knew that his getting mad would not solve anything and he had the philosophy, ‘Don’t get mad, get even.’ He was pretty sure that the way he was being treated was illegal in New Zealand. His first reaction was to reach for his cell and say, ‘Yes, call the police. If you don’t, I will.’ But he didn’t. The wife’s comment about foreclosure taking place stopped him. He knew that the motel was owned by the Woods family and that they were having problems. Maybe this was an opportunity.

Gary left without saying another word and went to The Craypot Café to see Dianne. He told her the story. Her first reaction was to go give them a piece of her mind, but Gary said he was more interested in the foreclosure comment. Dianne checked and found that both the bank and the tax authorities were in the process of instituting a foreclosure for nonpayment of taxes and the mortgage. Gary asked if he could buy the place for the outstanding debt. Dianne checked and the bank, the tax authorities and the Woods and all agreed they would quickly sell for the outstanding debt and avoid going further into foreclosure proceedings. Gary asked Dianne to make an offer subject to checking the accounts of the business. Dianne said she would get letters from all three of them instructing the managers to make the books available to Gary. She would have them by next morning.

Gary went round to see Peter de Groot.

“Peter, you recently completed an accounting course didn’t you?”

“It was just a bookkeeping course Gary. I wanted to be able to help my parents with their business and also to prepare myself for when I went to University next year.”

“Would you come with me tomorrow morning? I want you to look over the books of the Ocean View Motel. I may want to buy it. “

“Gary, I don’t know enough to do that. You need to have a public accounting firm from Christchurch do that.”

“You are someone that I really trust, Peter. You would know what documents I should send to an accounting firm for review.”

The next morning a reluctant Peter accompanied Dianne and Gary to the Ocean View Motel.

“Good morning Mrs. Sullivan, how can I help you?” Then looking at Gary, the manager said, “You again. I thought I made it clear yesterday that you were to stay away from here.”

“He’s with me.” said Dianne.

The manager went on, “He was here yesterday trying to pull some sort of scam. I think he thought I didn’t know he was just a kid living with his cousin in a caravan.”

“Actually,” Dianne said, “He now lives in an apartment above the former Woods' souvenir store.”

“How does a kid who does not work afford the rent for a place like that?”

“He does not pay rent. He owns the building. Now, he has made an offer to purchase The Ocean View which has been accepted. There only remains for him to review your books and satisfy himself that they are in order. The other young man is Peter de Groot who is going to do that for him. I have letters from the bank, the tax authorities and the Woods family instructing you to provide complete access to the books and records of the business.”

There was a loud silence as the manager stared at Gary, Peter and Dianne in complete disbelief. After reviewing the letters offered by Diane, he looked at Peter and said, “I know you. You're Ashton Woods' "friend"! The accounts are all on the computer located in the office. I'll give you the necessary passwords.”

Peter sat down and logged on the computer using the provided passwords.

“Oh good, it is the same accounting software that I used in my studies. I should not have any problem getting the information that you need for your accounting firm. It will take maybe a couple of hours though.”

Dianne and Gary left Peter to his task and returned to The Craypot Café.

Dianne said, “Gary why do you want to do this? What about your plans to open a music store?”

“No change there, I still intend to do that. This is just an investment. I think that I can persuade Patsy Tanner to run the Ocean View for me. She is the secretary/treasurer of the Kaimoana Operatic Society and I have seen how effective she is at getting things done. She has been working as a chambermaid at the Blue Pacific Hotel and I suspect that she knows quite a bit about the hospitality business. She is a quick study and will quickly learn what she does not know. I will have her spend some time with the Reynolds in Westpoint. They operate the Adelphi and several other lodging facilities there. We made friends with them the weekend Riley, Lachlan and I took Colin, Jacob and Virgil to Westpoint to meet their cousins. Colin and Lachlan ran with Justin “Don’t call me Superboy” Reynolds and I think he will see that Patsy learns whatever she needs to learn. Also, Mrs. Mathesion knows me and the Ocean View. She will be supportive.”

“When Peter Lewis and Jay come here to video the show, I am going to ask them to help me set up the music store. They operate a wonderful music store in Westpoint. I may be able to get Jason and Jordan to make up some advertisements and perhaps even develop a logo for me. I think it was Jason that did the logo for Billy’s Burgers.”

Their conversation was interrupted with the arrival of Peter with a stack of paper. They looked at him apprehensively.

“There is good news and bad news. The bad news first. The balance sheet is a disaster. When you subtract the liabilities from the assets you end up with negative equity. The Woods have extracted all the equity and then some from the business. In addition to the mortgage and tax debt that you already know about, they have huge accounts payable. Some of the suppliers have not been paid in three months and some of the employees have not been paid in two months."

“The good news is that if you ignore the debt and focus on the income/expense or profit and loss statement, it is a viable and profitable business. There are several ways to value a going concern. I only know two and using them, the value of the business is four and five times the total debt plus a reasonable amount of working capital. If you can acquire the business for the debt and put in a modest amount of working capital, you will have bought a true bargain. But, I insist that you have these papers and my figures reviewed by an accounting firm. I have the financial statements including the general ledger for the past four years.”

Gary said, “I’ll do that. I send them to a firm in Christchurch, but I doubt they will do much more than confirm your findings. Let’s go and tell them that we expect that we will go through with the purchase.”

The three of them returned to the Ocean View and Gary told them that based on what he had seen so far, he expected that he would continue with this purchase. He added, “You don’t like me and I don’t believe that you would want to work for me, but if you continue to operate the Ocean View until I can get my own management team in place, I will give you a severance package of two months wages for every year you managed the Golden View.”

“You would do that for me?”

“Yeah, you have done well by the Ocean View and you deserve it.”

In a voice choking with emotion he said, “We have been here seven years.”

“Fourteen months then. You will not have difficulty finding another job. Your record here is an excellent résumé.”

His wife was in tears and he could barely croak, “Thank you.”

“Don’t forget to book the rooms I requested yesterday.”

Dianne, Peter and Gary left. As they walked together, Peter said to Gary, “I’ve said it before and I'm saying it again, you are a good person – you are the best.”

Dianne added, “And smart as well. You changed that man’s life. You totally destroyed his arrogance. He will never jump to conclusions about anyone again. Sweet revenge, Gary.”

Gary just smiled.