3/29/13

Success! I talked Agent Tier into letting me take Jan to the home universe. She was in shock, to say the least. While our world is highly similar, there are some glaring differences. She found racism to be absolutely disgusting. The very thought that one race may be superior to another was completely absurd to her. She saw a skinhead in Portland and approached him to ask him about his feelings on other races. It didn't go well. She asked him what made him sure that his race was superior to others. He told her that his race had a rich history and culture. She replied that all races have rich histories and cultures, what made his better? He replied that his race was much purer, and therefore, stronger and more intelligent than other races. She asked if he had any scientific proof of this, considering how all life started in Africa. She told him that this makes us all the same, just in different packaging. He called her a mongrel, and with a "Sieg Heil!", he walked off. That was the only low point of the trip. I'm just glad that she doesn't think I'm nuts anymore. She said that she'd like to see some of the other universes out there. I told her that, so far, I'd only been to hers, but I'd like to see some of the others, as well. Agent Tier told me that they were starting to expand the voyage teams, and if we wanted to get in on it, he could make it happen. These guys really make things move fast!

3/27/13

Finally got a call back from Tier. When I told him what I had said to Jan, I thought he was gonna lose his mind. He threatened to pull me out until I told him that I had found the split. He wasn't interested in hearing about anything else after that. I explained to him what I had found, and asked him if he'd help me to show Jan that I wasn't a complete lunatic. He told me that, by all rights, he should pull me out, send me back to my home universe, and have my memory wiped. I begged for a good half hour before he finally relented, and he said he'd think about it. So now, I'm just waiting. It's finally hit me that I'm in love with Jan....

3/26/13

It's all falling apart. Jan thinks I've lost my mind. I made the mistake of telling her what was going on, and now she thinks I'm a complete lunatic. Nice job, Ace! There's absolutely no way of backing up anything I said without the help of our hero, Agent Tier. Incidentally, said Agent is not answering his phone at the moment. Great. Out checking the mail, maybe? It appears that he's skipped off to the home Universe, and has left me high and dry. How the hell do you substantiate a claim of being from a whole different reality? I tried telling Jan that I was not of this world. Initially, she thought that I meant that I was on a different mental plane. After I explained what I really meant, she thought that I was plainly mental. Now she won't talk to me. I've just spent the last three days trying to get her to at least speak to me. Work is becoming increasingly awkward. I get customer orders from her in silence. The whole thing is killing me. It's like my whole world has been turned inside out. Again. Chuck has no idea what's going on, but he says that he has full confidence that I can fix it. "There's something about you.", he said.
In the meantime, I've been looking for the shift again. Saw something interesting. Joe Kennedy was prosecuted for running bootleg whiskey with the Mafia, and the entire Kennedy family was disgraced. JFK was never President. He spent some time as a movie producer in Hollywood, but was blackballed after some dirty business with a starlet named Norma Jeane Mortenson. She turned up dead in her home the morning after he'd spent some time with her. The neighbors heard arguing that night. The next morning, she was dead of an apparent drug overdose. There was no evidence to support any real foul play, so after being questioned in the presence of his lawyer, JFK was released. The damage, however had already been done. He was ruined. No one returned his calls, no industry functions allowed him to enter. He was, essentially, thrown out of Hollywood. Miss Mortenson had shown a lot of potential, and she was gone. He had angered a lot of important people. He spent the next year or so out of the public eye. The next mention of him in history was a small footnote. He was murdered in 1963. Some people say the Mafia took him out because his father made the mistake of naming names during his trial for bootlegging, but of course, there was no concrete evidence.
Could Joe Kennedy's arrest have something to do with the split? I can't wait to talk this over with Agent Tier. I feel like I've cracked the mystery!

