July 31: Police were dispatched to a possible fight in progress in the parking lot of a business. Officers arrived and contacted the one person who had not fled the area when it became apparent the police were enroute. The remaining person was blissfully unaware of what had started the commotion, and there were no suspects or victims left to interview. Extra patrol was provided.
July 31: A woman provided an informational statement to police regarding issues she felt were of importance, including little people, satellite mind control, other populated planets, and other pressing matters of global security. No crimes were identified in the information supplied. Case closed with a report.
July 30: A person reported that someone had left an empty pack of cigarettes in her mailbox. The box was dusted for fingerprints at the complainant's request. There are no known suspects or witnesses to the littering crime. Case closed pending further information.
July 29: A citizen brought a wallet into the office that they found. The wallet and its contents were booked into evidence for safekeeping until the owner can be reached to retrieve it.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
i wanna play
Be A Kid Again -- that's what it says. if you live in the portland area, you (an adult) are invited to partake in kid-like activities for adults only.
the Portland Children's Museum is hosting this first annual activity which includes carnival games, face painting, a fortune-teller, a balloon artist, bouncing around in an inflatable castle, you-can-win-a-prize contests, and more.
it takes place august 16 from 6 'til 10 pm. $25 a person unless you're a member then it's $20 each. sounds like fun!!!
the Portland Children's Museum is hosting this first annual activity which includes carnival games, face painting, a fortune-teller, a balloon artist, bouncing around in an inflatable castle, you-can-win-a-prize contests, and more.
it takes place august 16 from 6 'til 10 pm. $25 a person unless you're a member then it's $20 each. sounds like fun!!!
statistics
i just read the article which states the u.s. ranks 42nd in life expectancy. oh noes! the injustice!
apparently part of the problem is that a lot of americans don't have health insurance. woe is us!
in addition, 2/3 of our adults are overweight while 1/3 are obese. well, duh -- we have eyes!
but the really harrowing statistic is that the longest life expectancy in the world is 83.5 years and here it's only 77.9 years. that's horrible! horrible! just horr- ... wait a minute. that's only a difference of 5.6 years.
laying at the mediocre position of 42nd, i was thinking more along the lines of 11 years or maybe 15. but 5.6? ho-hum.
but still, if it bothers you, move to #1 placed Andorra or at least to Maucau (sic) or San Marino, a tiny country completely surrounded by italy.
apparently part of the problem is that a lot of americans don't have health insurance. woe is us!
in addition, 2/3 of our adults are overweight while 1/3 are obese. well, duh -- we have eyes!
but the really harrowing statistic is that the longest life expectancy in the world is 83.5 years and here it's only 77.9 years. that's horrible! horrible! just horr- ... wait a minute. that's only a difference of 5.6 years.
laying at the mediocre position of 42nd, i was thinking more along the lines of 11 years or maybe 15. but 5.6? ho-hum.
but still, if it bothers you, move to #1 placed Andorra or at least to Maucau (sic) or San Marino, a tiny country completely surrounded by italy.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
vignette ~ Scotland
She had been planning this trip for months. She’d always wanted to see Scotland and Wales, but her husband didn’t care to travel and their jobs had keep them both too busy to spend any time thinking or arguing about it.
Then the accident had happened. They had been out for an evening walk in their lovely neighborhood in Montrose when a local teenager had taken a corner too quickly, losing control of his new Mustang. The car had careened off a tree and struck her husband before either of them could get out of the way. He died instantly. She had cuts and bruises -- the ones on her body had healed pretty well, but the ones on her heart were permanent. The teen lost his legs and the use of his left hand. Part of her felt bad about that, but a bigger part just didn’t.
The first year alone was tough, the second was a little easier, and the third was spent healing. She came to terms with her situation, and part of her new outlook was to be adventurous. So, she was off to Scotland.
She had thought about joining a tour versus just diving in with no plan. After reading travel literature and studying maps, she decided to follow her own sketchy plan which allowed a lot of freedom to change destinations. And, she was gifting herself a whole month to explore.
The flight over had been godawful, what with TSA restrictions, cramped seating, and a gruesome amount of time in the air, but she was in Edinburgh at last. Listening to everyone speak with that wonderful Scottish burr made her blood thrum with excitement. She wandered around the terminal listening with a silly grin on her face, and finally thought I better get a car and be on my way before someone reports me as an escaped asylum patient.
Inverness was her first destination, but she was torn whether to go north through Aberdeen, or head west through Glasgow and Dumbarton. The maps indicated there were several castles between Glasgow and Loch Lomond so, finally making the decision, she turned toward the west.
Speeding along on Scotland’s version of an interstate, all of a sudden she startled herself, thinking I’m whizzing by stuff I wanted to meander through. Exiting at Boghall was easy, although the roundabouts were going to take some getting used to, to say nothing of driving on the wrong side of the road, but she was westbound again in no time and up-close-and-personal with things that touched her right down to her toes.
Everything was lush and quaint. Stone buildings with slate roofs, all shapes and sizes of chimneys, colorful doors and walls on so many of the buildings, and hanging flowers or window boxes full of greenery. It was more romantic than she ever imagined.
Rolling hills led through little hamlets, past stands of trees, up and down alongside pastures full of contentedly grazing brown cows, some with long horns and longer hair -- permanent bad hair day she chuckled. Fluffy sheep, or some quite shaggy, some with black faces and some with white, loitered right next to the cattle. The first time she saw the strange cow, a so-called Oreo cow as she later found out, she laughed right out loud. Black front end and black hind quarters with a wide white stripe around the middle -- just like the cookie turned sideways. Someone has a real sense of humor!
She definitely believed it was as she’d always heard: Scotland was a magical place! Suddenly struck by the notion to chuck everything and fly with the breeze, she tossed her maps in the backseat and turned at the very next road. Who knows where this goes, but I guess we’ll find out. Then she turned again when something caught her eye, then turned yet again when another direction felt right.
She laughed! This is great! Just going wherever she wanted without worry or concern. When she got hungry, she didn’t even look at her watch but stopped and ate at a tiny tavern with the name of Darken Dooren.
