Introduction:

I just started journaling. I posted some random thoughts and realized that I should introduce myself.

Hi, I'm Cat, short for Catlin.. 

It was going to be Caitlyn, after my Aunt (Mom's Sister) but when she found out I was a boy, she made it more masculine. So that's Cat, like meow, not Cait. By the way, Kate (Kathryn) is my step-sister which makes us Kate and Cat. There's also my other step-sister Lorraine. I'm the youngest at 21. All that family stuff is another story… Anyhow… My family and friends call me Comet Jo. If you're not yet confused.

Statutory Holidays are painfully boring around here (Toronto, Ontario, Canada.). Especially the religious ones. Easter's a weird one. Everything is closed and there's nothing to do on Friday, Sunday and Monday but Saturday is business as usual. All for Holy-Zombie Day.

I've got all weekend to myself except Sunday Dinner with my family. None of us are religious but we do try to get together on these occasions.

Otherwise, I live in a hard loft in a large warehouse/garage next to the tracks.

The owner likes having on-site security even though the area is pretty safe.

Anyway, he likes me and my skills. Tool & Die, Fabrication, Forge and Foundry. Tony's a great teacher too. A crusty old fart from Liverpool. We do custom work for building and restoration. Anything from steam engines to hot rods or just fix your toaster. Really interesting Jack of all trades operation. There's a few other guys who work here too but I'm the only one who lives on site here while getting room and board as I learn and refine my skills. Plus, I get unlimited access to the tools and equipment for my own pet projects after hours.

I also have a side job with my Step-Dad's architectural firm building scale models for different projects they do.

Today I'm just finishing up a vintage Toyota Hilux. She looks like a real beater but it's what I have under the hood that makes it cool. Taking parts from a couple of Smart Fortwo's I've got a hybrid. Added a second micro-diesel and more battery capacity. Plus all wheel drive. I love the electric drive-train capable of maximum torque at zero RPMs. It gives you the power of a locomotive. It'll be a great little stump puller when I'm done.

There's the domestic duties of hurding a grumble of three pugs. Dogs get walķed 3 times/day. Between 9am-10am, 4pm-6pm and 9pm-10pm. All the critters (Dogs and Feral Cats) get fed at 10am and 6:30pm. I eat when they do.

And then after that, I'll probably tinker with one of my model railway dioramas.

If I'm not making something, I'm probably unconscious.

Today's a bright sunny day with a breeze out of the South-West. On days like this I like taking the dogs on what I call our long adventure walks.

As much as I try to get the three pugs, Geddy, Alex and Niel to walk with our backs to the wind, they insist on walking straight into it. So, instead of heading up toward midtown through Forest Hill where I grew up, we ended up down at the lake in Humber Bay Park.

Objectives were met. The three Ds of dog walking are: Distance, Duration and Defecation.

Pugs are funny little dogs with big personalities. They're prone to overeating and obesity but if they're properly exercised they're lean and fit. I like to say that they have two speeds: On or Off. Either they're at full charge or sleeping.

After an hour and a half of walking, they all fell asleep on the streetcar ride home. As much as people complain about the transit system in Toronto, it's not bad if you can ride in off peak hours and your not out in the 'burbs.

So thankful that my commute to work is just a matter of rolling out of bed.

Geddy, Alex and Neil get dinner right at 18:30. They're like little bulldozers that ram into my legs with their heads, pushing me into the kitchen while snorting and grumbling for me to feed them. The noises they make always make me laugh. I take their food from the fridge and glop it into their bowls on the counter next to the sink.

"Alright guys, you've still got twenty-midgets 'til dinner-time and your food has to warm up to room temperature before you can eat it." Met with collective sighs and barely audible whines. "You'd think I'm starving you, the way you carry on."

Now... For my dinner... Packed Grilled-Cheese sandwiches. Back to the fridge for bread, cheese, mayo, tomatoes...

As I start heaping the ingredients onto the big butcher block prep table I see a fancy envelope crisply addressed to me.

Holy Crap! It looks like an invitation. Is Kate finally getting married?

I pick up the envelope and look it over "Fancy-schmancy..." I pull my pen knife out of my cargo pouch locket of my Utility Kilt and carefully pry open the envelope making sure that I don't damage the fancy wax seal.

Humph. It's a really fancy invitation to a trades show? Not one I'd heard of either.

I finish making dinner and feeding the dogs and sit down at my computer to search for "Mizzurian" and "Cordelia Chan" as well as making enquiries on a few internet forums.

Trade shows are a great way to see new gadgets and the latest tools, materials and techniques for the industry. The "Ball" is usually a meet and greet. Cocktails, wine and cheese while you network, hob-knob and rub shoulders with other people in the industries. It can lead to new jobs. My business is mostly word of mouth and if I can pull new clients into the shop, that'll make Tony happy.

I think that a lot of guys look at these expos as a chore and a drag. Just a part of doing business. So the invitations are usually a little over the top to get people to go but I really enjoy going to them.

I guess this "Cordelia Chan" is some pseudonym used for marketing and they'll send around some girl hired by the PR crew to escort me onto a minibus to take me to the show.

a search against the "Mizzurian Expo" doesn't turn up any results.

There is a technology trade show on that week, and there is a company called Mizzurian amongst the list of exhibitors.

They are a small to medium games company with a loyal but not huge following, and they are planning to launch a new MMORPG PC Sci-Fi game, but nothing on the scale of the advert, and definitely no new VR console.

There's also a weird Time Magazine article online which is intriguing.

Ms. Chan has supposedly disappeared but the invitation is also supposedly from her.

All the triad business is probably bogus PR designed to sell video games. Her 'disappearance' is probably a publicly stunt too.

What I don't understand is what Mizzurian wants with me?

I don't even play video games...