3/21/13

Really finding myself falling for Jan. The difficulty is that we are literally from two different worlds. Once they tell me that my work here is done what do I do? Do I tell Jan thanks for the good time and go back to my world? Granted, this place is nice, but it's not home. Question is, can I make it home? Could I make my way in world that's never heard of racism? Okay, of course I could! Who am I kidding? This place rocks! There's no way I'm ever leaving. Especially given that I've made such great new friends. Jan and I are getting pretty serious. That's why I haven't been keeping you guys updated as much. I've been too busy getting to know her. One of my main issues has to do with telling her the real reason why I'm here. She still thinks that I'm just traveling the country.I feel like a total jerk for lying to her, and at some point, I'll have to tell her. She's quickly becoming the center of my life. I find myself spending more and more time with her. We spend all day making eyes at each other at the diner, and then we spend the evenings together. I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna end up moving out of Chuck and Pete's to move into her place. We've kind of broached the subject, but we haven't really made a decision on the matter. It's not as if we're not aware of the direction our new relationship is taking, it's just that neither one of us sees any real need to rush things. Aside form that, her family seems to like me well enough. It appears that I've turned Chuck and Pete's duo into a trio. When I'm not with Jan, I'm with Chuck and Pete.
A few days ago, we all drove out to Portland. That was an interesting trip. Aside from the differences in the landscape, I got to see all the apparent differences that weren't readily visible in town. It looks like the 80's are alive and well around here. Groups like Devo, and The Go-Go's are still superstars. This is turning into quite the interesting trip.....

3/18/13

Life is a whole lot different when you're in a different universe. Things are the same but, not. It's hard to describe. Just little things. Elvis died a year later here. Japan invaded Pearl Harbor after attacking. There is absolutely no racism here. I could get used to that last one.
Agent Tier has given me the assignment of reporting all the differences on this strand. They're trying to figure out where it branched off from ours. It might be a little difficult. How am I supposed to find the one incident that created this strand? Needle in a haystack, much? I've spent the last 2 weeks in the library after work and on my days off, reading every history book I can get my hands on. The differences go back to Prohibition. I'm gonna look a little deeper.

3/1/2013

My mind is reeling. I had a "conversation" with Agent Tier. I don't think I can quite wrap my head around what he told me. But, at least I know what happened to my stolen bag. I gotta say, I feel a little violated. I'm guessing that you've probably figured out that since I'm writing this, I'm not locked away in some room somewhere. But I've been given some Earth-shattering news.
Parallel worlds exist. What I saw up on Grimes was a shift pod. The pod wrecked on it's way back from a parallel America. The technology is new, so they're still trying to work all the bugs out. So far, They've only used cameras and volunteers for each trip. But when I saw the pod, I put the entire project at risk by not only seeing it, but by talking about it. Their solution was, are you ready for this? Their solution was to put me, Dave, AND his uncle in a pod, and send us to this newly discovered parallel America. They pumped gas into the car I was sleeping in that night, but they were struggling with the dosage. One of the side-effects of the gas is lowered body temperature, and they didn't want me to freeze to death. Here I sit in another universe. It looks exactly like ours.
More on what they want me to do later. Still trying to process.

2/26/2013

Had a sit-down with agent Tier. What I found out blew my mind! I've got a new job. That ups the count to 2...

2/24/2013

Met Chuck and Jan's parents last night. Very nice people, and dinner was great. The highlight was talking to Jan. I told her what Chuck said, and she actually blushed. She laughed that said that he's always running his mouth. She said that it's a wonder that he didn't tell me all her favorite songs, movies, and TV shows. I told her that we had planned on talking about that once we got back to his place. That got another laugh. She told me that she liked to take things slow, and I said that it was cool, because I'm a very multi layered person. I couldn't tell her what was actually going on in my life. Not yet. I know it doesn't seem right, but what can you do? "Oh yeah, by the way, some government shadow agency is looking for me because I seen something that I shouldn't have."

I see myself staying here for as long as I can. And I don't think that they could possibly find me here. I mean, this is really an out of the way town. There's about a zillion mill towns in Oregon, pick one. Do they really wanna waste resources looking in all of them? Just how important am I to these people? Part of me wants to call agent Tier and see what he has to say. I'm still waiting for the "horrible" medical problems I'm supposed to be getting. But I like it here, and I'm not gonna shoot myself in the foot by dialing that number. I put it out of my head.

