I ran back upstairs in time to watch my father go through one of the sliding glass doors into the castle. Jacie, his wife of a year, came into view, clad in a full-length yellow bathrobe. She was not a morning person, like my father and me, but at least she had combed her hair to see him off for work.

Spotlighted in the rays of the rising sun, she looked good. Her hair was the color of the robe. She should look good; she was a year younger than I was.

They talked for a minute and then they kissed. Not just a peck on the cheek, either. They kissed like two people in love. At least, I was sure he was in love with her. Then he disappeared toward the garage. Off to work.

What should I do first? My inclination was to sell Dionysus stock short. A minute's reflection told me I couldn't do that. I would be betraying my father. Besides, it would be illegal. Insider trading was an SEC no-no. If I wasn't an insider by my relationship to the CEO, I certainly was because of the information he had confided in me.

Okay, get a grip, Karl. You need a plan. First, I had to call Emerge, the nonprofit organization I volunteered at on Tuesday afternoons and tell them I couldn't make it today. One reason I hated to do this was because they needed me. Emerge helped people who for one reason or another had not had a job for a period of time, often years, and prepared them to re-enter the job market. Some were homeless; some had been in prison; many had drug or alcohol-related problems, but were now clean.

The Emerge staff and volunteers presented classes on locating job opportunities, interviewing and resume writing. They maintained a closet full of used clothes in good condition, suitable for wearing to interviews. They placed telephones and fax machines at the disposal of the clients. And computers. I had assembled some of their client computers from various components. I also taught computer classes and gave individual instruction on using Microsoft Word and other word-processing programs.