Sunday, October 9th, 2016

Saturday's tale

Sunday, October 9th, 2016 11:41 am
rolanni: (from LAG)

I believe that my topic is Yesterday.

Yesterday was Saturday.  It started annoyingly early, with a rustle-rustle-rustle so persistent that it woke me up.  The source was found to be Sprite, who, in a fit of boredom, one supposes, had knocked over the trashcan in my office, dragged out the packing balloons that had protected the light bulbs during their long journey from New Jersey to Maine, and was avidly licking them.  I don't know what it is with the coon cats and plastic, but they love to lick it, and, unless it's removed from their orbit, will do so until it shreds.

Stern Words were spoken.  The (shredded) balloons were removed.  The trashcan was righted, and I went into the kitchen to pour coffee.

Coffee in hand, I opened my mail and found myself on the receiving end of a download from a pirate site, which speaks to the advice that I shouldn't operate heavy machinery, including the internet, until after I've finished the first cup of coffee.

Anyhow, this incident meant that I needed to deep-scan my computer for a virus check, which I of course did with the best of grace.  Loudly.

Steve made a cheese-and-turkey omelette for breakfast; after, we went out, to (1) pick up a prescription at the drug store, (2) check the post office box, (3) pick up several necessary items at the grocery store.

*cue laugh track*

It came about that we needed a filleting knife to replace the one that came with me as part of my marriage portion, and which had achieved a separation from its handle.  So!  After stopping at the post office, and since we were on that side of town, it just made sense to zip over to KMart.

We arrived in the middle of someone loudly haranguing the person at the customer service station.  The first thing to greet my ears was, "You cannot lie to your customers.  One store says one thing, your store says something else.  One of you is lying.  In either case, you are in violation of contract law.  Do you want your company to be sued?  Or will you just DO YOUR JOB and. . ."

. . .you get the gist.  And!  He went on in this same vein, in a voice that could be heard to the far corners of the store, for the entire half-hour we were there.  Back in the sock section, I could barely think inside the racket.  God She knows how the poor woman trapped in customer managed to cope.

Anyhow, I managed to buy what I call "house socks" -- men's construction socks, with padded soles.  I wear them -- surprise! -- around the house in the winter time, since I prefer sock-foot to slipper-feet.

Since we were in KMart, and I had money in my pocket, I stopped by the jewelry counter to buy a silver chain, KMart having been, last I looked, a leading purveyor of cheap sterling silver chains.

Um.

A 28-inch silver chain at KMart had a list price of $149.95 (do what now?), but!  They were 70% off.  Which brought it all the way down to $45.  Which was a shade more than twice as much as I was willing to spend.  The saleswoman did her best, reminding me that I could put it on layaway, but I manged to leave the chain where it was, and got to the cash register to buy my socks just as the disgruntled gentleman left the store, phone glued to ear.

Steve did not find a filleting knife.

Back in the car we went to travel to the other side of town, where we picked up the winter extra cat food, and the prescription, and stopped at TJ Maxx, since it's in the same shopping center as the Hannaford, still in search of the filleting knife.

Steve went back to kitchenware, and I stopped at the jewelry counter to chat with my acquaintance there.  As it happened, she had a 28-inch silver chain in stock.  For $19.99, which was very much more like it.  So, I achieved my silver chain.  Yay.

Steve did not find a filleting knife in TJ Maxx, either.

Onward to the grocery store, where we took on same, and Steve found a pair of knives that each might do the job of a filleting blade, and home again, where we had a light lunch and a long nap, before arising to go to work.

Work went well, Steve and I met for the evening meal, a glass of wine, and a chapter of A Night in the Lonesome October.  So, though the day started in aggravation, it wound down peacefully.

And here ends Saturday's narrative.

Today's schedule includes answering a convention survey, the doing of laundry, and, naturally enough, more work on Neogenesis.  I have ahead of me a whole week with no lengthy real-world interruptions of any kind, so I hope to get a lot of words written in a forwarder direction.

# # #

Rough Approximate Word Count for Neogenesis
61,835/130,000 OR 48% complete

"I live to be of use to you, Theo," he said gently. "May one know the reason for these. . .arrangements?"

princess-boopsie-the-innocent
rolanni: (Reading is sexy)
53.  The Last Madam: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld, Chris Wiltz (e)
52.  Monstress, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
51.  Marked in Flesh, Anne Bishop (e) (many thanks to the kind reader who gave me a copy of this book, so I can now wait with the rest of you for the next one)
50.  Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy), J. M. Barrie (e) (read aloud with Steve)
49.  The City of Lightning, Kaja & Phil Foglio
48.  Disenchanted & Co., Lynn Viehl
47.  Tell me a Dragon, Jackie Morris
46.  Feet of Clay, Terry Pratchett (read aloud with Steve)
45.  Vision in Silver (e), Anne Bishop
44.  Murder of Crows, Anne Bishop
43.  Men at Arms, Terry Pratchett (read aloud with Steve)
42.  Queen of the Deep (e), Kay Kenyon
41.  Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
40.  Lightning that Lingers, Sharon & Tom Curtis writing as Laura London (re-read for both; first time reading aloud)
39.  Guards!  Guards!, Terry Pratchett (read aloud with Steve)
38.  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
37.  Tiger's Chance, Jan Henry, illustrated by Hilary Knight (re-read)
36.  Carousel Tides, Sharon Lee (1st read for pleasure)
35.  The Fall of Kings, Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman (e)
34.  Play of Passion, Nalini Singh (read aloud with Steve)
33.  Privilege of the Sword, Ellen Kushner (re-re-&c-read) (e)
32.  Swordspoint, Ellen Kushner (re-re-&c-read) (e)
31.  Incarnate, Jodi Meadows (e)
30.  Discount Armageddon, Seanan McGuire (e)
29.  Tiger Eye, Majorie M. Liu (e)
28.  Visitor, C. J. Cherryh (read aloud with Steve)
27.  To Have and to Hold, Nalini Singh (e)
26.  The House of Shattered Wings, Aliette de Bodard
25.  Bride of the Rat God, Barbara Hambly (e)
24.  Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire (e)
23.  Maximum Ice, Kay Kenyon (e)
22.  War for the Oaks, Emma Bull (re-re-re-re-read)
21. Wheel of the Infinite, Martha Wells (e)
20.  Algonquin Cat, Val Schaffner, illustrated by Hilary Knight
19.  Karen Memory, Elizabeth Bear
18.  Ancillary Mercy, Ann Leckie
17. When Falcons Fall, C.S. Harris
16.  Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson (re-re-re-&c-read)
15.  Uprooted, Naomi Novik
14.  Strong Poison, Dorothy L. Sayers (re-re-re-read)
13.  Written in Red, Anne Bishop
12.  Andy & Don, Daniel de Visé
11.  The Thief of Time, Terry Pratchett (read aloud with Steve)
10.  Foxglove Summer, Ben Aaronovitch
9.   Broken Homes, Ben Aaronovitch
8.   Soul Music, Terry Pratchett (read aloud with Steve)
7.   Whispers Underground, Ben Aaronovitch
6.   Moon Over Soho, Ben Aaronovitch
5.   Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett (read aloud with Steve)
4.   Conflict of Honors, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (e) (re-read)
3.   Mort, Terry Pratchett (read aloud with Steve)
2.   The Sculptor, Scott McCloud
1.   A Short History of a Small Place, T.R. Pearson

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