Communication with 'Bob,' the Time Traveler

[For background, first read about Bob the Time Traveler here]

Whoa! Alex!,

I was in the middle of writing to you and the phone rang and it was Bob himself.

We spoke for 12 minutes.

He sounded serious. Yet.... Since I can't take it serious... but I really don't know. It's turning into a serious head-fuck, excuse the expression. I didn't ask how he got my number but probably the whois registry.

Anyway, I played it straight. My major theme was that he was generating too much attention with all the emails. Too much to continue any action on my part. I was sympathetic to this plight. He mentioned the shop break-in and some other material familiar to me from the Dave Hill postings & links. He brought up the agency that is thwarting him and harming him. Sounded like paranoia to me. He claims to have no advanced technology. He was unaware of the eBay auctions that offered dimensional warp generators. He mentioned a wife that they infected. That his past was subject to manipulation by them. The usual rant.

I had hoped he was a sci-fi writer. I still don't have a handle on him but for a crazy paranoid I was able to put him off fairly easily. Granted I don't have a lot of experience with this type but I expected more intensity and tenacity.

Well, note to myself: Don't reply to lunatic spammers! I still hope he is just messing with all our heads.

Follows is the text I was just about to send. I was going to observe how those who read a lot of sci-fi use very similar terms and concepts and plot devices.

Let me know if you've heard of other people getting unsolicited phone calls from Bob. I hate to think that of all the people who have emailed him I stood out as someone he could call.

Regards,

Dave Kaplan
Thursday, August 7, 2003 2:24 PM

Hi Alex,
Here is the entire exchange in chronological order.
After I wrote these I read the postings and links from your site and it struck me that my experience mirrored, in a less extensive way that of Dave Hill. He elicited more intriguing replies. It interesting that I used similar sci-fi terms and ideas to that of other correspondents.

From Dave K to Bill W:
119 Meters? or Universal Spatial Units, USU? We'd hate to deliver the device to the wrong address.
Sincerely,
Customer Service

From Bill W to Dave K:
119 feet

From Dave K to Bill W:
Hello,
We have been analyzing your requirements and our staff engineers feel that you should definitely go for the full tera-byte of SRAM that the wrist unit supports. This will decrease any lag time within the core processors and the discomfort that the resulting phase relay echoes have on those who are sensitive this class of effect. Also, we question the need for 4 stabilizers. Of course that depends on the required range of temporal transport. Could you please advise with an approximation?
Further, we strongly urge you to consider up-grading from a menu based GUI to a holographic display with neural interface. Surely you'd want the safety and convenience which that method affords and no longer have to navigate menus to critical functions particularly at crucial times? Our satisfied customers, without exception, have testified that it is certainly worth the added cost.
We hope to hear from you "soon".
Regards,
Customer Service

From Bill W to Dave K:
Hello,
I will take what you are able to send me. Will you be able to transport it today at 4:00 pm est as requested? What methods will you use to bust through the block spying eyes have put on those coordinates?

From Dave K to Bill W:
As you are no doubt aware there are many different degrees of spying eyes out there. Some can be easily fooled or simply dismissed out of hand. Others are more problematic. If one is dealing with agencies capable of employing more advanced technologies then it's probably advantageous to employ low-tech but time honored evasion methods. One such is the "Third Party Rip-Off" where the Spying Eyes are presented with what appears to be the capture or demise or theft of you and the device but in fact the apprehending parties are actually acting on your behalf. Another ploy is to deliver a non-functioning device and a simulacrum of one's self to the public co-ordinates while at another location you take delivery of the real article. In this second scenario it is usually advisable to destroy the entire public area so as to delay or prevent the discovery by the Spying Eyes that they have erred. We suggest reducing all atoms in the target area to the muon level to prevent forensic re-construction. The downside is that it usually draws more attention to the diversion than one wants.
Good Luck in your Endeavor

From Bill W to Dave K:
would you be able to transport an object to those coordinates to see it it is able to arrive ok without them blocking it?

From Dave K to Bill W:
Unfortunately no, Any use of block evasion would also damage the device. This is why we originally suggested a ruse rather than a technological, brute-force approach.

From Bill W to Dave K:
would it be posible to have an agent personally deliver to my location then? or perhaps i can send a trained courier to you?

From Dave K to Bill W:
I am afraid your extensive use of broadcast email has attracted quite a lot of attention. Since I last wrote you we have been contacted by the regulatory branch of the licensing bureau of temporal transportation and they have requested that we cease and desist in the offering of any unlicensed equipment. Since we value our deserved upstanding reputation in the industry I am afraid we must comply.
Best regards & Good Luck in all "FUTURE" endeavors,
Customer Service.