I told Basil I’d be on vacation in Vancouver and flying back over the weekend, but did he listen? Of course not! And so upon my return there were about 500 phone messages that all started something like, “Hey Ben, where are you?”
It seems as time passed the messages got a bit more desperate…“Um, Ben? This is you right? You there? Pick up. Come, on. Pick up. Why are you ignoring me?”
The last few messages had a distinct note of panic to them, and this has nothing to do with Liz’s hospitality. It seems Basil’s lost his lucky charm, something he’s had for many years…his rabbit’s foot.
Every since I’ve known Basil he’s had that dirty old rabbit’s foot. He claims he got it from some sheperd in the “old country”, but I think he bought it in Montreal’s Chinatown. Anyway, he loves that rabbit’s foot and never went anywhere without it, until recently when he apparently lost it. How’d he lose it? Your guess is as good as mine.
From what I can gather from his infinite voice messages, it seems likely Basil misplaced the rabbit’s foot on the train trip he took from Stamford, Connecticut to Chicago, Illinois. Either that or he lost it in a poker game.
If I’m not mistaken, Basil should still be with Liz Strauss, most probably in San Jose for BlogHer, where I hope he’ll be distracted enough with all the lady bloggers and maybe, if we’re lucky an open bar.
I think this is a great time for Basil to give up on lucky charms and stop worrying so much. For all his partying, Basil can be a bit neurotic. Hopefully with the new friends he’s made and the comfort of knowing he’s got the next few weeks of his trip planned out, he can kick the habit of his rabbit’s foot and move on with his life.
I’m going to try and speak with Basil soon, but coming back from holiday is always a hectic time. We may receive a report from Liz too, and I bet everything is fine, and he’s just putting on an act for me.
Incidentally, if anyone ever wants to go on vacation in Vancouver just let me know. I know all the hot spots (Ok, that’s not really true, but I could recommend a couple great restaurants in Yaletown.
(Related Tags: vancouver, yaletown, montreal, lucky charms, rabbit’s foot, blogher)
I’m not sure, Ben, but Basil could be playing you.
He was having a great time. He even took some of the GM cars there for test drives you know.
Liz, that could very well be true. Basil’s nothing if not a prankster. He was probably looking for a pay raise…he’s a tough negotiator!