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I stood in the silent kitchen, doing a slow three-sixty, taking it all in I loved ets, and the counters and cupboards were loaded with them--pasta maker, bread maker, Cuisinart, blender, microwave oven, food dehydrator, deep fryer, rotisserie, ice cream churn, Macho Pop popcorn popper, mini-donut machine, sno-cone machine, pizza oven Only it wasfor

I had poured myself another drink before I went to bed And another And one over that rocked my head and sent overs before, and I kneould survive Pepto-Bismol, toast, coffee, lots and lots of coffee, and I would function fine until noon, a respectable hour when I could have a stiff drink to help take the edge off

Ingredients were already loaded into the machine I pressed a button and a predetermined amount of French vanilla almond coffee beans was reduced to a fine powder in about six seconds and sprinkled into a filter; spring water was poured, and the coffee brewed

I split a bagel and dropped the two halves intoI put on a CD, Tosca, by Giacomo Puccini I don’t have a lot of opera in uy--except I had been introduced to opera by Kirsten Sager Whitson, the very lovely, very wealthy woman who dumped me just before I met Nina, and somehow it seemed appropriate

The opera was filled with heartache It was all about Tosca, a beautiful singer who is forced to sacrifice her body and soul to the villainous Baron Scarpia in order to save the life of her boyfriend, Mario, whom the baron has imprisoned Naturally, everyone dies in the end Yet while I sipped el and listened to the inco the hell out of the lead, I had to wonder--when did I beco outside her ho theuy Even the people who hate uy, and where I couy isn’t just a compliment It’s a responsibility You’re expected to step up You’re expected to take care of business You’re expected to behave like a h hopes that I could win Nina back After all, I’, I can cook--I’m a helluva catch Yet if I couldn’t, certainly she ood guy Otherwise, I had no business dating in the first place

I toasted Nina with my coffee cup at just about the moment in the opera when Tosca ju to meet her tormentor in hell

"Here’s to you, sweetie," I said

Then I went to work

My PC was located in what my father used to call the "family room"--one of the few rooms in my house that was actually furnished--where I also kept -screen plasround information on both Merodie Davies and Priscilla St Ana of Woodbury, Minnesota It wasn’t difficult Nor did the social scans trouble ht tooth and nail to keep our deepest darkest secrets froet it It has always been possible for someone to learn an individual’s employment, medical, and credit history, as well as the schools he’s attended, the addresses he’s lived at, his criminal record, whether or not he’s ator was required to actually visit the sites where records were stored and physically sift through mountains of paper to find the information he needed

Now he can accoic cursorus County Web sites list citizens’ property tax information The Department of Motor Vehicles will happily reveal a driver’s record for a mere nine dollars and fifty cents The Minnesota Court Information System allows anyone with a PC to is by private parties that aren’t generated by the courts, or charging documents such as criminal complaints, you’re welcome to use the public access terminals available at the courthouse