She headed down a country road when she left the pub, and was content bumping over ruts as the old road was, by turns, pavement, dirt, grass, and weedy gravel. The pastures were overtaken by occasional trees and boulders, then thick woods took firm hold. As she rounded a sharp bend in the deteriorated road, she slammed on her brakes and gaped. A beautiful scene stretched before her -- a broad lake with shallows on the left, cattails on the right, and steep mountains on the far side. It was the stuff dreams are made of.
Seeing as how she didn’t expect much traffic, she shut off the car right where it was and, grabbing a blanket from her bag, got out. There was a bare line in the grass which she felt must be a trail, so she twirled the blanket to settle around her shoulders and started out.
She could see tiny fish in the edge of the water, and the gravel on the bottom looked untouched. Wow! Such a private place! Grinning she continued on, around bothersome boulders, hopping across little streamlets, picking her way past marshy cattails, across the grass again, up a little hillock and then another until she came to a wide, shallow pool. The pool sparkled when the sun hit it and as the birch trees swayed with the breeze, shiny glints jumped here and there across the water. Since the water wasn’t very deep, it obviously fed into the lake at a lovely slow pace.
She could no longer resist. She took off her felt traveling clogs, stuffed them into her skirt pockets, and stepped into the water. It was warm and gently kissed her ankles as she walked along the edge, skirting around several large boulders lazing in the water, letting the water lap up her shins, then back to her ankles, the gravel and sand providing the perfect softness to walk upon.
The waterfalls were a surprise. She rounded the last boulder, quite a large one and taller than the others, when she saw the three small waterfalls and a fourth, large enough for her to touch the top of, if she stood on her tip-toes. It was an enchanting sight.
Such wonder, such astonishing nature -- she didn’t want to ever leave. She moved toward the waterfalls and noticed the bottom dipped a little deeper beneath the largest one. She was careful to avoid that area -- no sense in getting her skirt wet. Tiny little flowers hung among the greenery around the tops of the waterfalls. And different shades of moss cradled the surrounding rocks and bushes that enclosed the waterfall area.
Heaven. This is surely Heaven. There was a little ledge between the third and fourth waterfalls and she made her way over to it, being sure to stay in the shallows. The ledge was perfect. Wide enough to sit on comfortably, it ran behind the largest waterfall and even widened a bit, creating a tiny room back behind the water. Gees, could this get any more splendiferous?!
She sat back against the rock wall of the ledge, trailing her toes in and out of the water, spooking the tiny fish, watching the sun and shadows play hide-and-seek, studying all the various shades of color on the rocks, some of them wet and some dry.
It was at least an hour before she heard voices. Oh, dangit. I knew this peace couldn’t last forever. She sighed, resigned to sharing her heaven with other travelers.
Then she listened more closely. Those voices weren’t happy. In fact, there were at least three of them and they were heatedly arguing about something. She sat still and listened intently, trying to figure out if she needed to worry. They were coming closer and were definitely male.
She couldn’t understand what they were saying. It wasn’t that they were speaking Scottish English which was difficult to understand at best, they were speaking some entirely different language and she didn’t have a prayer of understanding what they were talking about.
But they were coming closer and they definitely were not happy. Two of them were yelling and she assumed they were yelling at each other. In the interest of prudency, she pulled her feet out of the water, dried them on the blanket a bit, then scooted over into the little area behind the waterfall. She hadn’t left any wet footprints on the ledge, and since her blanket was charcoal grey, she could wrap herself up in it and practically disappear if she felt it was necessary.
She shivered, went ahead and wrapped the blanket around herself, then put her shoes back on. She could see out through the water but as of yet the people hadn’t appeared. Just as well, she thought. Just keep going.
The three men must have settled down next to the pond though, because the voices kept talking, arguing, yelling, and being at odds with each other. Good grief! It was definitely getting late because the sunlight wasn’t glinting on the water anymore and the peace she had been feeling was turning to pique.
How the hell am I going to get past those guys? I’m going to start getting hungry pretty soon. But she sat still and listened and gradually realized her options were few -- to stay here ... or to wait until dark and try to sneak away.
Dammit! Is there a moon tonight? How was she going to be able to get back to her car in the dark? Or turn the car around without the lights on? Or was she going to have to back that damned car out until she found a place large enough to turn around in? Good grief! I need a horse! She almost laughed out loud. She had never ridden a horse and wasn’t sure how you were supposed to guide them. But, by god, she was brave and if worse came to worse, she would ride a horse rather than being stuck someplace with weirdo people.
But the men kept talking, occasionally coming closer to her hiding spot, and finally the sunlight completely disappeared, darkness settled in, and a full moon came up. She could almost enjoy it, if she could find the switch to turn off this damned waterfall. Everything looked black, grey, or fuzzy from back here, and she was done playing this fairy-world game. I just want something to eat and someplace soft to sleep ... damned beauty! She mentally grumbled. It had gotten a little chilly, so she re-wrapped herself up good and snug, and scrunched into a ball to keep warm. And, in spite of everything, fell asleep.
Then the accident had happened. They had been out for an evening walk in their lovely neighborhood in Montrose when a local teenager had taken a corner too quickly, losing control of his new Mustang. The car had careened off a tree and struck her husband before either of them could get out of the way. He died instantly. She had cuts and bruises -- the ones on her body had healed pretty well, but the ones on her heart were permanent. The teen lost his legs and the use of his left hand. Part of her felt bad about that, but a bigger part just didn’t.
The first year alone was tough, the second was a little easier, and the third was spent healing. She came to terms with her situation, and part of her new outlook was to be adventurous. So, she was off to Scotland.
She had thought about joining a tour versus just diving in with no plan. After reading travel literature and studying maps, she decided to follow her own sketchy plan which allowed a lot of freedom to change destinations. And, she was gifting herself a whole month to explore.
The flight over had been godawful, what with TSA restrictions, cramped seating, and a gruesome amount of time in the air, but she was in Edinburgh at last. Listening to everyone speak with that wonderful Scottish burr made her blood thrum with excitement. She wandered around the terminal listening with a silly grin on her face, and finally thought I better get a car and be on my way before someone reports me as an escaped asylum patient.
