I swear today was a Garfield Monday and Friday the 13th all rolled into one. (Today…yesterday? I’m talking about Tuesday, which was today when I posted it, but probably at least yesterday when you read it.)

My computer’s giving me fits. Everything from Yahell booting me out at will to the computer not even realizing I have a printer never mind communicating with it, to claiming to not having enough memory to do a damn thing.

(The good news is that I do the husband’s company’s books and invoicing on this computer and he’s getting nervous, so not only will I get a new computer soon, but the company will buy it.)

Then, while I’m patiently explaining to an elderly caller that she doesn’t want to pay our hourly rate to have the light bulbs in her ceiling fan changed and referring her to the local center who has a handyman who will do these tasks for senior citizens for a nominal fee, my cell phone rings and I can’t get it.

Laura was passing through NH with her family, and she was in Concord when she called (15 mins away). By the time she got me (much later) she was much farther away and it was late. So I’m standing in the meat department at Hannaford’s talking to her because it was a really, really bad connection and that’s where I got some semblance of reception, when I hear the thunderous pounding of a torrential downpour on the store’s roof.

My new baby is out in the parking lot with all her windows down. Damn. (The roof was up, though, not that it made much of a difference.) I tossed a roll of paper towels into the cart and managed to mop up the driver’s seat. But I still had to change when I got home. (The interior’s cleaner, though.)

The new baby’s name is Caroline, btw. (With a long I.) (Oh, and just to be clear—the new baby is a car.) It only gets AM and, while Big Band is a favorite of mine, I spend a lot of time singing to myself. And for some reason, I found myself singing Sweet Caroline a lot. That must be her name.

A bright spot—I got an October MIRA arc in the mail today: Do They Wear High Heels in Heaven? by Erica Orloff. *squeal* (EDIT: It’s a Red Dress Ink arc! I confuse people without even trying. *g*)

I swear that woman is incapable of writing a book I don’t like. I love her RDIs, and her darker MIRA book, The Roofer and her Silhouette Bombshells totally rock! Seriously, we’re talking one or two more books away from me sending her an email that starts out with “U R so GR8!”

I’m saving this new book (which tackles a serious topic and is hailed as “a career highlight for prolific author Erica Orloff”) as my reward for checking off the next two things on my to-do list.

(Okay, I’m going to TRY to save it. I pretty much suck at saving my own rewards. I need a reward dispenser.)