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- ! bofh is back ! quantum optics
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- WARNING: Some parts of the previous message may depict scenes of gratuitous
- violence, use words your mother wouldn't approve of, cause cancer, refer to
- you or persons you know in a derogatory manner, use bad grammar or plead for
- you to send your Pentax K1000 to: Simon Travaglia, Information & Technology,
- University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. It happens.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- QUANTUM OPTICS (1-5)
-
- It's an early morning and I'm waiting for my bus to oblivion, return ticket of
- course.
-
- Beside me in the queue is a stunning blonde, the like of which is only lied
- about in cheap novels as the detectives never-attained love interest. The
- fool.
-
- I glance over at what she's reading and freeze. "Quantum Optic Theory". A huge
- book, 300 pages and least, and *really* small writing with NO pictures. I
- glance away as quick as I can, hoping she didn't spot me looking her way, my
- mind screaming "INTELLECTUAL THREAT!" at the top of it's pasty alcohol-soaked
- lungs.
-
- "You like Physics?" she asks, keenly interested. I hate good looking women who
- do that. She doesn't even FAKE dumbness, she's that sure of herself. (They're
- brainy on purpose you know. Some people pretend that you're born with it, but
- I know better, it's all an act, they're brainy because they like to be.)
-
- So now I'm on the horns of a dilemma. Big Horns, Big Dilemma. Dinosaur Horns
- maybe. I can tell the truth, that I know about as much about Quantum Optics as
- she knows about Peruvian jungle Vine climbing (although she's probably got a
- book about that in her bag as well) *OR* I can try and fake it. If I fake it,
- I'll have to skilfully turn the topic from Quantum thingies onto something I
- have the remotest chance of holding my head above conversation water in.
-
- I go for the fake.
-
- "Yeah, physics is great. You know, Quantum theory is such a universal thing.
- Do you know that I always think about it when I'm watching the Lakers play"
-
- ...So smooth I won't need oiling for a year...
-
- "You're a lakers fan too?!!"
-
- SHIT!! I went for the sports option because it usually kills a conversation
- with a woman within two sentences, (leaving *her* feeling awkward about her
- ignorance) but this is really putting the pressure on. For a start I haven't
- watched the Lakers for a couple of months. BACKUP RESERVE-PLAN STRATEGY!
-
- "Yeah, the Botswana Lakers, what a team!"
-
- (What a mindnumblingly awesome save!)
-
- "YOU'RE A BOTSWANA LAKERS FAN TOO!!! I WAS THERE FOR A YEAR ON A STUDENT
- EXCHANGE PROGRAM IN 1982"
-
- So I'm fucked. It could be the start of a meaningful but exhausting
- relationship, or I could just say nothing and step out in front of the bus when
- it comes.
-
- I choose the bus, nothing's worse than being caught lying by an attractive
- woman. Except being caught lying by my mum of course, but that's a universal
- fear. ("It's not what that, it's the lies that hurt" (just kill me now))
-
- The bus trundles up and I step out, but the bastard driving it is new on the
- job and hasn't got the common courtesy to run me down.
-
- "What were you doing? You could have been killed!" the blonde pipes up
-
- "Yeah, well.."
-
- .. I see my chance for a fantastic super-save ..
-
- ".. it doesn't really matter for me, as I have only 2 months to live anyway..."
-
- THE SYMPATHY VOTE!! A LATE SAVE FROM THIS PLAYER WHO TILL NOW WAS STARTING TO
- WORRY THE VIEWING MILLIONS, BUT NOW HE'S ON THE HOME STRETCH AND POURING IT ON!
-
- "OH NO! Why? How?"
-
- "I've got... "
-
- My mind whirs madly as I try and think of something really disgusting that
- isn't sexually transmissible but that I can use to explain my failing memory of
- Quantums and Botswana..
-
- ".. Altzheimers.."
-
- "BUT THAT'S NOT FATAL, NOT NOW, THEY HAVE A PLAN TO PUT THE DISEASE INTO
- REMISSION, I WAS JUST READING ABOUT IT THIS MORNING!"