Inverness was her first destination, but she was torn whether to go north through Aberdeen, or head west through Glasgow and Dumbarton. The maps indicated there were several castles between Glasgow and Loch Lomond so, finally making the decision, she turned toward the west.
Speeding along on Scotland’s version of an interstate, all of a sudden she startled herself, thinking I’m whizzing by stuff I wanted to meander through. Exiting at Boghall was easy, although the roundabouts were going to take some getting used to, to say nothing of driving on the wrong side of the road, but she was westbound again in no time and up-close-and-personal with things that touched her right down to her toes.
Everything was lush and quaint. Stone buildings with slate roofs, all shapes and sizes of chimneys, colorful doors and walls on so many of the buildings, and hanging flowers or window boxes full of greenery. It was more romantic than she ever imagined.
Rolling hills led through little hamlets, past stands of trees, up and down alongside pastures full of contentedly grazing brown cows, some with long horns and longer hair -- permanent bad hair day she chuckled. Fluffy sheep, or some quite shaggy, some with black faces and some with white, loitered right next to the cattle. The first time she saw the strange cow, a so-called Oreo cow as she later found out, she laughed right out loud. Black front end and black hind quarters with a wide white stripe around the middle -- just like the cookie turned sideways. Someone has a real sense of humor!
She definitely believed it was as she’d always heard: Scotland was a magical place! Suddenly struck by the notion to chuck everything and fly with the breeze, she tossed her maps in the backseat and turned at the very next road. Who knows where this goes, but I guess we’ll find out. Then she turned again when something caught her eye, then turned yet again when another direction felt right.
She laughed! This is great! Just going wherever she wanted without worry or concern. When she got hungry, she didn’t even look at her watch but stopped and ate at a tiny tavern with the name of Darken Dooren.
She headed down a country road when she left the pub, and was content bumping over ruts as the old road was, by turns, pavement, dirt, grass, and weedy gravel. The pastures were overtaken by occasional trees and boulders, then thick woods took firm hold. As she rounded a sharp bend in the deteriorated road, she slammed on her brakes and gaped. A beautiful scene stretched before her -- a broad lake with shallows on the left, cattails on the right, and steep mountains on the far side. It was the stuff dreams are made of.
Seeing as how she didn’t expect much traffic, she shut off the car right where it was and, grabbing a blanket from her bag, got out. There was a bare line in the grass which she felt must be a trail, so she twirled the blanket to settle around her shoulders and started out.
She could see tiny fish in the edge of the water, and the gravel on the bottom looked untouched. Wow! Such a private place! Grinning she continued on, around bothersome boulders, hopping across little streamlets, picking her way past marshy cattails, across the grass again, up a little hillock and then another until she came to a wide, shallow pool. The pool sparkled when the sun hit it and as the birch trees swayed with the breeze, shiny glints jumped here and there across the water. Since the water wasn’t very deep, it obviously fed into the lake at a lovely slow pace.
She could no longer resist. She took off her felt traveling clogs, stuffed them into her skirt pockets, and stepped into the water. It was warm and gently kissed her ankles as she walked along the edge, skirting around several large boulders lazing in the water, letting the water lap up her shins, then back to her ankles, the gravel and sand providing the perfect softness to walk upon.
The waterfalls were a surprise. She rounded the last boulder, quite a large one and taller than the others, when she saw the three small waterfalls and a fourth, large enough for her to touch the top of, if she stood on her tip-toes. It was an enchanting sight.
Such wonder, such astonishing nature -- she didn’t want to ever leave. She moved toward the waterfalls and noticed the bottom dipped a little deeper beneath the largest one. She was careful to avoid that area -- no sense in getting her skirt wet. Tiny little flowers hung among the greenery around the tops of the waterfalls. And different shades of moss cradled the surrounding rocks and bushes that enclosed the waterfall area.
Heaven. This is surely Heaven. There was a little ledge between the third and fourth waterfalls and she made her way over to it, being sure to stay in the shallows. The ledge was perfect. Wide enough to sit on comfortably, it ran behind the largest waterfall and even widened a bit, creating a tiny room back behind the water. Gees, could this get any more splendiferous?!
She sat back against the rock wall of the ledge, trailing her toes in and out of the water, spooking the tiny fish, watching the sun and shadows play hide-and-seek, studying all the various shades of color on the rocks, some of them wet and some dry.
It was at least an hour before she heard voices. Oh, dangit. I knew this peace couldn’t last forever. She sighed, resigned to sharing her heaven with other travelers.
Then she listened more closely. Those voices weren’t happy. In fact, there were at least three of them and they were heatedly arguing about something. She sat still and listened intently, trying to figure out if she needed to worry. They were coming closer and were definitely male.
She couldn’t understand what they were saying. It wasn’t that they were speaking Scottish English which was difficult to understand at best, they were speaking some entirely different language and she didn’t have a prayer of understanding what they were talking about.
But they were coming closer and they definitely were not happy. Two of them were yelling and she assumed they were yelling at each other. In the interest of prudency, she pulled her feet out of the water, dried them on the blanket a bit, then scooted over into the little area behind the waterfall. She hadn’t left any wet footprints on the ledge, and since her blanket was charcoal grey, she could wrap herself up in it and practically disappear if she felt it was necessary.
She shivered, went ahead and wrapped the blanket around herself, then put her shoes back on. She could see out through the water but as of yet the people hadn’t appeared. Just as well, she thought. Just keep going.
The three men must have settled down next to the pond though, because the voices kept talking, arguing, yelling, and being at odds with each other. Good grief! It was definitely getting late because the sunlight wasn’t glinting on the water anymore and the peace she had been feeling was turning to pique.
How the hell am I going to get past those guys? I’m going to start getting hungry pretty soon. But she sat still and listened and gradually realized her options were few -- to stay here ... or to wait until dark and try to sneak away.
Dammit! Is there a moon tonight? How was she going to be able to get back to her car in the dark? Or turn the car around without the lights on? Or was she going to have to back that damned car out until she found a place large enough to turn around in? Good grief! I need a horse! She almost laughed out loud. She had never ridden a horse and wasn’t sure how you were supposed to guide them. But, by god, she was brave and if worse came to worse, she would ride a horse rather than being stuck someplace with weirdo people.
