Adventures with Belvy – Initial Contact
“Adventures with Belvy” is an idea that began with my post “A piece of Fiction with a link to reality.” I talk about a day in the life of me and my dream robot guide Belvedere, or Belvy for short. I’m not exactly sure where this is going, but if you’re game join me as I figure it out.
So, here’s the first in a series – “Initial Contact.”
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It was supposed to be a lazy Sunday. The girls were all out of the house doing girl things, shopping, hair, nails, it really didn’t matter. The plan, lay on the oversized couch in his basement media room. A great setup, the center piece most people gravitate towards, a 52 inch flat panel plasma television, but that’s for the family. T enjoys turning on the cable box and piping the output into the 7 in wall surround sound speakers. It’s the only thing that gets him to watch action movies these days. The two sub woofers make an earthquake feel like one of those vibrating beds in a 1970’s hotel.
As the classic soul music plays throughout the house, T loads Belvy with a few of his favorite beverages. Belvy’s 12 by 12 inch compartment made to keep beverages either hot or cold is usually reserved for get-a-ways, but what the heck; this is sort of like that. The two retreat to the basement. “System On”, T commands. The system in the media room is connected to a computer he equipped with speech recognition software. This beats looking for the remote control any day. Usually T would dive into the oversized couch. He recently altered this tradition after a previous experience. One of the girls left a brush, one with a big wooden handle, an we’ll just say, he felt violated in a way no innocent unsuspecting man should have to feel. Now, he sits more like a cautious and somewhat timid old man. “Guide On”, he says making himself comfortable on the couch. While the on screen guide is loading Belvy takes a seat on the chair next to the couch. After about twenty minutes of channel surfing and reviewing the guide T reaches the inevitable conclusion, “Ain’t a damn thing on!”
While checking for new descriptive movies playing in the theater on a laptop stored in the couch, the phone rings. “Phone on”. “Hello!” “SHAAA HUUU ERRR WHUUU RAAA VROO”, a jumbled, gargled voice on the other end. Damn, not this again. Phone off.” Second time today receives a call like this. “Caller ID”, he commands. “Private Listing” says the synthetic voice output from the media room.
“No way, “Bustin’ Caps” is described. The narration alone is worth the price of the movie. I must be really bored to want to go to this movie, but what the heck. This should be interesting. Belvy set the GPS to the AMC Theater downtown.” “Yes sir.” As T grabbed his things Belvy went off to warm the truck.
Arriving at the AMC Theater with more than enough time to spare, T and Belvy head into the theater. T activated the homing device which omits a vibration on his white cane that provides direction based on Belvy’s GPS. Sometimes T likes walking without the guide. He finds it especially amusing how people are so excited about seeing a robot walking by itself that he is virtually invisible. After purchasing his ticket and a brief argument explaining why he should not have to pay for Belvy, he was able to buy a large lemonade and Nestlé’s Bunch o’ Crunch. The theater was surprisingly empty. This was only the second week of “Bustin’ Caps”. It starred the hottest new rapper, Gangsta Luv. Street legend says he was shot 9 times in the groin and yet, ironically he continues to go by Gangsta Luv.
After over a half hour sitting in the almost completely empty theater, he wondered why he was there. “I can’t stand these types of movies. Apparently, no one else can either”, he thought to himself. “To the truck Belvy.”
As the two left the theater and walked into the lobby, it was obvious that the latest children’s animated movie just ended. Preparing himself for the frenzy that would soon begin, T put his cane away and held onto Belvy. All of the kids in the theater lobby rushed toward Belvy. The kids showered him with questions. “Where did you get him?” “Can he talk?” “What can he do?” T answered as many questions as he could, fortunately the parents would help in his exit.
As T was getting into the truck, a woman approached. “Excuse me sir,” Not sure if she was talking to him T continued into the truck. The woman called out again this time close enough where it was obvious she was talking to T. “Excuse me sir, one moment please. It’s funny I would see you here. I read the article in the paper a few weeks ago.” T exits the truck to greet the woman. “Hi, my name is Sabrina Boudreau. I wanted to introduce myself.” “Nice to meet you”, T replies. “I read the article about you and your robot. I was wondering if you would be interested in speaking at the convention of Women Entrepreneurs for Social Improvements. I don’t want to keep you but if I can give you my card and possibly take yours, we can discuss all of the details at your convenience.” “Sounds very interesting”, T replies as they exchange business cards. The two shake hands once again and T joins Belvy in the truck.
As the truck pulls off, Sabrina removes her cell phone, tucked away in her hand bag next to the Glock 9mm. “Sir, as you directed, I made the initial contact.”