The Clockmaker

I came home from work in a good mood because I'm twenty-four hours away from getting the final signatures in my book to make me a fully-qualified Ranger leader and because I'd put all my evidence together in a little booklet to present to my mentor. And because the Brownie pantomime (more of a play as it lacked songs, dancing or a dame) went ok and the Brownies looked great in their costumes - we had a lovely little forties housewife, complete with eyeliner seams up the back of her legs. And because I talked to Mandy, and she didn't begin the conversation with "I've had a nightmare of a day!" and we talked and I do like seeing friends, in spite of my self-imposed state of hermitness.

But then I came home and the boiler doesn't work terribly well - if it's on, it's on and it seems it will get hotter and hotter until it explodes. Which means it has to be switched off at night which means I won't have a hot radiator to cuddle first thing in the morning. This idea makes me very angry and liable to lose my temper at all sorts of things. The back door being locked and still having the key in it, therefore rendering it impossible to open from the ouside. Dad whining that his camera doesn't work. The fact that no one seems in a hurry to get it fixed because "I'm at work all day and you can't phone someone at this time of night," which means it will go unfixed for months makes it worse. There is tuna in this house. Dad's computer is making a noise like it's about to either take off or blow up. This is not a good frame of mind in which to watch Outcasts, which I've been looking forward to ever since I saw the first trailers.

(Possibly the fact that I didn't go to bed until 2 last night because I was writing something ill-advised is also a factor in the moodiness)

I am not exactly out of sorts today but.... *groans*

Day started brilliantly. I was running a little late anyway, couldn't find my keys in my bag. Instantly knew where they were but that didn't stop me running around the house desperately hunting for them. No. They were in the car we went to the grandparents' in yesterday. Phoned Dad, who works 20-odd miles away. Phoned work. Blessed colleague came and picked me up (although I now unaccountably feel beholden to her). Dad said he didn't have that car. Phoned Mum. She only works 6 or so miles away. She dropped my keys off at lunchtime, enabling me to lock the building at 5pm and get to Brownies.

So I was a little late and car-less and found a message on my desk to please call Boss's Feisty Mother. Last week, in my haste to get a job done for Dearly Beloved Boss before running into a meeting I wasn't actually needed in, I didn't read an itinerary properly and made a booking for Sunday morning that should have been made for Monday. Great. Just what I need first thing on a Monday. Fortunately, Dearly Beloved Boss seemed pretty calm about the whole thing. I phoned, made the arrangements and then tactfully re-wrote my email with the line "then you just have to do x" instead of "but you'll have to do x" which really does make all the difference.

And ok, the rest of my day went fine. Except now I'm cold, not in a bone-deep sort of way, just in the sort of way that makes me want to cling to a source of heat, like a radiator or a hot water bottle. The heating went off ages ago and all the hot water bottles in the house have been eaten by some gremlin or other. Blankets are lovely and warm but I want to cling to something hot! I crave it!

So sleepy! Forget trying to figure out what order my 21 chapters of The Sequel should go in. I've got them all on bits of paper, I've stuck a few together in sets - these three go together in this order, these six go together in this order etc but I've still got six or seven chapters loose and I don't know exactly where to put them. Does Joey have a car crash before or after the poisoning-induced psychotic episode? When do they get held hostage? Where do I put Something Else? Yes, some of my chapter descriptions are incredibly vague. When is this scene set during a theatre production of Macbeth going to happen? etc etc. I suppose tomorrow at work I'll sit there and quietly stick 21 small pieces of paper together to create a long ribbon while pretending to work. Am I rambling? Yes. Because I'm too sleepy to be able to concentrate. G'night all.