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The phone rang and Seth answered it. Seth usually does; I don't care about the telephone and it's never for me. But this time it was. He stood at my doorway and said, "Jenn wants to talk to you," but I only heard that someone whose name starts with a J wanted to talk to me. Not that it matters, really. "Hello?" I said.
"Did Jules Verne invent the elevator?"
"No," I said. I was about to say Garrett Morgan did, but wasn't that was the safety elevator? And anyway the question was so odd I thinik it made my brain freeze for a second or something. Besides, part of my brain was already taken up with wondering how the heck I thought of Garrett Morgan.
"He didn't?" She seemed so dismayed. Or mad at me for saying so, or something.
"No!"
"I don't know," she backpedalled, "I don't even know who he is."
"He's ... a writer, but ... " Then a thought struck me. "He wrote about an elevator that went to the Moon, I think--" It's been so long; I read Jules Verne probably half my lifetime ago.
"That's what I meant!" she said.
"--but that's not the same as inventing the elevator!"
"Yeah, well, whatever," she said. "The elevator that goes to the Moon, yeah."
"And he didn't invent it anyway, just wrote about it." Jenn, of course, was uninterested in such trifles, though I found this an important distinction.
I do like that Jenn's telephone conversations (yes, she does talk to me now; she is coming back to Morris and she is still married) start out with some direct purpose. The first thing she said last time was, "What kind of computer should I buy?" What? Whadaya mean, what kind? I asked. Exactly! she said. I didn't even know what kind of kind she was talking about ... but Jenn, though asking direct questions, does have a way of disorienting me with them. (She actually ended up with a ridiculous computer, which I thnk is nice because it gives me new things about which I can make fun of her. Today, for instance, I told her my computer has three gigabytes of memory and she said she thought hers had 512. Really, I said in my most incredulous voice. Then she asked me what K meant and I figured that she was probably talking about her RAM, of which she might more plausibly have 512 anything, and it'd have a K after it. I laughed at her, off and on, for a few minutes.)
"Did Jules Verne invent the elevator?"
"No," I said. I was about to say Garrett Morgan did, but wasn't that was the safety elevator? And anyway the question was so odd I thinik it made my brain freeze for a second or something. Besides, part of my brain was already taken up with wondering how the heck I thought of Garrett Morgan.
"He didn't?" She seemed so dismayed. Or mad at me for saying so, or something.
"No!"
"I don't know," she backpedalled, "I don't even know who he is."
"He's ... a writer, but ... " Then a thought struck me. "He wrote about an elevator that went to the Moon, I think--" It's been so long; I read Jules Verne probably half my lifetime ago.
"That's what I meant!" she said.
"--but that's not the same as inventing the elevator!"
"Yeah, well, whatever," she said. "The elevator that goes to the Moon, yeah."
"And he didn't invent it anyway, just wrote about it." Jenn, of course, was uninterested in such trifles, though I found this an important distinction.
I do like that Jenn's telephone conversations (yes, she does talk to me now; she is coming back to Morris and she is still married) start out with some direct purpose. The first thing she said last time was, "What kind of computer should I buy?" What? Whadaya mean, what kind? I asked. Exactly! she said. I didn't even know what kind of kind she was talking about ... but Jenn, though asking direct questions, does have a way of disorienting me with them. (She actually ended up with a ridiculous computer, which I thnk is nice because it gives me new things about which I can make fun of her. Today, for instance, I told her my computer has three gigabytes of memory and she said she thought hers had 512. Really, I said in my most incredulous voice. Then she asked me what K meant and I figured that she was probably talking about her RAM, of which she might more plausibly have 512 anything, and it'd have a K after it. I laughed at her, off and on, for a few minutes.)