How did this happen?
See how Dottie solves the mystery of her missing shoe.

Our Story Begins

This is an unusual story that happened a while back at the small government agency where Dottie worked. One day, after nodding off while working on World News Connection royalty statements, Dottie awoke with a start to find her right shoe missing. "Oh my gosh", she said. "Where in heck is my shoe?"

She looked everywhere around her spacious cubicle, but the shoe was nowhere in sight. Now she was getting concerned. "Who would want to take my shoe?" "I really don't want to leave my WNC billing," she muttered, "but I've got to find my shoe!" So off Dottie went.

Help from Product Managers

First she asked Bill, but when she did, he just threw up his hands and said, "Solve it the Behan way." Then muttered something about everything being free.

Eulene was eating her organic chips and had no clue about Dottie's shoe.

After munching on a few chips, she surprised Wayne, but realized that he had been too busy rummaging around his desk to have seen anything.

Gloria, even with two sweaters and a heater, was too cold to help.

As she left Wayne, she heard a "zoom, zoom". It was Dave dreaming about a new Porsche.

She stuck her head into Nancy's office where she finally got her first clue. Nancy had heard an unusual pattering noise only a few minutes ago. At that point Dottie left because Nancy started asking WNC questions. "How do you pronounce Reaksmei Kampuchea?"

She checked her office again, but still couldn't find her shoe. She did find an old picture of her acquisition days with Fran, Sterling, Jeanette, Scotty and Betty Van Eps. "Ahhh", she thought as she remembered Betty's down home saying, "Be careful, the toes you step on today may be dragging around

the behind you may be kissing tomorrow."

Another photo caught her eye; the one of Input and its cast of characters. She never understood why they didn't all weigh more what with all the lunches and snacks they sponsored.

As she left the OBD office, she saw Wally but decided not to ask him. His sardonic smile gave her concern that he wouldn't understand.

Strange Happenings on the Second Floor

Dottie now had a plan. Nancy had heard a funny sound. "If I start on the second floor and work my way down", she thought, "I could systematically check each office."

She started with OBD 2. By chance, Linda and Cathy were reviewing her WNC ad ­ or were they eying the candy? They said they hadn't seen anything. Or had they? They seemed very quiet.

Jeanette was in the next cubicle but so engrossed in talking to her frog that Dottie passed her by.

She saw John and asked him. He just ignored her as he pondered a trip to India.

Doris was having difficulty creating a new Cold Fusion web database and had no time for Dottie.

Then Ed blew by her on his way. He didn't even stop to say hi. So far, not one lead.

Tom was day dreaming he was hiking with his sons and became angry at Dottie when she burst into his office.

What was going on? Everyone was ignoring her. No one seemed to care. "Was the second floor possessed?" she pondered.

Well it was lunch time. "Why not play some bridge? The trail might get cold, but I need to calm down," she thought. After buying

some cheese crackers, Dottie enjoyed a few hands of cards before she took off again on her quest.

Getting Closer?

As she started her check of the first floor, she stopped by Kent's cubicle. She had to remind him not to forget to include a subject in the customer e-mail he was sending out to WNC subscribers. She'd have to have Gillian keep him in-line.

Going by the Subscriptions Division, Dottie realized the staff was in trouble. Cis.Pub had beaten them down. They were talking on imaginary phones!

Jon, Wendy, and Pat hadn't seen anything. They were so happy. After seven years, they had finally mastered Cis.Pub which was now working perfectly. Leaving them in their gleeful state, Dottie continued on her quest.

The Budget Office staff wanted to go with her to look, but they had gotten behind in their spreadsheets and couldn't spare the time.

The Accounting Office then crammed into Budget asking for their spreadsheets. When they heard Dottie's story they all began reciting the "Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe" and then burst into laughter.

Someone said there was a commotion in the Programming Office. However, when Dottie got there, she just saw Dean, Judy, and Kathy deciding what to eat. They hadn't seen anything.

Then she noticed a plate on the floor. It looked like...dog food? "That's strange," she mused.

Had whoever had taken her shoe escaped through the warehouse? Dottie brushed by Charlie and Andy, on her way out to the receiving area.

It turned out that Mike, Jo, and Katherine hadn't seen a thing. But then they were perplexed why a shipment of dog food was delivered to NTIS.

Dottie was dejected, no one had seen her shoe or anything unusual.

Going back to her office she heard a commotion. Someone ran out and said that Crystal had gotten trapped in the network. This was really spooky, what with the dog food and now Crystal.

Then she heard the noise. A loud gnawing was coming from the closet door by Bill's cubicle. Going to investigate, she opened the door ­ and saw her shoe at last! (Or maybe we should say the last of her shoe?)

Friends:

Al Betts
Alan Wehrenber
Alice Barney
Angela Stickelmaier
Archie Rivers
Barbara Payne
Barney Free
Belle Burkhart
Bernard Duplessis
Bernard Fields
Bill Clark
Bill McGahey
Bill Pelesh
Bob Freeman
Brenda Munno
Brian Schiesl
Camille Fields
Cathy Adkins
Cathy Metzler
Cathy Stanley
Charlie Williams
Charlie Wood
Cheryl Lamberger
Chris Woolfrey
Crystal Brookins
Cynthia Carter
Dave Francis
Dave Shonyo
David Thomas
Dawn Wyvill
Debi McCaslin
Denise Haynes
Diana Guli
Diana Hill
Dick Miller
Dick Tenney
Dooley Estep
Doris Brown-Jackson

Bada Boom
Bada Bing
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