Hey Louise, ar ya missing something?

Sometimes change is a good thing. Other times, it’s just exhausting. Here in the Bremerton Patriot office, we are welcoming change with open arms. Please pardon the reference to the cheesy Journey ballad.

As of Tuesday, we are blessed to have a full-time receptioninst who will be on hand to keep us all straight and who will be no doubt amused at the three-ring circus this office can be. I pride myself in being the ringmaster, and more often than not, the instigator, of silly situations that occur.

Anyway, welcoming our new receptionist is the upside to the change occuring here in the office. The exhausting part was getting the office in tip-top shape so she wouldn’t run screaming at first sight. We had to add a new desk and move around some others in the process.

We chose to do all the moving on Monday, so it was really interesting. For most of the day, it looked like an office supply store had exploded. Desks were skewed, notebooks were strewn about and ballpoint pens had run amok.

In the midst of the confusion, I was going through my desk to figure out what was from editors past that I either didn’t need or couldn’t identify.

And boy, was there a lot of it.

There were tons of non-working ink pens, rubber bands, rusted paper clips and so many computer disks that for a second I thought I was working at Microsoft.

I also found some good stuff. Among the treasures I found a copy of the Central Kitsap Reporter from 2001; a Yellow Pages phone book so old all the paper was yellow, not just the Yellow Pages part; and the coolest thing ever: tucked between the back barrier of my top left drawer and the back of the drawer was an old notebook. A really old notebook. In the “This belongs to” section there was written “Louise 3-14-84.”

Wow. My first thought was that Louise of March 1984 probably went completely kabonkers looking for the blooming thing.

Then the reporter side of me — the really, really nosy side — kicked in. I spent the better part of longer than I should have tearing through the notebook, looking for clues as to who Louise could have been. There was a ton of phone numbers, addresses and really important looking information in the notebook.

From some of the information, I guessed she worked in a real estate office of some sort, or maybe she worked for an attorney.

There was a notary public stamp, so I know her last name and that her notary expired in 1986.

I also know that she had a devil of a time spelling and remembering things because the entire notebook is littered with lists of the same word spelled several different times. There were lost of scribbles that could have been phone messages: “Dixie too sick,” “Downtown office or store space for LEASE ... park in rear,” and the like. And she knew short hand. And she must have been one heck of a penny-pincher and preservationist (both traits I admire) because every square centimeter of this notebook is used.

That’s about all I know about Louise.

Well, all that and she’s probably still looking for this notebook.

Hey, Louise: good news! I’ve found your notebook and it’s in great shape. Call me if you still need it. Oh yeah ... tell Dixie I hope she’s feeling better.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.