Exhibit 17.10

Someone decided to make a sculpture of their sadness.

This happens at least once a month at the building next to mine. Big men come and move some escaped and delinquent renter's stuff to the street. They put the clothes in black yard-waste bags and throw the televisions, dressers, toys, and the rest of their stuff onto the grass.

The entire neighborhood then picks over these abandoned possessions which never amount to nearly as much as you might think.

(And I do mean entire neighborhood. Where do you think I got these pants? If you said my mom bought them for me at J.C. Penney's, well...shut up.)

It always ends the same way: a broken chair and a box spring leaning against each other.

It's going to rain this afternoon.

Exhibit 16.5

There's a car in my parking garage that hasn't moved in over a month. I know it hasn't moved because the front driver's side tire is flat and always rotated at the same angle. It's not in a reserved space. It doesn't have a note on it. It's just there waiting on the top floor of the garage facing west, its flat tire pointing at the Cornhusker Hotel.

No one seems concerned about the car.

I am concerned about the car.

It's odd that someone abandoned a car in a parking garage when the only issue is a flat tire. It's a grey Ford Taurus, and my guess is that it's somewhere around a 2003. I didn't write down the class, but let's say it's the 4-door SE sedan without any extra options but a moon roof (I'm thinking the moon roof is why they parked on the top of the garage. They wanted the views. I'm also thinking they didn't want the CD player because the person probably didn't want to pay for all of their country music a second time [did I mention the car is from Texas? It's from Texas]). As for mileage, I'll assume it's somewhere around 60k. This might be conservative, but I know at least one month where the car has racked up exactly zero miles. I'll say the car is in fair condition due to its flat tire and weeks of neglect during winter.

That makes the Blue Book $3,510. Presumably the person would settle for a flat $3.5k if you bought them an extra value meal while negotiating the price down ten dollars. That seems like too much to abandon, right?

I guess I feel like one of those Kitty Genovese witnesses because I see this car and do nothing about it. Is my responsibility diffused because the woman who drives a white Volvo and the man who drives a blue Suburban also park next to it day after day? Surely if it's anyone's responsibility it's the Suburban guy.

It's actually a rather sad way to go into work. Some nice Texans parked their car in Lincoln, Nebraska, only to disappear forever. Now the car just waits like some loyal beagle in the snow.

Either we're missing some Texans or some Texans are missing a car. Whatever the situation, I'm missing some of whatever it takes to do something about the situation. How long would that car have to be there before I asked somebody?

My guess: four months. And even then I'd probably just mention it in feigned casualness to a co-worker on the elevator, trying hard to make it seem like I hadn't been thinking about it for four months.

Me: Hey, I just noticed that Taurus on the top floor of the garage hasn't moved in awhile.
Co-worker: Yeah, it's been there since November. I asked about it around Thanksgiving and found out it's some guy's from the life insurance company on the 8th floor. I guess he's in China for six months or something. No big deal.
Me: Oh.
Co-worker: So are you excited about everything happening on today, Wednesday, May 13th?

I'm less than good.