In which the story gets pretty damn interesting....

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It's hard to follow four very good writers, but here is my contribution for the Psych-vella, Chapter 5:

Mrs. McCuddahey seemed taken aback at the question. “I wouldnÂ’t know, IÂ’m sure,” she said peevishly.  “A mother doesnÂ’t pry into a grown manÂ’s private affairs.”  She sniffed at CahillÂ’s presumption, but then appeared to realize the importance of the question.  “ItÂ’s just SO unlike him, he was never interested in girls.  Just his workÂ….”  She trailed off, lost in her memory.

“Here we go…” thought Cahill, and took the plunge.  “What about boys, Mrs. McCuddahey?  Was George interested in men?”  He braced for the fierce rejection, and was surprised when the frail woman burst into tears.

“I donÂ’t know…” she wailed, “He never said so, but once he reached a certain age without ever having told me about a lady-friend, I began to wonder.  He was so private.  IÂ’m sorry, I just donÂ’t know.”

Cahill could see that this was turning into a waste of time.  The woman may have been GeorgeÂ’s mother, but she clearly knew less about him than the psychiatrist.  He would like to interview Mrs. Romano, after all, she was the Nosy Nora of the neighborhood, always talking her way into everyoneÂ’s business.  She had often caught Cahill and Johnny on their way to some mischief or other.  If anyone had seen a girl (or a guy, for that matter) entering GeorgeÂ’s house, it would have been the indefatigable Mrs. Romano, but Mrs. R was deep in her element, scuttling about, minding the distraught mother.  The interview would have to wait, at least until her neighbor was attended to.

What next?  Mitch had time to kill.  Interviewing his own mother would be useless, so he excused himself and returned to the crime scene, where the investigation was in full swing.  “Gimme an update,” he barked at the forensics lead.

“Not much.  We havenÂ’t been upstairs yet.  No prints anywhere, not even the vicÂ’s.  No fluids either, except the leakage you stepped in by the fridge.  Somebody cleaned up.  Knew what they were doing.  We sent out for the LUDs, but the subpoena is held up ‘til we can get a judge.  That might be hours.”

“Address Book? Bills?  Work Papers?  Anything we can get a name or number from?”

“Nix on the address book or a briefcase.  There are some bills here, but just the psychiatrist and ConEd.  No credit cards or store charges.”

Who ARE you George McCuddahey? Cahill thought, and who the Hell is Lenny Markowitz?

Finding frustration on both fronts, Cahill bummed a smoke from the beat cop at the door and went out into the light.  Standing in the street, Mitch breathed deep and was about to light up his first cigarette in years, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“William,” it called reproachfully, “you know those things are going to kill you.  I thought you quit.”

“IÂ’m sorry Mrs. Romano,” he said sheepishly, stuffing the unlit cigarette into his pocket.  “But IÂ’m glad you came out, IÂ’d like to talk to you.  Alone.”

“My turn to be interviewed, then?  Alright, letÂ’s sit here on the porch, so your mother and poor Martha wonÂ’t hear us.”

“Tell me what you know about George….”

“I don’t like to tell tales, and I would never discuss this with Martha, but I often wondered if George was an actor as well as an accountant.”

“An actor?”

“Yes, although, funny he should choose such rolesÂ….  You see, everyday George went to work dressed like a Hasidic diamond merchant, down to the prayer shawl and briefcase.  If you addressed him as he walked down the street, he would ignore you, and I often thought, why donÂ’t you just leave earlier if youÂ’re in THAT big a hurry, but in the afternoons, when he returned home, he was usually dressed normally, and friendly, if almost shy.  Evenings he would leave the house in one of those turbans and drive off to God knows where, and come back at all hours of the night.  Martha doesnÂ’t know.  She takes out her hearing aid when she sleeps.”

“Did anyone ever come to the house?  Either when George was home or when he was away?  In the last couple of days, maybe?”

“A woman came once, last June, when Martha was on that cruise.  She went to Mexico, you know.  She kept knocking, calling for Benny or something…”

“Was it Lenny?” Cahill asked, surprised to hear the name from McCuddahey’s workplace.

“Yes, that was it.  Lenny.”  Mrs. R smiled at the recognition.  “Funny, though, she came to my door to ask if I had seen the man who lived in the house, and when I told her that George had driven off in his car, she said that Lenny was a devout Jew who wouldnÂ’t drive anywhere on the Sabbath.  I told her she must have the wrong house.  George almost decided to be a priest, you know.  She seemed especially troubled by it, and showed me the address written in her book.  It was GeorgeÂ’s house, under the name Lenny Something.

