Dr. Richard Stemchuck was lying in his bed.  The sun crept in through his sliding glass doors and woke him.  He streched, yawned, and opened his eyes.  The morning sun filled his room in a lazy hue.  He watched his house plants, one by one, feeling its warmth.  He knew that he could never be as grateful for the sun as his plants were.  He closed his eyes to meditate on this.

He opened his eyes.  He had a dull headache and light sweat.  The lazy morning sun had been replaced  with the cruel afternoon sun  His plants didn't seem to mind it though.     

"You're gonna wake up with hot eyes and a headache, buddy". 

Someone had said that to Richard--but who? When?  Richard was realizing that he had no idea what he had done last night.  He racked his brain.  Today is Tuesday.  So that means racketball with Ted.  ****.  I missed that.  What did I do last night?

Richard reached over and opened his nightstand.  He felt around for his planner.  It was missing.  What the hell?  Richard was dumbfounded.  He remembered waking up earlier and meditating .  And now he felt sick and hung over. 

He got out of bed.  His muscles ached slightly, like he had been to the gym the day before.  The gym!  Of course.  I had been jogging with Martha yesterday, before going to the conference.  That's what I did!  I must've just had a little too much to drink last night, that's all.  Richard's world was back in order.  He told himself that he would stop drinking as much in the future.  He grabbed a towel and headed for the shower.  He was going to call Martha after he freshened up, just to make sure he didn't do anything foolish last night. 

He walked down his floating staircase.   Smelling like a new man, he cleaned his ears out.  He looked at the Q-tip.  No wax.  He made sure that he cleaned his ears everyday.  The thought of wax in his ears always made him sick.  He threw the Q-tip into his kitchen trashcan. 

He cracked two eggs into a frying pan, plugged some rye bread into the toaster, and threw some oranges into the juicer.  He flicked on the Intervision.  By the time that Richard had gotten his Doctorate, the internet and television had completely merged.  The same big companies still ran the top channels and shows, but there was an infinite amount of independent programming. Anyone could film and broadcast their own show.  The ones that became popular and were quickly bought by the big three networks, and usually ruined. 

He flicked through the main channels, before settling for the news. 

---Last night, at the International Space and Physics Conference Dr. Richard Stemchuck proved that we don't exist!-- 

Richard's glass of orange juice, shattered all over the tile floor.