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    Not Quite Alone At Christmas
    Not Quite Alone At Christmas
    Not Quite Alone At Christmas
    Ebook15 pages13 minutes

    Not Quite Alone At Christmas

    By R. Richard

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    About this ebook

    I'm a software engineer and a damn good one. I have been working very hard to get a job done. The job is for a military client and is very important to at least the Commanding Officer at a nearby military base.
    The Commanding Officer told my management, “If Jason can get the current program delivered and it meets spec, Jason will handle my computer programming, as long as I'm here.”
    My management told that me the job I was working on was really important and that I should give it my best effort.
    (I always give my work my best effort, and my management knows that. However, they didn't see fit to tell me of the importance of the work. The Vice President's Secretary told me of the CO's dictum, in private.)
    The job that I'm working on is basically impossible. A bankrupt company has delivered (more like abandoned) a computer and a suite of equipment. The computer is supposedly a very high powered unit and will solve a lot of problems, if it can be programmed. However, there's no documentation for the machine and the government has decreed, “Generate a useful demo and we will manufacture the machine ourselves. Else we throw it away.”
    I have managed to extract documentation from a very unlikely source and I'm well into the process of generating a spectacular demo. I have all of the peripheral devices talking, back and forth and I have taken a smallish flight simulation program and converted it for use in the new computer. A simulated combat aircraft flies across a display screen at very low altitude, pops up and delivers ordnance, then descends back to low altitude and escapes. The simulation is one that is used in a much larger, much more expensive computer and my demo looks even better than the same kind of thing in the larger computer. I'm gonna shine! The CO's gonna shine. The government is gonna get something out of what looked like a financial disaster.
    On Christmas Eve, the CO gathers a number of high ranking military types in a computer lab and I run my demo program.
    The response is very upbeat. The observers can't believe that a small, relatively inexpensive tactical computer could run such a simulation at such a speed.
    After the demo, my management grudgingly promotes me to Project Manager, at a nice increase in salary! I also get my own team to manage.
    Floating on air, because of my success, I wrap up the demo, go home, shave, shower up and put on fresh clothes. I have a date with Clarinda, down at the Flame.
    The Flame is a local steak house and they have a Christmas Eve special. A lot of people will be there and I have a reservation for my date and me.
    I try to call Clarinda, but all I get is her answering machine. The message says that she's out for the evening. I'm left with a feeling of unease. She should be waiting for me to pick her up.
    I grab Clarinda's Christmas present and off I go. I drive by Clarinda's place, but it's dark.
    I then drive down to the Flame.
    I walk into a jam packed room, full of people waiting for a table to open up. I talk to the hostess and she tells me that it'll be at least an hour's wait.
    I then see Clarinda coming from the direction of the ladies room I hold out my hand, but she walks by me as if I'm some sort of mendicant, begging for alms. I watch her go over to Handsome Henry and then turn and smirk back at me. I'm alone at Christmas.
    I'm boiling inside and I'm about to leave, when Roy waves at me from a large table.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherR. Richard
    Release dateDec 19, 2015
    ISBN9781310926570
    Not Quite Alone At Christmas
    Author

    R. Richard

    I'm the co-author, with Sunset Thomas, of Anatomy of An Adult Film.I have 48 novels and over 299 short stories currently published.I spent my early years in the part of Los Angeles known as the South Central. I was known as Whi' Boy, which was sufficient to identify me in that place. I'm a skilled Kung Fu player, using a system that I learned from a Korean I knew only as 'Pak.' It would be easier to tell you the places that Pak wasn't wanted by the police, rather than the places where he was wanted by the police. Pak's Kung Fu system, augmented by some bits and pieces from some Chinese practitioners is quick and effective, or I wouldn't be alive today.My early education was mostly obtained by stealing books from the public library (I always returned them and the Librarian even began to provide me with reading lists.) I did go to high schools, but I never really learned anything there. I eventually graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles, UCLA, with a degree in mathematics.I work as a Systems Analyst and also make a part of my living as a professional gambler (legal in Nevada.) I write science fiction and erotica. My published novels are:Anatomy of An Adult Film (With Sunset Thomas)1. Second Chance: God Killer2. Second Chance: Sky Pirate3. Second Chance: Scroll Seeker4. Second Chance: King of The Islands5. Second Chance: King of Zaya6. Second Chance: Duke of Averon7. Second Chance: King of Golomon8. Second Chance: King Of The Sky9. Second Chance: Warlord of Ifrequeh10. Second Chance: King of Ariby11. Second Chance: King of Mesodania12. Second Chance: King of Avuls13. Second Chance: King of Kemet14. Second Chance: King of Zorran15. Second Chance: King of Two Worlds16. Second Chance: King of Averon17. Second Chance: King's Duties18. Second Chance: King of The New WorldAdventurer: Simulation ProblemAdventurer: Pannar ProblemA Programmer's GambitAmateur StripperBeach MurdersBondage HouseCorporate Sex SlavesFriday NightGo Naked In The SoftwareGrasshopper WinterInvoluntary NudeLayoffNot A HeroPirates of The KeysSummer of SexThe LakeThe Last Moon DanceThe Nude Adventures of Plain JaneThe Secret Life of Wanda WilsonTails of the Pussycat LoungeTo Keep A JobTopless RestaurantToy WhoresVix: The MarineWayward BoyShort Stories:A Christmas Visit

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      Book preview

      Not Quite Alone At Christmas - R. Richard

      Not Quite Alone At Christmas

      By R. Richard ©

      Published by R. Richard at Smashwords

      Copyright 2022 R. Richard

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Not Quite Alone At Christmas

      By R. Richard © 2022

      Although I didn’t intend to admit it to anyone at the time, I bought a Christmas gift for my lady friend at a yard sale, way back in July. I paid the seller the princely sum of $5 for the gift. I then paid to get it gift wrapped, as Christmas approached. (When I have to deal with physical things, they call

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