-
- (typical)
-
- ".. and a tumor the size of a Brussl Sprout in behind my left eye..."
-
- "CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOGRAPHY HAVE ADVANCED SO FAR IN THE LAST COUPLE OF
- MONTHS, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO BE CURED, LET ME TAKE YOU TO THE CAT SCANNER AT MY
- WORK TO GET A LATE DIAGNOSIS, IT COULD BE WORTH THE CHANCE!!!!"
-
- (That fucking bus driver has a shitload to answer for)
-
- "Well, if you think it would help, but frankly >cough< I doubt it. That two
- months was an outside guess, anything from two months down to two hours the
- doctor said... ...this morning"
-
- "THEN WE'VE GOT NO TIME TO LOSE, QUICK I'LL GET US A TAXI"
-
- I lurch to the taxi, not wanting to appear ungrateful, acting the dying
- selfless bastard to the full, milking it for all it's worth, and wouldn't you
- know it, the prick of a taxi driver has those doors that lock when the car's in
- motion so you can't leap out into the path of an oncoming articulated lorry to
- save yourself embarrasement, IF and ONLY IF, you're lucky enough to spot one in
- the first place.
-
- "Oh shit! I haven't got any money for a cab, can you pay?" she says
-
- "Why not, I won't be needing it anyway where I'm going.."
-
- "Oh, don't be like that. Driver - The Lyndon Institute for Medicine"
-
- "You sure lady, that's way across town?"
-
- "Yes, of course I'm sure, this is an emergency"
-
- I think the window's probably not armourglass, so if I smash it open with my
- head, I could probably get out and into the path of that lorry with a bit of
- luck...
-
- "Hey buddy" the taxi driver calls "You wanna put your seat belt on?"
-
- Now I KNOW that I'm completely stuffed - I've got the ONLY TAXI DRIVER IN THE
- *WORLD* WHO MAKES YOU WEAR A BLOODY SEAT BELT!!"
-
- Stuff it, I buckle in and resign myself to fate in the hopes that I can change
- the Cat Scanner settings from "Scan" to "Cook 20 pounds of Steak Mince in 1.5
- seconds, burning most of it" when no-one's watching.
-
- I also decide to enjoy the ride and be nice with it.
-
- "Hey, thank's for all your care and attention, you know you're a pretty good
- sort..."
-
- THEN IT HITS ME, THE ANSWER TO MY PROBLEMS!!
-
- ".. for a blonde chick.."
-
- I wait for the explosion, but none comes.
-
- "Did you here what I said about you being good for a blonde chick?"
-
- "Oh yes. Your poor mind must be so garbled by your tumour that it's normal,
- balanced outlook is tainted by archaic sexual stereotypes."
-
- She's too good for me, I pin all my hopes on the Scanner using microwaves and
- lapse into silence.
-
- So we get to the Lyndon Institute, after a scenic cab ride involving crossing
- town three times (only because the driver was taking the quick route) and
- wouldn't you know it, it's one of those HUGE places that have more medical
- research underway than the combined third world. I can see that my "dying"
- story's going to hold about as much water as an 80 year old's bladder, so I'm
- going to have to think of something fast.
-
- Fast is, of course, my middle name.
-
- We roll up the steps, me stumbling and coughing the while, trying all the time
- to remember the name of that doctor. You know the one.
-
- I get express service to the X-Ray room first off for a couple of diagnostic
- xrays leading up to the Scan. On the way, I palm a scalpel and pop the blade
- out of it.
-
- They chuck me into the perfectly harmless X-Ray machine, then retreat behind
- the Armageddon-proof Lead screen. "No more rays than sunshine" they say as
- they buzz the profile of my head. While they're opening the screen door, I
- pull the scalpel blade from behind my ear. They re-arrange my head for a
- frontal shot and then retreat back behind the screen, during which time I stick
- the scalpel blade, side-on, to the back of my head with some gum. They buzz me
- and I grab the blade and stash it in a pocket.