But the men kept talking, occasionally coming closer to her hiding spot, and finally the sunlight completely disappeared, darkness settled in, and a full moon came up. She could almost enjoy it, if she could find the switch to turn off this damned waterfall. Everything looked black, grey, or fuzzy from back here, and she was done playing this fairy-world game. I just want something to eat and someplace soft to sleep ... damned beauty! She mentally grumbled. It had gotten a little chilly, so she re-wrapped herself up good and snug, and scrunched into a ball to keep warm. And, in spite of everything, fell asleep.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
hairy coos
if you want to do some light blog reading about an american guy and his wife attending a scottish wedding (among other things), go to http://www.symbioticpublishing.com/James-wedding.html . dry wit and great imagery.
Monday, July 30, 2007
and furthermore...
like spy stories? like true stories? like ryan phillippe?
i watched about half of Breach -- it got too tense for me so the husband watched the rest then told me about it. it's probably a fairly accurate portrayal, and chris cooper does an excellent job of playing the traitor.
ryan? god, i. can. not. stand. that. guy. reese is better off without him.
i watched about half of Breach -- it got too tense for me so the husband watched the rest then told me about it. it's probably a fairly accurate portrayal, and chris cooper does an excellent job of playing the traitor.
ryan? god, i. can. not. stand. that. guy. reese is better off without him.
about time
tired of seeing the bad guys get away with stuff? like to see someone get what's coming to him? like marky mark?
see SHOOTER.
see SHOOTER.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
vignette ~ The Runner
It was dark and she was tired, hungry, and sick of running. Not bothering to turn on a light, she slipped through the third floor hotel room door and went straight into the bathroom, stripping off clothes as she went, setting her gun and knife on the counter, and stepping into the water, sighing heavily in the dark.
This was getting so old, this running. I just need some time, a moment to regroup, a chance to adjust to this danger. Why all this happening when I don’t know enough to hurt anybody is beyond me, just beyond me.
The water soothed over her head, her face, her body as she tried to let relaxing thoughts ramble through her mind ... swinging in her yard when she was six, fishing with her dad, learning to bring down a deer with a bow and arrow and the proper way to dress it, her parents’ deaths, the day she joined the Corps, stumbling upon the evil in the Corps. She preferred the sweet memories of her youth, but couldn’t shut off the desperate ones of the last four months.
She had never been satisfied with the explanation of her parents’ accident. Although she’d only been eighteen, she’d known something wasn’t right with the ‘official’ findings. Her dad had been working on classified stuff, as always, but she had a feeling his latest discovery had brought about their deaths.
Could she have realized what his discovery would lead to? Her dad had long since forgotten that defining moment in her life when she was four: her mother wanted the three of them to go to the beach for the day, but her father said he had to finish a report for the Colonel and he couldn’t go. Kellie had innocently said, “No Dada, you want to work on the star field equations since you are so close.” Her father had blustered a moment trying to deny it, then had stared at her and demanded to know why she had said such a thing. Her mother was startled at first, but had hurriedly stepped in and distracted her father, explaining away her daughter’s comment with some inanities until her mother could walk out the door with her, leaving her dad to his work.
She and her mother hadn’t gone to the beach, but had gone on a long drive instead. Stopping in a little-used and mostly-forgotten country park, they sat for awhile under the tall, stately trees and watched ducks and geese in and around the adjacent pond. “Kellie,” her mother had finally said, “you must never let anyone know that you can hear their thoughts.” She had looked at me while she was talking and I knew somehow that what she was saying was important. And she continued on. “My mother could hear people’s thought but it was only as she lie dying in the hospital that she told me all about it. I never had the ‘gift’ as she called it, but she said that my children might and that it needed to be kept secret and guarded well.”
“Kellie, you have a gift which you must never tell anyone about. You must never let anyone know you can hear their thoughts, and you must try very hard to keep on doing what you are doing as if you didn’t hear them. Do you understand?” Although I was only four, somehow the things she said fit into a pattern in my head that felt right, and I knew I would watch my actions. The ‘gift’ was in place, it was aware, and it would help me guard against discovery.
No one knew Kellie had any knowledge of her father’s work and since none of it made any sense to her anyhow, she simply filed it all away in a dark place in her brain. After her parents’ deaths, her sorrow made her frenetic and she finished her Upper Schooling in three years instead of four -- the accomplishment ultimately giving her a head start when she applied to the Corps.
After graduation from school, she waited to hear about her Corps application and spent the next eight months at piddley jobs, not wanting to commit herself to a regular job in case she was accepted and told to report immediately.
She had worked the mid-shift for five weeks for a livestock prep company, gutting them, cutting them up, sorting through the left-over parts for various disposals. After that it was four weeks at McKeel-Corkin tracing electrical errors in rejects. Then it was a few weeks at The Wilderness, guiding adventurers on their ‘Survive It Yourself’ tours. A few weeks at Motley Mandy’s Hole In The Wall cooking for customers at the biggest little pub on the wharf. A few weeks driving trucks for Loggers Inc, a few more hawking t-shirts at Barnum’s, and the rest of the time spent doing a lot of gardening.
Her horticulture job at the Four Seasons Arboretum was probably the most satisfying short-time job. And since she knew nothing about gardening, she had to really focus and learn as much as she could as quickly as she could to do the job right. Poisonous plants, edible plants, trainable plants -- she soaked it all up, managing to learn far more than the average temporary, and when she left the job she knew her skills had been nicely rounded out.
Memories, memories. She cleared her mind, soaped up, rinsed, got out, and dried off. Putting on her sleep-set, a cute blue top and matching shorts which were the same color as her eyes, she ran a comb through her short auburn hair, gathered up her gun and knife, stepped around the corner into the sleeping area, and froze.
Something was wrong .... the air displacement, an additional shadow, a new sound -- something was different than it was when she left to eat an hour and forty-five minutes ago. Quickly she scanned the shadows, reluctant to turn on a light in case light was a trigger. Then .... she felt it -- a trag! Dammit! A motion sensor!
