The All-New Bunrab

After we got back from Europe, I was only home for a couple of days before I turned around and went up to New York to help my friend Sally-the-hoarder throw some stuff out. Just got back this Thursday. Did not have computer with me while I was there, and didn't have much chance to use Sally's computer. We did get some stuff thrown out, but it's a battle - while she knows she's got a problem, she doesn't like to think that any individual thing is a problem, and so every single piece has to be looked at, categorized, and a decision made about it. We couldn't even compromise about putting some stuff in boxes and sticking them in the POD that I rented for her and then deciding about them later, because the stuff in boxes *might* be something she'd need within the next couple months. The fact that many of said things were things she's done without for years because they were buried under other stuff does not in any way alleviate her anxiety that she might need it, that she can think of a possible use for it, and therefore it can't get stored somewhere where she can't get at it instantly, let alone thrown away. So we debate that need to a standstill on every receipt, every tennis ball, every bag of candy purchased in 2004 and long since past its expiration date. Despite all that, we DID make some progress. And I got a chance to talk to a couple of her other friends who live up there, and started enlisting them to help out with one small chunk of STUFF at a time.

Wait, here's a picture, so that this post isn't just whining! This one is me on my travel scooter, on the road leading to the beach in Opatija, Croatia; the bikes behind me are Kawasakis, which seemed to be the most popular motorcycles in town, though still far behind motor scooters in numbers; there are a couple other band members, too - we were on our way to the amphitheatre for our first performance!


Anyway. Reading. Let's see. Re-reading some Terry Pratchett - so far, Guards, Guards!, Men at Arms, and Feet of Clay. Also have progressed through Matriarch and Ally in the second trilogy of Karen Traviss' Shan Frankland series. Now on the final book, Judge - I'll give a more thorough report on that one when I'm done. Also have started the latest Harry Dresden book, Small Favors (Jim Butcher) - I won't give anything away, don't worry. Um, Carolyn Hart's Death Walked In in her Annie Darling series - eh, she's recycling plots lately. There's been other stuff as well - I know a bunch of library books have wandered in and out of here - but I can't remember what.

Wait, I am drifting into boring, must be time for another picture! Here are some bikes and scooters parked under the palm trees along the sidewalks of one of the main streets. I bet you never thought of Eastern Europe and palm trees in the same breath - but Croatia is a seaside country, this is a seaside resort town, and yes, it has lots of palm trees!


We got most of the remainder of the stuff out of the old house yesterday - there's still loose odds and ends in the kitchen that we can carry over in the car, but all the big stuff's out of there, and we can call in the carpet shampooers and the general cleaners and probably have that house ready to rent out for September 1! This house is messier than ever now - but the electrician is coming next Thursday to do the rest of the work on the outlets, and then we can push all the bookcases against the walls and really get to unpacking the books.

This is the Hotel Agava (yes, after the agave plant), which is where we were staying in Opatija.


Anyway, I'm just going to look at my flist starting now, and only go back if (a) I see something drastic that begs for explanation that may be in an earlier post, or (b) you actually put a comment here telling me that there's something I should know or would like to know in your posts of the past month. Sorry I'm being so lazy - but lazy is my middle name, right?

One more pic: This is looking out from the stage into the audience portion of the amphitheater, during our sound check a couple hours before the concert.

The car got towed off for repair Tuesday morning; we hope to have it back by Wednesday afternoon so we can go up to Bel Air for an Army Field Band concert - my bike is definitely too small to take 2 people 40 miles up the interstate. We did manage to get a couple of library books returned yesterday, as it was their due date, but that's much closer and all local roads.

Laundry in piles all over apt.

I spent 20 minutes brushing Fred this evening, and 10 minutes later he looked as scruffy as ever. S thinks that Fred is trying to reproduce by mitosis, like an amoeba. That is one disheveled bun.

I have no idea where our jackets are, and at the rate the weather is cooling off here, I am going to need jacket and gloves after dark pretty soon. Today even at mid-afternoon, with the wind chill it was just comfortable. I'm sure we'll still get a couple more really hot days here and there, but overall, it's getting dark earlier and it's getting cooler. That is such a strange sensation, after 24 years of summer that lasts through October. I like it.

What I have read recently:
The Family Trade and its sequel, The Hidden Family;
Going Postal

I give links above because I went ahead and wrote Amazon reviews; as ever, if you like the reviews, could you go ahead and vote? I'm so vain.

And also, related to that, a chance to push something on all Terry Pratchett fans:
Will Cuppy - as soon as you read some 70-year-old Will Cuppy essays, you will know exactly which master Pratchett has studied at the knees of.

Also read Katie MacAlister's You Slay Me, a screwball fantasy romance - not great, but readable, funnier than many attempts to combine fantasy and romance. And Sharyn McCrumb's St. Dale, which is just a little strange...

I found the world's greatest messenger bag. It has enough pockets for everything. It's a tad heavy, but what the heck.