A Moment

The house is quiet. Sunlight streams in through the windows of the kitchen but that reminds me that it's cold outside. Sunlight and winter mean cold. My coffee is hot and I am not bothered by the external temperature.

The house is mostly cleaned in preparation for this evening's festivities. As plans will, they grew. At first there was a 'well Sarah Jean and her friends will still be in town' aspect to it that got augmented during last weekend's gathering and now I've mostly lost track of what's going on apart from the fact that it's going on here. Some of my interns have said they'll at least stop in, Mike said he's coming along, I expect Chris will at least visit and I don't know if Julia will be with him or not. I'm expecting a crowd at this point which means there will probably be three of us: Sarah Jean, myself, and one of her friends keeping a watchful eye on me. Not us, me.

For the moment I'm not worried. It's not the number of people that make a party but the people at the party. So long as we have a good time and things don't get too out of control, I don't care if there are three people here or thirty. Thirty might be a snug fit so maybe not thirty.

All that is for later. For now, it's just a moment of peace and resting, a deep breath while sitting in a warm sunbeam. Then lunch, then more cleaning. I'm still finding popcorn in the living room, left behind from last weekend. Jamie just had to start throwing it around. There's always something.

Take care. Have fun.

Still a Bit Lost

Again, I didn't say anything. I didn't bring the situation to everyone else's attention. There was no 'hey look at this fine peach of a bottom' or anything like that. It's not that Sarah Jean would want me to say something like that so I should be okay there.

Sarah Jean has spent some time with me and has been in my head plenty of times before. She is, or should be, familiar enough with me to know that I do appreciate the female form. Therefore, when presented with such an attractive example of the female form, I have to acknowledge it at least a little bit.

In her defense, she wasn't dressed in a manner that seemed, well, slipshod. Her jeans fit her and neither looked overly tight nor overly loose. Her shirt was long enough so that it didn't raise up to expose skin when she bent over. It was a very modest outfit. It may well be that, due to the modesty of the outfit, she didn't expect me to act in a manner that could be described as 'piggish' guy fashion. Does that make any sense?

If the outfit had been less modest, then it's a different argument. I think every guy has been caught with his gaze lingering on a female and has been reprimanded for doing so with words or a Look. Here's the thing about that.

We may be leering or transfixed or distracted or what have you but we didn't dress you that morning. If you decided to wear a super short skirt or a shirt that's cut down to your belly button or any other item of clothing that displays vast amounts of attractive flesh, that's not our fault. Our hormones make us want to have a look. That's how it works for us. From our perspective, that's what we expect you to want to have happen. It's like going to a store and seeing items in the window. You expect that the store is trying to sell those items that are on display. So if your shirt displays a good portion of bosom, we figure it's because you want it to be seen. This is why we get confused when women complain.

None of this is what happened that night. I had a completely clad bottom in my face and found it to not be an unpleasant situation. I'm not sure why that's a bad thing.

Like I said, I don't understand women.

Confused But Not Entirely Unhappy

Sarah Jean had been sitting next to me on the couch in the living room for most of the evening. I occasionally had my right arm on the back of the couch or near her but we weren't spooning or anything like that, we were just in each other's proximity. Comfortable. She rose to go do something or other. She said she'd be right back but didn't express to where she was off. I probably didn't want to know anyway. As she rose, she bumped into the end table and knocked something from it, a remote or something, nothing that sounded like it broke. At the sound, I turned to see what had happened.

Now, there are two basic ways to bend over and pick something up. There's the way where you bend at the knees and lower your entire person down to collect the item in question. There's also the way where you hinge at the hips and your upper section heads down to the ground to collect the item. You look a bit like a 'V' this way. This is not a recommended method of picking things up but can be useful for collecting small objects quickly. It has the side effect of sticking your butt out. Guess which method Sarah Jean chose?

The remote fell. Sarah Jean bent over to pick it back up. I turned to see what happened. Bam! There's Sarah Jean's posterior inches from my face.

Now, I didn't say anything. Not a peep. I may be dumb but I'm not stupid. I was even planning to turn away quickly.

Here's the problem: my friend Sarah Jean is telepathic. She's told me that she is skilled at filtering out background thoughts from people around her, she said they sound like whispers, and she doesn't just pop herself into people's heads to see what they're thinking. I believe her. I have no reason to not believe her. She's also mentioned that some thoughts are like 'shouts' and are ignore, especially as they tend to be the communications people make in moments of crisis. “Help!” and things like that. Evidently I shouted something in my head when I turned and saw her like that. She turned on me and gave me one of those shocked 'how dare you!' looks before stomping away.

Now I don't remember really thinking anything specific. I don't recall having, like, a dirty thought or anything. I'm guessing that I had a 'Wow!' or a 'Yowzah!' sort of thought which, under the circumstances, was not inappropriate. Not an inaccurate thought anyway. I remember it being a very nice sight indeed.

