An Antithetical study of Inertia;

Sam awoke early - this was strange, because he had not gone to bed early. At least, in words that his Grandfather would have chosen, the bed had not come to him! He took a luxurious shower, and contemplated the management potential of those who well exercise their perceived feedbacks, where and when they found them; the world was his oyster. Ursula went to town on her laptop, and Sam briefly wondered if she was going to have the North Pole on back order. Then he turned his own attentions to online life. He added a little radio in the background, for variety, and began a typically uncharted voyage. He was pleased that the 5ts had exerted some kind of influence, and Canada 5ts was up and running again. He presumed this had not been accomplished telepathically, and launched a vain email off to Travis about it.

Travis was a useful ally because of the very same thing that was otherwise a liability. Even though Travis' attention tended to wander from issue to issue, with input from the "24 hour news cycle" (in the same way that the paddle of a pinball machine influences a pinball,) he had an energy and passion for injustice that was incomparable to the POST money-laundering Sam. Sure, he'd been a fire-cracker in College, but nowadays he regarded even the worst disasters like a pre-trial hearing or an indictment. If SAM made records, he wanted to finance the trial, and attend it; most movies ended right at the inception of a 115 month trial. He laughed at the idea of prosecuting the fall-out from even a pedestrian chase scene. Producers were so anxious to "cut to the chase scene," they couldn't stay there. This was self-consistent with the cinematic "three-second rule:" Don't leave ANYTHING onscreen for more than 3 seconds; not even graphic Nudity, but didn't really acknowledge the carnage that their melodrama invoked. He fired off another email to Travis about the more conventional 3-second rule.

Travis:

However fast you're going, use a stopped object to time your following distance to 3 seconds. You may recall our discussions that friction is proportional to weight, but energy (and hence total stopping distance) is proportional to the _square_ of your velocity? That bike can stop faster than anything ELSE on the road maybe, but getting hit from behind, standing or sliding either one, can result in a visit to the burn unit. I won't tell your babe if you won't tell mine.

III

Travis wouldn't like the specter of fear that this invoked, but it taught respect for the bike. Sam had a feeling that, as long as Travis didn't forget to respect the bike, he'd be OK. His email was still getting spam, and the spam filter was still working. He turned his attentions back to his script.

His hero was going to know the value of a dollar. He made a list of product placements from whom to seek venture capital and sponsorship.
- Canon Rebel for digital photographic excellence.
- HP for digital Instamatic - it really DID address all 2GB of his SD card.
- Lexus for luxury cars
- Accord, Camry and Legend for sedans
- Maxima and Altima for sports cars - they still produced two-doors, although he didn't want to attempt to board one in a compact parking space.
- Hummer, Land Cruiser and Range Rover for various off road and four by four applications

Recreation was for college students, and he made a sidebar notation to look up Consumer Reports for 3 year old pickups - of all American vehicles, these were the most maintainable. Jeeps had a romance all their own, and he stopped guessing with a mental shrug. His OWN preferences governed applications as much as equipment here - he needed to get radically foreign input for variety. If he made a movie with universally quality driven product placements, some law of nature was likely to be violated; the most empirical observation that could be made about this was that a statistical normal distribution would be absent - it would be surreal for that reason.

A chat from Travis popped up. "Is Ursula there? I need notations on what I did wrong, and instructions on how to fix it!" Sam smiled, and called her over to audit the discussion. "Travis, she's right here 'listening.' First off, are you reacting to your confederate, or leading out to see if she wants to follow?" Travis' response showed how much he had come to _trust_ Ursula. "Urs: It's not like that at all - I AM a man, and I know the contents of my own mind. _This_ is economic". Ursula dictated, and Sam assisted administratively. "Be specific, but first take a moment to collect your thoughts so you can be brief." was the collaborative effort.

It wasn't long in coming. "My world is spinning out of control, and she and I CANNOT agree what makes it turn." Ursula knew Teal better than most people would on such short notice, but she thought it more prudent to draw Travis out. Sam's interpretation soon took to the wire bound ether. "Can you put your perspective into words first?" Sam chose his word from experience, both of language and of Travis. It allowed for a viewpoint/standpoint contrast, and he could rely on Travis to consider it his duty to be reasonable about it. "D-U-H! It's well established that Money makes the world go 'round! I'm as romantic as the next guy, but I gotta be realistic and responsible for my speech - otherwise she'll think I'm a real dog, just blowing pink smoke up her ass, telling her whatever I think she wants to hear for 10 minutes. She can compare my success rate to what she really wants to hear, but that's not substantive, it's more of a Friday night date!" Sam marveled at the candor that a little encryption could elicit.

He took the initiative after first talking it over with his Co-counsel and First Chair. "Here's your reasoned argument and your defense for agreeing with her: Syllogistically speaking, IF money makes the world go 'round, THEN where were all the bankers when it started? When the dust settles, tell her she's a food addict and that you'll stop sex in the world when a construction worker doesn't need a token of exchange from Friday afternoon until Tuesday at lunch. It'll start a good sized altercation, but it's easier to talk about a disagreement than to chew the cud of your clone's advice. She'll come out of her shell and talk to ya. Keep the candy and desert for shared experience - it's Wheat for the flour mill of your love, OK?"

Travis would have been bombastic if he had not understood. "OK." he replied. "Thanx - TTYL" and he was gone.