Traveling with Owner

I have been around the world although seen little in my travels. I hang off the car's key switch swinging to the tunes of the radio as Owner drives to the airport. Once there he neatly tucks me into the recesses of his carry on. I like to travel. It's a change of pace from the usual daily routine of out of the spare change cup, into the pocket and off to work madness. Sunday's are not even sacred any more as work pressures make Owner feel he has to take a moment to check e-mail. Who writes work e-mails on Sunday anyway? I'll tell you, somebody that wants to impress others that he's on the job 24/7. You want to know who's on the job 24/7? Me, counting codes every minute, that's who.

When we get to the airport it's a journey of anticipation. The thrill of going through the x-ray machine. Will it stop midway and bombard me with radiation? Sometimes I start into it, and it backs up, then moves forward, then back again as if the examiner is looking for the closely held secrets of my inner most workings. No release of the code secrets for you, I try to shout as I am bombarded again with x-rays. I can spend all day in this machine and I am not giving up the codes. Once the inspection is done I normally exit with Owner and wait patiently while he gets dressed. Belt, shoes, ring, cell phone, change, you know the drill. But occasionally we have to go through a more detailed inspection. I know this is a secret plot by the enemy to steal codes, so once I feel the latex gloved hand touch my black shiny case, I swap codes, just for the moment. After all, its my job to defend the network and you never know if someone isn't secretly relaying codes to a back room somewhere. I might be in South Korea during the secondary inspection so one can never be too careful. Let them try to decipher, it's an effort in vain. I will defend the code to death. I remind myself this is less than a month away.

Once we get to our destination I usually get out of the bag and sit on the hotel room desk. Occasionally I go to breakfast or dinner, but I never get to go to business meetings. For this reason, although I am with Owner much of the time, I have no idea what he does. He has to meet with customers around the world, and occasionally goes to dinner with them, but don't ask me about his job, I couldn't tell you. Life in the hotel room is exciting. It's a new place with new smells and sounds, and sometimes I can see out the bedroom window. Flashing signs, neon lights, I imagine it's like Las Vegas, but I have never been there. Owner does not like to gamble. I spend most of my days anticipating the arrival of the cleaning lady. What's she like, will she touch me, how long will we be together, I ask? You have to remember, most of my life I spend with Owner. I get lonely and long for the touch of another person. "What's this she asks" as she stares at the ever changing numbers. Some sort of a device for winning the lottery? Those in the know understand I am the defender of the network. I quickly generate another false code to throw them off. It's my job you know, even on Sunday.