hi, bye

I'm back very briefly. Got back into town 6pm on Friday. Leaving again 6:30am tomorrow. It's been a weekend of perpetual motion highlighted by having HOME COOKED FOOD! I am so over restaurant food.

In the world of good things, we picked up the van on Saturday morning. That was so excellent. I didn't expect it to be done in one week. I expected the work to cost in excess of $1,000, it cost less than $600. Since getting it back I've worked like a madman and now the grey water tank is cut, resealed, piped up, tested, and installed. Huge project, completed in just over a day, yay! We'll be able to make use of that next week at the beach.

We just sat down to a yummy curry, potatoes with super sinus clearing powers, baby carrots, and basmati rice. I have a feeling of contentment that simply can't be beat.

reading (Revolting Rhymes, Uneasy Money, Tourist Season)

I read Roald Dahl's "Revolting Rhymes" last Sunday during rest breaks from household chores. It is a thin volume, but it packs a delightful Dahl punch. I laughed out loud at some of the bits and smiled at many others. The twist in the last story delighted me to no end. This perhaps isn't a book suitable for reading to young children, but it might be fun for children ready to start questioning stereotypes and assumptions. A fun, one session read for adults too.

35. Roald Dahl "Revolting Rhymes"

I finished reading Wodehouse's "Uneasy Money" on Wednesday evening. I had actually started it during our last vacation, but hadn't picked up the ebook since we got back. I enjoyed "Uneasy Money", but I don't think it's a strong as most of the Wodehouse I have read. The plot was a bit too stretched and the characters didn't ring with me. It was enjoyable reading, but it didn't leave me beside myself with mirth.

36. P. G. Wodehouse "Uneasy Money"

A second copy of Carl Hiaasen's "Tourist Season" arrived in the post on Friday. This was the book with two chapters missing at the climax that I posted about a few weeks back. I'm sure the interruption didn't help my overall impression of the book. I found it to be a mixed bag. I was happy some of the typical Hiaasen cliches hadn't developed for this, his freshman effort.

He did, alas, have the perfect catch, who is totally out of Our Hero's league, fall for Our Hero. I mean, come on Carl. I've been a loser for how many years and no beautiful, brilliant, totally with it girl half my age has wrestled me to the carpet after knowing me for a week. It might be wish fulfillment for you, but for me it's just Mary Sue with a gender change.

The motives are much more mixed among many of the characters. In this book there are more shades of grey and less clear good guys versus bad guys. In that way, it much more resembles reality than most of Hiaasen's books. Most of the plot points still don't resemble reality, but hey, his books are about farce not fact.

37. Carl Hiaasen "Tourist Season"