The Cosmic Laundry

CHARLES: You've got a fine idea of the way they run things, you have. Do you think they're going to all of the trouble of making a soul just to use it once?

ZERO: Once is often enough, it seems to me.

CHARLES: It seems to you, does it? Well, who are you? And what do you know about it? Why, man, they use a soul over and over again—over and over until it's worn out.

ZERO: Nobody ever told me.

CHARLES: So you thought you were all through, did you? Well, that's a hot one, that is.

ZERO: [Sullenly] How was I to know?

CHARLES: Use your brains! Where would we put them all? We're crowded enough as it is. Why, this place is nothing but a kind of repair and service station—a sort of cosmic laundry, you might say. We get the souls in here by the bushelful. Then we get busy and clean them up. And you ought to see some of them. The muck and the slime. Phoo! And as full of holes as a flour-sifter. But we fix them up. We disinfect them and give them a kerosene rub and mend the holes and back they go—practically as good as new.

ZERO: You mean to say I've been here before—before the last time, I mean?

CHARLES: Been here before! Why you poor boob—you've been here thousands of times—fifty thousand, at least.

ZERO: [Suspiciously] How is it that I don't remember anything about it?

CHARLES: Well—that's partly because you're stupid...

From The Adding Machine, A play in seven acts, by Elmer L. Rice, 1922.

Mars Rover

I wanted to buy the Lego "Mission to Mars" set. But no one seemed to have them in stock online. Amazon at least let me sign up to be notified, should a lander bounce down safely into their warehouse.

Greetings from Amazon.com.

We're happy to inform you that the item you requested, Lego Mission To Mars (7469), is now available!

If you would like to purchase this item, please follow the link below to place an order:

-link-

Since supply is often limited and some products sell out quickly, we recommend that you place an order as soon as possible if you are still interested in obtaining this item.

They weren't kidding—I clicked on that URL immediately after receiving the email, and there were no rovers available. Someone had beaten me to it.

So I signed up for the email notification again, got the email again, and missed again. On the third iteration I clicked in time. Today Owen, Cole and I put it together and dispatched it immediately to the Martian surface.

We're excited to be able to bring you the most detailed photograph ever seen of a toy on the surface of another planet:

All systems are functioning perfectly!