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Hello and welcome to me this pod
episode 12. I'm your host de

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metus. Our story for this
episode The salesman comes to us

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from MK Owens in K is 25, an
engineer by trade and from

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Texas. Hey, I'm from Texas. He
loves reading and is currently

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working on a cyberpunk novel. He
also spends his time writing

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short stories with the salesman
being his first. The best way to

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read his works would be on
Reddit under the handle in K

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underscore Owens or on Twitter
at in K underscore Owens. Links

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will be in the show notes.
Without further ado, the

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salesman by N K O ns.

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Park the cruiser at the top of
the valley and took in the view

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the tiny wooden village and
alone at the bottom. It was

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nearly deserted, each building
5060 yards away from the other.

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No network connection. No
transit lines, no climbs and no

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lights. The soil arranged and
hopeless plots around the

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village dry gray fishers cut
through the plots. They weren't

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gonna grow shit here. No wonder
Nexus and color them keep it I

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plucked a cigarette from my
pocket and lit it. Who would

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want to live in the stomp? Check
my ptr is the smoke drifted

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overhead. The number of
flickered before my eyes too

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fast to read and transformed
into a READ ERROR that consume

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the Golden Valley and its wooden
village. I slapped the metal in

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my neck once twice and the error
disappeared. Piece of shit

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software check the PTR again
1108 was will drive down there a

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glare from the valley a dinky
antique truck towards way up

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clouded dust behind it. Bout
time I flattened the front of my

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blazer rolled my shoulders back
and went over my lines howdy

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excellent plot of land y'all
folks have here now now to

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hockey talk that are simple not
cowboys. How are you doing?

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Beautiful place for I can't help
but notice it's a bit dry. Seems

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like it might be difficult to
grow crops out here now to

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patronizing. Howdy, it looks
great out here do it and damn it

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Honky Tonk again. I chose my
collar and it barely moved. How

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these fuckers wear these things.
I use my cruiser as a mirror and

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loosen my tie a bit. Now too
much. It lost its shape and lay

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flat. a noose like around my
neck. What a waste of money. I

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grumbled at the back of my truck
can't have these clients seeing

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a salesperson disheveled. With a
tap on the back of my cruiser

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the trunk unfolded inward
through the tie inside. I

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pressed the button again and
came around to the front of

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trucks rested maroon body all
dents and scratches road to stop

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just past the gate. It was a
wonder it could still drive. I

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gave it a wide smile on a wave
and took a step forward. No

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response. The windows were
smooth and with a permanent

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black tent and with the sun
bouncing off of them secretive.

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What was going on in there? I
shifted my way to the other

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foot. HQ said it would be a hard
sell out here. But rent wasn't

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going to pay itself. I took
another step toward the truck

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and hornblende I froze. A driver
door flew open and a man stepped

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out clad in a white shirt and
black coat and off yellow bowl

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shaped hat was affixed to his
head. He spit a gob under the

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dry earth and stared at me. I
gave him a smile. Howdy.

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Beautiful place y'all have here?
A man frowned. His contempt was

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palpable. Was it my neck mod or
maybe the car should have

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brought a beater instead? I
can't help but notice it's a bit

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dry out here in both water and
electricity. I was hoping to

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discuss how we could help you
all. The man snorted. Who sent

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you Damn offensive already. I'm
with pill sack corpse. I said,

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Well, it's a more of a
independent contractor. Like I

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said, I'm here to find people
who can benefit from our

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products. We don't want it sir
leave a said. I let the word

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simmer. Nothing moved. Sir, I'm
afraid I have to invoke mi 193.

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I paused, which guarantees the
right to enter for purposes of

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either marketing or the man
jumped in his truck and slammed

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the door. And another second he
was tearing down the dirt road.

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I side as he went, legally, I
had the right to follow but

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practically I did not, I
groaned. The threat had been to

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force a bargain. Not make me
drive down there.

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If you actually had to invoke mi
193 than the deal was already

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drowning. I glanced to the city
behind me. Pilar didn't care if

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I couldn't make the sale. He
wanted his rent money. My shoes

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were shreds a plastic cleaning
into my feet. My software barely

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functional. I could still make
it back to the city and peddle

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around the southern district for
bet might find someone in dire

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need like last month. I ran my
fingers through my hair that was

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barely a commission. Selling to
these people was much more

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lucrative. There was no choice.
I tap the cruiser and slid into

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the driver's seat. Manual mode.
He said in manual mode. My hands

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felt good on the wheel. It had
been a while. Soon I was rolling

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down the hill to the trucks
dusty wake. How can I make this

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sale? What can I offer these
people my top my fingers against

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the wheel. The crop angle had
been the best pad and that idea

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had been shot down kicked and
Pulverize. Against all odds they

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still refused internet and
nearly anything electronic which

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cut down the list of pesticide
products by 90%. Close tools

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food all created and bought
elsewhere. Aside guess it would

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be another attempt of the crop
genetics. I turned the tent down

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the sunlight flooded the
cruiser, white fluffy clouds

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drifted across the cool blue
sky. The land might have been

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shit but the sky was appealing.
It was a far cry from the solid

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sheet of grey that passed for
the sky in the city. And that

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was if you could glimpses this
guy walks in the low clouds.

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When I reached down, I set the
drive to auto and watch the

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buildings pass by the wood was
charming antique feel to it. It

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was almost comfortable. Now
safe. Like you could Nestle

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inside it and be protected from
the world. That that was true

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though. And the bomb on the
street would have enough

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firepower to knock one of those
things down. For all its

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prettiness it wasn't worth it to
live off the grid like this.