-
- Blondie comes in and starts orbiting the radiographer in the hopes that it will
- speed up the development process some. Meantime I become the cheery poor
- bastard who has come to terms with his imminent demise.
-
- "What the hell" I say "I'd die for a coke. Really. Ha ha ha"
-
- One is delivered in .003 seconds.
-
- I keep up appearances except when I catch blondy out of the corner of my eye
- glancing at me. Then, "completely oblivious of her attention" I sigh deeply
- and look out the window at the Sun, sniff slightly, and pull myself together.
-
- Works every time. If they think they've caught you in an unguarded moment,
- they think it's the true you.
-
- The radiographer comes back with the X-rays and there's a lot of hurried
- whispering with blondy.
-
- "Simon?" she calls.
-
- I wander over, fresh-faced and innocent, making a brave play of it.
-
- "Yes?"
-
- "Simon, have you ever been operated on before?"
-
- "Well, yes, when my tumour was first diagnosed they did some kind of
- exploratory or something where I had to get all my hair shaved off. It wasn't
- fun at all. But my surgeon helped me through it, he was such a character.."
-
- "Oh? And who was that?"
-
- "Dr Brain Analpeeper, a great guy"
-
- The room went dead quiet, as it always does when someone mentions the worst
- surgeon in medical history..
-
- "Not Dr Analpeeper at Landsdown?"
-
- "You know him! He was such a great man! And I don't believe for a minute all
- those things they said about him. He was a true gentleman. He calmed my fears
- about the operation completely. Why, he even took me drinking the night
- before the operation as a bit of a fling. What a night! We must have got back
- to the hospital about 6am!"
-
- "You mean he discharged you from the hospital on the night before your
- operation?"
-
- "Oh no, we went up to his office and drank there!"
-
- "And what time was your operation?"
-
- "Oh, I dunno, sometime about 9 I think"
-
- "And exactly what was he looking for?"
-
- "Oh I don't know it was something technical with a really long name"
-
- "Simon, come over here and sit down"
-
- "Why? What's the matter? Hell, it can't be any worse can it? Ha ha "
-
- My conscience is trying to revive itself so it can be properly disgusted at me
- for twisting the knife like this, but my ego slips it a mental kick to the
- groin and it shuts up.
-
- "Simon, as far as we can see there was no reason to operate on you at all. We
- see no xray evidence of a tumor. Of course, we'll run a CT scan to be sure.."
-
- "SO I'M CURED!"
-
- "No, not exactly. I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this, but, there
- appears to be an item lodged in your brain. A scalpel blade to be precise."
-
- "Well, that's no trouble is it, I mean hell, we could leave it there or maybe I
- could get it taken out?"
-
- "Ordinarily, we would operate to remove it, but it looks to be lodged at a
- junction of nerve endings, and any mistake could leave you paralysed or even
- worse, kill you!"
-
- "So that's it then, my brain's just a time bomb?" >sniff<
-
- "Simon, I don't know what to say, it's so unexpected.."
-
- I check to see there's no guys in the room before I pull the sure-score move. I
- start sobbing.
-
- "SO THAT'S IT, I'M REALLY GOING TO DIE..."
-
- "Well, not necessarily. With an altered life-style you could live out a long
- and fruitious life"
-
- "YOU MEAN LIFE IN A BED!! NEVER GOING OUT AND EATING PASTE TO STOP MY JAW
- MUSCLES PUTTING PRESSURE ON MY BRAIN!!"
-
- "Uh, well, Simon, I don't know exactly how you would..."
-
- "I'D RATHER BE DEAD!!! HELL, I WOULD BE DEAD FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES!"
-
- "I don't think.." she starts, but it's no good, I'm reeling her in and she
- doesn't even know it.
-
- "No, I suppose it was always going to happen. Oh well. It's just..."
