Ch-ch-ch-changes.....

My daughter and son-in-law recently bought a house. She decided that she'd like to have the dining room set that I had lying around. Now you have to understand that I'd brought the set with me when I'd sold the house in Monmouth County and moved to my apartment in Woodbridge. That means that I crammed almost 8 rooms of furniture  and personal things into a 4 room apartment. Needless to say, the dining room set was shoved in wherever possible, ans several of the pieces wound up being used for other purposes.

Oh,.....the set consists of a table with 4 legs and 2 leaves, 2 captain's chairs, and 4 regular chairs. All wooden.

I've had to rearranged other furniture, and find replacements for several of the chairs. This got me to take a hard look at how I was living and I decided to make some changes. I'd become sort of a pack rat these last few years and it was time to get rid of a lot of unnecessary junk.

I'd been doing this for a day or two, taking my time. The hard part is learning the difference between what is needed and what isn't. I was getting good at it when part of the living room ceiling fell down. There'd been a crack developing, which I'd notified the landlord about, but the kid upstairs - apparently - took up clog dancing and that was that. The landlord sent someone over this morning to do repairs and I had to leave because of the amount of plaster dust that was floating around.

I had not intended to go out, so I had no particular plan to follow, and no particular place to go. I stopped at a local Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast,and was eating at a small table by the window when the phone rang. Not MY phone, THE phone. The one passed to me over 3 months ago in Barnes & Nobles by one of Doyle's agents. I picked it up.

"Hello?"
"Denny, go some place where you'll be completely alone. I'll call you back it an hour."
He hung up, but I recognized Doyle's voice. I took my muffin and iced tea and went back to my car. Finding an isolated place wasn't going to be easy.

Since I only had an hour, I drove to Merrill Park first and although the parking lots were pretty empty, I didn't see a spot that provided the isolation I needed. I headed towards Roosevelt Park. As I drove up towards the entrance I normally used, I passed a parking lot for those who use the tennis courts.

There was no one there, and as I only had about 10 minutes left, I pulled in there. I ate the rest of my muffin, and had most of the tea while I waited. The phone rang.

"Doyle?"?
"Hi, Denny, how's it going?"
"I'm good. How're you? Is everything OK? What's up?"
"Everything's good, Denny. Just wanted to touch base. I know it's been a while so I wanted to assure you that we're still watching you. From a distance..you know. Like we discussed the last time."
"I know. Has there been any sightings? Has anyone seen Gordon? Do you know where he is?"
A pause. I've learned that it's never a good thing when Doyle pauses.

"No, Denny. No one's seen Gordon. And we still don't know where he is, exactly."
This was it..the reason he'd contacted me. It was something to do with Gordon.


"What do you mean, exactly?"
"Well, we know he was operating in the Jersey/Pennsylvania/Delaware triangle up until about 2 weeks ago. In fact, he'd been too active, staging Events every 2 or 3 days. Randomly...you know...all over. There was no way to predict where he'd strike. And, we were still pretty sure that he was keeping tabs on you. Then, after you participated in that Donate Life ceremony at JFK, he seems to have stopped. He's changed. There's been nothing."
"Is there any danger? Should I be worried?"
"No. We don't think so. Like I've said before, we think he has an attachment to you."

It was my turn to pause. I had this "light bulb" moment.

"Doyle, wasn't Gordon originally meant to be the second "me"? The second member of The Project?"
"Sure. But he was picked by Jones' people, and you know it hasn't turned out well."
"I know, but he was also a transplant recipient, right?"
"Yeah. It seemed to be the best way to control the selection process and implant the tracker. Why do you ask that?"
"Bear with me a little." I was thinking out loud. "I got involved with that Donate Life thing because I've been feeling that I should be paying back for being alive. I don't know if you can understand that. I've been feeling lately that I'm here for a reason, that I ought to be doing something constructive."
"OK. I guess I can understand that. So..what? Do you think Gordon is having some sort of similar experience?"
"Maybe. Or he isn't and thinks he should be. I'm not sure. Either way, I think he's stopped to reevaluate things."
"And when he's finished doing that..what?"
"I don't know. Maybe more of the same. Maybe not. I just don't know. Do you have any ideas?"
"No. But I have people for that. Thanks for the insight, Denny. Watch your back, and I promise to be in touch more often."

He hung up. I sat there going over what I'd said. There was something nagging at me, but I couldn't quite grasp it. As I sat there, another car pulled into the lot and stopped parallel to me, but several spaces away.

Why did he pull in here? Why had he parked there when the rest of the lot was empty?

I didn't care. I lowered the passenger side window and stared at him. He didn't look back.

Point, press, Flash.

I'd had enough changes for one day. I drove home.

Being Prepared................

I usually get up between 7 and 8 each morning. Oh sure, sometimes I have to get up earlier for an appointment and sometimes I do like to sleep in, but usually I'm up between 7 and 8. And I prefer to do it on my own. This morning, I was still in bed, semi-awake, when I was startled by a loud, annoying sound. There was nothing I could see from my bedroom window, but from the living room I could see a guy demolishing a set of steps to the dentists office across the street - with a jackhammer. I was not happy.

After getting dressed - and finishing my morning routine - I left my apartment and headed for my car. As I warmed it up, I could see the guy just jackhammering away across the street.

