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Yep, I finally switched over from IE to Firefox. I should have done it years ago, but I waited until I just couldn't take it anymore. Big surprise, 90% of my computer problems were related to IE, so I'm back to normal! Hooray! If it seems like I've been ignoring anyone, I really haven't, it's just my crappy inter-ma-web.
To summarize: Yay! internet's working!

((So this is a character exercise from a few years ago based on Kaevri, my first Shadowrun character. This is her account of the events leading to her first 'run. Any comments or criticism would be nice, Kaevri and I would both appreciate it!))

City garbage smells different than suburb garbage. No s**t, it really does. Take a walk down the streets on an August afternoon and the wind that comes between highrises carries a more bitter stink than a breeze from behind your cookie-cutter houses. It was city-stink for me tonight, walking down a familiar little back alley behind a seedy bar and a chinese restaurant that probably knew something about all the 'missing pet' posters hanging around. I hate that restaurant.

In this part of Seattle, the renovations never caught hold. We liked our neighborhood broken-down and grimy, thanks. From the sounds in that bar I know that my boots aren't the only high-heels clip-clopping around. The blonde doesn't look more than fifteen, but she'd give you a night to remember (if you beam her the right amount). I hate seeing joygirls that young.

Charlie's place is just around the bend now. He's a good guy, my Charlie, keeps the tough little thugs in the 'hood playing nice. The bell tinkles as I open the door and catch a whiff of perfumed rot thicker than the dumpster smell. But see, this smell's nice, this smell's real. All around me are spraybottles and green plants. Every shape and size for every ailment. The crooked sign on the front counter reads "China herblist" in sloppy blue letters. Yeah, mispelled and paint flaking but Charlie wouldn't take it down. Too nostalgic, I guess. When other kids were setting up lemonade stands, Charlie and I set up a miniature herbshop. We sold snips of weeds and a few harmless tonics his father helped him put together. Charlie and I grew up together, we even dated before UGE and elves were fashionable. He took me to prom like I was a real prize and didn't laugh when dad called me a freak. Yeah, Charlie's one of the few things about this neighborhood I don't hate.

"Kaevri!" He shuffles out of the back room and flashes that wide, wrinkly grin. "You're late! Your tea is getting cold."

I follow him back into the little sitting area he set up and take the same seat I've had every week for nearly 45 years. He pours, like always, and toasts to everlasting youth and a perfect beauty. I can tell though that the toast doesn't do him much good. His hair's white and sometimes his eyes look rheumy. When he stops smiling the wrinkles around his lips don't go away. I hate time.

"How's business Charlie? Not running to the ground?" We always start this way after the toast. I could recite the conversation back to you in my sleep. But this time he surprises me.
"It's always fine, Kae, and you know it." I laugh, just like in the script habit's written, but he cuts me off. "What about you? The Business treating you well?"

I don't know what to say to this, Charlie knows I'm a hooker, I work the clubs and keep a running profile on the matrix wherever I go. The money's good, the work's easy. Being a hot young elf, there's no shortage of clients. I hate my job.

"s**t Charlie, whaddya want me to say? Ain't a lot I can do to pay the bills."
"How long are you gonna stay at this, Kae? You're gonna be 68 this month." I thought for a second about pointing out that he was three months older, but didn't.

"Geeze, you know as well as I do that UGE's don't age right. ********, I'm still gettin' my ID scanned for half the clubs I'm working." We've had this arguement before, and I'm to tired today to run through the natural course. I cut through all the talk to the part he could never argue. "What do you suggest I do then Charlie? Tell me. Give me an option and I'll take it."

"My nephew's got a job coming." Wow, old Charlie's full of surprises tonight. "He said he'd need some extra help. The boy's a bit misguided, so I can't vouch for the legality of the job, but pay's good and he might call you up again if you do it well."
Charlie's got that smug look on his silly round face. He's won and he knows it.

"Okay, fine, give the kid my number."

Charlie fills me in on his 'nephew'. They aren't really related, but Charlie sorta picked him up as his own. He does that a lot. The kid goes by the name of Cash, as in Johnny. I think it's kinda odd, considering the musician died a few years before I was born. Guess the kid likes fossilized cowboys.

My date flashes me a few snapshots of a Japanese kid trying to look tough while Charlie's got his arm around him. He looks to be around 20, though these days it's hard to guess. I hate him already.

I made divinity today... I'm not sure it turned out, but we'll see in a few hours... I kinda hope it doesn't, but oh well.

Name: ^.~ Just call me Janey
Nicknames: Whore, b***h, Woman....
Age: 18
Hight: 5'3"
Weight: .... 130
Where do you live?: Somewhere in the pacific timezone
Do you like it there?: Yup, I love where I live
Who do you live with?: Nobody right now, but a friend's moving in soon
Pets: None anymore... T-T I miss my Slinky...
bf/gf: Nope.

Have you ever...

Smoked: nope
Drank: yup
Done drugs: only advil
Gone skinny-dipping: nope
Fallen in love: yup
Had your heart broken: yep
Wanted to die: who hasn't?
Been married: long story...
Been kissed: Yep

I joined culinary school to get away from overly complex mathmatics. Understandable, right? Apparently not! As part of my AOS, I have to complete a stupid costing class that is (I'm not kidding) five hours of brainless equations over and over and over and to break up the monotony we can look up stuff in a reference book! Oh joy!
It's not that the stuff is hard, it's actually very easy, it's just monotonous! Oh, I know that knowing how to cost things will get me better pay and save tons of money, but the whole class is based on one Banquet project. I'm Patisserie and Baking! That means I bake and make the desserts that you pay so much for, I don't make your dinner, I rot your teeth! So when the project demands five courses, couldn't I make five different desserts? NO! I have to struggle through an ocean of recipes I'm not familiar with to coordinate a themed meal for two hundred imaginary people!!! GAH!!! I hate this class....