Jan was pretty happy to find that I had feelings for her, too. I mean, how could I not find her attractive? Aside from being gorgeous, she was really sweet. Most chicks that look like her have attitude problems. They know they're hot, and expect the world to bow at their feet. Not so with Jan. She's really humble, and I find that to be incredibly refreshing. She and Alex were in the same graduating class. As a matter of fact, the girl that broke Alex's heart is her best friend. I know, I know, but what are you gonna do? It's a small town. Her name is Debbie, and her and Jan were best friends. Not like Pete and Chuck, but they were close. Debbie was always trying to compete with Jan in school. Not like an unhealthy competition, just little stuff. Until Jan had told Debbie that she had a little crush on Alex. The next thing Jan knew, Alex and Debbie were dating. Jan said she felt a little betrayed, but she wasn't going to let something like that come between them. See? I told ya. Humble. They continued to be friends, and still talk to each other at least twice a month. Debbie even apologized. She told Jan that she always felt like she wasn't as pretty as Jan, and that by competing, it was her way of trying to be Jan. Jan had told her not to worry about it, because it was years ago. 

After dinner, when things wound down, I gave Jan a hug, shook hands with Chuck's parents and thanked them for dinner, and we left. All told, I'd say it was a good day. As I was tucking myself in for the night, my phone rang. Great! Dave's finally calling me back! I grabbed the phone and just before I answered it, I looked at the caller i.d. Paul Tier. Shit....

2/23/2013

Frank's working me into the schedule slowly, so this is my first day off. Hanging out with Chuck and Pete. These guys are insane! A little while ago Chuck bet Pete 50 bucks that he couldn't drink an entire bottle of Tabasco sauce. Pete is currently sitting on the couch drinking milk like a newborn calf, but he did it. Chuck is 50 bucks lighter, but he's having a good laugh. Pete, however, is NOT having a good time. He's sweating and gasping like he just ran through a pack of wild dogs wearing pork chop boxers.
Chuck told me that him and Pete have been friends since preschool when Pete offered Chuck his pants after Chuck wet himself on the playground. They've done everything together ever since. Their first kiss was with the same girl. They're actually more like brothers than friends. If you see one of them, the other isn't far behind. When they were in high school, their senior class trip was to Hawaii, Pete's parents couldn't afford it, so Chuck refused to go. The problem was, Chuck's parents had already purchased a nonrefundable ticket, and booked a hotel room. Chuck said that there was no way he was gonna go to Hawaii and leave Pete behind. He decided to sell everything he had so his buddy could go with him. Chuck's parents told him that if it was really that important to him, they'd pay for Pete to go. Pete's parents weren't exactly delighted with the idea, but in view of how close the boys were, gave their blessing with the condition that they be allowed to pay back the money. Chuck and Pete had had the time of their lives. Once they'd graduated, they both got jobs at the mill. The pay was pretty good judging by the huge TV hanging on their wall in the living room.
Pete has now regained his composure, and is laughing uncontrollably. He says that's probably the dumbest thing he's ever done. But he says that now that he knows he can do it, he expects to make some cash from bar bets. Chuck says him and Pete are supposed to be going to Chuck's parents' house for dinner, and that I should come along because Jan will be there. Chuck says that he can see that Jan has a thing for me, and if they show up without me, she'll kill them both. Hm. I had no idea....

