A Glibertarians Exclusive: Things Have Changed I
Mountain View, Tarbos – January 2256
Hector Gomp was a man at odds with the world.
For the first time since he had walked into a Confederate Marines recruiting office way back in 2240, he had nothing to do – no one to report to, no one to answer to. He wasn’t quite sure how to deal with that, so for the time being, he was using his meager savings to do the one peaceable thing he knew he did well: Drink.
The Grugell War was long over. His home for the past ten years, the privateer starship Shade Tree, was destroyed – sucked down a singularity caused by a collapsing drive field, taking the pirate ship Vengeance with it. That incident, as it happened in low orbit over Corinthia well within view of that planet’s primary Skyhook, had cleared the names of Captain Jean Barrett and her crew but left them all unemployed. And clear names or not, the spotty and sometimes morally questionable post-war record of the Shade Tree wasn’t putting its former crew on any “must hire” lists. So now Hector Gomp was on the capital planet of the Confederacy, Tarbos, in the capital city, Mountain View, looking to make a living on his own.
Fortunately, there were other ways for a man of Gomp’s training and talent to make a few bucks. One of those went by the name of Alan Henderson, and he had a $10,000 bounty on his head for numerous acts of computer fraud on Tarbos, New Wichita, Earth and even Forest. “I didn’t know any of the rednecks on Forest even owned computers,” Gomp had muttered on reading that bit of the bounty notice.
Acting on a hunch, Gomp had arrived at the Old Place bar in Mountain View’s Harbor District in the late afternoon, finding a table at the outside beer garden. His size and demeanor discouraged anyone looking for trouble; Gomp was well over two meters tall, nearly ninety kilos of hard muscle, close-cropped red hair and an ear that had been partially removed in a brawl several years before. Gomp refused to have the ear regenerated, as he thought it gave him a dashing air.
The hunch Gomp was acting on was simple: The Old Place was the only business in the Harbor District with an unsecured wireless network, something that should be very valuable to a computer fraudster. Sooner or later, Gomp reasoned, Alan Henderson would show up at the Old Place; all Gomp had to do was hang out, keep a low profile, and wait.
Gomp’s idea of ‘keeping a low profile’ consisted of sitting outside at a table in the beer garden area, with a highball glass full of apple juice on ice – passing as whiskey – in front of him, a Harbor District popsy on his lap and another leaning on him from the next chair. He had one eye locked on the only way into the outdoor venue, that being the doorway to the bar. Gomp had dressed carefully for the day’s work, the result of which was him looking like he had dressed very carelessly; an ancient, stained shipboard coverall and a baggy old Marine Corps field jacket that neatly concealed his 10mm revolver.
The popsy on his lap turned and smiled. “Sugar,” she said, her eyes wide and yet somehow still hard and calculating, “…are you sure you don’t want to get out of here? We could have all kinds of fun somewhere quieter.”
“Maybe later,” Gomp demurred. Under other circumstances he may have taken the girl up on her offer, but today, he had work to do.
Just then, the work walked in.
Alan Henderson was a little older than the image on the holo provided by the Mountain View Security Department, but it was unmistakably him. Just to be sure, Gomp picked up his small personal datapad from the table in front of him, tapped the screen, and refreshed his memory.
Yup. That’s him.
Gomp watched as Henderson chose a table at the edge of the seedy ‘beer garden’, ordered a glass of sparkling water, and produced a large, obviously custom datapad. Moving his chair so his back was to the room, he extended the pad’s laser keyboard and started tapping away.
“Excuse me, girls,” Gomp said. “Gotta talk to a man about a horse.”
“A what?”
He stood, making the popsy on his lap slide off. He dropped a few coins on the table to cover the drinks; the silver rang sweetly on the wood tabletop. Henderson had made the mistake of keeping his back turned to the patrons, and so Gomp was able to walk right up behind him.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked Henderson.
“Actually, I do,” Henderson protested. “I’m really very busy…”
“Yeah, I know. You’re Alan Henderson, and you’re probably setting up your next ripoff, right?”
Henderson’s eyes opened wide. “What? Alan Henderson, you say?”
“I say, and you are. You may be good with working rubes on the internets, bub, but you sure aren’t good at keeping a low profile.” Gomp pulled a chair up to the table and sat down. “I mean, you didn’t even wear some dark glasses, much less a fake beard or any of the other crap guys like you generally try to pull off. I mean, what the hell?”
