It’s heartwarming to take a break from the day’s stresses and peek in on the interweb, and find an e-mail from someone who thought of me. Never mind that the message sender is touched in the head.

Sent from my feedback form:

Dear Chell,

Please stop sending me death threats pursuant to your membership in the gerbil gang of cyber-vermin.

Sincerely,

Deborah Frisch
*** *** **** (phone number redacted)

The IP addy and phone exchange verify the signature. It’s been a good couple of years since the whole Deb Frisch fiasco. Actually longer, since even the little bit I knew about. Someone has put up a pretty good timeline, and by the looks of it, there actually was never a break in Deb’s insane activities. Thankfully, I only had the most brief, in the grand scheme of things, online dealings with that wackjob.

What I thought I’d stumbled on, way back when, was an internet mob attacking a woman, maybe even threating her safety offline. At one point, I remarked that they were like gerbils running around on their wheel. And then they pointed out some truths about Deb, and there was plenty of proof. She had been the true threat to the safety of others all along.

Not long after, Teh Squeaky Wheel was created by one of the “gerbils.” It was a lovely hangout, where talk was of life in general, and no longer focused on Deb. I enjoyed the company there, and grew to care deeply for one gerbil in particular (waves at Mac). Out of the bad, something good. I’m getting a little sentimental here, and may need a fishing trip this evening to combat that. Ahem. And definitely must visit Teh Wheel soon.

Dear Deb,

I have not even thought of you, let alone taken precious time to contact you. Put the bottle down and go back to being a distant memory. I prefer the shape of things in the here and now.

Sincerely,
just yer average Gerbil

*squeak*