I have always been in the habit of hassling people. I can't say why, but I find harassing people in "positions of power" to be all the more pleasurable. I was in Vesper one morning following a few early AM kills when a counselor approached me and explained that I should return my "ill gotten gains" to my newly resurrected victims at the Vesper bank. It seems that they had paged this Counselor to try and recoup their goods. I explained my position in no uncertain terms. I have always been able to speak on a Counselor's level, so I knew he understood me.

Soon thereafter I purchased a two-story house. Well, needless to say, after searching the globe, I was unable to locate any spots that would accept a place of this size. I never hesitate to call a Counselor in times of need and they seem to enjoy staying busy. Hey, I pay my ten bucks a month too, right? I'd page a GM in times like these, but they generally reply with some stupid answer. I page one night to have a brick removed from the landscape (from a long since decayed house) and I get this as a reply. I think you can see why I have a hard-on for OSI at times.

Anyway, after I get the brick removed (next day, different GM) I still cannot place the two story. The space seems to be there, but it just won't work. I page a Counselor to find out if it is some type of "no build zone", although I know it should not be. He tells me that the GMs are off-line, so he does not know. How the hell could he not know? What is the purpose of the mysterious blue robed men? I figured I would just ask him.

The Counselor explains that they mostly serve players with simple problems. For example, he had a Counselor buddy that was helping some guy place a chair facing West. Anyone that has a house knows what a bitch this can be. Well, I figured that two Counselors might be better than one in my situation, so I told him to get his buddy away from the newbie and to get his ass out here and help me. A chair costs a few gold, a two-story house deed is nearly 200K. My problem was more pressing. "He cannot simply break away while helping", Counselor Egghead responds, "What could he possibly say to the player in need?". I had an idea of my own that I figure a Counselor would probably love to use. My Counselor then explained that another Counselor had come to the rescue in the chair dilemma and that two Counselors could handle the interior decorating needs of this person. My problem was out of their reach. I bade him farewell.

All in all, I had explained my need for land to nearly every Counselor on Lake Superior. Anytime I thought about it, I would page someone and ask how the hunt for land was going. Most of them did not appreciate my calls and explained that they were not there to find locations for player houses. I told them that there was one of me and a bunch of them and since they had an inside track in the game, they were essentially working for me. I figured that this was an intelligent business move to rival those of Bill Gate's! Most of the Counselors agreed.

My newfound friend did not seem to agree, and got rather ugly with me. I had to ask him to leave. He seemed happy to do so.

I happen to be in Britain one sunny afternoon and lo and behold I find a big ass empty spot. I am not sure if I am still in town or not, as I do not recall seeing the "You have left..." message. Well, I can hit CTRL/J and open the journal, or I can page a Counselor and ask if I am in town or not. The journal s fun and all, but the Counselor's need to stay busy too.

Well, this is where I think Lenny made his grand entrance. Lenny had recently been inducted into the fraternal order of the blue robed role-player, and if this Counselor was him then he was taking it very seriously. I was never positive that this guy was indeed the infamous PK known as Lenny Reeferstal. I was almost positive it was him one night when he posted a Century 21 comment on the JoV Forum, but he claims it was not him. I am unconvinced.

Anytime I spoke to Counselors about anything, I was now in the habit of asking them a few key questions to see if I could determine Lenny's new Counselor identity, and he wasn't telling on the forum. I asked my questions, and he gave me the role-playing thing. "Oh shit", I think to myself, "I spend all this time and effort trying to nest this deed and now I have one of these jackass role-players telling me in Elizabethan speak that he doesn't understand English". Perfect!

Well, at least he found out it was a guard zone for me, but of course I didn't care for that answer. I needed help, and this fucker didn't speak English. Well, I know how to role-play too. Matter of fact, I KNEW I could make him understand! Well, I should have known I would get the standard answer. He had been chosen as a Counselor for a reason.

I tried to warn him of what all of this stress was doing to me, but he didn't seem to care. Didn't matter. I was wasting my time and I knew it. It was time to say good-bye to the man that might be Lenny. As I said before, I did not and do not know for certain that this Counselor was indeed Lenny, but I had a good feeling about it at the time. I took an outside shot.

Then I remembered he was a role-player.

 8-)

~=Dick Gozinya=~