The Pocket

Some friends had a dog that gave birth to some puppies. A few months later, they were finding homes for the dogs and persuaded me to take one of them. I named him Curtis after a friend and former coworker. I remember giving him the news. “I got a dog and named him after you,” […]

The Sliver

I was doing some hiking in San Francisquito Canyon, exploring an area of local historical significance as it is the site of a 1928 dam collapse.  After exploring the ruins in the canyon and getting back to my truck, I noticed a path leading up to what was referred to as a “wing wall” which […]

The Glasses

I lose reading glasses.  A lot of them.  My routine, after losing all the pair that I own, is to go to The Dollar Tree and buy 20 or so pairs of them and hope to hell the supply will last me a month.  Okay . . .  Maybe I’m exaggerating.  I hope the supply […]

The Mouse

I knew we had at least one critter in the house.  I was sitting at my desk in the office working on something when I saw movement.  I looked to my right and there he was:  A little mouse.  I suppose while working on the computer, my only movement was my fingers typing. Now that […]

The Dump

We were dog sitting for my son’s German Shepard. One morning, after getting dressed, I came into the living room to find the dog sitting in the middle of the room staring at me. “Wanna go out in the front yard and take a dump?” I asked. Within earshot in the kitchen, my wife replied, […]

The Wrong Car

In the late ’90s I found myself in an unusual employment situation. Working for Pacific Bell, I was assigned to a project in Los Angeles that was expectantly terminated, and I was offered a position in the Bay Area, with all travel and living expenses paid for one year. A coworker named Mike received the […]

The Seat

The airplane was stuffed. Everyone was already seated when some guy, obviously late and sweating profusely, comes clambering onto the plane lugging a couple of bags. He scrambles up right next to me in my aisle seat, drops his bags and pulls out a ticket from his shirt pocket and checks it, his eyes darting […]

The Microwave

This is a story that is set back in the mid ’80s. I was working for GTE California at the time, and was on a business trip in Tampa, FL. I don’t recall the particular purpose, but I do remember travelling there with a coworker named Frank. First off, the weather in Florida was not […]