Last week I told you how Mary Lynn and I purchased a lot of books at a used book sale to support the local library. Three dollars for as many books you could stuff into a plastic shopping bag. What a deal! We each filled a bag.
Mary Lynn was flabbergasted with one of my literary selections. In fact, she not only gave me a hard time about the book, she told me she questioned my judgement for reading a 'book like that'. She told me that buying that book, even buying it used, would somehow support the activities of 'that monster'.
She didn't react well well I laughed off her concerns. In fact, she was downright frosty. I thought (hopefully) her attitude meant she wasn't going to talk to me about it anymore. Boy was I wrong!
She launched into her subject with a vengeance. She had seen the book on one of the tables and had rejected it immediately. Civilized and educated people, she told me emphatically, didn't read sensational books like that.
By this time the grin (OK, maybe a little smirk) on my face had grown into a huge smile. The more frustrated she became and the more she warmed to her subject, the more I smiled, until finally I broke out into a loud laugh.
By then, she was really ticked and I realized I had better explain what was going on before I found myself on extended 'KP' duty in the RV.
I finally explained to her that the book titled "The Watchman: The Twisted Life and Crimes of Serial Hacker Kevin Poulsen" was not a book about a serial murderer. I explained the term 'hacker' had to do with someone who hacked (broke into) computers.
Computer hackers have a long a varied history in the computer industry. Many times, authorities who discovered computer hackers were at a loss to explain what had happened yet alone prove what damage had been done by the hack. In fact, being arrested by the authorities was the the first step into a career of computer security. Having been arrested for a major hack was the equivalent of being the editor of the Harvard Law Review.
In fact, the bigger the case brought against the hacker, the more money the hacker was offered to come to work for some large, usually DOD, organization. Many companies were at a loss to defend themselves from something they didn't understand. Hackers were ideal candidates to come in and beef up security.
Not that this always worked out as hoped for. More than once the 'reformed' hacker used their new position to provide a cover for their illegal activities, though most were smart enough to hack computers that belonged to someone other than their newly found employer.
In any case, MLA was torn between emotions. On one hand she was elated to find out I was not interested in the habits of serial killers. On the other hand she was furious I had let her rant for so long before finally sharing with her the exact topic of the book.
I was pretty much forgiven until she asked "Why didn't you tell me the true nature of that as soon as I expressed my concern?".
My fate was sealed when I responded "How would that be any fun?".
Oh well. Now if I could only remember which dish washing liquid promised to prevent 'dish pan' hands...
See Ya!
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