-
- Killer move. She has to know what I was going to say. She probably doesn't
- really want to ask, but she's got no choice, it's that or be a heartless
- clinical observer...
-
- "Just what?" she asks. (I TOLD YOU SO)
-
- He sweeps the pad clean, he roughs up the mound, he scuffs up the ball, and
- then.... DELIVERS...
-
- "..I just don't want to die alone."
-
- STEEEERIKE ONE!
-
- Her brow furrows, but there's still a chance of rejection
-
- "I always thought it would be different. I never thought I'd die a virgin"
-
- STEEEEEEEEERKIE TWO
-
- He eyes get a little teary, now for the follow through.
-
- "Oh well, it's like they say, you can't always get what you want. I spose I'd
- best go and see my Mum, she'd want me to be with her..."
-
- SSTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERIKE THREE! SHE'S OUT!
-
- "No you won't! It can't be like this!"
-
- YES YES YES YES YES!!!!
-
- "We'll operate!"
-
- NO NO NO NO NO!!!!
-
- SHIT!
-
- Stuffed again is what I am.
-
- Before I can say "Why don't you and your precious institute take a running leap
- sideways onto a greased hockey stick strategically mounted atop a 16 foot pile
- of sharpened ashtrays" I'm being dragged by blondy and a couple of other
- surgically addicted brain scum towards what will either be my death or my
- transformation into mentally dead. (Read DOS user).
-
- It's time for quick thinking once more.
-
- "WAIT!" I shout at the top of my lungs "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
-
- "Well there's risks of course, but some of them have to be taken if you want to
- lead a long and full life"
-
- "Long and Full?!?." I sigh heavily and work up to plan Q, which has the same
- intended result as A-P, but hopefully will work.
-
- "Tell me, have you ever listened to Henry Rollins?"
-
- "Rollins.. rollins... Oh, isn't he that loud shouting singer?"
-
- Obviously not. The way is clear.
-
- "Well, I suppose you could call him that. But have you ever listened to his
- words? The *essence* of what he's singing is life! Real Life, not 30 year old
- in a wheelchair wetting his pants and dribbling his fish paste out onto his
- lap..."
-
- She's getting hooked, you can tell.
-
- "You mean..."
-
- "Yeah. I want to SHINE. Hey, maybe I won't shine for long, but for once, I'd
- just like to *shine*! I haven't got a hundred years to mess around, so I want
- my time to start right now. I want it to be my time to shine" ["Shine" (c)
- Henry Rollins]
-
- "That's so.." she chokes (sucker) "...so... ...deep"
-
- "Yeah, I guess" (pffft!)
-
- She eats all this up and I'm starting to feel like a complete seal-basher as
- her eyes fill up with tears, but what the hell, I've suffered for this, it's
- time to share something with those around me.
-
- "What are you going to do now?" she asks, oozing pity at every pore
-
- "Well I don't know. I really want to *live* but I guess I've got to take care
- of some stuff, pack up my things and give them to a Relief-Aid shop and go and
- see my Mum, she'd like to see me before I go..."
-
- >Pregnant Pause<
-
- "Look, what you just said, about shining - did you mean that?"
-
- "Yeah, but I guess I've just got to look after all these things, reality is
- such a bummer"
-
- I can see the gears turning: Should-I, Shouldn't-I, Should-I, Shouldn't-I, so I
- ease a bit more pressure on.
-
- >cough<
-
- >cough< >cough<
-
- I work out a couple of those really awful wretchy coughs that sound like I'm
- backflushing my scrotum, and the deal is done.
-
- She takes a deep breath and: "LOOK, I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG YOU'VE GOT, BUT HOW
- ABOUT TONIGHT, YOU AND I JUST SHINE?! WE'LL GO EVERYWHERE DO EVERYTHING? WHAT
- DO YOU SAY??!?!!"
-
- "I.. I don't know what... I..."
-
- "OKAY, LET'S DO IT, COME ON. FIRST STOP YOUR PLACE, YOU HAVE TO GET READY!"
