If Canada sent me to Korea as a spy, to gather secrets, then I must be a sleeper agent, because I don't know anything about it.

There would have been some brain-washing. I guess Psy-ops was involved. I wonder how far it goes back. Did they recruit me out of high-school, or only later, when they saw there was a good chance of me getting embedded in the Korean graph theory community?

And why have I not been activated?

Maybe they are waiting until I write a really good paper.

I mean "really" good, Mom. Of course, most of my papers are good. But "REALLY" good. It has to be good enough that they tell me all of their secrets.

And why did they send me to Daegu– the conservative heartland? Hmm. Seems like maybe I've just stumbled on why. A sleeper agent to the conservative heartland.

Or maybe it was just a mistake. Wouldn't it make more sense that I went to North Korea?

Whatever. I just hope when they activate me, it isn't one of those days I slept wrong and woke up with a sore back. How can I do all of the sneaking I have to do if I can't turn my head? And the fighting and the seductions. Those especially, I want to do right!

They better hurry. I'm waking up with a bad back more and more.

Traditional wisdom says that most mathematicians do their best work by the time they are 40. And even if 55 is the new 40, I'm approaching it. I'm not sure when spies do their best work, but I think it must be a young man's game too.

There is probably some phrase that activates me.

"The chickens are sunning themselves in the Belfry."

"Cords are to words as bits are to tits."

I try a lot of phases. I have my computer generate them and read a couple out to me every morning. Pretty high tech stuff. But I haven't hit the right phrase yet.

It has to be nonsensical, so I won't hear it by accident, but also not so nonsensical that it they can't remember it.

"Gimmel me once, shame on you, gimmel me twice, twice as nice!"