1993

In 1993 the band released Cost Plus Overrun. It is a concept album. Every song is named after a defense budget line item that came in significantly over its projected cost. It was recorded in the spring and released in October. It came in over its projected cost.

That spring Dennis Kowalski was laid off. The defense industry in Tucson was reducing staff after the end of the Cold War. His program was one of several. He received notice on a Thursday. He turned in his badge on the Friday. He played The Runway Bar on the Saturday. The log records no change in his performance.

Dennis was without a badge for fourteen weeks. During that period he wrote most of the lead guitar parts on the album. He also wrote his first equipment cost justification. It concerned a replacement amplifier head. It ran four pages. Marcus approved it. Dennis started a binder. He has kept a copy of every justification since.

In August Dennis was hired as a test engineer by a different contractor across town. He described the new position as functionally identical. He did not describe the work.

Marcus left the freight terminal in February for a production scheduling job at an aerospace parts machine shop. He said scheduling was dispatch with a longer horizon. Elaine was promoted to staff sergeant. Dave began driving a route for a linen-service company. It was his first job behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle. He kept a daily log of it. No one had asked him to.

The Air Force was reducing its A-10 force after the Gulf War. Squadrons were inactivated. Aircraft were transferred to the Guard and Reserve. Marcus clipped each announcement from the paper and filed it in a folder. The folder later went to interviews with him.

The band played twenty-six shows. The release show was at The Runway Bar on October 16. Linda counted fifty-eight at the door and fifty-eight at the halfway point. The register matched both.

Tony spent four Saturdays rebuilding the van's rear brakes. Linda raised the price of a draft by twenty-five cents and posted the change two weeks in advance. No one objected. The notice was clear.

At the year-end rehearsal Marcus handed out the 1993 summary of operations. The lessons-learned section contained one item. It read: Budget is a planning document. The band agreed.