But can I scale a wall with no hands?

Yeah, I know, I went quiet again. That keeps happening to me. :)

Not too much to report, really.

Found out my StarCraft novel is definitely available--people have reported seeing it (nice big displays, too) in Palo Alto and Peoria. And they said it wouldn't play in Peoria! :)

I finished the first draft of my fourth novel and I’m waiting on editorial comments—so far the editor says she likes it but needs me to suppress my “nice-guy” tendencies again.

I turned in the revisions on another project and I’m waiting to hear back on that one as well.

I’ve also got a story pitch out, and I’m outlining two more. Plus I need to write a short piece for something else this weekend. And maybe an RPG if I can squeeze it in. :)

House-wise it’s been quiet. I put up my daughter’s ceiling fan last weekend—same wiring mess but I knew about it this time so it didn’t faze me. I did have a problem at one point because I wired it up, hooked everything up, put everything in place, turned it on—and nothing happened. Which meant a wire had pulled loose (I’d checked to make sure the connections were right before putting everything together fully). I switched off the breaker again, turned off the wall switch, pulled down the fan—and realized I had a problem.

This fan, like most these days, has a handy hook on the mounting bracket. You can hang the fan there while wiring it, so you don’t have to hold it (or have someone else do it, which was one of my jobs growing up).

Except that doesn’t work if you’ve already attached the blades. Which I had.

One wire had pulled loose, out of three. But the other two were still firmly attached. So firmly attached I couldn’t simply pull them loose.

And even if I could, there was no way I could reattach the wires while holding the fan in one hand. And my lovely wife was outside working in her garden, which she doesn’t get to do often enough. And both kids were asleep.

What I wound up doing was very Jackie Chan, only not as graceful. I stepped down from the stepladder, still holding the fan in one hand. Then I hooked my daughter’s dresser with my foot and dragged it to me. Then I hooked one of her Playschool toy chairs and dragged that over, and managed to flip that up onto the desk. Then I balanced the fan on that, which was just high enough that the wires would reach.

Reconnected the loose wire, made sure it was tight, hauled the fan back up, and reattached everything.

And it worked. A little wobbly, which is just because the mounting bracket isn’t as flush as I’d like—secure, just not perfectly flush. But it’s all up and works fine and my daughter is thrilled.

This weekend I’m hoping to replace the doorbell and the entryway light switches. And hang a few pictures. If I’m feeling really brave I might see if I can install a new family room light—it’s only been a year or so since the old one burned out and we had to make due with a pair of lamps down there.

Oh, and we’re going to check out Hex, the British show that just made it over here last night. I’ll let you know what we think of the first episode.

The kids are doing fine. He’s got at least one tooth now, we think, and doesn’t seem to be hurting from teething as much, though his allergies are still giving him hell. She’s also good and still super-cute—we switched her to a closer-to-normal toothpaste this week (from a baby toothpaste that’s actually just to get them used to the concept and the brushing motion), which means she has to spit it out now, and she’s thrilled by this.

The wife and I are good, still moderately sleep-deprived (though this week that was partially our own fault because we stayed up late to watch a movie one night) but otherwise fine. The new computer is up and running nicely. So on and so forth. And soon I get to head home for the weekend—I love summer publishing hours. :)