She went away after that, and I never saw her again.  Maybe sheÂ’s the girl Martha thought he was seeing.”

A noise made Cahill look up.  The cop who had given him the smokes was coming up the steps. “Sir, thereÂ’s a call for you on the radio.”

Cahill made his way to the radio car. “Cahill.”

“ThereÂ’s a homicide at 1216 Baker.  ItÂ’s bad.”

“I’m on a case already.”

“Roger that, Ryan says you need to get here ASAP anyway.”

Cahill sighed, apologized to Mrs. R, and drove across town.  The sidewalk in front of the brownstone was blocked off and crime scene tape barred the door.  Showing his shield, Cahill went in, and found Ryan next to a bloody sheet.

“Caller ID says your name and number were the last outgoing on the vicÂ’s phone,” Ryan said, seeing Cahill standing there.  “Dr. Monica Schoedel, she was cut up pretty badly, and the pieces were arranged in a pentagram on the floor upstairs.”

Tune in next week as El Capitan finishes up the story!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:15 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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She's been Farked!

And she's not even 2 years old yet.

Sadie is the subject of a Fark.com photoshopping challenge!

h/t Jen

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Gee, what a surprise.

You Are Most Like George W. Bush

So what if you're not exactly popular? You still rule the free world. And while you may be quite conservative now, you knew how to party back in the day!

h/t Ronnie RayGun

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:54 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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If anybody talks to Chrissy....

Tell her I feel like I'm spinning on my thumb because there's nothing I can do to help, and she needs to call me and tell me what I can do for her.  Anything at all.  The post office is down the street from my house, after all.

She doesn't know it, but her cheerfulness and her friendship really got me through when Dad was in the hospital.  And now it's my turn to do something for her.  I'm just waiting for orders.

UPDATE: I spoke to Christina this afternoon. She's ok, but (I suspect) beginning to be a little overwhelmed by the enormity of what was lost, and how many little things we take for granted everyday. The good news is that everyone and the pets are ok, and the insurance is covering whatever they need. Thank God.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:56 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Cue Marilyn Monroe....

...but only because I think he'd get a kick out of a sexy, busty blonde cooing Happy Birthday, Mister President....

July 6 is President Bush's 60th birthday, and I wish him many more.

I am truly thankful that W is our President.  The Anchoress explains it better than I ever could.

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A teaser....

For those of you following the blogvella, the current offering is a "Psyche-vella".

Start here:  Bitter Herbs

Chapter 2: Heads Up

Chapter 3: Shrink This

Chapter 4: The Old Neighborhood

This week's chapter will be presented Friday by yours truly.  The title?  How about Dead End?

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More Bad News

My dear friend Christina, her husband Dash, and the Wee and Sweet Ones (along with assorted pets) are all alright after losing their home to a lightning strike last night.

As always, my thoughts and prayers are with them as they rebuild both their house and their sense of security.

My door is always open to the whole bunch of you, doggies and all, if you should feel a trip to the west coast is in order.  Just give me a couple of hours notice to blow up the air matress for the girls.  And if there's anything else I can do, you know the number, my dear friend.

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We're off to see the wizard

Out and about over the long holiday weekend, so if you're bored with the lack of interesting posts, check out the blogrolls!

Or better yet, go wish the Feisty One a Happy Birthday!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:58 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Last One for Rob

My favorite of today's tributes to Acidman.  Mostly because of their honesty.  Rob would have enjoyed them.

Kelley

Jim

Juliette

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Gut Rumbles

Maybe this is TMI, but the King of Crap Blogging is laughing his ass off somewhere.  You see, I missed his online memorial because I was stuck to a toilet.  Yeah, we have wireless internet, but at the time, I was a little too screwed up to care....

Anyway, here's my contribution, late as it is.

I will never forget Rob's shifty cracker sense of humor, his delight in all things foul, his hatred of cats, and the pathological fear of snakes that we both shared.  I never had a chance to tell him how much in awe I was of his being able to actually kill the damn things, where I would have run screaming for 911.

I will remember how he called me his "favorite rocket scientist" and coopted me into his red-toenail brigade.

But most of all I will never forget two things about Rob:  His honesty and his abiding love for his family.  Yeah, he saw things from his own, sometimes twisted, point of view, but he wouldn't bullshit you about something important.  And, for all of his BS, the love he had for his family was never in doubt.