At this point in time, I don't know what exactly bothered Sarah Jean in my reaction. She's still talking to me and, after some brief coolness in her reaction to me, things have gone back to more or less normal. I did try to bring it up but was quickly informed that 'now is not the time'. I've tried to not think about it but it's bugging me.

What exactly did I do wrong here?

My Skills Remain Sharp

I have never been accused of understanding women. I've had enough friends and a few good friends of the female variety that will readily tell you that I am a knucklehead. I deny none of their claims. I mean well but have a skill at messing things up.

I do try to be a gentleman. I hold doors. I am able to carry on conversations with the female of the species while looking them in the eyes. For that matter, I've been able to carry on conversations with females on topics they were interested in speaking about. I've held conversations with women where I've not spent the time picturing the females in the area wearing less clothing that they actually are, and with attractive females, not just the type of ladies that look like a maiden aunt.

However I am a man with what I believe are to be relatively normal levels of hormones. I react to things. I sit with other manly men and comment on those ladies that pass us by. I do appreciate the female form from an ascetic point of view. I am not made of stone.

I'm a guy but I try to behave a bit.

With the defense having had its chance to speak, here's what happened.

Sarah Jean, some of her friends, some of my friends, and, perhaps obviously, myself were hanging out at my house. It was going well. Surprisingly well. No loud arguments like some people have at their gatherings like this (who would do that? cough), no signs of trouble, no harsh words that I know about. Everyone seemed to be getting along and the groups were meshing well. Even Harry didn't give me any 'tough guy' lip when I reminded him he'd have to smoke outside. Music, beverages, and good company. A fine evening.

Clearly it was my job to mess this up.

Talking Myself Into Trouble. Or Out Of It.

“Greetings Patrick.” The light changed from being directed straight into my eyes to illuminating the metal lined room that we are in. Eric is seated in a chair that's positioned in a way so that he'll be above me. No doubt this is an attempt at mind games as it puts him a position 'superior' to me as well as de-emphasizing his lack of height. He looks exactly how I remember him looking in school. Either he kept well or the lighting is working to his advantage. “Now that the pleasantries have been dealt with, let's address the LIES you told in that house.”

“Are you off your medication again?” I wasn't trying to mock those with chemical imbalances who need help in order to function; this was me asking him an honest question because he's just not right.

“This is not about me...” Eric began.

I quickly interrupted. “It's always about you.”

“Silence!” He was not happy. “As I said, this is about the lies you spoke earlier.”

I sighed. “I was not lying. Heather is dead.”

“Not!” He had a brief tantrum, bashing his fists into the arms of the chair. “Not! Not! Not!” It made me recall a theory I'd once pondered over, that people who attempt world domination needed to be hugged more often as children. I wonder how many masterminds could be stopped with a little polite affection. I'm not saying that the next time Colonel Freedom faces off against the forces of Des CLAMP that he should try hugs instead of fighting them because that would be weird. If it works then I suppose it's not a bad idea though.

“Hey!” Eric's yelling roused me from my thoughts. “We have things to discuss here!”

“You're the one that gassed me asleep in the middle of the night,” I noted. “Not my fault if I doze a bit.”

“Focus!” he demanded. “Your lies!”

“Not a lie sadly.”

“Impossible! My love cannot be dead.”

“Eric, I never understood what she did to get you started. Maybe she said 'hello' to you one day or whatever but I'm pretty sure she didn't love you.”

“She did! She was waiting for me to prove myself before she would allow herself to express her affections.” The fact that he still believed this made my head hurt. It was this simple-mindedness that ended our friendship as he decided that the best way to prove himself to my, at the time, fiancée was to concoct complicated plans to humiliate me. Clearly he couldn't trust my inbuilt talent for making myself look stupid to accomplish this; he needed to be able to go 'Aha! Got you!' at the end of it for Heather to see the error of her ways and fall into his arms.

Tired and frustrated with his stupidity, I started snapping at him. “Oh, so she was just biding her time with that chiropractor until you could make me look stupid enough, huh?”

“Clearly.”

“Did you ever, I don't know, do anything to let her know that you were still working on this project?”

He sat up straight, pulling himself to his full height, trying to look Very Serious Indeed. “I sent the occasional token of my affections.”

“Unsigned of course. She'd just know they were from you.”

“Of course.”

“So you had their address?” I checked.

“Of course.”

“And they're gone now. Have been for some years now.” Eric agreed with my assessment of the situation. “Where is she now?”

“That I don't know.”

“Why not Eric? If she loves you so, why hasn't she updated you with her new location?”

Once again he got Very Serious. “It's a test of my love. She's a Hunter now; she's busy.”

“Oh, you know about that. Couldn't you hack deep enough into their computers to get her location?”

“Well, no. Not exactly. Her file has some encryption on it that I can't crack.”

