Virtual Quill

As a write this, Coney is having her preschool friend Lin Lee over for a slumber party. As it turned out, the only way that was allowed to happen was that Lin’s mother (Mei Li Lee, the Tiger Mom) would also attend as a package deal. So, after dinner Dad and Rudy retreated upstairs as the mother and daughter arrived at 7:30.
The two girls have had a nice evening, watching animated films on DVD, playing age-appropriate video games and also a couple traditional board games. Conversation between the two moms has been...strained. It sounds as if Kell is cognizant of her new authority and doesn’t want to act dominant, and Ms. Lee also doesn’t want to act submissive.
Sorry for the brief report, but the evening is only half over. I’ll give everyone a complete update when I have more info (thanks to Rudy’s tweets).

Nervously, I stayed up during the daylight hours keeping tabs on the news of the launch of the Herd Thinners, Inc. insect product line. Twitter and Facebook allowed me and everyone else (including the business media such as CNBC) to track how sales were faring in the local metro area.
As soon as stores opened sales began pouring in. That was the first hurdle, and of course it was a major one. If demand had not been there nothing else would have mattered. The demand was there, as Kell herself knew from the personal experience of trying to shop for me.
Everything appeared to be a huge success, and the company stock rose throughout the day. Behind the scenes, however, a crisis was taking place. The insectivores that Kell had hired to bring in the bugs had vanished.
Frantic searches for them gave way to the realization that the company might not be able to fulfill the orders, something that’s never happened before. The humiliation would have brought about Kell’s immediate dismissal.
At sundown things looked hopeless and Kell was preparing to tender her resignation when the most amazing thing occurred. A mass of insects appeared, from the opposite direction from where they were expected, being herded by the insectivores into the company’s processing center. Chief among the insectivores was the cow Kell had inexplicably hired on a hunch, keeping the herd together by swishing her tail.
What had happened? When they went out into the field the insectivores had realized that they were being followed by company felines bent on thwarting Kell’s plan. Their objective was to force Kell’s resignation and install one of their own as CEO. The insectivores immediately shut down all communications and proceeded to areas beyond their planned hunting grounds. Avoiding the felines almost made them too late, but they arrived in the nick of time.
So, everything’s good, with one exception. Kell now knows she has a feline problem at work. Managing it could make or break her.

No, not the shuttle launch of the Endeavour, although that’s a go for tomorrow as I write this. (Godspeed!) I’m referring to the countdown to the rollout of the Herd Thinners, Inc. line of insect meals. Kell’s entire career rides on this.
For years she’s been personally aware of this unmet market, mainly due to the difficulty of shopping for me. (I definitely feel emotionally invested in this.) When she ascended to CEO this was the first of her initiatives because she felt it stood the best chance of success.
It hasn’t been easy. Going against the entrenched HT bureaucracy meant she had to convince the board plus her main benefactor, Predator Emeritus R.L. Once she climbed that Everest, she had to create an entire division from scratch, hiring insectivores, putting together the delivery infrastructure and creating a marketing campaign. That she’s been able to do this in less than six months is nothing short of miraculous.
And tomorrow is when it all happens. The HT slogan is “Roar to Store in 24,” as the company guarantees fresh product. So, Kell hasn’t had the luxury of building up an inventory. The insectivores have go out into the Wild, and by sundown bring in enough bugs to satisfy whatever orders come in.
We’ll all be holding our breath.

That title is a bit harsh, but how else does one explain Rudy’s vegetable garden coming up before any other herbivore’s in the neighborhood? Beginner’s luck, maybe, but even I didn’t have that kind of success during my childhood years as a plant eater. Dad is particularly taken aback, especially since on one hand he’s Rudy’s mentor but on the other... Well, Dad can be competitive.
The person most disturbed by this development of course, was Rudy himself. This cuts to the very heart of the self-image he’s so carefully constructed around himself. Namely, that he’s not Dad.
“One of us...One of us...One of us...”
I know that annoys him.
Meanwhile, I’ll be able to needle him in person because Fenton and I are driving up to Domain for Mother’s Day. We’ll spend the day with my folks, and then the evening with his.
In other gardening news, my flowers are blooming to the delight of the bees across the street. Tree is behaving herself, although sometimes when the wind blows through her branches she sounds like she’s muttering under her breath.

Before I report on the family drama I’d like to acknowledge the tragic wave of tornados that swept through the region this week. With Tree’s newly replanted roots still vulnerable to high winds we were especially at risk. The bee queen Cassiopeia invited us to take cover with them if it looked like we were in danger, but the storms never got that close to us. We do want to support those who were not so fortunate, and here’s a Facebook page of one relief effort.
Before all that occurred, the big news was Rudy’s annual Easter Bunny drama. It ended with all of the eggs being delivered by the Kindle relatives, so now Rudy owes them all vegetables from his yet-to-be-planted garden. (Personally, I wouldn’t hold my breath for any produce from that source.)
The other bit of news was that our little cousin Wendell Luckyfoot signed a contract making him the Easter Bunny in Training. Rudy suspected they’d run into him again, and he made sure to bring the contract along as he’s looking forward to handing off the duties when the time comes. Gran’s presence with her notary stamp was a convenient accident.
We’ll see how things go next Easter!