Steel Tango Part 2 El Commandante

We went easily through security and to the meeting. There were four of us from my company, two Argentines (I will call them Martin and Eduardo, just to protect their identity, they are absolutely wonderful men, among the most hospitable I have met.), a Frenchman, Pierre (brilliant, warm, great guy) and myself (no comment). We were meeting with the project leader, Luis. Now it is important to remember the purpose of our visit. We were here to fix problems arising from changing the software that controls a steel rolling mill. This facility has ovens that heat huge slabs of steel to over 1000 degrees C and sends them down a line to be squashed to about one eighth their original thickness. Of course they also get much longer. It is awesome, in the original sense of the word. Well the software controls the machines that do all this, so when there is a problem it can be in Luis’ words “catastrófico”.
Luis was dressed in a khaki uniform, the standard for professionals who work in the mills. I immediately, in my warped mind, gave him the nickname ‘El Commandante’ (see photo of Luis in his spare time). He would smile once in a while but behind it there was always an implied ‘you better fix it now.”
We also met with his boss, a dour man in a suit and tie who appeared to be suffering from chronic indigestion. We assured them that we were on the case and would be back bright and early the next morning to perform all kinds of wonders.
Then we went to town, to our hotel. I am not exactly sure of what I was expecting in the city we went to. I knew it was about the same size as the city I live in and I had seen it more or gogglen Google Earth. But let me just say I was unprepared. I will call the city San Miguel. Downtown is about ten miles from the steel mill. The road there was a two lane highway, with three lanes of traffic. I sat in the backseat. I prefer the backseat because the driver can’t see my white knuckles. We passed many cars from the 60s I think the best image would be the atmosphere from ‘The Last Picture Show’. I was fascinated. There is no idea of zoning or front yards so auto body shops were abutting upper-crust houses and car dealerships were cheek bybarbecueth barbeque shacks.
When we got to downtown proper Martin just went straight through each intersection, as did all the cross traffic. I put my trust in him and Dios mio.