“Why do you think that is Eric?”

He hesitated. “She's on special assignment. Clearly.”

“She may have been but she's not anymore. She's dead Eric, honestly.”

Eric grew upset again. “My love cannot die! She and I will be together! Forever!”

Verbally I swung hard, knowing that the words I was about to say were going to hurt me as well. “If she was so fascinated with you Eric then why didn't she cheat on me with you?” Eric began stammering, working to express his lack of worthiness again. I pushed. “No Eric, she didn't run to you to protect her from my stupidity. She went and fooled around with Martyn. Did she come to you when she tired of him?” He stammered again but I answered my own question. “No! After she left me, did you ever, ever see her again? Where she acknowledged your presence? Or went looking for you? In any way apart from you spying on her?”

There was a pause that lasted forever. Quietly he noted “No.”

“Is it at all possible that she didn't come to you because she didn't love you?”

He just stared at me. “I will find her.”

“Dear heaven I hope not,” I muttered. Then the gas kicked in again and I was back to sleepytime.


I awoke back in my car. In the haze of returning to consciousness, I did briefly panic that I'd dreamed the experience with Eric. Thankfully my awakening brain quickly found evidence to support the fact that the meeting had not been a dream. I was pulled over to the side of the road and not at the stop sign as when I had passed out earlier. The car was also shut off instead of running. The car was cold but I wasn't, which seemed to hint that I'd just been put back into the car.

I started the car to let it warm up as I shook off the cobwebs. Eric could have dropped me off closer to home. Where were we anyway?

I made it home safe and, at that point, that was what was important to me. Sure I got home four hours later than I expected and I was still dog tired but I was home safe. Unsurprisingly not much happened on Sunday. Lots of resting.

Weird weekend.

Of Course It Can Get Worse

I was shaking. I'm not often mad but when I do get that upset it is an impressive thing. Adrenaline was coursing through me and I had to fight to calm myself. Our...discussion was apparently loud enough to be heard over the music and other conversation in the house as I was suddenly no longer alone. As the red mist faded from my eyes, the first thing I noticed seeing again was Scott and Natalie. “Sorry about that.” I fought out a smile. “I think I ruined your party. I'll go in a moment once I calm down a little more.”

“Go?” Scott questioned. “Dude, you just got here. What the hell happened?” I got as far as “Karen and I...” in my explanation before Scott interjected. “Ah geez. I knew we shouldn'ta invited her along. If we hadn't, she'da found out about the party and complained so there was no way to win. She still got a bug up her butt?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Well, she's got a lot of room in that fat tail of hers for a whole hive a'something. She still giving you a hard time about Heather?”

I hunched over the table as the adrenaline faded and the weariness followed. Natalie brought me another beer and it became my new focal point. “Oh yeah.”

“That was years ago. Everyone else got over it, well, almost everyone else anyway, why can't she? Shoulda asked you before; you know where Heather is now? Tried to get ahold of her for this thing but the letter I sent to her address got returned.”

“She's dead.”

A few choice words slid from Scott in shock. “Really?” I confirmed that I was being serious. Scott swore a bit more. “How did we not find out before?”

“They were living in another state at the time. I didn't find out until well after the fact. The circumstances surrounding it were odd. All sorts of reasons.”

“Odd?” Scott repeated. “She sick or something?”

I considered that for a moment. “That too, yeah.”

“Well if that's the case, we should salute proper.” He got up to collect a bottle of whiskey and a couple of shot glasses. Once filled, he raised his glass. “To better times.”

I followed suit, adding “To absent friends.” And we drank.


For awhile, the passage of time quickly blurred, we sat there and talked. Others joined us at the table for a time, sharing in the stories, before leaving us again. Scott and I sat there, chatting, reminiscing, laughing, and drinking a bit. While the party had started roughly for me, the bulk of it was a very enjoyable experience.

There's something very sad about friends that don't see each other often separately. Everyone promises to stay in touch more or agrees to 'do this again real soon' and everyone means it but knows that day-to-day busy will prevent it from happening any more than it already has in the past. We are friends and still love each other, well most of us anyway, but our lives are just far enough apart now that we don't get to see each other regularly. There were hugs, there were handshakes, there were some kisses, and then there was leaving.

By the time I got back to my car it was past one in the morning. I was tired. It was cold but the rain had ceased. I'd stopped drinking some time ago so the effect of the alcohol had long since faded. I pulled away from the house and drove down the street. At the first stop sign I reached, everything went black.

Went I woke, I was still tired. My mouth tasted funny but familiar. I'd been gassed. I was held in place in my chair by metal clamps around my wrists and ankles. Having taking stock of my situation I was forced to wonder which villain had hosted the garage sale. It was a very 60s chair. Nice on the nostalgia but otherwise very dated. Who would do this to me?

“Ah! The reunion is not over for this evening!”

