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Hi, I'm Tank

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BENCHY

I walked into the shop and the lights turned on, which Illuminated wood dust in the corners, buckets and tools strewn about. A rabid raccoon could walk into this space and make less of a mess. I took a deep breath and smiled. Sawdust. Oil. Sawdust. Paint. Sawdust. Iron. Wood.
Home.Lights twinkled at me from my right. Next to the door was a large table, clean and clear, not a tool in sight.
"That's a trick I wish I could do" I said, as I walked around an oil spill with sawdust on top of it. I'll sweep it up at the end of the day today."You can. Technically." The lights twinkled back at me. The voice came from a speaker, mounted above the table in front of a tidy tangle of wires. I knew there was a camera up there too, but it wasn't where my eyes were drawn to.I chuckled. "Technically" I sat down on my chair - a torn up barstool with a worn-out and too-small child's coat tossed on top - and pulled out my phone. "What's on my list today, Benchy?"Benchy, my workbench, turned the little LED inside the 3D-printed boat on top of their computer and replied. "Five acute issues. Twenty ongoing projects. The to-do list has three thousand five hundred and ten items on it."I looked around at the projects on tables across the room. "Gimme those top five please?"Benchy's app dinged a notification on my phone, and I looked down to see a written list - with check marks boxes. The voice read them out loud as I followed along."First. You put oil on that knife handle yesterday. Check and see if it needs another coat, then wrap it. Steve is leaving for Great Falls later, he said he can deliver it to the post office there.""Second. And third. And fourth. We have three batches of seeds to start today to be ready when the cold hits. I can plant, but you need "Do The Legwork" I interrupted to... do the legwork. I do say that a lot.""Yeah, but it's ok. You're worth your power anyways.""Hey! I set up those solar panels, thank you very much! Just because you had to roll me out there doesn't mean I wasn't involved!"I smiled. A new joke! Benchy must have downloaded an update.I walked over to the knife and picked it up. It was BEAUTIFUL. A gift for my son, who had hiked the pass to get to Helena a few years ago. We mostly just sent each other memes, but he never missed his video chat with his mom every Sunday afternoon. Good kid. Looks funny with his new big city haircut."What's the last one, Benchy?"
"Yes. Your birthday is coming up, what do you want?"I laughed in surprise, a deep bubble from my belly rising up to pop with a gleeful "Ha!". I shook my head. "Jo conscripted you to work on me too, huh?" I shook my head again, smiling. "She doesn't believe me when I say 'nothing' does she? Should I ask for a specific kind of party? What kind of parties to guys turning 40 have? 'Hey everyone, let's all get together Saturday night. You can watch me fall asleep at 8:30 in my easy chair.'""I'll send Emily a message and inform them that they're all invited over for exactly that. On Saturday. Also, I am amending the acute tasks list to add another item. I have a grocery list." My phone pinged a new notification at me again. "I need milk, vinegar, charcoal, and mustard seeds. And a new three-way valve. Or 8 gauge copper pipe. Either could do.""When do you need those by?"
"Actually, Aaron says he has the copper tubing. He will bring it on Saturday. He specifically said to communicate that they will also be bringing permanent markers and... I can't read the rest out loud. Body art is involved."I chuckled again. "Ok. Send me your list. We're due for a delivery from Deerfield in the next few days, I can get the rest in town." I slid the knife into its leather sheath and looked at my phone screen face-up on the table in front of me. "What should we tackle first, Benchy?""Get me dirt, charcoal, and a barrel and I'll start planting." Benchy replied. "Then you can go into town."

“I don’t want my dining room to be a cafeteria. I want a table. Chairs. This is going to be ridi…”I smiled. My obstinate mother was standing in the doorway of the “cafeteria” with one hand on the doorframe for support and the other held over her mouth, which was hanging open in surprise.I smiled and waited behind her. She took in the mass of chairs, gigantic wooden tables, mixed-seating areas and, yes, even a few row-and-bench cafeteria tables. People were enjoying the space. Some were cleaning and tidying, but most were lounging, holding drinks and small plates of food. Some were alone, lost in their phones in quiet corners and on couches. Some were in large groups, including at least two parties, complete with streamers over their combined tables.
The energy of the place was part upscale bar, part coffee shop, and part hotel lobby, but each space flowed together against natural barriers that it felt more like… a home.My mother broke her silence. “Ok. I was being ridiculous. I can handle this. Look! Linda.” She didn’t look back as she saw one of her friends sitting down with a pitcher of beer.
I called after her. “Mom! I know neither of you have to drive home, but you’d better share that pitcher with her, otherwise we’ll have to carry you to back to your room.” She waved me off behind her back while waving her beer ration ticket at Linda, calling out her hellos over the heads of one of the parties. Someone tried to playfully grab her drink ticket, and she swatted them away.I stood at the door and took in the entire scene. My mother was right. This IS ridiculous. Nobody’s paying to be here. Everything is tidy, managed by people who didn’t even have to leave the building to serve their friends and neighbors. It made my heart ache and leap at the same time.What did I want to do? It had been a long day. I eyed the couches at the edge of the alcohol area and imagined how loud it would be there. I wouldn’t be able to relax at all. And anyways, I can’t help but chat when someone wants to chat with me. I could go sit at the cafeteria tables, but that group of kids with their homework set out looked a little boisterous. The coffee area was pretty quiet, I could go get a tall table…Someone walked up behind me and held a cold glass of something against the back of my neck. I jumped at the touch, but then leaned into it. “That feels so goood…” I said, not looking around.My mate Aaron’s voice came from the glass “It tastes good too. Don’t even need a ticket, because I made it myself.”I finally turned around to accept the glass. He looked into my eyes and said “Congratulations on the move. You look like you need to find a quiet place. Smoke?”“Stopped. T-break until my birthday.”“Good for you man. You gonna come sit with me while I have some? I have a mullein stick if you want it.”“That sounds wonderful. I’ll do that.”I glanced over at mom, who had discovered a glass and was pouring herself a drink out of Linda’s pitcher. They were both talking at the same time, but they were also both laughing at the same time. She glanced at me and I waved at her, miming that I was going outside with Aaron. She held up her watch and then nine fingers. I gave her a thumbs up. She took a moment to look around her and then smiled at me, giving a sheepish shrug and gesturing to the room as a whole, then giving me a thumbs-up in return.I smiled as I followed Aaron outside. It might be our first day here, I might be tired and restless and sleepy, but at least I had hope again. Hope, and a beer with a friend.

Hey there! I’m Tank.
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