I left home on time and got to the bus stop in time to wait for a bus that was sometimes on schedule and sometimes not.  I was early when I arrived at work and had time to sit for a few minutes, drink my coffee and checkout the NBA playoff stats from the previous night.  While sitting at my computer I happened to look at my jacket that was hanging on the coat rack.

Something wasn’t right. There was a vivid color on my jacket.  Perhaps it was the way the light was coming through the window that cast a glare or something?  In any event, I got up and took the jacket off the rack for a better look.  Ok, calling up my detective skills, I want to describe this right.  After all, I am the total avid fan of Law and Order and I know how to describe a crime scene.

On the left side of my jacket over the pocket was a series off scratches and circles of pen–like markings that covered a healthy area over my pocket and on the pocket itself.  It looked as though an ink pen ( a blue one) had been set free to roam… and roam it did.  Now the jacket had been in the closet until I had taken it out to wear.  No one else wore it, so how did this happen?  Of course I had to share this with my co-workers who were willing and able to come up with some pretty interesting scenarios as to how this could have happened.  Unable to come up with an explanation, I began seeking remedies on how could I remove the ink.  One co-worker promised to call her drycleaner friend and ask her advice.  In the meantime, I decided to go online and see if I could get some info on how to remove ink stains.

I found a lot of sites, even though most of them were advertising the detergent Biz and Tide.  One site I did find gave me the courage to go home to work on the stains myself.  Luckily, I all the items the site  listed, I had at home.  The directions were as follows: with a clean cloth and a white towel, place jacket on the towel and using rubbing alcohol blot and rub on the stain.  After rubbing and blotting the stain, rinse thoroughly and move to the next step( if the towel under the jacket gets wet, move the jacket to a dry spot); next using fingernail polish remover, non-acetone, repeat the previous step making sure to rinse thoroughly; next mix baking soda with a little water to make a past and repeat step 1, making sure to rinse thoroughly.  After the 3 products have been used, pour a little of your detergent directly onto the stains, rub in and let sit for a few minutes before washing in hot water.  I actually washed the jacket twice and there was no sign of ink stains anywhere on my jacket.

Feeling great and wanting to share the good news with my co-workers I proceeded to wear my new home-cleaned jacket to work.  However, there was no good news to share. Back at the bus stop I was going through my pocketbook to get my bus pass when I noticed that there was some blue in the same area as before on my jacket.  OK, another senior moment?  Not so, but if it wasn’t, had I dreamed this whole thing up? Did I really clean my jacket? There again were the same blue ink stains except this time they were in another area all together.  I know for a fact that when I removed my jacket from the closet, I checked it before putting it on and there were no stains.  I was getting ready to put my pocketbook back over my shoulder when I noticed that the bottom of my pocketbook was also blue.  Did that mean that whomever was residing in my closet had decided to go to work with me and was in my pocketbook?  I opened my pocketbook again and, oh for goodness sake, there, with the point opened and stuck to the lining of my pocketbook was a blue ball point pen that apparently had punctured the pocketbook and as I walked with the pocketbook over my shoulder, the movement made the pen draw creatively over my jacket as I walked; making the infamous pattern.

OK,  mystery solved– but will I be as successful as before?  Who knows?