2/22/2013

First full day of work. This is really a great little town. Seems like everyone in the county comes to this diner. Frank, the owner, laughed when I told him that. He told me that if I thought the diner was busy NOW, wait until there's a football game down at the high school. The place is a pretty decent size, and he said that sometimes he's gotta set up tables and chairs out front on the sidewalk.
There are three other cooks, but I've only met one. His name's Alex. Alex was in the Peace Corps for a while, and loves to talk about it. He's a nice enough guy, and I now know more about Indonesia than most Indonesians. Alex is probably the nicest guy you could ever meet. He says his life is an open book, and he doesn't hesitate to tell you the story. He's a town native, and he's got great parents. He was a decent student in school. and had lots of friends. Got his Dad's 67 GMC pickup for his first vehicle at 16 when he got his license. Went to his share of parties, and drank his share of beer. He'd fallen in love at the beginning of his senior year to a girl he'd known all his life. They went to the prom together, and made plans to build a life after college. Well, like most teen love affairs, things happen. They both went to separate colleges, and she discovered herself. She figured out that she wasn't willing to be a wife and mother. She wanted to live life first. Alex told her that they could live life together. She said that she wanted to discover things on her own. Said she didn't want to do the "hamster wheel" thing. School-college-job-house-marriage-children. She said that the problem was that there was no in between. Alex told her that he didn't understand why there needed to be an "in between". She told him that was why they couldn't be together. Alex was crushed. He was inconsolable. His grades suffered. He called his parents, of course. They came out to visit him at the school. He cried on his Mom's shoulder, and told her how it hurt worse than any pain he'd ever experienced. His Mom told him that even though it seems absolutely horrible, even though it felt like the pain would kill him, that it would go away with time. He told her that it sure didn't feel like it, and his Dad told him that everyone has that experience. After his parents left, he started the chore of trying to put his life back together, but the pieces didn't seem to fit. Until the day his history professor started telling the class stories about the Peace Corps. He signed up, and off to Indonesia he went for five years. While he was there, he enjoyed the food, the culture, and everything else he could expose himself to. Including a few chicks, he'd said with a wink.
When he came back, he was a different person, so to speak. Life was short, and there was no use carrying around pain that could be shed. He'd finished college, and came home. I asked him if he'd tried to get a job in his field, and he told me no. He said he'd been away for so long that he just wanted to come home. I asked him whatever happened to his high school sweetheart. He chuckled and told me that she had moved to Boston with some guy and had gotten married. Right after college. They have a house and two kids. She still comes to visit at least three times a year. No one who grows up here can stay away for very long.
I think I'm gonna enjoy working with Alex.....

2/21/2013

I love this town! I went out with Jan  tonight and I had a really had a great time. I've even got some new friends. Jan's brother Chuck, and his friend Pete. They work at the mill in town, and told me that they could get me a job there. I told them that I had just started at the diner and wanted to give it a try. Of course I could get paid more at the mill, but then there's a paper trail with my social security number attached. Last thing I need is to walk into work and see Agent Tier waiting for me. That would suck! Chuck and Pete have a place in town and they told me to crash on their couch when they found out that I was sleeping in a tent. "Dude! Nobody camps in this weather!" Pete told me. So it was settled. I'd just become a roommate. We drank. We danced. We told jokes. We drank some more. Jan called it quits around 11 or so, and told me she'd see me at work tomorrow. After she left, we had a few more drinks, talked about our life's aspirations, and called it a night. Their place was down the street, so we started walking. I suddenly remembered that all my stuff was in Jan's car. When I mentioned it, Pete suggested that I just get it tomorrow. Chuck asked me what brought me to a little town in the middle of nowhere. I told him that I had always wanted to travel the country, and that there was no time like the present, so why not? I get to see new places and make new friends. Maybe find a new home. I felt bad for lying because these guys are really cool, but I've gotta keep this thing under wraps. It's late, and I'm exhausted. I've had a few drinks, and I know I'm gonna be hating it tomorrow. I'm gonna get some sleep. More later. Oh, I tried to call Dave, but he didn't answer. Gonna try again later.

2/20/2013

Feeling a little better. I've made my way to a new town, and the people seem pretty nice. Had breakfast in the diner, and had a conversation with my new found waitress friend, Jan. She's really sweet, and she told me that if I was looking for work that they could definitely use some help. I went in later that day and talked to the owner. I'm now a short-order cook! I think I'm gonna be here for a while. I bought myself a tent and a sleeping bag in the last town I was in, so no more cold nights. I may be here for a while, so I'm gonna have to get a more stable sleeping arrangement, but things are definitely looking up. I gave Dave a call, and he told me that there are people in government vehicles asking about me. It's a good thing I left when I did. I'm guessing that since they shot at me, they're probably wanting a second chance. They knocked on Dave's door and asked him if he had seen or talked to me lately. Then they asked if he knew anything about the chemical spill up on Grimes last week. Dave said he told that he hasn't talked to me since last week, but that I had mentioned the chemical spill. He also told them that his uncle Ray lives in that area and that he'd heard about the spill too. They told Dave that they had found my wallet up there and that they believed that I may have inadvertently contaminated myself. Nasty stuff, they called it. They said that if I didn't make it to a hospital soon, I'd start to have some pretty serious problems. They told him that if he saw me or heard from me, to give me their number, so they could take me to the CDC to take care of me. Agent Paul Tier of the CDC at 770-488-7100. Yeah, I'm not buying that, I feel fine. There's no way I'm calling that guy up.
But, on the lighter side of things, Jan's gonna show me the local hangout. That'll be cool because I really need to unwind. I could use a shot or two, and I get to meet some new people.