Quickly she grabbed her pack, threw open the window and flung herself outward, grabbing the auspiciously-placed downspout on the opposite building and sliding to the pavement. She hit the alley running, wincing as her bare feet ran across a number of unknowns -- slimy, sharp, rough, totally disgusting things she didn’t want to stop and check out, even if she’d had time. There was no question she had to hurry -- she had less than 90 seconds to get at least five miles away. How much time had elapsed since she had triggered the trag simply by her presence? How much time did I waste just looking for the damned thing?
Sprinting out of the alley she grabbed onto the back ladder of a passing night truck, rode eight blocks, then dropped off to race down a subway entrance. Jumping the stile, she barely made the last car as the doors closed and the train smoothly took off.
Distance! Dammit, I need distance!
The train picked up speed and she sprinted through the nearly-empty cars, finally reaching the cab. No engineer to worry about -- this one’s automatic. She shot off the latch-lock mechanism, stepped inside, and quickly accessed the computer controls. Speed, speed, speed, speed! She finally found the right control, entered a number and the train shot forward.
Exactly eleven seconds later there was a deafening roar and a blast of light and force which threw her to the floor. Her head banged against the cabinet hard enough for her to see stars, and when her vision cleared she sat up, still a little stunned as she gaped at the destruction behind her. Well, gaped at it for only a moment, as it turned out. Since the cab was still connected to power, she was still barreling down the straight-aways and around corners. She and the cab. Everything else was gone. Everything within five miles of that hotel room had been destroyed -- animate, inanimate, everything had been reduced to ashes and cinders.
Amazement at her fortunate escape was very quickly overshadowed by new realization of her dilemma. Oh god, oh god, oh god, I am in so much trouble. So sooooo much trouble. So much biiiiig, big, big, big trouble.
This was getting so old, this running. I just need some time, a moment to regroup, a chance to adjust to this danger. Why all this happening when I don’t know enough to hurt anybody is beyond me, just beyond me.
The water soothed over her head, her face, her body as she tried to let relaxing thoughts ramble through her mind ... swinging in her yard when she was six, fishing with her dad, learning to bring down a deer with a bow and arrow and the proper way to dress it, her parents’ deaths, the day she joined the Corps, stumbling upon the evil in the Corps. She preferred the sweet memories of her youth, but couldn’t shut off the desperate ones of the last four months.
She had never been satisfied with the explanation of her parents’ accident. Although she’d only been eighteen, she’d known something wasn’t right with the ‘official’ findings. Her dad had been working on classified stuff, as always, but she had a feeling his latest discovery had brought about their deaths.
Could she have realized what his discovery would lead to? Her dad had long since forgotten that defining moment in her life when she was four: her mother wanted the three of them to go to the beach for the day, but her father said he had to finish a report for the Colonel and he couldn’t go. Kellie had innocently said, “No Dada, you want to work on the star field equations since you are so close.” Her father had blustered a moment trying to deny it, then had stared at her and demanded to know why she had said such a thing. Her mother was startled at first, but had hurriedly stepped in and distracted her father, explaining away her daughter’s comment with some inanities until her mother could walk out the door with her, leaving her dad to his work.
She and her mother hadn’t gone to the beach, but had gone on a long drive instead. Stopping in a little-used and mostly-forgotten country park, they sat for awhile under the tall, stately trees and watched ducks and geese in and around the adjacent pond. “Kellie,” her mother had finally said, “you must never let anyone know that you can hear their thoughts.” She had looked at me while she was talking and I knew somehow that what she was saying was important. And she continued on. “My mother could hear people’s thought but it was only as she lie dying in the hospital that she told me all about it. I never had the ‘gift’ as she called it, but she said that my children might and that it needed to be kept secret and guarded well.”
“Kellie, you have a gift which you must never tell anyone about. You must never let anyone know you can hear their thoughts, and you must try very hard to keep on doing what you are doing as if you didn’t hear them. Do you understand?” Although I was only four, somehow the things she said fit into a pattern in my head that felt right, and I knew I would watch my actions. The ‘gift’ was in place, it was aware, and it would help me guard against discovery.
No one knew Kellie had any knowledge of her father’s work and since none of it made any sense to her anyhow, she simply filed it all away in a dark place in her brain. After her parents’ deaths, her sorrow made her frenetic and she finished her Upper Schooling in three years instead of four -- the accomplishment ultimately giving her a head start when she applied to the Corps.
After graduation from school, she waited to hear about her Corps application and spent the next eight months at piddley jobs, not wanting to commit herself to a regular job in case she was accepted and told to report immediately.
She had worked the mid-shift for five weeks for a livestock prep company, gutting them, cutting them up, sorting through the left-over parts for various disposals. After that it was four weeks at McKeel-Corkin tracing electrical errors in rejects. Then it was a few weeks at The Wilderness, guiding adventurers on their ‘Survive It Yourself’ tours. A few weeks at Motley Mandy’s Hole In The Wall cooking for customers at the biggest little pub on the wharf. A few weeks driving trucks for Loggers Inc, a few more hawking t-shirts at Barnum’s, and the rest of the time spent doing a lot of gardening.
Her horticulture job at the Four Seasons Arboretum was probably the most satisfying short-time job. And since she knew nothing about gardening, she had to really focus and learn as much as she could as quickly as she could to do the job right. Poisonous plants, edible plants, trainable plants -- she soaked it all up, managing to learn far more than the average temporary, and when she left the job she knew her skills had been nicely rounded out.
Memories, memories. She cleared her mind, soaped up, rinsed, got out, and dried off. Putting on her sleep-set, a cute blue top and matching shorts which were the same color as her eyes, she ran a comb through her short auburn hair, gathered up her gun and knife, stepped around the corner into the sleeping area, and froze.
Something was wrong .... the air displacement, an additional shadow, a new sound -- something was different than it was when she left to eat an hour and forty-five minutes ago. Quickly she scanned the shadows, reluctant to turn on a light in case light was a trigger. Then .... she felt it -- a trag! Dammit! A motion sensor!