I'd missed the obvious. Apart from Heather, who as noted had good reason to not show, there was but one friend that hadn't appeared: my self proclaimed arch-enemy. “Hi Eric.”

Now Where Was I Again? Oh Yes, Hell.

Part of the failure is clearly my fault. After leaving Natalie's presence, the group I wandered over to join held Karen. “Still alone?” was her greeting to me. “Imagine that.” I had headed right over to Heather's best friend. Apparently she is still of the opinion that I'm an idiot. Fair enough. I ignored her jibe and tried to continue with the conversation that she had interrupted in order to 'greet' me. It was something about a new restaurant or something innocent enough like that. I forget what it was exactly because Karen would not leave me alone.

Dirty looks, snide comments, pointless petty disagreements, and other assorted high school level bitchery continued to come from her. In retrospect, I should have just wandered off to talk with another group but I didn't. I was comfy in the recliner and didn't want to let her think she'd beaten me somehow. I remained and the group became more and more uncomfortable around us to the point where it was just us two speaking. Karen's husband, Joe I think, tried to take her away a couple times but she wouldn't go either.

I don't think Karen has ever really liked me. We've fought verbally before so it really shouldn't have been a surprise to me that we would again. Karen is one of the friends that Heather made once we were in college and had already been dating for awhile. After Heather and I broke up, I heard about a number of things that Karen had supposedly said about me. I thought I'd let all that go years ago. Being in her presence brought all my old reactions to her back again.

Karen's argument kept returning to a common theme so I finally just aired it. “According to you, everything bad that happened to Heather was my fault.”

“You held her back! Everything always had to be your way. You never let her breathe or explore herself or find out what she really wanted from life!” For the record, I dispute Karen's comments here, despite not directly dealing with them at the time.

“Apparently what she wanted in life was a chiropractor. Or was that my fault for not being a chiropractor? Or not wanting to be a chiropractor? I don't recall us ever having a conversation where she said she wanted to me to be a chiropractor and I said no.” Clearly not the most dramatic of points but I felt like I'd accomplished something at the time.

“Aha!” This response confused me. “You admit it! Jealous of the chiropractor!”

This confused me further. “I don't remember saying that.”

“Then why did you arrange for those vampires to visit them? Hmm?” I felt the blood drain from my face. I may not have known what to expect from the evening but being accused of plotting a hit on my former girlfriend's family was definitely not on the list. My jaw may even have dangled a bit.

Karen's husband expressed his confusion. “How we he do that? It's not like you can look up 'vampires' in the phone book.”

Karen remained smug. “Patrick knows all sorts of weird people, don't you Patrick?”

I had a hard time expressing myself. “I know we didn't get along but that you'd think I'd do something like that...” I choked off again. “They had a kid. What would I have against a kid I never met?”

“I didn't say you meant for them to be hurt,” Karen backpedaled. “Just scare them a little. That sounds like something you'd do.” To a degree, she has a point. I don't mind the occasional 'surprise' type practical joke. What she was suggesting didn't sound like a joke; it sounded like some sort of petty revenge. You play jokes on people that are your friends, people you see on some sort of regular basis, not people you haven't communicated with in years and left on hard feelings. Sending vampires across state lines to 'scare' someone does not sound like a solid way to reestablish a friendship, even to someone with my limited mental capabilities and history of stupid decisions.

I stood up, dismissing myself. “This is what you've thought of me all this time? That, even accidentally, I would do something like that?”

I began to walk away as Karen sputtered and tried to defend herself or attack me further, I don't know. I was so mad that for a moment I couldn't hear. Evidently someone asked her for more details on the situation we had been discussing because when my hearing came back, I heard Karen again. “Her family was killed by vampires and Heather's been missing ever since.”

I should have let this go. Our argument had already disrupted the evening. There was nothing really inaccurate in what she'd said. However I was not thinking very clearly at that point. Her accusation had revived a number of painful memories and I was mad because of it. Instead of letting it go, I lashed back, stopping in the doorway to the kitchen and turning to face her. “She's not missing. My 'weird friends' told me what happened. She joined up with an anti-vampire group and died in the line of duty.” I was able to restrain myself to that. They didn't need any further details. I gave Karen a very Hard Stare. “Happy now? Happy to hear what you've really accused me of? That I'd just casually request the destruction of her family like that?” I stomped off into the kitchen.

Nothing Better Than People Helping

I don't want to derail you from my reflections on last weekend but I wanted to mention something from today as it fits into the 'just my luck' category that, in general, we're discussing anyway.

Break started today and I had looked forward to sleeping in and just resting. Last night it snowed this nasty heavy wet snow. Instead of resting, I woke up at my normal time and started the clean-up process. The streets and alley by the house had all been plowed and had stayed clean after the snow ended. I've got a newish snow blower and it did a tolerable job of dealing with the mess. It knocked enough of it away so that I didn't have to shovel all that much, apart from by the garage in the alley because there's no good way to throw big wet boulders of snow left by the plow. Once that was cleaned up, I got the blower in the back seat of my car and headed for my parents house as I didn't want my Dad to have to clear their long driveway by himself.

