code forty one

 There are so many pictures left to work on, they are all just snapshots of the situation on the building site three years ago. But the tools for editing them have improved, and the original data was stored. So pride makes the photographer work over all of them again.

An email from a friend from long ago, almost twenty five years ago. Her young daughter then looks just like she did then. That is the way of it. She is shy, perhaps she is worried. There is no saying why she makes contact now, but it is good to hear from her. 

Walk through the building on a short break from the constant staring at the screen. Visit the bathroom, it is stinking of well used drains and non-functional flushing systems. Be thankful for the corona mask, it keeps the stench down a tiny bit. 

In the big concourse of the physics department there are people sitting down who have collected their takeaway food from the big  dining hall. The hall itself is closed because of the fear of contagion, so they take their food away and sit down together in the physics hall. It is hard to tell what the difference is, whether they sit together here or there. The analysis of these questions can be best answered by virologists and epidemiologists.

Buy a bar of chocolate at the vending machine. There is a strong smell of sauerkraut here, it is all the people eating at the nearby tables that cause this smell. The display says that there are only ten cents credit left on the card, so put a ten euro note into the slit of the machine, which sucks the money in and starts to flash blue lights. Wait until the note has been checked, more blue flashes. Press the code forty one for Snickers, and a "please wait" text appears in the display. The spring supporting the selected bars of chocolate starts to rotate until the chocolate drops down behind the glass front into the padded collection bin. 

Check the credit on the card, it is now nine Euro and ten cents. Bend down and open the metal flap on the vending machine and remove the paper wrapped bar.

Go back to the office, back to the many pictures.