I drove down a couple of blocks, then did a u-turn. No one else was around. I lowered my passenger side window as I headed back up the block.

Still no one around. Just the guy with the jackhammer, drilling away. I got closer.

I slowed as I got closer.

Point, press, Flash.

I saw him start to slump over as I reached the corner and turned right. I could still hear the jackhammer. I headed to the Main Library.

Yesterday, I received a news release for a Donate Life Month Ceremony to be held on Wednesday at JFK Memorial Hospital in Edison, and I wanted to print out a copy.

(Digression...April is Donate Life Month and, as a recent volunteer with The Sharing Network, I had helped in setting up this event. The mayors of both Edison and Woodbridge, where I live, will be issuing a joint Proclamation and raising the Donate Life flag in front of the hospital. I was asked to attend as a representative of the recipient community)

When I got to the library, and pulled into the back lot facing the back of the high school, I noticed an older man leaning against the car next to where I parked.

I went inside, signed out a computer with Internet access, and printed out the news release. When I got back to my car, I noticed that the old man was still beside his car. I lowered my window and backed out so that he was on my side. It was still early and this back lot was empty except for the 2 of us.

There was no one around. There were no cars passing by.

Point, press, Flash.

I drove out of the lot, circling the library, and wound up on St. George's Avenue. I decided to drive over to JFK Hospital and check it out.

It only took about 15 minutes to get there, and I turned right up the drive towards the Main Entrance. The ceremony would be held at the flagpole just outside.The only problem I could see was that the parking situation was terrible. I drove around the complex for another 15 minutes or so without finding a single space. I did notice a sign for valet parking at a cost of only $2.00.

Not having anything else to do, I kept circling the complex and finally found a parking spot behind one of the out buildings. I parked and started walking towards the Main Entrance but realized  that this was just way too far to be walking and decided to come over really early on Wednesday and if I couldn't find a spot, opt for valet parking.

As I turned back, I noticed an electrician's truck parked to my left. The driver was just climbing into the back and had both doors open. I started looking around. There were a number of people walking around, but they looked like they were focused on where they were going. And it was a bright, sunny day. I held the Flasher down by my leg.

I passed close by the back of the truck, looking around as I did. No one was looking towards me and the driver had his back to me.

Point, press, Flash.

I got back in my car and headed home. I'd scouted out the area I would be in on Wednesday.

I was prepared.

Inconveniences................

When you're a little kid, you have no real sense of time. It's generalized. Meal times, bath times, bed times - they're controlled by your parents. Summer time, winter time, inside or outside playtime - those are controlled by the weather. Either way, it's out of your control and all you know is that every day is as long as it needs to be.

Then you go to school. And they teach you how to tell time. And you realize that your life is more regimented then you knew. All those times your parents controlled are based on the clock.

That's when you begin to grow up.

And you go through school...and you get a job....maybe you get married and have children....and you think there aren't enough hours in the day. And you look forward to that time that you can finally retire and have all that free time to do whatever you want.

It doesn't always work that way.

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I had that potential carcinoma removed last week. It was right below my left eye, close to my nose. For a couple of days, I had a bandage covering it. Now, it's just a huge scab that I apply anti-bacterial cream to twice a day. Since I wear glasses, it's partly hidden, but I have to admit that I'm self-conscious about it and imagine it to be larger then it is

Add that to the fact that I'd spent a lot of time last month doing some volunteer work, only to have it go to waste (or so I imagine) and you might be able to imagine my aggravation. I'd incurred some expenses, and a great deal of inconvenience, and I was itching to do something.

Today, with the sun shining brightly for the first time in a few days, I got in the car and headed for Monmouth County. A nice day for a drive and oldies on the radio. The first place I stopped was a library in Hazlet.

There's a parking lot that it shares with the Municipal Building, but there's also another lot around to the side to handle the overflow. (The library doesn't actually get any overflow, but the Municipal Building contains the Police Department and the local court, so a couple of times a week they do). I drove into the overflow lot first. It's hidden from the main road by a stand of trees, and faces the back of a small office building on the next street. I saw an older man on the connecting path to the library. I pulled into a nearby spot and waited. There were only 3 other cars there. The old man approached one to my left and opened his trunk. I backed out.

I backed up far enough so that he was between my car and the office building, lowering my window as I did.

Point, press, Flash.

He slumped forward, hidden by the open trunk, and I drove away.

I headed for Middletown, and the library there.

I usually only check out the sale books in the main room, but I decided to wander through the stacks. (For those of you who don't know library vernacular, "the stacks" is how we refer to the rows and rows of books). That's when I saw the young man.

It was pretty empty in the library, but I decided against an Event here. I was pretty far back in the building and I didn't want to take the chance of anyone stumbling on him while I was still in there. I went back to my car and drove away.

As I headed back, on the spur of the moment, I turned off and headed for Sayreville. They have a library there that I haven't been to in a while.

There was some construction going on, but they were open. I wondered around for a minute or two and then I saw her. She was sitting in a chair by one of the windows on the far side, reading a book.

I passed her and walked around through the nearby stacks. No one was in this area. I came up on her from behind again.

Point, press, Flash.

She sagged forward and I proceeded towards the front of the library.

I left, got in my car, and sat there for a while. No one came running out. No police or ambulance came in.

I drove away.

For now, I could forgive the inconveniences.