I sit outside to smoke. It's nice, the weather's good, the cat curls protectively at my side. The neighbor to my right, he's about my age, balding, overweight, bad leather jacket, he's always home, his son, twenty-something, is paying the rent, the neighbor, he's at home, sometimes he takes his dog for a walk.

It's a small dog, shit zhu or terrier or some-such.

When his son is working he's outside talking on his cellphone. About condo's and real estate and large deals that are just about to go through with a bit more capital investment....He's loud, loud enough to overhear, loud enough that if I was in the least bit interested I could disclose the most intimate details of his imagined corporate life. But I'm not interested, not even just a little bit, and my indifference just makes him talk even louder. 

Big numbers. 25 units, $400,000 a unit...having a problem hiring...everyone's going to do real well out of this...buy now....you'll see...

He's a big talker.