Various and sundry matters part one: House/voting

So the house, it creeps together, bit by bit. Paint is on. Last I checked, floors were slowly growing throughout the house (they're wood, so the verb is appropriate.) The garage-turned-storage-unit is rapidly filling up with things from the apartment and my storage unit. The Grey One has managed to find still more things that she can pee on to make life difficult.

You would think, incidentally, that since we are moving her to a larger, nicer place where she will have two large and two small windowsills to sit on, one of which will overlook her very own bird feeder, that she would have been transformed into a miracle of Kitty Helpfulness. This thought would be wrong, as the mere appearance of boxes shook her, and the gradual filling of and removal of boxes has turned her into a bundle of kitty neuroses, even with liberal supplies of nice fresh and dried catnip on hand, leading her to attack the Little One (odd, since he's usually the dominant cat), me (odd, because I FEED HER), and any open boxes (less odd.) I would be less irritated about the box attacks if her secondary attack method did not involve something that most people find deeply unpleasant. Or spending her time yowling. Loudly. I may have mentioned that she is half Siamese. What I forgot to mention is that her vocal cords are ALL Siamese. Loudest cat I have ever endured.

Sigh.

She is a lovely, beautiful, remarkably intelligent cat (not that most of you will ever find this out since she doesn't want you to look at her) and frequently incredibly if overly affectionate (to me) but right now she IS DRIVING ME MAD.

Ahem.

**********

Early voting yesterday went well with only two small snags: they were printing up new ballots as I wheeled in, which took time for everyone, and the wheelchair booth was covered in cupcakes. I didn't actually object to this (I thoroughly approve of cupcakes) but what was sad, though, was that I didn't get a single cupcake. That seems unfair. I suspect voter turnout would greatly improve if more cupcakes were included.

**********

I have a hard time remembering, sometimes, that I'm sick, especially now when there's so much to do. Especially yesterday. Posting this mostly to remind myself not to do this later this week.

Various and sundry matters part two: World Fantasy Con/internet access

1. First, I'm leaving for World Fantasy Con tomorrow (Wednesday) and will be back the following Tuesday, adding extra layover time at both ends to let me rest. I deliberately haven't signed up for any panels or readings, just to keep my schedule as flexible and free as possible, but if you're around, feel free to come up and say hi.

2. Internet: In theory they have internet in Columbus Ohio and the wonder that is the Hyatt hotel. In reality I have no idea what my internet access (or free time) will be. Posting may be heavy, light, or non-existent.

3. The real question, however, is not so much internet access at World Fantasy Con as internet access when I return. By the time I return, we will have moved to the house (yay!) and I will be staying there. Brighthouse Networks and the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster willing, we shall have internet access by that point. You may have noticed, however, that I named a little tiny entity called Brighthouse Networks in there, which has the ability to entirely and completely mess this up, so I'm not counting on having internet access by then, or indeed for several days.

4. Because of these two factors, I shall break my long standing tradition and go ahead and announce a publication before it appears. That's right: Fantasy Magazine will be publishing my short story, "Mademoiselle and the Chevalier," a tale of gargoyles, roses and magical rings, on Monday, November 1st. The story is one of my personal favorites, which actually makes me more nervous – I can deal with an unfavorable response to stories I don't care about as much, but I want everyone to love and hug this little tale. It might be just as well if I'm offline when it appears.

And....you'll all excuse me, but apparently I must go comfort a cat.

update

Turned out this was the other cat, who had managed to trap himself in my suitcase.

I have once again firmly explained that he is not coming, even if would love everyone at the con very much.