So Many Books... - Life - oooh life. (Sung in the key of Moan.)

04:53 pm - Life - oooh life. (Sung in the key of Moan.)

So, came down the other morning and noticed there was a really bad smell in the kitchen. No point detailing the hapless hopes I fabricated of reasons which would be less horrible than the most likely culprit: the drains blocked again. Because it was, of course, the drains. And *this* time is the time they have to dig up my next door neighbour's back garden in order to fix the problem in our house. Yes, the next-door neighbour who was robbed in her house last week.

You know things aren't good when you ring DynoRod in a complete state a year after last contact with them and the person answering the phone says 'Oh yes of course, I remember you well - you were dealing with Alan' without a second's hesitation or need to look up records. Alan also remembered me, and that they'd marked the spot in next-door neighbour's garden over the break in the pipe, and said they'd be out Monday morning early to start the fun. Which wasn't bad, except it means minimal water use in the house for us until Monday (this happened on Thursday) and as the opening to the drain is right outside the kitchen... Nuff said. *And* this morning the trash company came in my front garden and took my wheelie bin and green bin. Apparently they meant to replace the bins in the middle house in the terrace with the half-sized ones, but took mine instead. So I have nowhere to put trash or recycling *AND* Dougie seems to have decided that the stress is getting to him and he must pee everywhere all the time.

It's particularly cranky-making as my brain has completely packed up and left the location - would I could do the same! And I have many things to write, and books to talk about, and no brain with which to do it. Seriously - have recently read Jackson Pearce's As You Wish, Mary E. Pearson's The Miles Between and Sarah Cross's Dull Boy, among others. Want to talk books!! (Also have over 2000 unread posts in Bloglines.)

Quick Pollyanna though: my wonderful friends Hirondelle and Katayoun have alerted me on Goodreads to the release date for the new, proper, full-length Connie Willis novel! I've been waiting for this since 2005 Worldcon in Glasgow. Speaking of which, Younger Daughter is going off to a Pixies concert in Glasgow tomorrow and it turns out it's in the SECC, where we all went to the 2005 Worldcon. Serious nostalgic moment there.