The Affected - Joe
Mar 22, 2015 5:39:06 GMT -6
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mnn2300, kaijafon, and 5 more like this
Post by papaof2 on Mar 22, 2015 5:39:06 GMT -6
It took me a long time to figure out that I was Affected. The doctors thought it was a reaction to them changing my medications. And I wasn't flying when it happened.
Maybe I better give you some background. Call me Joe. I won't tell you much more than that because I don't want to be on the FBI's list of Affected. Up until a few years ago, I designed and installed high security wired and wireless networks - mostly for businesses but some in those big, expensive MacMansions. I never gave a second thought to the convenience of being able to drive. Of course, driving was one of the contributing factors to me now being among the disabled. I was on my way back from a job in D.C. when it happened.
Not my driving - the cop that investigated the accident said I did a hell of a job trying to avoid the runaway truck on that long downhill on I-81 in Virginia. I just ran out of places to go and got pushed up the runaway truck ramp. I guess you could say the car was accordioned - I don't know if that's a word, but it had lots of wrinkles in it in the pictures my friend Sam showed me. Anyway, I took a hard hit to the head when the roof folded down on me so I still have occasional blurred vision and - although they're getting farther apart - I have a small seizure (just a second or two) about every 36 to 48 hours. Serious enough that I can no longer drive, but not so bad that I fall off my current transportation - an adult tricycle.
So how did I get zapped if I wasn't flying? I was hooked up for my weekly EEG (yeah - a head full of wires) and I lived in Denver then - a mile high. Like I said, the docs thought the change in medications had caused me to have a seizure while on the EEG because my body had jerked around some on the bed and I was unconscious. They watched me for several hours, but everything seemed normal so they sent me home on my trusty tricycle.
I was annoyed that they'd kept me so long at the hospital because it put me on the road in the middle of the evening rush hour. Crossing most of the intersections isn't too bad in the off hours because the traffic signals are in timed mode. During rush hour, they're trip lights - but my tricycle doesn't have enough metal in it to trip the sensor. So I'm sitting there for like 10 minutes, getting madder every minute and I finally say "Change the damn light!" and it changes. Well, I'm guessing I'd lucked out because there was a car on the other side that tripped the light. Then it happened again 4 blocks later - and there was no other traffic. Then again a couple of blocks after that. So at the next red light, I say "Change the damn light!" before I get to the intersection - and it works!
At this point I'm wondering if I'm dreaming or if they've done something really weird to my medications and now I've got hallucinations to go with the blurred vision and seizures. When I get home I park the tricycle in the garage (yes, I carry the garage remote in my pocket) and go in to watch the news. There's a report about people experiencing dizziness and stuff on airline flights about the same time as I seized and passed out. I assume it's just coincidence that my glitch was at the same time as theirs.
I didn't think about it again until I got some lottery tickets at the 7-11. I told the guy to make it quickpicks (hey, it's my weekly contribution to education). The numbers on the tickets were all the birthdates that I used to play when I still had a wife and kids. So how did the machine pick those numbers? By then I'd heard of the Affected and I thought about the traffic lights that had changed. And I began to wonder if I'd been affected because all the EEG wires acted as antennas so I didn't have to be at 30,000 feet or whatever the altitude was. So I started looking at the electronics in the house and thinking about what might be done with them. The first thing I did consciously was turn on the TV and go to the Weather Channel. I found there was a lot more I could do and my knowledge of networks (not to mention security) was very useful.
What happened to the wife and kids? She didn't want to be around the guy who slobbered when he seized and she told the judge it scared the kids. I think she was just jealous of the attention I got from the kids and how much they enjoyed having a stay-at-home parent. Anyway, she got custody and they were gone to Florida long before the insurance settlement. I'm sure she kicked herself because she didn't wait to get her hands on some of that $15 million.
One of those lottery tickets paid $37,435 so it was worth dropping $5 to buy them. I don't really need the money, but I do have expenses for taxis and limos since I can't drive. I don't take the tricycle out more than half the 'assist' distance (how far the battery will take me) to ensure I can get home after a seizure. Most of the seizures are just an annoyance, but some of them leave me exhausted. The doctors don't have an explanation for the difference.