-
- She waves a cab and milliseconds we're at my place. Cooo-el.
-
- I, in a fit of coughing 'accidentally' spill ketchup all down her front, so she
- goes to the bathroom to clean up. I flip the bathroom cameras on just in case
- the night doesn't pan out. Boy Scouts - Be PREPARED!
-
- I decide to play it cool on the dying thing in case she gets scared that I'll
- pop my clogs during the main event. Instead I mix some brandy with some
- custard powder and shove it in a glass.
-
- She comes out all clean and slightly see-through and I apologise and tell her
- that my medicine should clear it up. I down the glass before she can
- investigate and dump it in the sink.
-
- "Smells like Brandy and Custard" she laughs, intelligently. If this keeps up
- I'm going to get a real inferiority complex which won't help the performance of
- the lead act... GOT TO KEEP HER OFF INTELLIGENT STUFF.
-
- "WELL" I say "I'M READY WHEN YOU ARE!!!!"
-
- "You know" she croons, sidling up to me "we could just start the night here...
- ...and shine"
-
- YES YES YES YES YES!!!!
-
- "You mean..." I play Doofus for 0.1 microseconds, then reel her in. "Well, I'm
- not really..."
-
- She jumps me, as I knew she would. I'M A LUCKY BASTARD!
-
- "I studied 47 different ways of making love..." she purrs.
-
- Impressive.
-
- "...I made up a couple of new ones as well"
-
- More Impressive
-
- "... involving peanut oil and 210 grit sandpaper"
-
- Well she marry me?
-
- "I find I have a fascination with the study of sexual technique"
-
- Huh?
-
- "..Prurience has always been an interesting topic to me...
-
- BRAIN-TALK!!!! I'm getting alert signals from below. Abandon Ship warnings.
-
- "Ssshhh" I say "Don't talk. Let's just *hold* each other"
-
- Better
-
- "Is that better" she asks
-
- "Mmmm"
-
- "I find that close contact prior to the manipulation of the genitals to the
- point of sexual climax helps to stimulate that climax, allowing it to acheive a
- higher plateau of pleasure"
-
- I understood pleasure, but by then it was too late. By then the main contender
- had packed up it's bags and gone home.
-
- "Is something wrong?" she asks.
-
- LIKE I'M GOING TO TELL HER AND RISK THE TEENIEST, TINIEST POSSIBILITY THAT SHE
- WOULD, AT SOME TIME, EVEN IN THE REMOTEST FUTURE MENTION IT TO SOMEONE...
-
- I obviously need performance ehancing drugs (booze) or earplugs, but neither
- are on hand.
-
- "STOP!" I shout "I can't do this! It's so... so..."
-
- "So casual?" she asks, interrupting my mental blockage.
-
- "Yes. I feel that perhaps we're moving too fast in this relationship..."
-
- "You're right" she admits "Perhaps we should get to know each other first. I
- tell you what, how about you come back to my place and we'll..."
-
- !
-
- I want to get out of this situation *REALLY* bad so it's going to have to be
- the guilt-ridden-male approach.
-
- "I.. Well, I feel sort of guilty that I..."
-
- "NO NO!" she cries "It was *MY* idea. Now you come with me! My sisters would
- love to meet you!"
-
- Sisters?!??
-
- "..Well, I suppose I could.."
-
- "Great! Lets get going! You'll like my sisters, they're great fun. They kid
- me about being the brainy one of the triplets, you know how it goes.."
-
- Triplets.
-
- Two dumb ones.
-
- THERE IS A GOD!
-
- Quicker than you can say "Put on your scoring shirt and meet me at the taxi"
- I'd put on my scoring shirt and met her in the taxi.
-
- Eventually we get to her place and she introduces me to her sisters. I decide
- to make a timely exit to the toilet so blondy can relate my sad circumstances
- to blondy2 and blondy3 and put them in a "giving" mood.
-
- Five minutes later, I come back as the poor bastard and decide to get rid of
- the opposition. I throw an impromptu coughing fit and fall to the floor
- clutching my stomach.
