6/10/05b

12:31 p.m. I walk into the building with my video camera. I am ready with my pretext. There is an internet company to the left and a construction company to the right. And right in front of me is a sign with 8 inch lettering proclaiming my Subject to be the reverend of the church. Fantastic. I take some film.

I follow the arrow to the sanctuary and find a gutted series of rooms. Insulation and ceiling tiles litter the biggest room. I walk through, figuring that at this point I'd tell them I have to use the bathroom. I am so trespassing. I take more film of the remodeling. I walk through a maze of hallways and classrooms and find a floorplan on the wall outlining the future placement of all the church offices. I take more film. Pastor Jackson, you are a naughty boy. Defrauding the insurance company isn't a very Christian thing to do.

There is nobody around. Maybe they're out to lunch. I decide to take off before I get caught and thrown in jail. I will run by the good pastor's house and see if I can secure some video.

As I'm on my way out, a woman walks in. I try to look confused. (Not hard.) She asks me if she can help me with something. I tell her I have to use the bathroom and she leads me through a side door into the main offices of the internet company. I mention the church and ask what it's like running a business next to them. She says they don't see the church people much. I ask her if she knows the pastor. She looks at me funny and says no. Okay. No more questions. She's getting suspicious. I get back into my car and spend the next 15 minutes writing down license plate numbers that I will run later.

I'm off to Pastor Jackson's house.