I heard about some things my wife was doing from someone I know in Orlando, so I flew there to check it out. There was a place for sale on the street behind where she was living, so I asked an agent to show me the house. While we were there, I faked a small seizure and told the agent I just needed to sit down for a few minutes.
I was close enough to scan my ex-wife's smartphone and found some pictures of the children that she'd have a hard time explaining. I looked up Child Protective Services and had her phone send the pictures to their 'report a problem' email. I also used her phone to email a note that they should check her voicemail.
I thanked the real estate agent, told him I didn't think the house was what I was looking for and had him drop me off at my hotel. I checked out, took the next flight to Denver and was at home when the Orlando CPS called to ask me if I would like to have custody of my children. I asked why they weren't with my ex-wife and was properly horrified to hear that she'd been arrested and about the charges that she would be facing. I told them I could be there at 10 the next morning and immediately went online and got my reservation and electronic ticket.
The kids (Rachel is 7 and Tommy is 9) were glad to see me and only wanted to know if they'd ever have to live with their mother again. I could definitely reassure them that they needn't worry about that.
Why haven't you heard of me before? You have, but only indirectly, through my company's reputation. We have quite a record of cleaning up during and after nasty divorces and resolving family abductions in child custody cases (yes, I pick the cases I want to handle - someone on the short end of a divorce is always first choice and I don't have to make money doing it). Since no equipment is actually touched and no entry to premises is required, nothing is done that can be traced. People can't explain how their phones sent a compromising picture or forwarded an inappropriate email but the caller ID doesn't lie about what phone the call originated from and the cell tower records tell where the phone was. If your phone is at your house, it's hard to argue that you don't know what's on the phone or who was called. I can also get info from standalone answering machines - it's just a little more difficult to pass it along.
I've been offered some government work, but I turned them down, saying that having children with the right parent was my mission in life (and they know that I can afford to be high-minded like that). Since I wasn't flying that day, they don't consider me Affected; they apparently think I'm some kind of high tech genius.
I generally know about the nastier divorces (I get info from some of the other Affected - most of them feel strongly about what type parent should get children) and make contact with the person I think is in the right (yes, most of us Affected are arrogant and opinionated). If you're looking for me, we're not in Denver anymore. There are lots of places that have nicer winters - especially if you're on a tricycle.
By the way, is there anything that shouldn't be on your phone?
Maybe I better give you some background. Call me Joe. I won't tell you much more than that because I don't want to be on the FBI's list of Affected. Up until a few years ago, I designed and installed high security wired and wireless networks - mostly for businesses but some in those big, expensive MacMansions. I never gave a second thought to the convenience of being able to drive. Of course, driving was one of the contributing factors to me now being among the disabled. I was on my way back from a job in D.C. when it happened.
Not my driving - the cop that investigated the accident said I did a hell of a job trying to avoid the runaway truck on that long downhill on I-81 in Virginia. I just ran out of places to go and got pushed up the runaway truck ramp. I guess you could say the car was accordioned - I don't know if that's a word, but it had lots of wrinkles in it in the pictures my friend Sam showed me. Anyway, I took a hard hit to the head when the roof folded down on me so I still have occasional blurred vision and - although they're getting farther apart - I have a small seizure (just a second or two) about every 36 to 48 hours. Serious enough that I can no longer drive, but not so bad that I fall off my current transportation - an adult tricycle.
So how did I get zapped if I wasn't flying? I was hooked up for my weekly EEG (yeah - a head full of wires) and I lived in Denver then - a mile high. Like I said, the docs thought the change in medications had caused me to have a seizure while on the EEG because my body had jerked around some on the bed and I was unconscious. They watched me for several hours, but everything seemed normal so they sent me home on my trusty tricycle.
I was annoyed that they'd kept me so long at the hospital because it put me on the road in the middle of the evening rush hour. Crossing most of the intersections isn't too bad in the off hours because the traffic signals are in timed mode. During rush hour, they're trip lights - but my tricycle doesn't have enough metal in it to trip the sensor. So I'm sitting there for like 10 minutes, getting madder every minute and I finally say "Change the damn light!" and it changes. Well, I'm guessing I'd lucked out because there was a car on the other side that tripped the light. Then it happened again 4 blocks later - and there was no other traffic. Then again a couple of blocks after that. So at the next red light, I say "Change the damn light!" before I get to the intersection - and it works!