My parents live on the other side of town and there's no quick way to get there. It's not the longest trip in the world but the half-hour or so on a good day is enough to keep me from running over there more than once a month. With the city 'assaulted' by snow, traffic was much worse and it took almost an hour to get there. I was tired from my own clean-up, annoyed by traffic, and then slid around their semi-plowed subdivision to their house where I saw their driveway was nice and clean, apart from my brother's car.

I hadn't expected this. His family lives just far enough away where I'm considered the close one and take on tasks like heavy snow removal because it's just not practical for him to come running all the time. For a moment I considered turning around and just going home, but I went in and said hi, even though we'll all see each other this weekend. Turns out he'd just got a new snow blower and wanted to 'play' with it a bit more. No big deal really but I wish they'd have thought to call me so, at least, I didn't have to lug my snow blower across town.

Oh well. Back to the story in progress.

Of Course It Got Complicated

Apologies for the delay in posting, especially as I'm sure you were all keen to find out what happened with my little reunion this past weekend. As things will, things got a little... complicated that night and I felt it best to sort through my thoughts and memories before committing them to print in a horribly incomplete or inaccurate manner. I'm sure there's still something I don't recall properly or a conversation I've yet to grasp the point of but, well, that's life isn't it? Sometimes we don't understand things that happen to us, sometimes we forget important lessons that life teaches us, and sometimes larger events blot out life's little details.

Now, with the 'disclaimer' in place, Saturday evening.

Getting to Scott's house was no fun at all. The weather didn't cooperate, drizzling this fine mist over the area. Due to the downwards direction of the temperature, this fine mist wanted desperately to freeze but somehow never quite managed it. As the roads did become slippery because of the precipitation, the traffic became messier and messier. The driving conditions weren't awful but some caution was called for in order to proceed safely. As per usual this meant that some drivers crept along at a snail's pace while others flew along as if it were bright and sunny out. Once I found the pace I was comfortable with, I'd get stuck behind a slower car and, before I could safely get around them, a speed demon would hang onto my bumper. Over and over again this situation occurred. I hate that.

Now grouchy but safe, I made it to the suburb where Scott and his family live. I'm familiar with the area in general and expected no issues locating his street or house; that is until I was unable to identify any of my landmarks in the dark. Holiday lights obscured address markers. I drove up and down one street three times until I realized that I'd turned right when I should have turned left and really needed to be on the other side of the nearby major street in order to be in the correct part of the subdivision.

According to my own plan, I was now late. There was no real start time to the gathering, no arrive by such-and-such a time so we can eat dinner or anything like that. I was only late in my own head but, coupled with my frustration over the weather and the drive, it mattered. I took a moment in the car to relax before heading inside.

Scott's wife met me at the door. We'd not previously met but both of us have pictures available to see online so we were able to recognize each other. Natalie is an attractive little blond lady. While I didn't vocalize the thought, I was amused that my big buddy Scott, both tall and burly, should get hitched to this little lady, both petite and diminutive.

A downside to being late to a party is that everyone else is already there. Natalie politely took me around to the rest of the gang to say hi and introduce me to their significant others. I was the only one there by myself. Not for the last time that night I wished Sarah Jean was in town this weekend. I was assaulted by names during this process. I do not retain names well. This did nothing to relax me, quite the opposite actually.

Even while unaware of the nerves running through me, Natalie did her best to make me comfortable. She got me a beer, made sure it was a brand I liked, and fussed over me a bit. I got the impression over the course of the evening that this is just her nature. She's a very sweet lady. I reassured her I'd be fine and tossed myself into the pool of my old friends.

Reflecting back upon my thought processes while planning to go, I'm unable to really identify my expectations for the evening. These are people that I used to have fun with years ago. I guess I expected that there might be some trouble do to the way that we left each other's company but we would still have a good time together. A little catching up, a little polite lack of comfortability that would fade after a few minutes of reminiscing, right?

Yeah, not so much.

I need this to be quick

Spent most of today cleaning for Sarah Jean's visit next weekend because I don't know what kind of time I'll have during the week. I'm hoping that it'll stay quiet and I can slip out early once or twice but I can't plan for that to happen. If I do, interns will call in sick and another group will attack the upgrade plan and I'll end up having to stay late, rewriting the plan as I answer phones. If I plan on staying late, maybe it'll reverse that luck.

Anyway, it's raining a bit and I'm late for the reunion. Well, late only because I wanted to be gone already. Must go.