“What’s all this to you, anyway?”
Gomp produced his small personal ‘pad, brought up the bounty notice, and showed it to Henderson. “That’s what it is to me,” he said companionably. “You’re worth ten grand, ten thousand Confederate dollars, paid on delivery to the nearest Security office. Now, you can come along quietly, or you can be dragged out by your collar. Pick one, sport. I ain’t got all night.”
“I don’t think so,” Henderson said. “You know who I work for?”
“What difference does that make?”
Henderson smirked. “You know who Bolivar Taliaferro is?”
“Nope. Don’t give a shit.”
“You should.”
“I don’t. OK, come on, enough of this. Stand up.”
“Can I stow my datapad? You’re supposed to let me bring along personal property, right?”
Gomp nodded and motioned towards the ‘pad. “Go ahead.”
Henderson powered down his ‘pad, folded it, placed it carefully inside his carrying bag…
…then swept a glass of ice water up from the table, threw it in Gomp’s face, and ran for the exit.
“Dammit. Why do they always run?” Gomp knew he could outrun the fraudster, who was dodging between tables, headed for the exit to the alley behind the beer garden, but running wasn’t necessary. Gomp picked up an empty beer mug, wound up and let fly.
The beer mug hit Henderson squarely on the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. Gomp walked casually up as the fraudster was lying on the ground, moaning.
“Told you,” Gomp told him. “You could have come along easy-like. But no, you had to do it the hard way.
“Fuck you,” Henderson said through gritted teeth. “When my boss finds out about this… There won’t be any place you can get far enough away that Bolivar Taliaferro won’t be able to track you down. He looks after his people. You just landed in a whole bunch of trouble.”
“Shut up, already.” Gomp kneeled, dragged Henderson’s hands behind his back and fasted on a pair of simple steel handcuffs. He sensed someone walking up behind him.
“Well,” a feminine voice said. “You beat me to that one, Gomp.”
Gomp grinned. He looked over his shoulder at the speaker: A tall, slim, leggy woman around forty, with a dancer’s grace and some of the hardest eyes Gomp had ever seen. She wore a dull yellow coverall and had a red jacket tied by the sleeves around her narrow waist.
Gomp smiled at her. “Sorry, Faye,” he said. “You snooze, you lose.”
“This time,” the woman named Faye snapped. “Next time you won’t be so lucky.” She spun on a spike heel and walked off.
“Come on, sport,” Gomp said. He stood and dragged Henderson to his feet. “Let’s get you turned in. It’s payday.”
“Damn bounty hunters,” Henderson griped. “You should listen to me, man. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Whatever it is,” Gomp told him, “I don’t give a shit. I’ve seen worse. Now come on, on your feet. Let’s go.”
***
A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There’s a woman on my lap and she’s drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin’s eyes
I’m looking up into the sapphire-tinted skies
I’m well dressed, waiting on the last train
Standing on the gallows with my head in a noose
Any minute now I’m expecting all hell to break loose
People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed
Great intro, I am hooked already.
Yup. Right there with ya.
Why does Animal does this to a Geezer? I could be outside in a rocking chair, sitting in the sun, but nooooooooooooo…
Same.
I’m in. Laughed out loud a couple times.
Mug to the noggin, I could see that very clearly. I even made the mug one of those heavy false bottomed mugs that bars insist on putting in the freezer.
Cold cocked!
ANIMAL! ANIMAL! ANIMAL!
Animal, I just love your stories, makes me look forward to Mondays. Great stuff.
Far too few stories these days have poetry. Excellent work and I hope a Tom Bombadil character shows up, does weird stuff, refuses to elaborate, and leaves.
They’re song lyrics. In this case, “Things Have Changed” by Bob Dylan.
I use lyrics as a jumping-off point for a lot of stories, but sadly, we can’t use them in books without getting sued.
Bob Dyl..un? You must have just made up a name of a person who doesn’t exist.
I, too, am not a fan.
Robert Zimmerman is a better stage name.
Daily Quordle 210
4️⃣3️⃣
8️⃣6️⃣
Very Cowboy Bebop vibe but I dig it. Thanks Animal.
Faye in yellow and red? See you, space cowboy…
So Animal, when you write “Taliaferro”, how is it pronounced in your mind? In my neck of the woods it’s pronounced “toliver”, like Oliver with a t.
