I'm in a large department store, and I'm tempted to buy this small entertainment cube for my bedroom. It was a built-in stereo and a black-and-white TV and a radio alarm. I like it but I can't quite decide. I think I was shopping for a mini stereo, and this was unexpected. I wander off and look at something else for a bit, and then return to check if it has an auxiliary input, and whether the TV will work after the digital changeover in February 2009.

I'm interrupted by a business acquaintance, a thin older gentleman who seem to be trying to talk me into a real estate investment. This is apparently my line of work, and another guy who is with me is my assistant, but he doesn't talk smoothly and I have to take over and offer encouraging platitudes, as though the older guy is my client.

We end up in line for the bathroom, and some people are complaining about the length of line, and I explain that my assistant and I are not waiting for the bathroom, we're just talking to this guy. The older guy has two pages that look like RMLS printouts about real estate offerings, and he flips to the second one, saying "and this one is a great deal, we can get for about 17 percent!"