Agnes finds a home

Continued from:

• Compassion in the Aftermath of War
• Journey from the Kingdom of Microsoft to the Land of Linux
• A New Life in the Village of Mint
• An Immigrant from the City of Ubuntu

At first, the refugee from the kingdom of Microsoft enjoyed her new temporary dwelling. The interior of the dwelling was very well built and tastefully decorated in contrast to the curious cylindrical exterior with the mystic "Live CD" emblazoned above the doorway. The floor plan made sense to her, and it seemed to be modern and up-to-date. However, it was only two days until she became suspicious that something strange was happening. It concerned her quite a bit and so she set off to find some help.

She walked for a few minutes down the street toward the center of town and came to the LUG, a place where the locals gather to eat and drink, but most of all, to talk about Linux for hours at a time. She knew someone there could help her.

When she walked in the door, who did she see but Sir Hackalot himself.

"Hello, miss. How have you found your temporary dwelling?" he asked.

"It's very nice, but someone in this village must be a trespasser and a thief!" she exclaimed.

"My good miss! Whatever would cause you to come to that conclusion?" queried the knight.

"Well, the first day I moved in, I moved some furniture and put some new pictures on the walls. Then while I was gone on a walk, someone moved it all back. Then the next day I baked some bread and went out for some fresh air. When I came back, the bread was gone! Someone must have broken in and stolen it."

"Oh, I see!" cried Sir Hackalot. "That is why it is a temporary dwelling. When you leave your temporary dwelling, you will find that anything you did there will be set back to where it was before you moved in. Did you notice that your bed was made for you and the dishes washed as well?"

"Yes, I noticed these things too, but they did not upset me. How can I make my dwelling the way I would like it to be?" asked the woman.

"If you move into a new house, you will not have this problem. Are you ready to do that now?"

"Yes, please," replied the woman. "That would be much better than moving the furniture every day."

"Would you like me to help you find a new house?" asked the knight.

"I'd be delighted," answered the woman.

The two exited the LUG and walked together toward the outskirts of the village where the new mint-green houses were being constructed.

"This one here is unclaimed. Is this a suitable location?" asked the knight.

"It looks splendid," replied the woman. "Why is there a sheet of paper on the door?"

"It is a form to fill out for your new house," replied the knight. Taking it from the door he started to read. "You need English language, I presume?"

"Yes that would be good."

"OK... Let's see... standard keyboard... OK... Use all of the space in the house for you... OK..." Pausing a bit, he asked, "What is your name?"

"Well, my parents named me Agnes, although I was a bit stout when I was younger and some called me Fat Agnes. I would much prefer Agnes, however."

"I heartily agree, Agnes. And by the way, no one would call you Fat Agnes today. You are quite the fine specimen of a woman now."

She blushed a bit and replied, "Thank you for your kind words, sir."

"You may call me by my given name William if you would like," replied the knight.

"I'd like that very much, William," she said with a glint in her eye. Composing herself she asked, "Is that all there is to the form?"

"Oh, oh yes, the form, the form," stammered the knight. "Here is a place to write your password so that only you can enter your home. Don't tell me or anyone else what it is."

The knight handed the form to Agnes and she wrote her password on it.

"What should I do with this now?" she asked.

"See that slot to the left of the door? Slide the paper through the slot," he replied.

As Agnes began to slide the paper through the slot, a whirring sound was heard, and the paper was pulled from her fingertips. A clanking noise continued for a few seconds and then a clink of metal on metal as a key slid down a chute into a small opening beneath the slot. She took the key, and after she put the key into the door and unlocked it, a quiet arpeggio of bells was heard.

"Sounds like you are ready to move in," said the knight. "Enjoy your new home and let me know if you need anything."

"I think I already feel at home here in this village. You have made it a pleasant place for me," said Agnes, looking into his eyes.

"And you for me as well! Till we meet again!" shouted the knight as he walked away.

"Till we meet again!" returned the woman as he walked away.

As she gazed at the knight walking down the street, her mind wandered to her first order of business in her new house -- moving the furniture.

An Immigrant from the City of Ubuntu

Continued from:

• Compassion in the Aftermath of War
• Journey from the Kingdom of Microsoft to the Land of Linux
• A New Life in the Village of Mint

One day as the shadows were lengthening and the sun was nearing the horizon, a horse-drawn cart slowly made its way through the streets of the Village of Mint. The cart was piled high with all sorts of furniture such as a kitchen table, an iron bed, wooden chairs, a large hand-carved wardrobe, and various other items. It looked as if the entire contents of a small house had been loaded onto the cart. The man driving had the appearance of a vagabond. He was a dark, shadowy character, with dirt on his face and rips in his clothing exposing dirt-covered flesh on his left arm and left leg. It was obvious that some misfortune had befallen him, and his dazed look revealed that it was not long ago.

Even though he looked disheveled and befuddled, he had a steady gaze and a clear sense of purpose in his direction; he knew where he was going.

A few of the villagers called to him as he rode by:

"Are you all right?"
"Can I help you?"
"Do you need something?"

To all these queries, he answered, "No thanks, I'll be fine soon."

He continued on his way through the streets of the village until he came to the outskirts where new mint-green houses were being constructed by volunteers. One of the houses looked nearly complete. Swinging down from his cart and limping up to the house, he spoke to the workers, "Hello, will you be done with this house today?"

"Yes, we have just finished now," was the reply.

"Is it spoken for already?" asked the man.

"No, it is yours to dwell in," replied a worker. "You look as if something dreadful has happened to you. May I ask what?"

"It is a long story," replied the man, "but in the end I'm not quite sure what really happened. I had spent a long time fixing my house in the city of Ubuntu. I had everything just the way I liked it, but then this afternoon the house crashed down around me. I don't know what caused it, but I was able to escape with my life and a few extra bruises and scrapes. I pulled out my belongings from the rubble, which I brought here in this cart. I came to the village of Mint because the houses you build already have most of the modifications I had made in my old house in the city of Ubuntu. This house looks almost like a house I would build myself. There are only a few things I will have to add."

"I'm glad to hear that you like our houses here," replied the builder. "Many people have come from the city of Ubuntu to live in our village. I hope you like it here."

"I believe I shall enjoy the quietness of this village more than the noise and hurried pace of the city."

"Well, we must be going. Enjoy your new house!"

After the workers left the house, the man washed himself and had a good night's rest. Before noon the next day, he had unpacked all his belongings and set up his new house just the way he liked it. He was very happy that he had an entirely new house in the village of Mint that was every bit as good as his highly customized house in the city of Ubuntu.

* * * * * *
By the way, this story is about me. For some reason, the Ubuntu computer I use at work refused to boot after a software update. I was able to boot from another partition on the hard drive that had an earlier version of Ubuntu so I could work the rest of the day. At the end of the day, I installed Linux Mint in about 20 minutes, and it was pretty much set up the way I liked. The easiest part with the reinstall is that all my files were in my home directory, and I didn't have to reconfigure every application. The next morning I installed the rest of the tools I use. In all, I don't think I lost more than an hour or so. Try that with reinstalling Windows!