Tired

The upgrade plan got approved today. Lots of bemoaning and crying and gnashing of teeth about how IT never thinks about anything but themselves and how we don't want anyone else to succeed and so on. Most of their complaining was to be heard, not that the plan didn't support their needs. There were some scheduling things I was unaware of but that was mostly due to departments not getting back to me when I asked for information, or even begged for information. They get 'so busy' and can't get back to me and then it's my fault that I don't know when one group or another is planning to work during break. Knock on wood it's over. There's still a couple of work days before break so who knows what else will happen.

I'm going to try to ignore that now. Tomorrow is the reunion over at Scott's house and I really just want to relax and be able to enjoy that time.

Man I hope that goes well.

I so love this...

My coat 'magically' returned today, so that was nice.

The planning for the updates and upgrades we are doing over break is wearing me out. The plan was due today and I did have it complete and ready to review but 'due today' probably means 'getting approved on Friday', despite the fact that I got the go-ahead to do this a month ago. That was a general 'sure, you should do that' sort of approval. Now that it's close to happening, supervisors are actually reviewing the plan and finding issues with it.

I'd be more annoyed but this happens every year. I get ignored until the last minute and then everything I do is wrong.

Continuity. Sigh.

C'mon...

Now my coat is missing from work.

Really? Really?

It was cold today too. Fink.

Huh

My lunch didn't get stolen today. The note worked? I'm not sure what to think about that. Part of me feels stupid for not trying it earlier. Part of me thinks that was just too simple.

I kinda miss my lunch thief. Not that much but it felt odd to actually eat what I'd brought for lunch today.

Maybe he or she just took today off. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Excellent!!!

Okay. I think I can get through this without mad excitement now. I can be calm and collected.

Sarah Jean's coming for a visit!!!

Ahem. Sarah Jean is a lady type friend of mine of which I'm rather fond. I hesitate to use the term 'girlfriend' when referring to her as it tends to leave the wrong impression about our relationship. She is an intelligent, attractive young lady and I am, well, me. We are solid friends but I'm of the opinion that she is well out of my league. She is no doubt well aware of this opinion as she has telepathic abilities. This is how I got the news of her impending visit; she 'radioed' me the information this afternoon.

She's planning to be here during the school break. If the upgrades go well, we should have plenty of time to hang out together. If they don't go well... well, let's not think about that, hmm?

Now I really can't wait for break!

Upon Further Review

In the light of a new day I've looked at the footage yet again. I'm rested. My eyes are no longer tired. It still looks like a ninja to me.

It would explain the blurred disappearance of my lunches. I may not be that well versed in ninja lore but I am aware that not being seen is one of their better talents. I also thought that they were assassins. If this one is trying to kill me by making me miss lunch, well, I don't think that'll do it.

For the sake of argument, let's say it's not a ninja as such, but maybe someone with ninja like skills that is stealing my lunch. In the week or so of footage available to me, it looks like my lunch is being targeted. I don't see a moment where anyone else using the fridge starts looking around inside it with that 'where's my lunch?' look on their face. Everyone pops inside, gets their stuff, and moves on. So why me?

I considered the thought that it could be an experiment, a creature that's loose in the vents or something but that doesn't explain why I've been targeted for the past couple weeks. A creature or person looking simply to get food would be more likely to quickly grab what's most easily available and get out. A person seeking to not be detected would spread around the thefts, not just hit one person, in the hopes that the victim wouldn't discuss one missing lunch with the rest of the group only to find out everyone else has lost a lunch of late. It seems more logic to believe I'm being targeted. But why?

That eludes me. I'm not aware of having offended anyone recently, especially to the point that would cause someone to get a ninja like person to repeatedly steal my lunch. It's ridiculous.

If the Vampire Nation wanted to speak with me, they'd do so through one of their many assistants. If they had an issue with me again, they'd have be brought in, not steal my lunch. None of the wrestlers I know are fast enough to be like a ninja and they tend to not be sneaky. The same would go for the crime-fighters I've met. I suppose it could be a criminal of the powered ilk but I can't think of one that has that type of ability, is known to work in the area, and would have any reason to be annoyed with me.

I did something simple today. I brought a bag lunch instead of a frozen meal. Instead of actually having a lunch inside the bag, I just had a note asking whomever it was to please stop stealing my lunch. I'm just curious to see what will happen next.

Maybe the 'ninja' will start stealing the pens from my desk.

I must be seeing something wrong

A ninja? A ninja has been stealing my lunches?

I must be tired. I can't be seeing this correctly. It would explain some things but still.

I'll have to look again tomorrow. I need to go to bed. Ninja...

I am so not enjoying this week

It snowed last night into this morning. The prediction was for a MASSIVE snowfall and we got a snowfall that could be considered normal for Milwaukee. The problem was that it was the first significant snowfall of the season so the people driving to work lost their minds. 'Oh dear!' they seemed to think 'the pavement is wet! Whatever will we do?' The larger roads weren't slippery and had not accumulation on them. You could drive on them just fine unless, apparently, you're an idiot.

