At home the next morning, Carol was fixing some toast. She was dressed for work. Charlie entered, having come from the bedroom. He wore a t-shirt and jeans, but he was barefoot.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I'm going to work. I go there every day, remember?”
“I thought you had to be there at 9:00? It's 6:45.”
“We've got a meeting. It's about a client.”
“Which one?”
“The Sampson account. We're strategizing the best way to handle the marketing.”
“Yeah?”
“Why? Do you want to come to the meeting?”
“No, but we need to talk.”
“There's coffee in the pot if you want some. Can we talk after work? I'm kind of in a hurry.”
“No, we need to talk now.”
“Well, make it quick then. What do you need to talk about?”
“Something's been bothering me a lot lately. I need you to tell me the truth. It's very important that you tell me the truth. Do you understand?”
“You want me to tell you the truth? Of course I'll tell you the truth. I would never lie to you, sweetie.”
“No?”
“No. I always tell you the truth.”
“Huh.” Charlie paused, looking Carol in the eye. “When I was gone, did you cheat on me? Be honest, now. Honesty is your best choice.”
“What? No, of course I didn't cheat. I'm a married woman. I would never cheat. Why would you think that?”
“Carol, I know you're a woman with strong desires. I know you must have been lonely.”
“Yes, I was lonely, but Charlie, I would never cheat on you.”
“If you did, I'd rather you tell me the truth now. It's very important.”
“Sweetie, I didn't cheat on you.” Carol smiled. “Really.”
“I see.”
“Trust me, silly. You get all worked up over nothing.”
Carol kissed Charlie, but he didn't return the kiss.
“Is that why you haven't wanted to make love for the last three nights?” asked Carol. “Because you thought I was cheating on you?”
Charlie didn't answer.
“You're such a goose. Baby, I would never cheat on you, and tonight when I get home I'm gonna show you just how much you mean to me. Okay?”
“Yeah?” replied Charlie in a voice completely devoid of emotion.
“Yes. I'm going to blow your mind. It'll be like our honeymoon on steroids.”
“Yeah?”
“It'll be a night you'll never forget.”
“Oh, I believe that.”
“My purse is in the bedroom. I'll be right back.”
Carol left the room and headed toward the bedroom. Charlie walked over to the window. The curtain was closed. He pulled it back to look out over the street. Carol returned, and Charlie turned to face her.
Carol said, “You know, before you left for Afghanistan you never would have doubted me.”
“I'm not the same man now. That man is gone.”
“Well don't you worry, baby, because I'm going to turn you back into the man you were. You just leave everything to me.”
Carol kissed Charlie on the cheek and left. Charlie made no attempt to kiss or hug Carol.
Carol went out to her car and got in. She pulled the visor down and checked her face in the visor’s mirror. She applied some lipstick.
Charlie looked out the window, watching his wife. His face betrayed no emotion.
Carol made a call from her cell phone. Charlie couldn’t hear her, but he could see her talking. She didn’t know that he was watching her.
Carol said, “Hey, sweetie. It's me...I'm all right, but Charlie is starting to get suspicious...” Carol laughed. “I know...Because I don't want to leave him...He's fun. Or he used to be. But I'll fix him. He just needs a little reminder of how amazing I can be in bed. I haven't really given him my full attention since he's been back. That's my fault, I guess. He was away for two years. I may have taken him for granted...Worry? About what? He's a sweet guy, but he's not all that bright...I'm on my way...Okay.”
Carol hung up her phone.
Charlie pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. He tapped the screen a couple of times. “All right, let’s see how well this tracking app works...The car is in front of the house, and I can see it on the map...Now the car is moving on the screen, and I can see the car pulling away. Very good…Now she’s at an intersection. A left turn will take her to her office. Uh oh, she turned right. Where are you going now, Carol? You’re going to Ralph’s now aren’t you?” For another minute he watched the car move across the map. It stopped moving, but it wasn’t at an intersection. “Yes, you are.”
Charlie put his smartphone in his pocket. He looked sad, but determined. On an end table next to him there was a photo of himself with Carol. He picked up the photo and looked at it.
“You should have come clean, Carol. You should have told me the truth and asked for forgiveness. Before this day is over, you will see that breaking your marriage vows has serious consequences.”
Charlie put down the picture and pensively looked out the window.
Dr. Drew interviewed Scott Adams recently, and Scott Adams mentioned the absurdity that Republicans went to overthrow the government on Jan 6, but they neglected to bring their guns. On the first or second anniversary of the event, that alleged oversight made the narrative appear absurd to me, so I made a "video" that was supposed to be audio from January 6, captured on a video camera from which the lens cap had not been removed. I'm posting it again just because.
While I was waiting on hold to talk with a human at the IRS, I decided to put some food out for the dogs. I set the full bag of dog food on a chair, and walked away to get the bowls. When I turned around I saw the bag slowly tipping over, spilling much of its contents onto the floor. Fortunately I had help cleaning it up.
This version of the detailed technical paper does not yet have sources listed, and still needs some polishing, but I want to put it out there because you never know what could happen. Whatever does happen, I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that at least its out there.
I guided 3 AI in writing this paper: Lumo, Gemini, and Grok. The Wave Physics framework solves discrepancies between quantum physics and relativity, explains dark matter and dark energy, and more.
A few years ago, just for fun, I started playing around with some ideas regarding a universal theory of energy, matter, etc. I toyed with it from time to time, but as I was getting AI to help me with a website called friendoflearning.com, a series of events led me to getting the AI to help with that theory.
The attached paper is largely the work of two AIs, Grok (xAI's AI assistant) and Gemini (Google''s AI assistant). I provided the early theoretical underpinnings, and guided the creation and editing of the document, but the AIs should get equal credit (at least). The only reason that my name is alone in the author credits is because of current publishing prejudices regarding AI.
I'd like to upload it to the arXiv server, but since I don't work at a university I need an endorsement from someone who has published in the physics.pop-ph (popular physics) category. If you know any one qualified and willing to give that endorsement, this is the link:
https://arxiv.org/auth/endorse?x=3E6LLO
...
The main task for today is to begin revising McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader. It may take a couple of weeks, possibly more. I still have to work at Publix, and next week I start a new job in the memory care unit of a rehab/nursing home facility, and I'll also be working at Publix at least one night.
After that I'll take a look at the double-slit experiment, and see if there is an interpretation that is consistent with my theory of wave physics.
Also, I came across the attached meme, which I had created two or three years (or so) ago. I thought I'd include it because I still like it.