2/19/2013

I miss the comforts of home. I miss the life that I had. I find myself pining for something as simple as a bag of microwave popcorn in front of the TV. I met a guy today who's spent the last 10 years of his life living off the grid, but I don't know if I can last that long. I'm running out of money, and I don't really know where to go. I slept in a an abandoned car last night, and lemme tell ya, this living on the run thing really doesn't work out in the winter. I was cold all night, and at one point I woke up in the middle of the night with my teeth chattering like castanets. The next morning, I found out that someone had stolen my bag. All I have now are the clothes on my back, my new wallet, and my phone. I really need some kind of companionship, because I feel so alone. I don't understand how people can do this. The next place I go is probably gonna be home for a while. I think I'm far enough away from Eugene to stop for a bit. I don't want to say where I am right now, because I don't know who's reading this. I'll leave you with this: Kites love a mean, angry, tough hill. For, any lover longs sometimes. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow!

2/18/2013

I'm writing this on the road. I don't know where I'm going, or what I'll do when I get there. The happenings of the last few days have completely turned my life inside out. Looks like I had perfect timing. I got a call from Dave and he told me that the state police are sniffing around for me. When I think about it, it was a stupid idea to try to sneak up to that site. I guess I've been watching too many movies. I mean it's not like I could actually DO anything about what I saw. The only thing I'm doing now is running, and I'm lucky to be able to do that considering that I was shot at. I could be dead right now. Instead, I've left everything I've ever known, and I don't know if I can ever go back. Talk about full of regret. I'm about to leave the service area, so I'm signing off.

2/17/2013

Just a quick note. I've decided to keep moving. I'm not gonna sit around waiting for them to come get me. They'll have to find me.

2/16/2013

The trucks are gone. Dave's uncle said they left in the middle of the night. He said he saw a semi truck hauling something under a tarp. I'll bet they drove over to the airport, loaded that thing up and took off. Can't really chance driving down the freeway with something like that. I wish I knew somebody at the airport. You can't really hide a military convoy pulling into an airport in a town like Eugene. But the fact that it was done in the middle of the night kind of helps. I'm still a little shaken up from being shot at, and I've been looking for my wallet since I noticed that it was missing. And I gotta tell ya, I'm a nervous wreck. I really regret going up there. Being nosy could have gotten me killed. Which begs the question of what would have been the explanation? Would I have just disappeared? At this point, I've completely given up on finding something in the news about it.  I'm definitely going to take pictures of that crash site.
I did some research on inter-dimensional travel. No surprise that it's impossible and just a theory. I found some stuff from questionable sources, but in light of what just happened, I'm inclined to rethink my whole philosophy of mainstream thought. You know, you always read this kind of stuff with a little bit of a smirk. But I'm asking myself if I should take another look at it with my new found perspective. I read about something called nonlinear dimensional transfer. It basically talked about lower dimensional linear subspace. I know absolutely nothing about what I read, and if any of you guys reading this can explain it to me, I'd appreciate it. I know nothing about physics. I also read some stuff about Project Rainbow, and the Montauk Project. I'm guessing you guys have heard of the Philadelphia Experiment. Well, conspiracy theorists say that they continued it at Montauk Point. But, supposedly, that was all about time travel. I have no idea if any of this stuff is even true, but I gotta tell you, this incident has happened right in my backyard, and I really don't know what to think anymore. Truth be told, I'm really a little scared. As always, I'll keep you guys updated. But, like I said, being shot at and my missing wallet has turned me into a nervous wreck. I'm finding myself jumping at shadows. I'm expecting a knock on the door any day now....

