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Please Take Note:
From this point on, certain identities or identifying characteristics have been changed. This was done with the intent to preserve the details of the story in their entirety without getting people into trouble with spouses, work, and local, state, or Federal authorities. Those names will be marked with an "*" the first time they are used. [ Example: Frank* ]
(That idea was suggested by a writer friend of mine. He told me that it was akin to the modern literary equivalent of a wink, or those "finger quotes" people make. He said it would denote a name change rather than sarcasm; and would save me a lot of time by not having to type all the quotation marks.
As I sit here writing, I notice it has taken me a considerable amount of time to type up the explanation. Much more time than it would have taken me to just type the damned quote marks
[Way to go, Bob*! Thanks for the "great idea."] But, when I tried it, I liked the way it looked. It reminded me of something from an X-Files episode. So I used it...)
Names have been changed to protect both the innocent and guilty alike. I'm not saying we pulled casino heists or anything like that, but due to the nature of some of our more illicit activities, some people would rather not have their business known.
My travel companion for the Las Vegas trip was my good friend Sven O'Neil*. His real name is Mike Trumble. We call him Sven because there are so many Mikes it is hard to keep track of them all. It all started one day when my dear friend Gina Stankovitz told me she had seen my friend at the Regional Market in Syracuse. I asked her which friend, and she didn't know his name and described him as the tall, "Swedish-looking" guy with long blonde hair.
I jokingly replied,"Oh, you mean Sven!" Well, later in the week, I told Mike of the story and we laughed. I began calling him Sven regularly, and the name stuck. Now, people know him as Sven and have no idea his real name is Mike.
Sven has been one of my best friends for several years and has helped me out with the site on numerous occasions. He is a big fan of Death Metal and Industrial music. Followers of the site will recognize him from the KMFDM story and others. He was chosen to accompany me for several reasons. First off, he is a trustworthy friend that would have my back if there was trouble. Sven was also going through some pretty tough personal problems at the time,and I figured he could use a little time away from the situation to clear his head.
Secondly, he gave me the coolest birthday present I have ever recieved from a friend. He got me a chromed Zippo lighter engraved with "I Gave Tom A Dollar To Go Away 2005." I loved it. The fact that he had taken the time to think up something so cool blew me away.
I was overjoyed and showed it off to EVERYONE the night he gave it to me.
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