{"id":178,"date":"2008-02-04T18:10:59","date_gmt":"2008-02-04T17:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/04\/monday-in-the-park-counting-pebbles-in-the-path\/"},"modified":"2008-02-04T18:10:59","modified_gmt":"2008-02-04T17:10:59","slug":"monday-in-the-park-counting-pebbles-in-the-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/04\/monday-in-the-park-counting-pebbles-in-the-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday in the Park, counting pebbles in the path"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I wandered around the park for a while, picking up as many details as I could. There were floodlights, generators, and big boards of electronic equipment. It was either a ritzy DJ setup or a military command centre. Either way, somebody wanted to make a big impression.<\/p>\n

I found the sign that Old Patrick mentioned, and it was addressed to me. I was considering its meaning when a short guy with a bald spot and mean eyes jogged over from one of the buildings.<\/p>\n

“Having trouble reading?” he asked with a sneer. “It says ‘Yer cooperation during this period is very much appreciated.'”<\/p>\n

“I’m the kind of guy who cooperates,” I said with my most ingratiating grin. “Is there anything I can help with? It looks like there’s some lawn that hasn’t been covered yet.”<\/p>\n

“You can help by getting yerself back to the other side of the fence. And if yer really after helpin’ — ye can take care of yer business on the Nort-side.”<\/p>\n

I just watched him for a minute. I was deciding what to do next, and I didn’t see any attractive options.<\/p>\n

He looked at the big, glass-walled building, where a tall, thin shadow was standing, motionless. When he turned back to me, he said, “What do ye tink about violent crime in this part of the city?”<\/p>\n

“I’m opposed to it.”<\/p>\n

He smiled, big and toothy, so I could see bits of the sausage roll he had for breakfast. I was wondering whether he appreciated my wit when I felt my knee give way. By the time I was aware of the pain, my face was resting on wet pebbles.<\/p>\n

My first thought was that the Duchess’s grandson was probably enjoying the scene. I’m sorry to say that I have a hard time keeping focus when somebody knocks me down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So I wandered around the park for a while, picking up as many details as I could. There were floodlights, generators, and big boards of electronic equipment. It was either a ritzy DJ setup or a military command centre. Either way, somebody wanted to make a big impression. I found the sign that Old Patrick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}