Random thoughts, sights and notes Dear Mouse, Sorry, I left you unstroked for a couple of hours, twelve hours, the most. I had some important task to do. I left without taking my breakfast. The Coffee shop was closed. The humans were away. One patron was off to Singapore and the rest are with some friends and members of the family celebrating . As you know I have no family within the 45 mile radius. I communicate with them thru you. I decided to take the train. Except for a handful of people, the train was practically empty. There was one father trying to stop her baby from grabbing the orangutan-shaped backpack of a young lady. The baby was making sounds of protest. I think the orang-utan understood her. It leaned on her side. A lady across my seat was doing her beauty ceremonies. It is unethical to oggle but I cannot help but admire her adeptness in drawing her almost perfect eyebrow, curl-lashed her eyelashes and turned her otherwise thick lips into sensuous shining lips. I wished I can put a sign. Slippery, newly waxed. A family of four were having their grand time too. The youngest member was biting the ear of the brother who was busy role- playing the Terminator using her sister’s Barbie doll as the ultimate laser weapon. The father was busy reading the papers and the mother looked amused at the antics of her brood. A man in the Twilight Zone got by and offered his earphone to the Chinese guy seated by the door. He said that it’s free. He can hear God talking. The Chinese guy shook his head vigorously. He must be an Atheist. Unfazed by the rejection, the man approached the man seated next to me. Again, he offered the earphone. Thought balloon…thank you, I got my direct line to GOD. Hehehe I thought I should eat breakfast. I went to the nearest coffee shop. No lines. I sat in a table facing the door. The woman next to me was sipping her coffee while she doodled loops and triangles in her note pad. If she were an artist, she must be an abstractionist. An old man was sipping his hot coffee. Schwop scwhop. I like to fasten myself in the table. I might get sucked. A lady with the boobs bought from the store eyed the man who just came in. Rendezvous. Ahh love. I bought me a croissant sandwich. I could almost hear my officemate blurting her usual nagging when we bring a sandwich and coffee from a fastfood chain.” I could not figure out you guys paying so much for a piece of thing that you can prepare at home. The cost of the breakdast includes the wages of those nose-ringed and long clawed food attendants . Blah blah blah. “ I looked at the cute lady who was attending to some customers. She smiled at me.She must have read my thoughts. She was trying to make a living. While waiting for the bus, the beautiful Kashmir beaded carpets displayed in the window caught my eyes. Beautiful. The stones that were handsewn can be mistaken as a precious stones. Ahmmmm.. A buyer of that carpet can recycle the stones into jewelries and the carpet would still be beautiful with those embossed colorful embroideries. Beyond the carpets, I can see young hungry children trying to come up with a beautiful carpet to be admired by some filty rich people who will buy and make that a part of their prized possessions. A carpet woven with tears and sweats from poor children trying to survive. Came the bus and off to something more intriguing slice of life. The CAT