Which is kindof a funny match with his first name. Anyway, just curious.
I believe it’s pronounced ‘Juarez y Castillo’.
“Tolliver” is how I’ve always heard it pronounced.
Pronounced ‘Throatwobbler Mangrove’.
Now he might have inquired of Mr. Talliafero how much Henderson was worth to him. After all highest value and so forth.
Midnight Run is the best bounty hunter movie ever.
That is all.
That’s a good question.
So for example, Blade Runner qualifies. The one without the happy voice over that Harrison Ford intentionally did in a shitty way hoping they wouldn’t use it, of course.
Django, A Fist Full of Dollars, and A Few Dollars More?
Unforgiven?
Unforgiven is a perfect bookend for Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns.
I’ve enjoyed them all.
It’s surprisingly subtle, too. Every time I’ve watched it there’s been something else to unpack.
Every time I’ve watched it I’ve had more sympathy for the sheriff.
Like everyone else in the film he was neither fully evil or fully good.
The original 3:10 to Yuma, although Van Heflin is technically not a bounty *hunter*.
Should have offered Gomp $20k to go away and develop amnesia.
I’ve long suspected that my last words will be, “Whatever they’re paying you, I’ll double it!”
“I’m not being paid at all.”
Yup. You get it.
Sci-fi Noir, Hell yeah. One of my favorite genres.
L O L.
From the dead thread on Mickey D’s. Their problems are increased costs (labor, transport, etc, building out mobile ordering and related) and pressures on the franchisees and their revenue cuts (also labor both direct and turnover, higher material costs, and less menu variety after slimming it down to improve speed, along with the usual varying quality issues).
The three new board members will not fix anything. Salesforce CFO? Hah. Marriott CEO? A company that famously does not care about what the people actually staying in rooms think and is constantly trying to create an inferior product? Hah. A pharmaceutical exec? Is Mickey D’s going to offer drugs in their value meals? Weak people with no relevant experience or insight, so perfect board members.
McDonalds lives and dies on using marketing to push their inferior product, so the first two seem to fit quite well.
Is Mickey D’s going to offer drugs in their value meals?
Just like the Colonel. You’ll crave it fortnightly!
I’m old enough to remember local TV McDonald’s commercials in the early to mid 70’s.
Half the time they touted “Grand Opening!” of a new McDonald’s. And about 25% were “Grand Re-Opening” spots. Because there were several boarded-up McDonald’s restaurants at the time. I can remember three for sure. One did re-open a few years later, the other two were torn down in the mid 80’s. And this was just the working class neighborhood (5 mile radius) I grew up in.
With the economy as it is, you’re going to see permanently closed McDonald’s restaurants in working class neighborhoods again. Inflation will cut into store traffic by 15-20%. There were very few corporate-owned stores in the 70’s compared to today, but the corporate stores may be even more ruthless in getting closed up if they are under-performing.
A lot of franchise systems have been aggressive in dumping corporate owned locations over the past twenty years.
I only eat at McDonalds if we’re on a roadtrip and the local greasy spoon is sketchy or isn’t available.
Of course I use their bathrooms if the gas station restroom looks like a hobo encampment – hello, Ohio!
Anyone else keeping an eye on silver?
Since when is silver above $18/toz?
https://www.bullionvault.com/silver-price-chart.do
It’s been above that at least 2 years.
I bought at 16, so I’m not going to sell my art so cheaply.
(Mostly it was because I liked the art on the silver in question I might part with the Kruegerrands at some point)
I took a bath on silver during the Great Mojo Prepper Panic of 2008. Bought at $31. Never see that again.
I always figured I’d never see a return on investment in metals, so I bought art. I like looking at it, and it happens to be silver rounds. But since I went into the transaction not expecting to come out with more fiat than I went in with, that has helped me cope.
It’s sort of like my CD Project Red stocks. If I don’t sell it, I haven’t realized that loss.
Oh my god, I shouldn’t have looked…
I wonder if part of the “need” for more IRS agents is because there are going to be a lot of people reporting investment losses on their tax returns and govt revenues will be way down.
Not merely more. They’re doubling the size of the IRS.
Not really, anything at a brokerage the IRS already knows about.
My guess? It will be an attack on the cash, under-the-table economy.
