A moment of inspection let him know that the coffeemaker was plugged in, there was water in the holding tank, and coffee in the brewing chamber. The �...�power’ light was off. He flipped the switch, and nothing happened. The power light remained off. There was no other explanation for the absence of brewed coffee, other than the coffeemaker being defective.“This damned thing is broken,” Dexter said.For the first time in ages, the little kernel of engineer in Dexter began to emerge. Rather than toss. The price of Arabian Crude futures took off forMars - and we were in the driver's seat! By one o'clock, my instinctshad netted the firm and its clients one hundred twenty-five milliondollars and the amount was still rising. All in a day's work. I made anote that it might be a good idea to invest part of my commission in ahybrid car - and gave a little chuckle for all those SUV owners whowould soon be taking the CTA or Metrato work.Angie stuck her head in the door."Ready?" she inquired."For...?". I use a pocket protector to carry lots of unnecessary pens and pencils, along with my ever ready slide rule. I'm a nerd and need to look like one."One of the girls who was hidden, said, "I'm going to ask for a nerd for my birthday if I can get one like that."Sue gave a silly grin and challenged them, "See if you can come up with the right weight of pants and shirt for this guy. He's an employee, so I can make him stay until he falls over. Be nice, Ladies, and I'll be back for him in a couple of. Chester'swife found out and that is why she divorced him." That is fine to know, but how does that help me?" I said."You can use that as hostage against your secret." Catherine added. "Iam glad to hear this. Your secret should be safe. And who knows?Maybe he will love you all the same?" I certainly hope so." I said with relief. "He is to call on metomorrow evening. I will tell him then."After a short visit, we went home. I was just preparing to change intoan evening dress when there.