Quickly she grabbed her pack, threw open the window and flung herself outward, grabbing the auspiciously-placed downspout on the opposite building and sliding to the pavement. She hit the alley running, wincing as her bare feet ran across a number of unknowns -- slimy, sharp, rough, totally disgusting things she didn’t want to stop and check out, even if she’d had time. There was no question she had to hurry -- she had less than 90 seconds to get at least five miles away. How much time had elapsed since she had triggered the trag simply by her presence? How much time did I waste just looking for the damned thing?
Sprinting out of the alley she grabbed onto the back ladder of a passing night truck, rode eight blocks, then dropped off to race down a subway entrance. Jumping the stile, she barely made the last car as the doors closed and the train smoothly took off.
Distance! Dammit, I need distance!
The train picked up speed and she sprinted through the nearly-empty cars, finally reaching the cab. No engineer to worry about -- this one’s automatic. She shot off the latch-lock mechanism, stepped inside, and quickly accessed the computer controls. Speed, speed, speed, speed! She finally found the right control, entered a number and the train shot forward.
Exactly eleven seconds later there was a deafening roar and a blast of light and force which threw her to the floor. Her head banged against the cabinet hard enough for her to see stars, and when her vision cleared she sat up, still a little stunned as she gaped at the destruction behind her. Well, gaped at it for only a moment, as it turned out. Since the cab was still connected to power, she was still barreling down the straight-aways and around corners. She and the cab. Everything else was gone. Everything within five miles of that hotel room had been destroyed -- animate, inanimate, everything had been reduced to ashes and cinders.
Amazement at her fortunate escape was very quickly overshadowed by new realization of her dilemma. Oh god, oh god, oh god, I am in so much trouble. So sooooo much trouble. So much biiiiig, big, big, big trouble.
true crime -- small town beat
July 24: A citizen reported hearing the front door open and hearing footsteps. A search of the house and the neighborhood proved negative for anyone out and about. The citizen was advised to keep their doors locked at night and keep their security light turned on.
July 22: A 17-year-old driver was cited for negligent driving after knocking over two mailboxes and causing damage to a parked vehicle. The driver admitted that he was "playing around" and said that he did not see the mailboxes or the vehicle while backing out of a driveway at high speed. Damage was estimated at several hundred dollars.
July 18: Officers responded to a call from a resident who reported his dogs barking at something in the night. Officers checked the area and found no one. A few minutes later the person re-contacted 911 to report that he had now armed himself to search for the intruders and was laying on the ground outside his home. Officers located the man splayed in the gravel near his house. He was not armed, but appeared very intoxicated, at times incoherent, and had injured himself falling down. The man was transported to the hospital for evaluation.
July 22: A 17-year-old driver was cited for negligent driving after knocking over two mailboxes and causing damage to a parked vehicle. The driver admitted that he was "playing around" and said that he did not see the mailboxes or the vehicle while backing out of a driveway at high speed. Damage was estimated at several hundred dollars.
July 18: Officers responded to a call from a resident who reported his dogs barking at something in the night. Officers checked the area and found no one. A few minutes later the person re-contacted 911 to report that he had now armed himself to search for the intruders and was laying on the ground outside his home. Officers located the man splayed in the gravel near his house. He was not armed, but appeared very intoxicated, at times incoherent, and had injured himself falling down. The man was transported to the hospital for evaluation.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
where is this?
i received an e-mail this am which said, "When you call Customer Service and speak to someone in India who speaks English, albeit with an Indian accent, but who cannot resolve your problem, perhaps its a fault in the wiring?" and then the following pictures were displayed.
oh. my. god.
i suppose someone could have photoshopped these, someone with a wicked sense of humor. but if they truly show the state of things over there ..... god, that is just depressing. i would definitely not apply for an 'india power and light' position.
on another note -- count the number of women in these pictures. that's depressing, too ..... backward place.
oh. my. god.
i suppose someone could have photoshopped these, someone with a wicked sense of humor. but if they truly show the state of things over there ..... god, that is just depressing. i would definitely not apply for an 'india power and light' position.
on another note -- count the number of women in these pictures. that's depressing, too ..... backward place.
burning man
do you like to have garage sales? i don't either.
do you like to list stuff on craigslist? we have done it a couple of times and it has worked fine.
do you like to sell stuff through the want ads? not my cup of tea.
do you have something that is in good shape but you don't want/need it anymore and would like to get rid of it but hate to just throw it away and don't want to bother with selling it so finally end up just keeping it anyhow? go check this out: http://freesharing.org/
this web site shows groups in your area who put the word out to registered people and free stuff disappears easily. not that i know that by experience, but once i registered (it's yahoo and a no-brainer) i could look at what was out there. it's like craigslist, in that it's grass-roots, and i like the i-don't-need-it-and-you-can-have-it idea.
there is a group in our county, as well as in the black hills and lincoln, and several groups in the rochester, phoenix, and oklahoma city areas.
neat, huh?! it reminds me of the burning man idea.
there's a second site out there doing that type of thing -- http://www.freecycle.org/group/ -- but it took f-o-r-eeeeeee-v-e-r for the web site to come up and they didn't seem to have as extensive a network.
do you like to list stuff on craigslist? we have done it a couple of times and it has worked fine.
do you like to sell stuff through the want ads? not my cup of tea.
do you have something that is in good shape but you don't want/need it anymore and would like to get rid of it but hate to just throw it away and don't want to bother with selling it so finally end up just keeping it anyhow? go check this out: http://freesharing.org/
this web site shows groups in your area who put the word out to registered people and free stuff disappears easily. not that i know that by experience, but once i registered (it's yahoo and a no-brainer) i could look at what was out there. it's like craigslist, in that it's grass-roots, and i like the i-don't-need-it-and-you-can-have-it idea.
there is a group in our county, as well as in the black hills and lincoln, and several groups in the rochester, phoenix, and oklahoma city areas.
neat, huh?! it reminds me of the burning man idea.
there's a second site out there doing that type of thing -- http://www.freecycle.org/group/ -- but it took f-o-r-eeeeeee-v-e-r for the web site to come up and they didn't seem to have as extensive a network.