A co-worker’s husband was buying in 2011 as it was approaching $50. She never told me any numbers, but I inferred it was many hundreds -possibly thousands- of dollars of silver in the $40-45 range. Ouchy.
I’m not a fan of precious metals anyway. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. Too much ZeroHedge, was what.
Time to buy more silver
Is there a single use for silver where it is specifically needed and can’t be simply substituted out for a cheaper metal?
Turning people blue?
Killing werewolves.
Best conductor EVAH! Loves me my high-current DC connectors that are silver-plated.
My expensive connectors use Rhodium 🙂
Why would they use a metal that is an inferior conductor relative to silver (and copper)?
Oxidation? Sometimes Rhodium is flashed over silver.
from Wiki: and because of its rarity, rhodium is usually alloyed with platinum or palladium and applied in high-temperature and corrosion-resistive coatings
Ah. Sure. Wasn’t thinking about corrosion.
Poseur!
Film photography?
Great for use in water filtration (it’s bacteriostatic).
Hmmm….Planet McPlanety?
Thanks for the glibfit tips last night. In addition to dumbbell swings, I did just go ahead and start doing the deadlifts with the bar to work on the motion, etc with my routine.
Dropping flys and one ab machine from the rotation (for time purposes) – and because my elbow’s been acting up as I get higher weights/reps in the Fly.
Right on!
Good job, Fish!
When someone replies “your welcome”. Is it autocorrect/grammatical error or are they fucking with me? This isn’t Michael Malice.
yore well come
I’m pretty sure UCS is fucking with you.
Yes, yes I am.
I occasionally think that most people are incapable of distinguishing “it’s” from “its.” Maybe soon it will be like that with your/you’re.
Yeah, their idiots, aren’t they?
The problem is that ‘its’ is an exception to an otherwise consistant possessive ‘s rule.
You are wearing out your welcome?
https://youtu.be/jY106HaMggU
I get that Japanese humor, but when the dajare is that far apart the joke doesn’t work for me.
Maybe for a native it’s like the classic SNL, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, no Coke, Pepsi.
There more Mouse CMs where mousu replaces masu. Puns, absurdity, and repetition. Also, the two customers with N46 waitresses are the duo Sissonne.
I will confess to watching both N46 and AKB48. As well as their many regional permutations.
Also had an interesting conversation with my friend in Nagoya. She loves US musicals and Broadway. I asked her if she ever went to the Takarazuka Review. She was surprised I knew about it. She said yes, but a former coworker was a huge fan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue
Speaking of Nagoya….
Man…
They have an associated hotel
https://www.hankyu-hotel.com/en/hotel/hh/takarazukahotel
Added to the ever growing list of interesting places.
Looks great
https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/21/human-drivers-in-uk-wont-be-liable-for-accidents-when-vehicle-is-self-driving/
What could possibly go wrong?
Is it just me, or is “the manufacturer will be 100% liable” a funny way to achieve a widespread rollout in the next few years?
https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/levels-of-autonomous-driving-explained
Nobody offers anything above level 2. Mercedes filed for limited level 3. Not sure if in the US or Europe.
My assumption would be the UK applies this to 4 and 5 and possibly 3.
Which is why it won’t be available there anytime soon. Europe is much more strict than the US.
Meanwhile…
https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/wuqdly/tesla_fsd_1069_update_rolls_out_with_15k_price/
I don’t get Musk’s end game here. The software is still alpha at best.
I wanted to thank waffles for posting this: https://www.jsanilac.com/dispelling-beauty-lies/
NSFW, but a serious piece on beauty, very interesting and engaging. Well worth the read (there is a link to replace the annoying font).
I’m still drawing and painting figures, so I found that very interesting, especially the art compared to photos.
Yeah, that was interesting. Basically common sense, but it’s amazing how much push back there is against what everybody knows to be true. However, I think at the end, the author is too dismissive of things men can do to enhance their attractiveness beyond classic physical looks. There are a great many, and they don’t all involve money.
Ugh, Man U up 1-nil at halftime.
Fuck both Man U and Liverpuddle.
This. Today, I will take a United win or draw.
Maybe the fan protest will spill out onto the field and MU will have to forfeit despite being up.
I’d prefer something that gets both teams deducted points.
Saw a guy working on the 2.5/3 story roofline of a house standing on a plywood sheet on a telehandler’s forks. 🤦♂️
Eff… try again.