I wasn't sitting there long. They had stuck me in a cell with a metal bench along each of the three walls. I was the only one in there which I thought was strange. Especially considering how much traffic was going up and down the corridor outside my cell door. I sat there, stared at walls, and wished I had my Bible to read. Then I tried praying but I couldn't focus. At least the stupid cuffs were gone. I wondered if Sharon missed me. I wondered if I would get GUN back. I wondered if any of my stuff would still be at the house where I left it when I got out. I was going to miss SWORD. I wondered if they were going to feed me. I made a point of not wondering what it was going to be like when I had to take my first shower.
Lost in wonderment I was startled when the cell door opened and a skinny Hispanic Sheriff said "Okay super star! Time to go." I just stared at him. He said it again "Get up! Your fan club is here." I got up and went out the door with the Sheriff following along behind me. "Okay. Make a right up here." Down the linoleum paved hallway I went. I ended up in a room with another Sheriff behind yet another room divider. The one that had let me out told the desk Sheriff "Here's the Safeway Killer" and left. The desk officer looked up at me, studied me, then said "Sign the paperwork. I'll get your stuff." He unlocked the door to the room behind him and went down an aisle. The wall the door was set in, as was the door itself, was made of steel grating. I sniffed the air. It smelled like a Goodwill store, fast food, and old farts. A smell I decided I didn't want to breath again if I had any choice.
I watched as he pulled a plastic bin off a shelf, check something on it against the sheet of paper he held, and then pull it down and carry it over to where I stood. I looked in and saw my stuff. GUN, my belt, my wallet and 42 cents. As I signed the paperwork he said "We left the gun loaded except for the caps. We took them off." I looked closer. Yep. The caps were in there too. I picked one up to put it back on, he grabbed my hand hard, and said "Don't even think about it until you're in the parking lot." So I put them in my pocket instead. "That better?" I asked.
"Yeah."
I began threading my belt back through the loops all the while conscious that his eyes were on me. Then I buckled on the holster and put GUN back in his nest. I looked up at him. He was still staring at me. He saw that I was done and said "Head out the door then make a right. Your legal team is waiting for you." I had no idea what he was talking about so I said "Thanks" and turned to leave. I made it almost to the door when he said "You really try to shut down them self checkout things at Safeway?"
"Yes I did."
I waited. I knew he had more. He did.
"I heard what you said about them. You're right."
I smiled at him and said "I know."
The only use I have found for the self-service robots at Slaveway is to break a $100 bill in the middle of the night or weekend. Buy a candy bar or something you would buy anyway and like magic: Four twenties and some garage sale money. No checker looking at you sideways (how'd he get some real spending money while I am so broke?) and no link to you personally unless you use the Slaveway Customer Monitoring Card. Don't even think about putting a bad $100 into one of those machines.
ReplyDeleteYes, useless & evil.
Cheers.
Don't forget to stock a few ammo cans of US Nickels ($194 per M-60 can) as a hedge against increasing metals prices and hyperinflation. Coinflation.com says that the Mint pays more than $0.05 to make a nickel! In a gun safe, a $1000 in nickels is good ballast. Between you and the street, nickels in cans are a good barrier against small arms fire. I've been getting 20 rolls a week for a while. M-60 cans have gone from $4.99 to $9.99 each!
ReplyDeleteCheers.
pdxr13,
ReplyDeleteI like those m-60 cans. Any of those metal ammo cans are great.
He's converting souls and reaching minds, one at a time. Fun to read as always, nova. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Nova,
ReplyDeleteSome of the smaller 'NetBooks can fit inside an M-60 can with room for the charger. If padded with some closed-cell camping foam, this is a waterproof sturdy package.
On the precious metals (more precious than copper/lead/nickel/steel) front, I just got a Mexican-made belt buckle in an antique store that was marked .925/Sterling. It was marked $5.00, but was discounted another 25% from the dealer. It felt pretty chunky, and when I got it home it measured 103 grams. That's $54 in scrap! The work is very detailed and some cowboy will appreciate the applied horse-head and horseshoe, so I'll price it high and see what happens.
It's time to get a new business card printed: "Rufus Thirteen, small scale arbitrage and electrical consulting, Portland Oregon and the Greater Willamette Valley".
The travel trailer was 72-hour tow tagged last Friday. Why do I bother to pay the State $90/year for current tags when a City can decide to declare a vehicle "unsuitable for parking on a public right-of-way"? Rather than fight with the "City That Works" clipboard-girl (with armed deputy Sheriff minutes away), I pulled the bug-out trailer into the back yard though the dirt alley. Thank goodness for hard summer soil, but even so it took all day, a 2000 pound come-along winch and a big strong buddy.
Stopped by NorthWest Armory on hwy 99E this morning on the way back from Gwill Binz. They had a Ruger Blackhawk in .44Mag Stainless Steel 5.5" barrel. Ooooh. I was shopping for a used holster for a Blackhawk, no luck. Gun needs a holster, not to carry in pants belt or grocery sack. For 'scoped guns, Leupold makes a bore-sight accessory called "Zero Point", which are so good that every store in town is sold-out and NWA was the only one who would take my money and promise "next Thursday". Being able to adjust a scope into a boresight that fits into a vest pocket will be a good thing when ammunition is even more short than now.
Cheers.
FSHB, Thanks! Glad to see you are still reading
ReplyDeletePDXR13, Nice deal on the belt buckle. I like them old style ones.
Yeah, my county can be real dicks about that too.