Thursday, May 18, 2006

What Would Sherlock Holmes Say?

I'm staying at the beautiful Ambassador Hotel in Hsinchu.

Before the Ambassador came to town, we played 'hotel roulette', rotating through various 2-star hotels, but the Ambassador is truly an oasis.
The staff is great, the rooms are great, and the location is great.

I have had a couple of strange things occur here, though, that haven't happened to me anywhere else.

A few months ago, Angie and I were checking into the hotel late at night.
As Angie sat on the lobby sofa, the desk clerk leaned over to me whispered, "I've got your shoes from your last visit".
I told him I didn't leave any shoes.
"Yes. They are ladies shoes. We found them when we cleaned your room. I have them here for you."
No, I explained, I was alone last time. They are not my shoes.
He seemed to understand, so we went to our room.

The next day, housekeeping came to my room, "Here are your shoes".
No, those are not my shoes.
"Yes. They were in your room when you checked out last time."
She opened the bag, revealing a pair of red, worn-out high heels.
I laughed and said that they were not mine, not my wife's', not my girlfriends', and that I didn't need or want them.
"Okay." She walked away, lugging the shoes.

Of course, now Angie wondered why a pair of red women's' shoes would be in my room from my last visit.
Fortunately, it didn't take long to convince her that even if I did have a woman in my room who wore red high-heels, she probably wouldn't have walked home barefoot.
Still, it was a strange event.

I was reminded of that event last night, as I sat on the toilet (bear with me - if the image of me on a toilet is uncomfortable to you, imagine that I was just reading).
Across from me, on the edge of the bathtub, was a green toothbrush kit from EVA Airlines.
This was interesting, because I flew economy and didn't get a toothbrush kit.
The kit wasn't in my room the previous two days, but suddenly had appeared in my room.

This forced me to ask the following question - What is happening in my room when I'm at work?
Hmmmm.....

When you eliminate the impossible, whatever is left - no matter how unlikely - is the answer.


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