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 01.27.2009
Okay, that title might be a slight exaggeration, but as a writer, my life is in my hands. And my computer keyboard.
Those of you following me on Twitter know that a few weeks ago, I accidentally spilled water on my keyboard.
Captain Caffeine oh-so-sympathetically said, “Well, you shouldn’t have been drinking near your keyboard.”
But I always have water when I’m working! I drink about 10 glasses a day, more in the summertime since I sweat like a horse.
Well, I did the correct thing—I unplugged it (electrocution is not my preferred way to die) and turned it upside down. And shook it a little.
TWO drops came out.
I also tried compressed air to try to get some of the water out. More drops came out that way (but this might have caused damage—see below).
Then I called Captain Caffeine in a tearful panic, which is when he uttered the wonderfully encouraging words above.
I dried it upside down for three days, then plugged it in. It still didn’t work—several keys wouldn’t work.
Then the Captain told me to try setting it in front of a fan to evaporate the water.
So I did that. For 24 hours straight.
I plugged it in again. The C key still wouldn’t work.
I dissolved into tears.
My friend Tina’s husband worked in IT, and when the tragedy first occurred, he commented on Facebook that most of the time, the keyboard won’t last long after such abuse, and it’s better to just get a new one since they aren’t that expensive.
My shtick was that I had just bought this one! Like a few months ago. Sigh ...
So I bit the bullet and ordered a new one, which finally came today!
My life is once again complete.
This is what I was doing in the meantime:
And this is the new keyboard:
Okay, that title might be a slight exaggeration, but as a writer, my life is in my hands. And my computer keyboard.
Those of you following me on Twitter know that a few weeks ago, I accidentally spilled water on my keyboard.
Captain Caffeine oh-so-sympathetically said, “Well, you shouldn’t have been drinking near your keyboard.”
But I always have water when I’m working! I drink about 10 glasses a day, more in the summertime since I sweat like a horse.
Well, I did the correct thing—I unplugged it (electrocution is not my preferred way to die) and turned it upside down. And shook it a little.
TWO drops came out.
I also tried compressed air to try to get some of the water out. More drops came out that way (but this might have caused damage—see below).
Then I called Captain Caffeine in a tearful panic, which is when he uttered the wonderfully encouraging words above.
I dried it upside down for three days, then plugged it in. It still didn’t work—several keys wouldn’t work.
Then the Captain told me to try setting it in front of a fan to evaporate the water.
So I did that. For 24 hours straight.
I plugged it in again. The C key still wouldn’t work.
I dissolved into tears.
My friend Tina’s husband worked in IT, and when the tragedy first occurred, he commented on Facebook that most of the time, the keyboard won’t last long after such abuse, and it’s better to just get a new one since they aren’t that expensive.
My shtick was that I had just bought this one! Like a few months ago. Sigh ...
So I bit the bullet and ordered a new one, which finally came today!
My life is once again complete.
This is what I was doing in the meantime:
And this is the new keyboard:
Comments
Glad you got your keyboard, oh, and keep drinking that water...just maybe from a glass with a lid that snaps shut. **LOL**
And Captain, you be nice or you'll sleep on the couch tonight.
Camy
Camy
Love the new keyboard. I totally relate to not being able to write. In my last job, I was doing a Master's online and when they forced me tover to 3 AM, I work work on my weekly papers. Once during a finals week, I had the "e" key die on me. Can you imagine? Luckily for me, there was a guy there with an electroncis degree adn he was able to pull the keyboard apart and fix it. He got a huge bacth of chocolate chip cookies he next week.
I am glad you are back to deciding what a character can say or do and not be bound by a missing letter.
Enjoy the water in a big girl cup ;)
Jendi, yes, I do stand up to type. I switch between standing and sitting--the boxes are empty, so it's easy to move my monitor and keyboard down.
Camy