Friday, February 17, 2006

v11.7 - Roll with the Punches

Morning folks,

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IT'S FRIDAY!!!

Another mundane week of inparticular normalities are once again behind us while the unknown future of the weekend lay just moments beyond our grasp. Will this be the weekend for fame, fortune or heartache? We shall see.

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Part of me wants to lash out and spank the first gorilla I find, another part of me wants to jump up and down on a milk container while talking in giberish.

Why you ask?

Sit back, relax and watch me muse. I will take my 'adventure' from this morning and turn it into a short story for your coffee drinking, morning reading enjoyment.

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The sun was low on the Eastern horizon as the fog from the coast began rolling inland. Ral stood atop a high hill, rain pelting his cloak as he watched this miracle of nature. In the harbor trade ships could be seen docking. Today will be a busy day he thought to himself.

Making his way down the hill he led his horse drawn cart behind him. The hill was slick with new fallen rain and the mud stank of many travellers who used this road. Today, his mission was to have his cart inspected to ensure everything was working fine and safe for transporting his cargo.

Despite the dangerous terrain, he was able to navigate down the hill with ease leading his cart and horse by the worn leather reins. Apon reaching the bottom, he spied a curious vendor selling a hot sweet drink called 'Coffee'. Pulling several copper pieces from his pouch, he decided to buy a cup of this warm drink to help take some of the chill off from the cold rain. Thanking the vendor and complimenting him on his 'coffee', Ral turned down the hard packed coastal road to his destination. He spied the place he was looking for as he crested a small hill; the wagon station.

He led his horse and cart into the wagon station where the wagon smith was waiting with his apprentices. The quickly looked over the wagon and gave Ral a scroll which stated the cart was in good shape and able to carry cargo. With a smile on his face, Ral tossed the Wagon Smith a silver mark and waved. This was turning out to be a good day.

Of course, things are seldom as they seem. His next stop would take him to the Dealer of Merchants and Vendors, which was also known as the DMV. Here he would aquire his license to sell his merchandise and hopefuly join the Guild of Merchants. It took him the better part of the morning to arrive at the DMV and he made it just as the rain started to come down hard and the winds picked up. Today was not a good day to be travelling, but these were things he needed to get done without delay.

Ral tied his cart and horse outside and made his way inside. The common room was a haze of smoke from the 3 hearths that dominate the back wall of the building. Ahead of him was a long wooden bench with several wooden desks to sit at. Behind each desk with a Member of the Merchant Guild. He waited for one of the members to motion for him to approach and walked over and sat down at a desk across from the man. The man was named Cedrick according to the roughly engraved wooden plaque on the desk. Cedrick asked to see Ral's papers which he quickly produced from a pocket inside his cloak. The man looked over the papers without expression and as he read, kept glacing up at Ral who was sitting patiently trying not to fidget.

With a sigh, the man folded up the papers and handed them back to Ral. From somewhere under the desk he pulled out a sheet of paper, feather pen and ink jar. He began by dipping the feather into the ink and began writing something on the paper. Ral was filled with excitment, today was truely a great day.

As the man finished up the writing he asked Ral for three thousand gold crowns. Ral's mouth nearly dropped to the floor.

"Three Thousand gold crowns??!!", Ral asked while trying to hid his surprise.
"In order to join the Guild of Merchants you must pay a registration fee. That fee is three thousand gold crowns.", replied the man without expression.

Shaking his head, Ral calmly admitted to the man he was not aware he needed to pay a fee and informed him he hardly had one gold crown never mind three thousand gold crowns.

The man eyed Ral suspisiously and bid him farewell.

Ral made his way back outside, the sting of the cold rain hit him immediatly but he didn't notice it. How was he to come up with three thousand gold crowns? Even if he sold everything he owned and borrowed the gold from his family he still wouldn't have enough to cover the costs. As he unhitched his horse and cart he began the long trek back home.

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Yeah, it went something like that :)

Sometimes I'm so confused about the government and their reasoning behind the things they do. They spend money needlessly and allocate money to line their own pockets and buy them their nice cars and houses. I don't understand how a law abiding citizen like myself who works hard, pays taxes and does everything by the book can get shafted while Joe Blow next door doesn't pay a lick of tax, doesn't have a job and gets a government cheque every week to live.

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Life in general doesn't make much sense to me right now. But hey, at least I have my health right?

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Cheers,
Al

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