The stabbing--it tires me

I stuck a needle into someone's tummy today. Then I went home and slept for an hour. I feel all grown up and doctorly, but who would have thought stabbing would be so tiring? I mean, they make it sound so effortless in stories...

On a different note, the October/November issue of Asimov's has just hit mailboxes and stands. My story "Prayers for an Egg" is part of this very special double issue. Tell me what you think!

Disaster Timeline

Day 1. Lost first patient
Day 6. Fight with bf. Breakup with bf?
Day 9. Electricity goes out in the house. Warm water is inexistent.
Day 10. Electricity repaired. Leak in water heater found. No running water in the house.
Day 11. Dirty dishes pile up. Dirty clothes pile up. Calm day at work with loads of time to think. Water heater people come. Water heater must be replaced. They can't cut the water to the water heater so that I can turn on the water for the rest of the house.
Day 11 afternoon. Plumber comes by. Figures out problem in water heater. Fixes water heater (totally not his job). Water is on again.
--beginning to process stacks of dishes/clothes. Cold water showers are good for you.
Day 12. Check out water heater: still wet. Don't dare plug it in again (the frightening combination of water, gas and electricity in a 25+ year old heater is, well, frightening). Grass needs to be cut. Take another cold water shower. Hectic day at work, but nice evening out.
Day 13. Today. Sleep. To do: cut grass, process clothes, tech editing. All of which are unrealistic expectations. Watch Firefly. Sleep some more.

Any friends that might be thinking of calling, now would be a really good time...

Et tu, Duotrope?

I can't login to www.duotrope.com, which means I can't access my sub statistics which basically means I can't submit since I don't know which story has been to what market.

Can anyone think of what might appease the Powers? I'm willing to do anything. Offerings of milk and honey? Anything, I tell you.

Oh, and gmail is not working...

...because everything that touches this house is cursed today. I'm wondering if I should get out NOW, just grab my computer, that teddy bear and go. The bad joss may just be that bad.

Jinxed

The light went out in the house yesterday. We isolated the problem, managed to get most lights back up and connected the fridge to one of the working plugs with one of those long cable thingies. But then the water started doing weird things... I showered with cold water this morning.

Anyway, the electricity guy was here today, and fixed the electric problem. I was hanging around while he worked, trying to figure out what had gone wrong (in general, gleaning info from the specialist, which I always find useful), when I saw a trickle of water in the garage... Sure enough, the water heater was peeing. A lot. The water heater holds 50 liters and maybe half of those were on the floor. I paid the electricity guy and cut the water to the house in the hopes that the peeing would stop. No luck. My guess is that there's still quite a bit left in the tank and I have to wait until it's all on the floor before the heater will stop leaking. Then, I'll try reconnecting the water to the house and if the heater starts leaking again, we'll know we're truly f****ed.

So now I have a heater to get fixed, plus some maybe some major plumbing. I have no water in the house. I don't know how I'll manage to take a shower tomorrow.I went to the neighbors to get some for washing hands and drinking. Carried it uphill and had to chuck some of it because the container was too full and I didn't want to improvise a wet-T contest then and there. Those of us who live with modern comforts cannot imagine how it rankles to actually have to work for the basic things in life. Of course, if I did this every day, I might actually have biceps, which I can't exactly claim to have now.

If any of you has jinxed me, now would be a good time to speak up. Whatever I've done to you, I think I've learned my lesson by now. I apologize, really. Whatever it is. Can you make it stop?

At least we have the light back and the fridge is working. We are rationing the water, but the beer is cold.

Tsetse tooth

I had my last wisdom tooth yanked out today and I'm feeling mostly fine. There's not a whole lot of swelling and it mostly doesn't hurt at all (I took some ibuprofen right after the procedure, but haven't needed any more since). However, I can't seem to wake up. I took a nap after lunch and it kept getting extended by ten minutes, twenty minutes, an hour... I'd wake every so often and will myself out of bed. No dice.

M saved me by calling me on the phone and making me talk to him until I was able to get up. If it weren't for him, the bedsheets (like meat eating plants), might have finished digesting me.

I finally seem to be reasonably alert now that I've been awake for an hour and have drunk some coffee, but I still wouldn't dream of driving a car or doing anything that requires motor control at this moment.

I'm wondering whether it's the anesthetic or whether loosing the last of my wisdom teeth was traumatic in some way. It seems unlikely; it's not like I used them a whole lot...

I just made the coolest food

Spaghetti--al dente.

Then:
butter--melted, not burnt.
garlic smeared on the pan.
preserved anchovies--desalted under running tap.

Add spaghetti to pan. Crack egg, drop. Stir briskly. Add a tad of milk. Stir.
Add some cheese. The kind that you shouldn't add to spaghetti. The kind that's well cured, firm and lumpy when you drop it into the pan. The kind that's coated in rosemary and meant to be eaten alone. Let it melt into the whole messy squishy pan.

Final step: avoid garlic chunks when you find 'em.