new and different
i don't know who's behind this web site, but hopefully he/she's a good person and not just trying to collect data on people. it's an interesting site and i absolutely love to watch the clock -- it's sooooooo smooth and gliding.
also i got a kick out of taking the test on their curiosity blog (scroll down to 7.21.07 'real age') -- my age works out to be 45.5 and i'm expected to live to 92.5 -- and i laughed at the 'risk taking' question.
have fun!
also i got a kick out of taking the test on their curiosity blog (scroll down to 7.21.07 'real age') -- my age works out to be 45.5 and i'm expected to live to 92.5 -- and i laughed at the 'risk taking' question.
have fun!
what to do
wow! it's amazing to me how much this new job has cut into my play time, i.e. reading and blogging. and even though i've lost 15 pounds (due entirely to moving around -- eating hasn't changed) and dropped a dress size (depending on the outfit) i miss my old haunts, so to speak.
i love reading good books (aka sci-fi, fantasy, medieval romance, mystery) as well as playing on the computer.
that said, maybe i can get caught up a little bit this weekend. and that said, check this out. a couple of tv helicopters in phoenix crashed and all aboard were killed while they were checking out a cop-chasing-criminal scene. this is what has me flummoxed.
if there is anybody out there i am acquainted with who seriously believes the criminal should be charged with these deaths, let me know so i can permanently stay far away from you. WHAT in the holy hell has this country come to for anyone to truly imagine the criminal should be charged thusly.
don't get me wrong, i believe criminals are all too often let go with puny discipline, but this is just totally stupid. all this blame-game stuff is not good for this country ... blame everyone/take no responsibility ... it's a disgusting philosophy and seems to crop-up often. is there any way to get the misguided to be honorable, have integrity, and be willing to carry their fair share?
no, i thought not. sigh.
i love reading good books (aka sci-fi, fantasy, medieval romance, mystery) as well as playing on the computer.
that said, maybe i can get caught up a little bit this weekend. and that said, check this out. a couple of tv helicopters in phoenix crashed and all aboard were killed while they were checking out a cop-chasing-criminal scene. this is what has me flummoxed.
if there is anybody out there i am acquainted with who seriously believes the criminal should be charged with these deaths, let me know so i can permanently stay far away from you. WHAT in the holy hell has this country come to for anyone to truly imagine the criminal should be charged thusly.
don't get me wrong, i believe criminals are all too often let go with puny discipline, but this is just totally stupid. all this blame-game stuff is not good for this country ... blame everyone/take no responsibility ... it's a disgusting philosophy and seems to crop-up often. is there any way to get the misguided to be honorable, have integrity, and be willing to carry their fair share?
no, i thought not. sigh.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
trip home
whoa! muggy here today!
our trip to lincoln was so wonderful. except for the flying, of course. i thought united was supposed to be reliable, but they were very late on both flights connecting with seattle. as it turned out, we arrived back on our doorstep at 1 am monday morning which gave me about 4 1/2 hours to sleep before i headed back to work. mgrruphh.
despite the sad reason for our trip, it was mega-wonderful to have all the family together again. everyone was there -- sons/daughter, grandsons/granddaughter, great granddaughter, and attendant spouses and significant others. it was just like the family reunions i remember with the aunt/uncles/cousins in oklahoma. those traditions really are neat. and important.
i was trying to remember the last time everyone had been together like that and i was wondering if it had been 1988. almost twenty years ago.
but many thanks go out to my brothers/spouses for opening their homes and giving time to all of us. missing everyone and feeling all that love makes me think about moving back to nebraska ... but not for very long. the weather is too punishing. and we're having a taste of it here today. the temp may only be 74* or so, but the humidity in the house is 75+. i wonder what it's like in alaska?
we opened the little memorial crypt at the cemetery and placed dad's ashes alongside mom's. it's hard to think about the fact that she died almost twenty years ago. we listened to part of the tape of the funeral service and watched the video they showed of pictures of him. a video really is a nice addition to a funeral.
it's all just memories now.
our trip to lincoln was so wonderful. except for the flying, of course. i thought united was supposed to be reliable, but they were very late on both flights connecting with seattle. as it turned out, we arrived back on our doorstep at 1 am monday morning which gave me about 4 1/2 hours to sleep before i headed back to work. mgrruphh.
despite the sad reason for our trip, it was mega-wonderful to have all the family together again. everyone was there -- sons/daughter, grandsons/granddaughter, great granddaughter, and attendant spouses and significant others. it was just like the family reunions i remember with the aunt/uncles/cousins in oklahoma. those traditions really are neat. and important.
i was trying to remember the last time everyone had been together like that and i was wondering if it had been 1988. almost twenty years ago.
but many thanks go out to my brothers/spouses for opening their homes and giving time to all of us. missing everyone and feeling all that love makes me think about moving back to nebraska ... but not for very long. the weather is too punishing. and we're having a taste of it here today. the temp may only be 74* or so, but the humidity in the house is 75+. i wonder what it's like in alaska?
we opened the little memorial crypt at the cemetery and placed dad's ashes alongside mom's. it's hard to think about the fact that she died almost twenty years ago. we listened to part of the tape of the funeral service and watched the video they showed of pictures of him. a video really is a nice addition to a funeral.
it's all just memories now.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
been busy
i've been putting off telling about my activities for the last while because they've been so many and i've been so tired. having allergies (and especially being allergic to summer!) is part of that, and getting to bed late, after the plane lands later than scheduled, is the rest.
regardless, i hope this weekend to put thoughts into linear form and fingers to keys with some pictures thrown in along the way.
the trip to lincoln was great -- sad and wonderful all at once. so neat to have everyone together again -- it's been a long, long time.
so i'm off for awhile -- winkin', blinkin', and nod are waiting for me to join them in the shoe ...
regardless, i hope this weekend to put thoughts into linear form and fingers to keys with some pictures thrown in along the way.
the trip to lincoln was great -- sad and wonderful all at once. so neat to have everyone together again -- it's been a long, long time.
so i'm off for awhile -- winkin', blinkin', and nod are waiting for me to join them in the shoe ...