2/15/2013

So I went out to Dave's uncle's house with him, and I found out that Dave has absolutely no idea how to tell a story. His uncle Ray told me that what Dave said was completely wrong. He said that he's never seen anything like what he saw the other night, so he went online, did some searching around, and found this video. He says that this is almost exactly what he saw, except that it was dark outside, and there weren't any other "craft" that he could see. One of them fell straight to the ground while the other two flew off. He says the whole thing was surreal, like watching an M.C. Escher picture come to life.  Now, I don't know anything about inter-dimensional travel or wormholes, and I don't know anyone who does. I wouldn't even think that something like this was possible, but this video is really alarming. If this is really what happened, it's absolutely mind-blowing. But, it'd explain why the military showed up so fast. I'm guessing that they already knew what was going down, but the crash definitely wasn't planned. I'm really wondering what's inside that thing up there. And I REALLY wanna know what's on the other side of that "portal", or whatever the hell it is. Have we found a doorway to a parallel universe? This sounds like some serious Area 51 technology gone bad. What the hell are they hiding up on Grimes? I'm gonna do some research myself and see what I can come up with.

2/14/2013

I'm so terrified right now that I'm shaking. I went up there last night and hiked in from the other side. They've got lights set up at the crash site, and a big tent sitting next to it with what looks like about 100 generators. That's NOT a chemical spill. There were trees torn down, and I didn't see anything that looked like a tanker truck. I DID see something, though. It was about the size of a school bus. The closest I got was about 80 feet, and that's when they saw me. I guess a couple of soldiers were walking the area, and I should have known that would be the case. I feel so stupid. They started yelling at me so I ran. These guys started shooting at me! I almost pissed myself! I started down the hill running through the tress, but since it was dark, I probably hit every tree on the hill. I got caught up in the blackberry bushes and lost my jacket. My GoPro was in my jacket, and I had footage from the site on it. I finally made it down the hill, and I could still hear those guys coming after me, crashing through the brush. I hopped in my truck and took off! They shot at my truck! I drove off with no lights, though, so they didn't get my license plate. Unless they had night vision. God, I hope not. I can't believe that they were really trying to shoot me! Whatever's going on up there is definitely hush-hush. It's day three, and there still hasn't been anything about it on the news. My buddy Dave and his uncle Ray both know something's going on, but neither one of them would go up with me last night. That's probably a good thing. Dave thinks I'm crazy to be screwing around up there, he says I'm lucky I didn't get shot, and that I should leave it alone. I'm gonna go out to his uncle's house later on today to talk to him about it. After what happened last night, I don't think I'm going up there any more. And what's worse, I just realized that I don't know where my wallet is.

2/13/2013

So I was telling a friend of mine about what happened to me yesterday when I tried to go out to the hills. He told me his uncle lives out that way, and that he was out there visiting yesterday. He saw the trucks too. He asked his uncle about it, and he told him that he saw what looked like a meteorite crashing into the hills the night before. He said he was outside smoking a cigarette at about 2:15 that morning and he saw what he thought was a plane, until the light broke into 3 separate lights. After that, one of the lights just kind of spiraled into the hills, and the other two hovered for a minute, and then they took off towards Portland. He jumped in his truck to go check it out, but when he got to the area of the crash, there were already military trucks parked there, and some guys turned him away, and gave him the same story I got yesterday. I think he's just screwing with me, but I'm not sure, because I'm into the whole conspiracy thing. But why is there military in the hills? Still nothing on the news. I'm gonna sneak up there tonight and see what I can find. Probably not the best idea, but I need to know. I'll keep you guys updated. Starting to feel like a detective! LOL

2/12/2013

Saw something weird today. It was a nice day out, so I thought I'd take my camera out to the hills to snap some nature pics to add to my portfolio. Went to take the logging road up to my favorite spot, and saw a bunch of military vehicles, and soldiers. They stopped me and asked what I was doing. When I told them, they told me that the whole area was closed off. Apparently, some idiot in a chemical truck took a wrong turn and thought he'd take a short-cut to get back to the road. Long story short, he rolled his truck, and they were cleaning up the mess. I drove off shaking my head, What a dumb ass! But I guess my main question is why do you need the military to clean up a chemical spill? I kinda thought they had haz-mat crews for that. When I got home, I flipped on the news to try to get some more details, but there was no mention of any accidents in the hills. That's the weird part. I saw a news truck when I pulled up. They were actually taping a report at the time. What the hell is going on?