At this point I'm wondering if I'm dreaming or if they've done something really weird to my medications and now I've got hallucinations to go with the blurred vision and seizures. When I get home I park the tricycle in the garage (yes, I carry the garage remote in my pocket) and go in to watch the news. There's a report about people experiencing dizziness and stuff on airline flights about the same time as I seized and passed out. I assume it's just coincidence that my glitch was at the same time as theirs.
I didn't think about it again until I got some lottery tickets at the 7-11. I told the guy to make it quickpicks (hey, it's my weekly contribution to education). The numbers on the tickets were all the birthdates that I used to play when I still had a wife and kids. So how did the machine pick those numbers? By then I'd heard of the Affected and I thought about the traffic lights that had changed. And I began to wonder if I'd been affected because all the EEG wires acted as antennas so I didn't have to be at 30,000 feet or whatever the altitude was. So I started looking at the electronics in the house and thinking about what might be done with them. The first thing I did consciously was turn on the TV and go to the Weather Channel. I found there was a lot more I could do and my knowledge of networks (not to mention security) was very useful.
What happened to the wife and kids? She didn't want to be around the guy who slobbered when he seized and she told the judge it scared the kids. I think she was just jealous of the attention I got from the kids and how much they enjoyed having a stay-at-home parent. Anyway, she got custody and they were gone to Florida long before the insurance settlement. I'm sure she kicked herself because she didn't wait to get her hands on some of that $15 million.
One of those lottery tickets paid $37,435 so it was worth dropping $5 to buy them. I don't really need the money, but I do have expenses for taxis and limos since I can't drive. I don't take the tricycle out more than half the 'assist' distance (how far the battery will take me) to ensure I can get home after a seizure. Most of the seizures are just an annoyance, but some of them leave me exhausted. The doctors don't have an explanation for the difference.
I heard about some things my wife was doing from someone I know in Orlando, so I flew there to check it out. There was a place for sale on the street behind where she was living, so I asked an agent to show me the house. While we were there, I faked a small seizure and told the agent I just needed to sit down for a few minutes.
I was close enough to scan my ex-wife's smartphone and found some pictures of the children that she'd have a hard time explaining. I looked up Child Protective Services and had her phone send the pictures to their 'report a problem' email. I also used her phone to email a note that they should check her voicemail.
I thanked the real estate agent, told him I didn't think the house was what I was looking for and had him drop me off at my hotel. I checked out, took the next flight to Denver and was at home when the Orlando CPS called to ask me if I would like to have custody of my children. I asked why they weren't with my ex-wife and was properly horrified to hear that she'd been arrested and about the charges that she would be facing. I told them I could be there at 10 the next morning and immediately went online and got my reservation and electronic ticket.
The kids (Rachel is 7 and Tommy is 9) were glad to see me and only wanted to know if they'd ever have to live with their mother again. I could definitely reassure them that they needn't worry about that.
Why haven't you heard of me before? You have, but only indirectly, through my company's reputation. We have quite a record of cleaning up during and after nasty divorces and resolving family abductions in child custody cases (yes, I pick the cases I want to handle - someone on the short end of a divorce is always first choice and I don't have to make money doing it). Since no equipment is actually touched and no entry to premises is required, nothing is done that can be traced. People can't explain how their phones sent a compromising picture or forwarded an inappropriate email but the caller ID doesn't lie about what phone the call originated from and the cell tower records tell where the phone was. If your phone is at your house, it's hard to argue that you don't know what's on the phone or who was called. I can also get info from standalone answering machines - it's just a little more difficult to pass it along.
I've been offered some government work, but I turned them down, saying that having children with the right parent was my mission in life (and they know that I can afford to be high-minded like that). Since I wasn't flying that day, they don't consider me Affected; they apparently think I'm some kind of high tech genius.
I generally know about the nastier divorces (I get info from some of the other Affected - most of them feel strongly about what type parent should get children) and make contact with the person I think is in the right (yes, most of us Affected are arrogant and opinionated). If you're looking for me, we're not in Denver anymore. There are lots of places that have nicer winters - especially if you're on a tricycle.
By the way, is there anything that shouldn't be on your phone?
Don't have a smartphone but nothing on it that shouldn't be anyways. 
