The Second Hand Man
May 9th, 1989

Today is myphysical body’s birthday. It has turned 30, which makes my mental age now to be79.

But, althoughmy consciousness is almost octogenarian, the healthy state of my presentphysical brain is now capable of keeping my mental faculties functioning atpeak performance.

The same canbe said of my physical accomplishments. I am experiencing absolutely none ofthe detrimental effects that come with extreme old age. My libido, which is aresult of both mind and body, has not suffered in the least. I must certainlybe the most virile man of my age.

I recentlyhad a vasectomy. The decision for this was two-fold.

Firstly, eventhough I make a point of practicing safe sex at all times, accidents do happen,and I have no intention of bringing any little unwanted Crane’s into the world.

Secondly,should I ever experience some primal urge to procreate, I have made sure thatsuch a period will pass safely. I do not want to have the pain of losing aloved one, especially if it’s my own flesh and blood, forever to the samestrange oblivion to which I condemned my brother Claude when I returned to thepast.

Yep, even ifI knew the exact date and time at which conception was achieved, the chances ofproducing the same child from the same woman would be near-impossible.

No, it isbetter to live my lives as a eunuch – although I’m happy to repeat – a veryvirile one!

I am now at the point in time where I hadoriginally hoped to be projected back to. Well, this time round, Steve and I willdefinitely be sure to replace a means to prevent the reactor from spiking andcausing the damnable surge that forced my consciousness too far back into thestream of time; I don’t see any chance to endure through yet another childhood.Two have been more than sufficient!!!

It was a damngood idea of mine to start writing these diaries. The next time I choose to usethe Consciousness Projector, all I need to do is check the latest entries in mymemoirs in order to bring myself up to speed concerning the current events ofwherever and whenever I may end up in the past. They will be an invaluablesource in helping me to orientate myself back into a once-familiar settingturned foreign through the passing of much time. We never quite recall our pastas accurately as we would like to believe. I know this fact better than anyother person on this planet. Even our mind’s eye has a tendency to wear arose-colored monocle. Why else do we keep talking about ‘The good ol’ days’ sooften? Yep, today, the present, is just a miserable schlep of hand to mouthexistence, but ten years down the road we’ll be calling it, ‘The good ol’days.’

That can onlymean one very depressing revelation:

Life is bad – it gets worse – and then youdie!

Of course, Icould be the eternal pessimist myself:

Life is bad –it gets worse – and then you go back to do it all over again!

But no, rightnow, my life is pretty much the way I would want it to be.

It is strangeto think that I will be displacing this very same mind that I have now. Whoknows, it might even be at this very same time, right now, that I could one daybe returning to.

I hope so!!!

At thismoment, I have everything I want and need – including good health!

I also havethe means to get just about anything else I might ever require. In fact, theonly thing lacking in my life right now is the Consciousness Projector. Butthat will soon be within my grasp. Once that happens, I may well feel as thoughI am touching the face of…immortality.

Yes, I havethe power and the means to be a god amongst the creatures that thrive and dieon this mortal plane.

I may not beinvincible, but with care I can be immortal. Not too unlike Achilles and hisheel.

As long as Idon’t do something foolish, like step in front of a bus, board a faulty plane,piss off a mugger, have a tire blowout at 125mph in my new sports car, or havemy parachute not open, I could easily keep doing this for…well, all eternity –or at least till the futility and banality of existence eventually forces me tochange my mind.

I haveabsolutely no inclinations or aspirations to partake in any Extreme Sports.

The only CaveDiving, BASE Jumping, Abseiling or Dune Ramping that I’m interested in, is thetype one does safely in the confines of one’s bedroom!

At the momentI have knowledge, money, control, and every optimistic hope for a positiveoutcome.

The sense ofgreat power is euphoric!

Yep, as thesong goes, ‘The future’s so bright I gotta wear shades.’

The veryimportant interphase chip, designed and produced by the Westronik Company inGermany will only become available in early 2013. So, although Steve and I canprepare all the necessary equipment needed to complete the projection of aconsciousness back through time, it will still be like having a microwave ovenbefore the advent of electricity – completely useless; unless you wanted tostore your candles inside it?

Luckily Ihappen to know when all the right parts will become available. That is aconsiderably great advantage to have.

I am the typeof person who is able to recognize a great new idea when it arrives. So,although I may not be able to come up with any inventions of my own, I can mostcertainly spot a good idea or…a great thinker when it/he/she comes along.

Think of meas a talent scout in the world of technology. Of course, there are many otherslike me, so it is important for me to constantly apply myself to stay ahead ofthe ravenous pack. To this end I am constantly keeping an eye on all the latestdevelopments.

It was duringone of these excursions in my first life that I came upon the name and work ofone Steven Matthew Ferran.

To describemy relationship with Steve, think of a camera maker and a photographer. Acamera maker might make a great product but never ever take a great photo.Likewise, a photographer may take a great photograph but know absolutelynothing about constructing a great camera.

Steve couldbuild a pretty good camera, but he just never had the vision, thephotographer’s eye to utilize his equipment to its full potential.

That’s whereI came in!

It was overdrinks one day, no sober person would ever have conceived of the insane conceptthat I had thrown at Steve that day, let alone ever imagined it to be possible,when I had asked him if he thought it possible to build the special…camera thatI had envisioned.

The query hadarisen out of an earlier discussion of ours regarding the human consciousnessand the mechanics involved in memory.

Who wouldever have imagined that it would lead to the construction of the greatest inventionthat the world would never see?

Happy 30thbirthday to me! Again!!!