I don't even have to drive all that far to get to work and I was a few minutes late. I hate being late to work. Technically it doesn't make a big different when I arrive and depart; if I put in my time and get my work done it isn't a big deal when I start and stop. If I say I'm going start work at 8, I want to be there by 8. It's just my nature. I've been late before, but never often, and it starts my day off poorly.

Half the staff called in due to the snow. Classes were cancelled. Why didn't I just stay home? I'm in I.T., I don't teach. I still had work to do. Some of my interns didn't show but at least they called in. No annoyed conversations needed. The day ended up being this mix of nothing to do and incredibly busy. I had to answer phones for awhile. I haven't done that in ages.

Unfortunately, the cafeteria staff were given the day off so, when my lunch was stolen, I had only the vending machines as an alternative. Peanut crackers and hot chocolate will only satisfy for so long. I left for the day irritated and only became more so as I drove home through traffic that was still stupid. While I was at work, the plowmen decided to dump these massive boulders of half frozen slush at the entrance of my drive. I think I pulled a muscle in my shoulder getting them removed.

Just wonderful.

Tuesday is just another Monday in disguise

I don't like complaining as it makes me feel like a whiner. Everyone has their own problems and mine aren't necessarily more important or difficult to deal with than anyone else's problems. They are important to me because they are mine.

Someone I assisted yesterday with a computer related issue decided I didn't do so with the appropriate respect and I spent most of the morning dealing with the political fall-out. Thankfully Dean Cuthbold is both fond of me and somewhat easy to distract so I got out of it just fine. No worries I think. I hope.

I haven't had much time to look at the video from yesterday and today because of all this ... stuff. There's clearly something there but it's only there for a moment. I'm going to go through it more after dinner.

I can wait until winter break hits. We've got some upgrades scheduled and I'm keen to get them accomplished.

Of course, you know what that means; the day after break will be INSANELY busy. Also, the customers will be able to blame us for any problems for a change. Maybe I'm not looking forward to that after all.

Monday. Ugh.

Monday is always a rough day. There's something magical about the weekend that breaks computers. I believe there was an expression in the past, something to the effect of 'plowhorse's syndrome'. I recall the idea more than the title. The idea is that the weekend allowed the horse a chance to rest and he went back to work on Monday all cold, leaving him vulnerable to injury. Computers are the same way. They tend to sit quiet for the weekend, get restarted on a Monday morning, and something gets overcharged causing it to fail.

The 'entertaining' part of this is that some people like to accuse me of doing 'something' over the weekend to cause this failure. I ran updates. I did an upgrade. I did something to break their computer. I have no clue why they feel so persecuted. I'm really a very nice guy. I also don't have the kind of time to run around the school over the weekend and break everyone's computer so we'll have something to do on Monday. Duh.

Another work day, another lost lunch. This time it was a pot pie that I didn't put my initials or anything on it to identify it. Whomever is doing this is apparently watching me to see what I bring for lunch. I say that because I believe I'm the only one that's being thieved from in this way. I know my workmates. If this was happening to them, most of them anyway, I would have heard about it. I would have heard about nothing else.

I doubt I have anything interesting in my new video evidence to investigate but I'll get to it later. Or eventually. As curious as I am, I need to rest first. Dealing with Professor Koloff's secretary, er, assistant proved rather draining today. She's the one that accused me of doing 'something' to break her computer. I think she was serious.

Ugh. Where's my beer?

Time for a Reunion?

Yesterday I received an invitation to get together with some of my old college friends. I think about them often as I work at our old college. It's hard not to think about them. I'll be walking down a hallway or puttering in a room and memories will just pop into my head. I know that youth often seems like a simpler, happier time compared to the complications of adult life but I can point to specific things that were... different them, perhaps better. Better is a relative sort of statement.

I don't know who might show up to this thing. Just thinking of my main group of friends from that time there is the one who hates me, the three friends that sided with him, the two that sided with my fiance when she broke up with me, that same fiance (who I'm sure won't be there), and the three friends I was still hanging out with when I graduated. This might be a small reunion or a big one. It will depend on a lot.

Has my 'arch-enemy' (he gave himself that title) given up his silly feud? If not, will his team of buddies visit? Have Heather's friends decided to let things go? I don' t know. I am curious.

The gathering is at my buddy Scott's house in a couple weeks. At the very least I should drop in and say hi. I'm not a good 'dropper-inner', I'm more of a 'hanger-outer'. It's been a couple years since I last saw Scott and would like to catch up with him again. That said, if I do catch abuse for things done or not done years ago, I can just leave.

I think I'll go.

What the Heck?

I did some things differently today. My lunch still disappeared.

I placed my meal in the freezer door in order to make it easier to observe when it disappeared, assuming it would. This meant it was clearly in a different location that before, so it couldn't be an accident of science. Professor Zaffman was told to stop his teleportation experiments after the last time he had problems with setting the coordinates and the lawsuits that followed. It wouldn't have shocked me if he'd started again and, somehow, been removing my lunch on accident. That doesn't seem to be it.

