キャミー・タング著「戌年」連載小説 プロのドッグトレーナーであるマリ・ムトウは、厄年を迎えている。 犬小屋と訓練所の改築をしながら、いつも不服そうにしている家族と同居することになった。母と姉に言わせれば、犬の毛とよだれかけにまみれる仕事は、家族にとって恥ずべきものだという。彼女は元カレを説得し、数ヶ月間犬を預かってもらうことにした。しかし、彼の兄は、数週間前に彼女が誤って車に追突した、怒り狂ったセキュリティ専門家であることが判明する。 アシュウィン・ケイトウは十分な問題を抱えている。叔母が玄関先に現れ、同居を希望している。彼は彼女にすべてを借りているので、断ることができません。母親が家を出て行った後、ネルおばさんはアシュウィンと弟を引き取り、愛のあるキリスト教の家庭で育てた。しかも、弟のダスティもアパートを追い出され、居場所を求めている。しかし、彼は犬を飼っている。そして、その犬の飼い主は誰だと思いますか? しかし、旧友でオアフ島のノースショアでデイスパを経営する私立探偵のエディサ・ゲレロから依頼を受ける。マリの施設で奇妙な破壊行為があり、3年前に失踪したエディサの妹の財布を発見する。エディサはマリが危険な目に遭っているのではと心配する。警備の専門家であるアシュウィンがすでにマリを知っていることを知ったエディサは、忙しい若い女性を密かに監視することを彼に依頼する。 アシュウィンは、活発でのんびりとしたドッグトレーナーに不本意ながら惹かれていく。彼女は、幸せそうな母親を思い出させる。その母親の裏切りによって、彼は人と距離を置くようになったのだ。マリは、アシュウィンの冷たい外見を見抜き、彼が家族に忠実な男であることを認める。彼は、彼女のキャリア選択を批判するだけの母親や姉とは違う。 マリのバラバラな家庭とアシュウィンのバラバラな家庭の中で、過去を隠そうとする人たちから、彼らの周りに危険が迫ってくるようになる。彼らは、影で動く秘密に光を当てることができるのか? 過去に発表されたパートへのリンクはこちら。 *** 第8章 - 恐ろしくも真っ白な不動産書類 『みんな仲良くできないのかな?』 マリは無用に力を込めて箱に本を投げ入れた。最近、なぜ彼女は人生の中で全員と言い争いをしているのだろう?もしかすると、これは本当に悪いアイデア
Captain's Log, Stardate 07.22.2008
Captain Caffeine told me an interesting story he heardon the radio (update: it was in the paper), I think. You know all those fires here in Northern California? Luckily, they weren’t near us and we didn’t need to be evacuated.
However, they (somebody) interviewed some people who had been evacuated, asking them what they took and why.
The answers were very interesting. For example, one guy had like 900 bottles of wine (read: really good, expensive, and probably old) in his wine cellar. He said he’d been torn between wines with monetary value and sentimental value. Originally, he took two $1500 bottles (yes, you read that right—one thousand, five hundred smackeroos) but he put one back to choose a wine with more sentimental value.
This got me and the Captain thinking about what we’d take. A fire evacuation is more forgiving than, say, a tornado evacuation, because you have more time to load up the car.
We’d take:
--Our computers
Although I have to say, I have Mozy.com as my backup system, so that gives me peace of mind to know my writing and business stuff is saved offsite. Plus it’s free and I can schedule it to backup everyday at a certain time.
(If you use this link to sign up for Mozy’s free backup service, you and I both get an extra 256MB free. Click on the Mozy Home 2 GB free on the bottom of the page.)
--Our financial information, which is in a lockbox, and some other valuables in our fireproof safe
--Camping gear
--Our earthquake emergency kit (it’s actually a hard plastic garbage bin filled with essentials)
And then Captain said he’d take his espresso maker. Yes, he values it that highly. And the burr grinder, too.
I’d take my knitting needles and a bit of yarn because NO WAY am I going to be stuck somewhere without something to knit.
I’d also make sure I had all my ebooks on my PDA so I’d have lots to read.
What about you? What would you take?
Captain Caffeine told me an interesting story he heard
However, they (somebody) interviewed some people who had been evacuated, asking them what they took and why.
The answers were very interesting. For example, one guy had like 900 bottles of wine (read: really good, expensive, and probably old) in his wine cellar. He said he’d been torn between wines with monetary value and sentimental value. Originally, he took two $1500 bottles (yes, you read that right—one thousand, five hundred smackeroos) but he put one back to choose a wine with more sentimental value.
This got me and the Captain thinking about what we’d take. A fire evacuation is more forgiving than, say, a tornado evacuation, because you have more time to load up the car.
We’d take:
--Our computers
Although I have to say, I have Mozy.com as my backup system, so that gives me peace of mind to know my writing and business stuff is saved offsite. Plus it’s free and I can schedule it to backup everyday at a certain time.
(If you use this link to sign up for Mozy’s free backup service, you and I both get an extra 256MB free. Click on the Mozy Home 2 GB free on the bottom of the page.)
--Our financial information, which is in a lockbox, and some other valuables in our fireproof safe
--Camping gear
--Our earthquake emergency kit (it’s actually a hard plastic garbage bin filled with essentials)
And then Captain said he’d take his espresso maker. Yes, he values it that highly. And the burr grinder, too.
I’d take my knitting needles and a bit of yarn because NO WAY am I going to be stuck somewhere without something to knit.
I’d also make sure I had all my ebooks on my PDA so I’d have lots to read.
What about you? What would you take?
Comments
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
It's amazing, when you think about it, how much we can do without, how much is really replaceable.