I spoke with, Ben last night for 3 1/2 hours per our habit. We routinely go a month or two without talking but when we do talk it is depth. I called him to run my recent psych-minded thoughts by him.

I told him about the pledge of allegiance and the gay bath house connection and in the process realized I had done similar intense probing with the soldier. I have quizzed the hell out of him around some of his missions and in fact detailed this to an extent when I wrote about The Thing On The Other Side Of The World That Changed Our Lives.

I wanted to know what the soldier thought as a young man on that plane. How rare a chance to be able to interview part of history like that. I wanted to find out everything I could.

I told, Ben that I prefer to have firsthand experience and he said, “Don’t I know.” He recalled my dressing up as a gay man that time and his facilitating this.

“Yeah, things have changed,” I said. “But the information you gave me back then was rare. That stuff was secret.”

“It was secret,” he said. ‘Very secret.”

“Well I always appreciated that, don’t think I didn’t so now I have some rare and secret information and I am going to share it will you. I am going to return the favor,” I said. I could almost hear the Scorpio lick his chops.

I went on to outline the anatomy of the big crime and the true and deep motivation behind it. My work on this is fine and the presentation like a male peacock who spreads it’s feathers. You’ve just got to gawk and marvel at this natural but extraordinary display. Ben listened intently.

He agreed with my analysis and supported it with knowledge of his own so this was very satisfying. Also, like me, he also thinks people don’t change.

“Not a hair on their head from the day they are born,” he said. He also may appear at my wedding which would be an event, work-a-holic hermit that he is…