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
i don't understand
immigration -- legal or illegal -- is a huge issue in this country. this story illustrates one man's experience: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19466978 .
for myself, i am against illegal immigration and think we should come down very hard on those who try to get into this country illegally. i also think we should come down very hard on those who are already here illegally.
why is it okay to flout our laws?
for example, most of the canadians who drive south on i-5 are speeding. and not just going an 'acceptable' 5 miles over the limit -- they are past and gone before you can count to 10.
then there's the 'illegal fireworks sneaking off the reservations' problem.
and it goes on and on. but like i said, why is it okay to flout the laws? it's just frustrating. and it's making me isolationist, unforgiving, and very cranky.
for myself, i am against illegal immigration and think we should come down very hard on those who try to get into this country illegally. i also think we should come down very hard on those who are already here illegally.
why is it okay to flout our laws?
for example, most of the canadians who drive south on i-5 are speeding. and not just going an 'acceptable' 5 miles over the limit -- they are past and gone before you can count to 10.
then there's the 'illegal fireworks sneaking off the reservations' problem.
and it goes on and on. but like i said, why is it okay to flout the laws? it's just frustrating. and it's making me isolationist, unforgiving, and very cranky.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
i hated flying before but now ...
since we are going to be flying back to say good-bye to my dad, i decided to check out the latest info on airport passenger screening.
there's a 3-1-1 policy in effect regarding liquids/gels in carry-on luggage. i thought the best blurb was here: http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/311-insert.pdf
permitted and prohibited items are explained here: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm
locks which are allowed on your luggage made by safe skies here: http://www.safeskieslocks.com/
or travel sentry here: http://www.travelsentry.org/products.asp (can be found at the rite-aid right here in our tiny little town.)
i overheard one of the higher ups the other day talking and he said, "the policy is zero-tolerance." so i would suggest we all plan ahead, take a lot of time and bring a good book, stay calm and unruffled, be polite to everyone (especially the tsa people), and of course act intelligently. even if you hate it.
there's a 3-1-1 policy in effect regarding liquids/gels in carry-on luggage. i thought the best blurb was here: http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/311-insert.pdf
permitted and prohibited items are explained here: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm
locks which are allowed on your luggage made by safe skies here: http://www.safeskieslocks.com/
or travel sentry here: http://www.travelsentry.org/products.asp (can be found at the rite-aid right here in our tiny little town.)
i overheard one of the higher ups the other day talking and he said, "the policy is zero-tolerance." so i would suggest we all plan ahead, take a lot of time and bring a good book, stay calm and unruffled, be polite to everyone (especially the tsa people), and of course act intelligently. even if you hate it.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
uh ... what?
i had an odd experience at work today. one caller asked about a specific procedure. i gave him the spiel i have to give everyone including that if he wanted that office's e-mail address i could give it to him.
so he copied down the phone number, fax number, and said yes he wanted the e-mail address. then we talked a little more and i realized he was looking online expecting to find a web site. so i gently mentioned this was an e-mail address and he said, oh, that he hadn't done any e-mail before but that he'd give it a try.
so he opened a new message, typed in the address (which i realized he had not spelled correctly), then put in a subject, then went on to the body. we talked a little bit about what he could say and i suggested he might also want to leave a phone message, too, to cover all his bases. i also made sure he knew to push the 'send' button on his e-mail.
when i got off the phone, one of the downstairs supervisors who had been waiting to talk to me said, 'i didn't know there was anyone who hasn't ever done e-mail' -- it was a strange and gently funny situation. i wonder if he was pulling my leg.
so he copied down the phone number, fax number, and said yes he wanted the e-mail address. then we talked a little more and i realized he was looking online expecting to find a web site. so i gently mentioned this was an e-mail address and he said, oh, that he hadn't done any e-mail before but that he'd give it a try.
so he opened a new message, typed in the address (which i realized he had not spelled correctly), then put in a subject, then went on to the body. we talked a little bit about what he could say and i suggested he might also want to leave a phone message, too, to cover all his bases. i also made sure he knew to push the 'send' button on his e-mail.
when i got off the phone, one of the downstairs supervisors who had been waiting to talk to me said, 'i didn't know there was anyone who hasn't ever done e-mail' -- it was a strange and gently funny situation. i wonder if he was pulling my leg.
yeah, right...
oh. my. god.
the terminator is coming. or something similar. even though iRobot (the company which makes Roomba, the self-propelled vacuum cleaner) denies it, they're bringing the future right to our doorstep.
they make a little robot which currently disarms road-side bombs, searches caves, etc. in iraq and afganistan, and they are now planning to arm it with a taser.
the company denies this is going to lead to any futuristic-type problems. and how many times have we heard, "that's not our intention," "we have no plans to do that," "there's no way we'll allow that to happen," and then the end result has gotten way out of hand.
middle eastern madmen must be laughing with joy. i just shake my head and think it's best i'm heading into the twilight of my years. knowing man's ingrained propensity for violence, the murder and mayhem of the future is going to get very strange.
the terminator is coming. or something similar. even though iRobot (the company which makes Roomba, the self-propelled vacuum cleaner) denies it, they're bringing the future right to our doorstep.
they make a little robot which currently disarms road-side bombs, searches caves, etc. in iraq and afganistan, and they are now planning to arm it with a taser.
the company denies this is going to lead to any futuristic-type problems. and how many times have we heard, "that's not our intention," "we have no plans to do that," "there's no way we'll allow that to happen," and then the end result has gotten way out of hand.
middle eastern madmen must be laughing with joy. i just shake my head and think it's best i'm heading into the twilight of my years. knowing man's ingrained propensity for violence, the murder and mayhem of the future is going to get very strange.
Monday, July 02, 2007
so many choices...
remember jean? she had the restaurant where we helped out, then she decided to move home to atlanta.
she's moving back!
she's not happy down there, even though her place is making some money. so she wants to move back up here, try again with her ex, and see about getting an ordinary job.
i'd like to see her find a good job, a steady relationship, and happiness. more later --
she's moving back!
she's not happy down there, even though her place is making some money. so she wants to move back up here, try again with her ex, and see about getting an ordinary job.
i'd like to see her find a good job, a steady relationship, and happiness. more later --
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