Fuzzy Logic Read Free Page A

assistant to The Farmer , the kid’s TV show in San Diego. She did the puppet shows with the sock-puppet farm animals.”
    “You mother is the Farm Lady ? I loved her. My kids loved her. My grandkids love her in the reruns. Oh my goodness me, I can’t believe I’m sitting next to the daughter of the Farm Lady. This is so exciting! Oh and the Farm Lady is getting married? How wonderful for her! Is she finally marrying the Farmer?”
    After so many years, Jan was used to people knowing her mother as the Farm Lady with the sock puppets. And it never failed to embarrass her. Years of being teased at school by other kids making every possible form of revolting farm noise was hard to shake. The pig sounds were to the point that she still couldn’t eat bacon. And what people didn’t know was that the wholesome sweet TV persona was nothing like the real woman, Angie Carpenter. Responsible motherly farm matron, she certainly was not. “Maybe you didn’t hear, but Bob Myers, the Farmer, died a few years ago and the show went off the air. The man my mother is marrying is in the plumbing business.”
    Ethel narrowed her eyes and gave Jan a knowing look, “Oh, plumbers make a lot of money. He must be a great catch. How did their love blossom? I’m sure there’s a romantic story there.”
    “I don’t know how romantic it is. Like I said, we were neighbors a long time ago, but he was on television, too. They met again recently on a retrospective special that featured stars from old TV shows and commercials. If you saw the ads for the Toilet King years ago, that’s him.”
    Ethel clapped her hands together, “My heavens! The Farm Lady is marrying the Toilet King! I can’t wait to tell all my friends. Does he still have purple hair and wear the blue jumpsuit? I just loved those commercials with the swirling and all that.”
    “I haven’t seen him in a long time. I live in Alpine Grove now.”
    “That’s a pretty little town. It’s a lovely place, dear, but I can’t believe you’d want to leave the glamour of show business. You must have had such an exciting childhood, being around all those TV people. Did you actually get to meet the Farmer? What about the Tool Man? Tim Allen is his name, right? I just love that Home Improvement show. He is so funny.”
    “No, Home Improvement is not filmed in San Diego. The show is set in a suburb of Detroit, but it’s filmed at a Burbank studio, I believe. My mother only worked on local children’s TV shows. But yes, I did meet Bob Myers, the Farmer.” Jan didn’t volunteer that he was also kind of a jerk. Over time, she had discovered that people didn’t appreciate having their TV idols knocked off their pedestals.
    A concerned look crossed Ethel’s face and she looked over at Mr. 12D. “I think I need to use the little girl’s room now. Excuse me!”
    Jan closed her eyes. The row of seats moved as Ethel reached up, hauled on the back of 11E in front of her, and levered herself out of her seat. Seeing the woman’s urgency, Mr. 12D quickly hopped out into the aisle to get out of Ethel’s way.
    Jan sat up straight and turned to peer down the aisle toward the back of the plane. What had Ethel said to the flight attendant to cause her to hustle toward the galley? Leaning back again, Jan closed her eyes and willed herself not to open them for any reason. Maybe Ethel would be gone long enough for her to feign sleep for the duration of the flight. It was worth a try.

    Jan stood at the doorway of her mother’s apartment. The bougainvillea plants were in bloom and magenta flowers cascaded down the stairway toward the unit below. Although the flowers were pretty, the generic apartment was a sharp contrast to the cute, funky bungalow in the little beach community where she and her mother had lived years ago. This apartment complex seemed sterile and plastic by comparison.
    She raised her hand to knock on the door, but before her knuckles hit the wood, the door flew open and her