# to consider cool mike best historical chum of henry swanson head researcher of strange imaginary play state known as big science gangly way mike moves the way they wear their jumper and tie always a bit askew mike is cool and worthy of suburban respect cool mike never gets picked on by bullies as mike's too quick quiet and intelligent for those morons to figure out cool mike's real smart a researcher who can program fluently in the computer programming language known as basic last week they received some special pass or grant by the local education body to get into university early cool mike has big brother with 5 o'clock shadow and a beautiful mother with long black hair sometimes swanson visits the mike family house and is always treated well polite working class researcher from over and under the social wiring of a terminally dull mass housing estate cool mike makes henry think of circuit boards on handy gadgets and intricate hand made wooden puzzles from japan little programming tricks and shortcuts one picks up along the way as one does fiddly painting of tiny lead models used in fantasy warrior role playing playspaces cool mike has this twist with things technical maths programming and music like researchers able to open and ignite lighters with one hand in a single quick movement only mike doesn't smoke they're too quiet and polite to bother anyone they have nothing much to say is bad at football though once a couple of terms ago they scored this cracking gangly goal it made everyone cheer and lift mike onto their shoulders when mike finally left for university they and henry lost touch when they did happen to meet a few years later they had nothing to say as if all of a sudden they had nothing much in common perhaps the close but unbridgeable distance between them was big science strange distance gained through time knowledge and experience of daily mundanities henry was left behind again roughly two weeks later and swanson is to state it was in no way surprising cool mike owned a zx spectrum 48k personal computer and was able to do far more with it than 10 print subway wall when we speak we offend 20 when silent and passive we've zero friends 30 goto 10 different terminal endings 40 but only one cool odd near future now cool mike's probably now well off with a respectable upper middling class family of two point six mike enjoys badminton at the club goes long distance running and is married with their quiet beautiful wife both have a good healthcare and a dental plan in the evening mike listens to old style canadian rock from the nfr 70s on good quality hi fi stereo equipment the couple sleep in a neatly made bed in a bedroom both well aired yet warm comfortable thanks to the miracle of underfloor heating mike owns a large fast family sized volvo with fold down seats perfect for lazy picnics at the existential seaside mike doesn't listen to the radio much when traveling for business but likes to keep up with the l8est developments in smart plastics and tiny post lead fighting fantasy model painting techniques their social life is low key yet fulfilling mike's wife occasionally finds enjoyment mike likes a slow half pint now again with the researchers but doesn't like to overdo it part of swanson still wishes their best schoolday pal was around swanson would like if they had more in common apart from a brief distant history of being forced to attend the same crap red brick uk educational ideology training camp // [[republic of bob contents | imaginary pastime republic of bob]]