Oh, $#@@+!

After I posted SEE 84 I had some time before tea so I decided to update the server... Now I can't get in!

Regrettably chapter 80 of Somewhere Else Entirely will be delayed...

I've written 5,000 words so far and just realized that I have put the cart before the, er, dranakh.

Sometimes it's nice to see the other side of the story.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/fashion-blog/2012/nov/25/androgynous-models-ignore-gender-rules

Don't get put off by the URL, this is a woman modeling men's clothes!

This is typical of what seems to happen to me over the winter holiday period. I have an eeeeeeevil cold and I'm reduced to coughing, hacking and dripping everywhere. Needless to say, I can't write while I'm in this condition.

Contrary to what we have been receiving here in the UK for far too long, somebody switched the monsoon off this week. We now have days of hotter, hotter, HOTTER.

Unfortunately, the room I do my scribblings in is the one with the cupboard full of computers. It's too hot. As I write it's 33 centigrade in the cupboard, and I'm having to turn almost everything off to stop it dying on its own. This means that my time at the keyboard is limited to whenever I can get myself out of bed and ready in the mornings, before it all heats up.

It's been a while, I know. Unfortunately, that's how life has been for far too long now. I have about 6,000 words written of the next chapter and the rest planned out ages ago. So why is it not up yet?

Meh. I had originally intended, and openly written about, calling chapter 49 of Somewhere Else Entirely "A Day of Ceremonies". Fool! I ought to have known better! Some of my minor characters had other ideas...

So, everything suddenly exploded on me, as unintended consequences frequently do.

This one caught my eye this morning.

Cat being a cat

Of course, we're all used to the phenomenon of cats walking across keyboards and generating *perfect* passwords, this just takes it to the logical next step!

Penny

Dont' you just hate it when that happens? I'm ploughing my steady way through Somewhere Else Entirely, the next chapter lined up ready in my head, when... wham! along comes a complete story in a different vein. One that just won't let go.

Why does everything always happen at the same time? I've had this cold for well over a week now, and it's so bad I can cough in my sleep, often without waking. It's also worked it's way down into my chest, and up into my sinuses...

So the bad weather happens just about now as well, and to top it all I just accidentally trashed one of my servers... twice.

I'm sure you'll all have noticed that it has been far too long since the previous chapter of Somewhere Else Entirely was posted. I've finally managed to get the next one up... I ought to be back to a reasonable schedule now, although these days you never know.

I thought I'd explain why there's been such a long delay. Oh, all right, this is a grovelling apology combined with specious excuses why I haven't been writing. Satisfied now?

I am continually surprised by the number of readers who seem to thirst for the next chapter of Somewhere Else Entirely. That being the case, I thought I'd jot down a few notes about the story - without giving anything away, I hope - so that readers know what to expect.

I'm doomed. I'm convinced that this is destined never to get fixed. What else can possibly go wrong?

Why does it always happen to me? Someone, somewhere, must know a plumber who actually turns up when he says he will, but I've never met one.

For some time now, we've had a damp patch on the (concrete) kitchen floor. Just occasional seepage from somewhere. Not very much, and no smell so I'm guessing it's mains water rather than sewage. Just recently the stains started to get larger and I reluctantly decided that we would have to get the problem fixed.

...but you all knew that, right? No Somewhere Else Entirely this week, due to forces beyond my control. The chapter's about half written, and my muse is anxious for me to continue, but...

I'm suffering a chest infection and I'm feeling totally crap, so there will be no Somewhere Else Entirely this week.

Once more I have to admit defeat. There will be no story chapter posted at all this week. Remember that thing about not operating machinery? It applies to doing anything much creative and that includes downloading my brain into a website at the moment.

Eh, I suppose technically this is a post, so I'm posting about not being able to post... (crosses eyes). What I am saying is, there will be no Chapter 14 of Somewhere Else Entirely today.

Things might be a bit slow from me until next week. I haven't been well recently and I'm going to be away for the week-end.

I got the idea for this while hanging around waiting for my partner to wake up from her heart op, so a good while ago. At that time I had stopped writing, knowing that I simply wouldn't have time to do any. I was also in the middle of Tropical Twist and I knew I had to finish that first.

I'm sorry for the delay in putting up the next Tropical Twist, but it will be along later today (UK time).

I recently had a letter asking me to go along to the local Jobcentre Plus for a "Work Focused Interview" (eek!), at 11:15 today. Cue complete shambles...

Yesterday, for the first time since my partner went into hospital, I was able to dress properly - a t-shirt and skirt! I was so comfortable, it irks me having to do the whole 'pretend man' thing all the time!

So I saw my partner off at the station last Wednesday. Late that evening she phoned to say that when she arrived at the hospital they had cancelled the operation and that they had phoned to tell her! Er, no.

Yesterday, we got a letter from The Heart Hospital, offering a date. My partner goes in next Wednesday 21st for a heart bypass operation very early on the 22nd.

That's that for the time being. I've managed to bring the story to a point where various things conclude satisfactorily. I'm now going to put it on the back burner while I scratch some other itches.

Well, I got her back. The unit where she went had been built since I last went to that hospital, typical. Still, I found it and they let me park right next to the emergency entrance so she wouldn't have to walk far.

I've got to take my better half in to hospital tomorrow for an angiogram. This sort of crept up on me...

"I've just been to the doctor. I've been having these chest pains..."

I've noticed a curious phenomenon recently, and I've only just realised what's going on. Every day, like the sad individual I am, the first thing I do when I log on is to hit 'My Stories'. This way I can find out if anyone's still bothering to read the old stuff, or even leave a comment, or if some other sad person is deluded enough to give my ramblings a vote.

Andrea's recent blog post has prompted me to describe some of my own early life. It's become apparent to me that many here suffer from, or have suffered from, terrible past experiences, and this has shaped who they have become. I am no different; however, my problem is that I can't remember.

My intent is to show that we all share common ground even though we may be as different as - a rail of dresses in a charity shop.

I think I'm going to be forced to take a break from posting stories here for a while. No, I'm not leaving, but the list of things that need doing has gotten unmanageable.