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These poor slobs didn't know any
better. I rolled to a stop

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behind the truck was parked at
the far end of the town, close

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enough to be seen in the
shuttered windows of the houses

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but far enough to be quiet. The
man was already in an animated

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conversation with a plain
dressed woman. She stomped away

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as I got out. I flattened my
blazer and cracked my neck. No

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pitch this time. No more hokey
dokie talk just one man sell

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into another man. It's even
nicer once you get down here. I

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said. Look, let me say that I
hate to invoke mi 193 a man

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slammed his door and grumbled
you got five minutes and get

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out. A woman whistled and
approval or disapproval from an

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heiress houses porch. She could
hear good. She could help drive

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the sale. Happy wife happy life
was one of my grandpa's favorite

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sayings. I know you might not be
able to tell. I tapped into

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metal that ran up my neck. But
I've been in your shoes before.

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I grew up with dusters. Now we
didn't have any hope of growing

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crops and motion to the empty
fields. But I remember when the

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freaks from the city would come
down and tell us what we needed

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and why and that's what they
were freaks metalled and

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tattooed freaks paused for a
fact. He was still listening, a

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good sign. So I get it. I said
now my job is to find people who

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would benefit from it. Will
sacking products. Poolside

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primarily sells medical
equipment modifications,

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augmentations, whatever you want
to call it. You don't want that.

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You don't need that and that's
fine. But what about fertilizer?

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Or crops genetically altered to
thrive in the soil that you have

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here? Imagine how things would
be with something like that. I

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pushed my hair to the side and
shrug. Who knows you might not

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need to buy any more food from
the city. Man thought it over.

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Weigh the scales. Perfect.

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I wasn't so hard. was an obvious
though when you think about it.

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You can't sell a fish shoes.
What city you grew up in? I

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froze the city. No, I couldn't
say that. Mercedes I've learned

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that was a name from somewhere
from some time and it was too

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late and the word itself jumped
out of my mouth too fast and too

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unnaturally. A man scowled.
Mercedes got swallowed 30 years

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ago, just another liar, aren't
you? He spit on the ground. We

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don't need your help with the
crops. When he returns he will

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bring us a plentiful harvest.
The man looked at his mechanical

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watch. Three minutes. I rolled
my eyes and turned and I was the

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freak because I had a few chips
lodged in my head. The cell was

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more dead than this place. I
sighed and ran my fingers over

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my jaw and the savings tooth
inside. My last, unfortunately,

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least valuable. And I saw it a
mural splay across a lone stone

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wall. In the painting, a gangly
white man with brown locks in a

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00:11:48,570 --> 00:11:53,190
brown beard looks skyward. His
eyes blue, and full of hope.

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Jesus Christ. I spun to the man.
So when does he return? The man

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narrowed his eyes and took a
step forward. August 3 is the

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divine day a man said, and we'll
see to that. My wife is carrying

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00:12:12,150 --> 00:12:18,030
him. He just had his chest out.
August 3, that's very specific.

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His wife leaned forward. The man
spoke again loudly, confidently,

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his eyes full of hope, like the
mural on the wall. That was the

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day to Cree by the Lord Himself,
August 3, and we will rise again

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and he will wash away all of
this. And in those rains, a

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fruitful harvest will grow. I
don't expect you to understand

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that. And you're sure she's
carrying him? The man scout? Of

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course she is. Well, then that's
a great honor. And I'm sure your

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neighbors will look up to you
folks. I continued. Last year my

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sister was pregnant with my
nephew. The due date was

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February 15, which was
unfortunate because Len was set

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to demo some technology and
Antarctica, from the third to

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the 22nd. As you can imagine,
that isn't the best time nor

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place to have a baby. I laughed
and lit a cigarette. The man and

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his wife We're all ears. So she
ordered one of our new products,

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Leo. It's called and used it to
move the delivery. She picked

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the 25th I believe. And then she
had plenty of time after the

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trip to rest and hydrate before
the big day. Took a drag. Of

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00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:42,090
course, we could have set it
before the trip. Or any day

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really. I showed you folks must
be grateful not to need

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something like that. The man was
wide eyes. His lips parted,

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hungry. His wife waddled to him
and whispered in his ear. She

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was hungry to maybe even
hungrier. I check the time via

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PTR 1123. My five minutes was
up. Well, I said looks like my

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time is up. Sorry, I couldn't be
of any help to you folks. But

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you do have phones, don't you? I
pulled a paper business card

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from my jacket and extended it.
Give me a call if I can ever

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help you with something. The man
licked his lips and grabbed the

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card. I nodded at both of them
and turn towards the cruiser.

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The door slid open and I hopped
in, wheeled it around and was

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throwing up dust on my way to
the top. I could feel myself

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00:14:39,510 --> 00:14:44,820
grinning and it turned into a
good pitch after all. I flicked

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00:14:44,820 --> 00:14:47,820
the into my cigarette out and
glanced in the mirror and hoped

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they didn't see that. I watched
the town grow smaller in the

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rear view. It was tiny, dusty
and isolated. But the sobs

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didn't mind as much as a person
might expect In fact, I hadn't

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seen someone with that kind of
hope in their eyes since well,

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00:15:05,850 --> 00:15:11,010
never. I looked in the mirror
and studied my own eyes. I had

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00:15:11,010 --> 00:15:16,710
never looked like that and
molded that over. Maybe these

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00:15:16,710 --> 00:15:17,910
people are onto something

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00:15:24,419 --> 00:15:26,519
or maybe not

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00:15:34,649 --> 00:15:37,679
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00:15:37,679 --> 00:15:41,339
their work at odd sprite.com If
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00:15:43,679 --> 00:15:48,359
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00:15:48,389 --> 00:15:52,349
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00:15:52,349 --> 00:15:57,569
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unless otherwise specified. Have

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00:15:57,569 --> 00:15:59,609
a good one, folks. We'll see you
next time.