Part 8Roger has a steady routine. He uses the LTD to get around town, and if you visited his house you wouldn’t see his Prius. He’s not sure where he parked it. It’s not in the garage or the driveway. He doesn’t miss it, though, and hasn’t thought about it in weeks. He shops for Continue reading

part 7 Roger mechanically transferred his groceries from his cart onto the moving belt at the grocery checkout line. He zoned out while shopping, just picking the usual packages from the usual places on the shelves. He barely noticed when the elderly clerk called for a price check. But then she asked him where he Continue reading

part 6 Roger drove the LTD to the scrap yard the next day. The place was on state route 24, surrounded by rusty chain link fencing. The gate was open with a wooden shack just inside. A hand-painted “office” sign was beside the open door. He parked beside the office and went in. The walls Continue reading

part 5 Roger drove home, parked the LTD in the street, moved his Prius, and pulled the LTD into the driveway. But he didn’t put it in the garage. He still felt uncomfortable about the garage, although he couldn’t quite say why. Regardless, he was starting to like the LTD, gas hog that it was. Continue reading

part 4 Roger couldn’t think of anyone who’d want to prank him, particularly in this rather tasteless way. Sure, he’d sort of gone into a shell for a long time, but who would stage an intervention? He didn’t have any relatives he knew of, and no close friends who’d take an interest. And anyone who Continue reading

part 3 Roger was suddenly sure that whoever was pranking him must be hidden nearby, maybe even filming him. He jerked upright and looked around. But no, how would anyone have known when he was going to open the garage? He hadn’t done that in years, and he’d just had the idea out of the Continue reading

Part 2 Roger’s days had become unremembered fogs of simple chores (the house was at least clean and neat) and reading. Every month he ventured out less often, only when he ran out of something he couldn’t find a substitute for. He exchanged pleasantries with the supermarket clerks, and nodded in a friendly way to Continue reading

Part 1 It was a comfortable house, if not modern or luxurious. They made do with air conditioning units precariously mounted in the windows during the hot humidity of New England summer, and the vintage oil burning furnace still managed to keep it livable in the winter. Roger wasn’t sure when the house had been Continue reading

From Apple, of all vendors! This new system seems to represent a whole new industrial design, too. They don’t say much about the technical specs, but maybe that’s still on the way. No prices yet either. It’s a fascinating departure, and a return to some old-school tech — it has a trackball! And it’s hard Continue reading