The Aerie

Day 2

So far so good. Not fired yet.

However ever since I've started here at Buy More, it's been overcast. Gray. Hopefully there is no cause-and-effect between my hiring and this weather, because I would like to keep this contract for a long time, but I can't in good conscience turn Minneapolis into Seattle for the sake of my bank account. If it hasn't cleared up in six months I promise to quit.

On my second day some things have improved. Yesterday I couldn't get anywhere on the Internet, kept running into blocks of some sort. Today I'm able to get to things, all sorts of things. As if all the restrictions have been lifted. I even was able to see a YouTube video, which suggests to me that nothing is being filtered, since I wouldn't be permitting YouTube if I were setting up the firewall rules.

However my telephone is still registered to some person, so I need to get that arranged. And I still can't get to my group's private folders.

Yesterday was very exciting from a different point of view. A couple years back I started writing a novel based on the Modjadji, the Rain Queen of South Africa. Very shortly after I began, the last surviving Rain Queen, a young woman named Makobo, died at the age of 25. The deaths of her mother and grandmother had been very mysterious - her mother had died the day before the grandma who was ruling as Queen. The young Makobo had waited a few years to take the throne, and was reportedly rebellious and independent minded. Two years later she was dead, too, and that night the house containing her coffin caught fire, although the coffin was removed safely.

Anyway I set up a Google News Alert on the South African Google for any references to "Modjadji." Most of what I get are updates on the career of a racehorse by that name, but a week or two ago I got a hit that a new book had been published regarding the Rain Queen's death. Actually it was just one story in a collection, but I immediately ordered the book anyway.

The book arrived yesterday, and my spouse had a small stroke when she read the price of the book... in South African Rands. Fortunately for me the Rand trades at 14/1 dollar, so the price of the book, including shipping, was a not unreasonable $40 (seeing as it came halfway 'round the planet to reach me).

Anyway the story was worth it. The author, Liz McGregor, took the exact steps that I would have liked to take. She traveled to the Rain Queen compound and asked those in charge what was going on. Well, not in so many words, but she got in there and talked to those involved, and her descriptions and discussions were enlightening. I was excited to read of her encounters with people who my own researches had hinted at being involved.

I read it in bed last night and after shutting off the light I lay there, wide awake, wanting to run down to my computer and continue writing my long-neglected novel. But reality is that I had to be up in a few hours for work, and I have U of Mn schoolwork to complete... it will be a while before I can get back to my writing...

Anyway I wrote to the author to thank her and describe my own researches. I will be interested in what she has to day.

Work will be done soon, and then the family will be off to see Kevin Kling, a local writer of humorous self-involved folktales, delivered in a broad Minnesota accent. Ought to be fun...

Posted by Albatross at October 2, 2007 2:11 PM | TrackBack