I brought in a different type meal today, a 'Captain USA Lite Delight' meal. Chicken Curry flavor. What? They're good and let me pretend I'm eating somewhat healthy on occasion. And a dollar from every sale goes to charity, so, you know, stop with the laughing. I was hoping to prove that it wasn't that someone seeing my meal and being unable to resist it's flavory goodness. Not sure I proved that.

The thing that really annoys me is that it just seems to disappear.

At 11:55, my intern Bob opens the freezer and the meal is clearly there in the door. It's still there as he shuts the freezer. Five minutes later Professor Hillings opens the freezer and it's gone. What the heck?

During the five minutes, there is a moment in the video where it blurs slightly. I though it was just a glitch in the feed but I'm starting to wonder if it's not. If someone was observing this in a movie, they'd enhance and enlarge the freeze frame and it would magically be a picture of someone. I don't have technology that wonderful. I've met people that probably do have that kind of technology but I doubt they'd want me to call them on a Friday afternoon to analyze video of my lunch being taken. Also, I don't have their number. Bother.

Yes, I'm watching this at work. It's a slow Friday afternoon, I'm caught up on my work, and I'm counting this as field testing new technology. So quiet you.

What the heck?

Gone Again

Another day, another stolen lunch. I just don't get it. Still no clues.

Of course, there may well be clues there that I may not be able to detect. I may read a lot but I am aware that I'm not the most observant man in the world. If you don't believe me, just ask my ex-fiance.

Except you can't. I think I just offended myself with my own joke. That's not good.

Anyway, back to my lunch issue. I'm gonna set up a couple web cams and see if I can see what's going on. Invasion of privacy? Maybe but what about the invasion of my lunch?

None of that sounded very good. Maybe I should have written this after I ate.

So hungry.

Annoying

I believe I work in a normal office environment, normal enough anyway. I've never worked anywhere else so I don't really have anything to which to compare my experience. We have offices and cubicles, we have office gossip and politics, we have over-achievers and under-achievers. Normal enough, right?

I have every reason to believe that one of my co-workers is stealing my lunch.

The last few days my lunch has been disappearing. Once is no big deal. Things happen, someone confuses your frozen meal for something they brought in, and, boom!, no lunch for you. I don't mind going to the cafeteria from time to time or making a meal from crackers and chips in the vending machine.

At twice, you get annoyed. Who's not paying attention? I can pay attention. I know what I brought this morning, so how do you not know? But okay. Lesson learned. Next time I'll initial it or something.

At three times, now you start to wonder if someone's doing it deliberately. I mean, I had my initials on the box, and not in small letters on a corner or anything, but normal sized letters on the top. Really? Really?!?

At least today was pizza day. Good deal pizza day.

Now, I know it's possible that it's not someone stealing my lunch. It might be someTHING stealing my lunch. Maybe it's the Little People, seeking revenge for some perceived slight. Maybe it's the side effect of some experiment going on in the science labs, an accident. Or maybe...

I dunno. It is annoying me. Now, I think I know what you're thinking. You're thinking 'Why keep bringing your lunch for it only to be stolen?' That is a good question. I want evidence. Now it's a mystery to be solved.

A small mystery perhaps but a mystery all the same.

Warming Up

There's something special about 'truth'.

We all look for it in one way or another. We want the world to be truthful to us, at least occasionally, perhaps not when we wonder if these pants make us look fat or when we slip on a patch of ice early on a winter's day and wonder if anyone saw us fall. Those times are more suited to illusion and being blissfully wrapped within them.

Otherwise we want truth, occasionally demand it. When a newspaper article is riddled with errors, we become upset. When a 'reality' show on television is revealed to be scripted in some way, we become offended. If a politician misspeaks, we are quick to correct.

Yet, we are lied to constantly, every day, by these entities and others. On a daily basis, we accept these lies. Why? I think because we're too tired to fight constantly.

Sometimes we're lied to for 'our own good'. I can accept that. An undercover police officer is 'lying' but in order to right a wrong. If the Na'Dar hadn't landed so prominently that day in 1954, don't you think the government wouldn't have tried to cover it up? To lie to us about the visit of aliens? How different would our planet be if we didn't know about some of the other beings that surround us? I don't know. Maybe we would have flying cars by now.

I don't think I'm here to right some wrong or to crusade for truth or anything big like that. I just want you to know that I want to be truthful as I speak to you, whomever you might be, via this conduit. I may or may not change your mind about anything. That's okay. There's nothing to say that you need to believe anything I say is truth. As long as it is my truth, the truth as far as I know it, I'll be happy.

That was an oddly pretentious beginning. I don't think it'll always be like this, so trying to be deep, but it might be. We shall see.