The world is a lot poorer without him.  I hope God appreciates the company.

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It's pronounced "Jeff"

Happy Birthday to former CA blogger Xrlq!

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Welcome Back!

After an extensive amount of down time, beefing up their security after the great MuNu DDOS in June, the JAWAS have returned!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:25 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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One more for Rob

Rob's memorial will be Thursday afternoon in Savannah.  More details can be found here.

If you'd like to leave the family a note of condolence, there's an obituary here, with links to a guestbook where you can leave the family a message.


Update: Rob's Obit from the Savannah Morning News is here.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 03:55 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The perfect sendoff

Thanks, Chris.  He would have been so pleased.  Of course, he would have made fun of it the whole time.

It's amazing how someone you've never met can mean so much to your life.  Especially someone as f'ed up as Rob.  But he made me laugh everyday, he sent biting little emails designed to knock me out of my happy place, and he MEANT it when he called me darlin'.

One of the finest compliments I've received in blogging was being asked to cover for him while he was in Willingway, and so many of the blogfriends I've made, I've made through Rob.  He touched a lot of people.

Sam and Quinton, your daddy was a lot of things, many of them not great, but he was a gifted writer and musician, and his unique perspective meant a lot to a lot of people.  I hope that in time you'll be blessed by this and you'll come to value the gift that he leaves behind in his archives.  Most kids don't get to look into their parent's thoughts, but you have a treasure trove of pieces of your Dad's life.  I hope that his writings show you how much he loved you and your uncle and your grandmother and great-grandmother, because family was clearly the best thing in his life.

I will miss him more than I should, I think, and when next I lift a glass, it will be in his memory.  Godspeed, Aciddude.

And Rob would have loved this, too.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:54 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Sad News

My evil Fairy blogfather, Rob Smith, also known as Acidman of Gut Rumbles, passed away this morning.

Not many details are available.

My thoughts and prayers are with his daughter Sam and son Quinton, who I know will miss him very much.

I'll miss you, you lousy cracker son-of-a-bitch.  And I regret that I never was able to meet you and buy you a drink (back in the day when you actually partook).

If Rob was a part of your life, let Sam know, and leave her a comment here.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:56 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Babies and more babies...

Since she announced it, I can post it, I guess.

Jen (and Beau) are pregnant! YAY! Due date some time near Valentine's Day.


Congratulations are also in order for Brandon of Brandon's Puppy. His mom Amanda is going to give him a baby brother or sister sometime towards the end of February!

What is this with bloggers and winter babies?  Drake, Babylove, and Valerie are all snowflake babies.  Huh.  In fact, the boys even have the same birthday, just a year apart.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:55 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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They grow up so fast!

My darling blog-child celebrates (real life) birthday number 50 today!

Happy Birthday, Paul, and many many more!

Drop by and leave him a note, would you?

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Mwahahahahahaha

That's hockey for ya':

RALEIGH, NC-- Only hours after the Carolina Hurricanes won the NHL Championship Monday night in a hard-fought Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers, North Carolina Gov. Michael Easley mobilized the National Guard to contain over two dozen members of what he described as "some sort of depraved, violent, heretofore unheard-of gang calling themselves the Hurricanes."

"These strange men came out of nowhere with absolutely no warning," Easley said of the Stanley Cup-winning Hurricanes, who emptied garbage cans, overturned vehicles and set them aflame, looted local businesses, and frightened hundreds of citizens out of their sleep. "Nobody had ever heard of them before. No one knows what they want. And nobody knows why they were acting so crazy."

Police chief Jane Perlov is reporting that the NHL club, which was known as the Hartford Whalers until moving to North Carolina in 1997 and has struggled to attract much local attention, "somehow gained access to Raleigh's RBC Center earlier Monday, engaged in some sort of ritualistic violence involving sticks and nets, and then proceeded to drink heavily before heading to their cars."

I love it when The Onion gets the accessory facts more correct than the REAL local paper.....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 05:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Behind the times as usual...

You Belong in 1959

If you scored... 1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in! 1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too. 1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all! 1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day. 1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

h/t 1970's Beth

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:28 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Skool's out for summer....

Taking today off to help hubby clean out his classroom.  He has to be done by 12:30 or so.  And then he gets something like 4 weeks off before he starts a summer workshop.  At least he's getting paid for it!

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