Glass Joe

I think it was the third stool on the left, but it's been a while." Donovan asks, "Did you start drinking late in life, or did you grow up in this town?" "I grew up two blocks from here. My father owned a corner grocery store. My brother runs it today." "I didn't know you were from Bearington," says Donovan. "With all the transfers, it's taken me about fifteen years to get back here," I say. The beers arrive. Maxine says, "These two are on Joe." She points to Joe Sednikk who stands behind the bar. Dono- van and I wave out thanks to him. Donovan raises his glass, and says, "Here's to getting 41427 out the door." "I'll drink to that," I say and clink my glass against his. After a few swallows, Donovan looks much more relaxed. But I'm still thinking about what went on tonight. "You know, we paid a hell of a price for that shipment," I say. "We lost a good machinist. There's the repair bill on the NCX-10. Plus the overtime." "Plus the time we lost on the NCX-10 while it was down," adds Donovan. Then he says, "But you got to admit that once we got rolling, we really moved ...»