Good Things Are Coming

The joy (or curse) of laptops is that you can take them practically anywhere. No longer does one need to feel limited to his or her traditional workspace via desk and/or cubicle. In a society that has an ingrained desire to be 'plugged in' every waking hour, this convenience is almost a necessity. I, sadly, must admit to being a product of said society. Several days without the World Wide Web creates a sort of void in my technologically-deprived soul that can only be satiated by a trip to digg.com to get my fill of news, or maybe quench my social-stalking thirst through facebook like 200 million other individuals in the world (I didn't make that number up). The point being, we as 21st-century citizens of mother Earth need our virtual world almost as much as we need the real one around us. Hell, I even know of a particular aquaintance of mine who insists on taking their (ambiguous pronoun for increased anonymity!) laptop to the toilet with them when nature calls. Quod erat demonstrandum.

Alas, my initial point has been lost in this sudden ramble of computer obsession. I am currently typing this blog update whilst lying in my newly-relocated abode on a warm, comfy bed. Will and I have just moved into his mother's beach-side apartment while she is away in America for several months. And although the move comes with many perks, a desk is not one of them. However, there is certainly something to be said about the particular satisfaction that comes from operating such an advanced piece of equipment in just my briefs (rereading this sentence I am literally laughing out loud at the potential innuendos), sprawled out on a glorious, firm mattress. I think these neo-business model corporations like Google should take note and do away with employee cubicles in exchange for goose down comforters. It's just crazy enough to work.

Speaking of crazy, I'll segue into the next, entirely unrelated part of my update with a recent incident. Earlier today I was walking along a busy street in a local shopping area when an older man stepped up next to me and said, "How are you enjoying your stay here?" I was, as you can imagine, a little thrown off by the question. I looked over at him thinking I'd been approached by someone I knew and was surprised to find I had absolutely no idea who he was. I assumed I had mistaken his question for meaning my stay in the local shopping area, so I just replied, "Fine, thank you." He then said to me, "Enjoying being back?" Now I was confused. Somehow this man knew I wasn't from the area (granted, I suppose my three accented words could have given that much away) and that this wasn't my first time in New Zealand. The strangest thing of all was that I didn't at any point in this conversation think to ask if I knew him from somewhere. We had some brief small talk about the economy (what else) and I even commented on the fact that I was from Ohio, curious as if he'd somehow know that too. But when I said Ohio, he simply replied "Well hello to you too." This response left me more confused, but my best guess is he was making a joke, since Ohayou (pronounced O-ha-yoh) is essentially "Good Morning" in Japanese. Needless to say, the conversation was getting more bizarre by the second, but I was strangely enjoying it. Me and this odd man with a bad limp were talking as if we really knew each other - not just a quick comment on the weather with a stranger. As our conversation was coming to a close (I was about to turn down a street) I mentioned that I was staying with a friend that I'd gone to King's College with 8 years ago. His reply: "Ah yes, I know. You would get off the train here in town occasionally." It seems insane, but at the time I just commented that he was correct (he was) and then I said goodbye. As I was walking away the last thing he yelled to me was, "Enjoy the rest of your time here. Good things are coming your way!"

There are moments we all look back on that we have to ask ourselves if they really happened. If this particular one wasn't so fresh in my mind I'd have to ask myself exactly that. My rational side just wants to write this whole incident off as a very coincidental conversation with a man who was in all likelihood a bit of a crazie, albeit a nice and sociable one. The other side is left wondering if I should go buy a lottery ticket, since if by some divine intervention a nice fellow on the street just truly prophesized that good things were around the bend (a joke, of course - the lottery ticket bit I mean). Honestly though, I guess what surprises me the most is just looking back on the conversation, awe-struck at how it all went down so nonchalant and effortless and it wasn't until I was left standing in the street with a look of vast confusion that I began to wonder.

I'm truly as confused as you, dear reader. And to be honest, I'm not really all that concerned. It makes a great story (in my opinion) and the worst case scenario is I did just have an interesting talk with a guy who didn't quite have all his marbles left. To be even more honest, I have absolutely no clue what the best case scenario is. I'd like to think I'll know around the bend.

Comfy,
John