-
- Sympathy all round.
-
- "Oh dear >cough!<, I forgot my medicine..."
-
- They exchange worried glances but this is one number I know well, all fourteen
- verses and *both* the choruses, and I'm hardly likely to stop at the intro...
-
- "...don't worry" I add selflessly "..it's not too bad, without the medicine
- it'll pass in an hour or so. It's >gasp< not all that painful..."
-
- Blondy practically pops a heart valve grabbing my apartment keys and rushing
- home to get my 'medicine'. It'll be quite a search too, as the nearest thing
- to medicine at my place is Oprah's face on TV Guide, which always leaves a bad
- taste in *my* mouth.
-
- ...Which gives me ample time...
-
- The other two are looking on in a worried fashion.
-
- "Oh, that's right - I have some a couple of tablets in my pocket."
-
- Out of their sight, I shake out a couple of tic-tacs and down them before they
- can get a close look.
-
- Five minutes later I'm in complete form. The girls are perfect, with a
- combined IQ equal to my waist measurement and generous with their attentions.
- After three 'fainting' spells I'm half-carried to a bedroom to lie down till I
- get my strength back.
-
- PLAY BALL!
-
- "You girls, uh, I mean *Women* are so kind, I just..."
-
- "There, there" they whisper soothingly "You just take it easy, and let us take
- care of your every..."
-
- >CRASH!<
-
- The door bursts open and blondy (aka blondy1) rushes in dragging a large
- portion of my home-video equipment.
-
- "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!?!" Blondy demands in a very agitated manner.
-
- Time to think fast....
-
- ...Fast it is then.
-
- "It's a video camera." I say, apparently confused (So smoooooth)
-
- "AND WHERE DID I FIND IT?!" She says, not swayed a jot by my apparent lack of
- knowledge
-
- "In a video shop?" (Two nil)
-
- "NO, BEHIND A TWO WAY MIRROR IN YOUR BATHROOM, WHILST LOOKING FOR YOUR
- MEDICINE!"
-
- Bugger! (Two One)
-
- "Oh, that one. Is that what it looks like? I always wanted to have a look at
- it, but I was afraid I'd upset it or something and ruin the documentation"
-
- "Documentation?" Blondy asks.
-
- Hook, line and sinker. (Three One)
-
- "Of my condition. They wanted to document my decline for future reference and
- so I agreed to let them video me. They tried to make it as unobtrusive as
- possible to get a realistic portrayal so they put them behind mirrors in my
- bathroom and bedroom."
-
- "Oh" (Four One)
-
- There has *GOT* to be some sort of award I can get for this performance. And
- all ad-lib too!!! Now in for the kill.
-
- "Well, I thought its the least I can do. So maybe they can't save me; but at
- least I may help buy someone else a few more precious weeks of life..
- Anything's worth a chance."
-
- Tears well up in Blondy's eyes as she sobs (Five One + Double Word Score) "I'm
- sorry, I thought you.. I mean.. Oh I'm so sorry..."
-
- "Don't be sorry, you weren't to know. For all you knew, I was just some
- pervert who wanted to catch a look at you when you were changing... ..You
- didn't erase the tape did you?"
-
- "No.." (Five NIL)
-
- "Good, there might be some good footage on that, and it would be a shame if it
- were lost to medical science."
-
- "You're so thoughtful!" Blondy2 and Blondy3 chime simulataneously. (Blondy was
- right about these two, slower than airline baggage claim)
-
- Reel in time....
-
- > To be discontinued? <
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- WARNING: Some parts of the previous message may depict scenes of gratuitous
- violence, use words your mother wouldn't approve of, cause cancer, refer to
- you or persons you know in a derogatory manner, use bad grammar or plead for
- you to send your Pentax K1000 to: Simon Travaglia, Information & Technology,
- University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. It happens.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Some people in this department wouldn't recognize subtlety if it hit them on
- the head.
-