Notable Event

It doesn't happen very often that I do not enjoy a book, or that I actually have a strong desire to NOT finish reading it. I of course have my Nemesis List; there are only 4 books on it. The Nemesis List is for those books that I fully intend to read, but just can't get myself into them. Or for a book that haunted and hounded me for about 8 years *coughAnnaKareninacough*.

At the moment, I am trying to work my way through 'Gravity's Rainbow' by Thomas Pynchon. In all fairness I have not devoted as much time to it as I usually would with all the cake-baking and functions I've had to attend in the past few weeks. But the fact remains that after 3 weeks of carrying it around I'm only on page 117. Of 760.

First off, the format is mostly stream of conciousness, which I do not enjoy. It is also a stream from 7 or 8 characters, with no warning when jumping between them. Secondly, the book is filthy. Really filthy. And disturbing.

There is a good chance that this book may join the very select Haven't Finished List. Currently there is only 1 book on that list, 'Great Expectations.' I feel somewhat guilty about not sticking it out; after all, I managed to drag myself through Anna Karenina. This should be a snap! Except it is not, and if I'm being honest I don't think I'll lose too much sleep over putting this one back on the shelf for another go in a few years.

Icarus

Yesterday I got news that I would most likely be getting not only my Book List back from the old hard drive, but all my other files as well. There was a small part of my brain telling me to hold off the celebrations until I had the disc in my hand, but it was stomped into submission by the much larger, gleefully shouting part of my brain in .007 seconds.

This morning I got news that not one scrapping byte of information could be salvaged from the drive. The guy working on it spent 5 hours fighting with it last night alone, and that was The End. No spreadsheets, no pictures, no documents. No Book List.

Luckily I still have the version my sister dug up.

I am crushed.

Monday's List

1. The Walk went well - 18,000 people, and approximately $1.4 million as end-of-day totals. The final dollar amount should be done in a few weeks. I am exhausted, sore, and glad to be done with the event until next year.
2. My car was dead this morning. Thanks to the kindness of Leo I was able to attempt a jump, and when that failed, a tow of questionable legality to the Sears Repair center. Now I have a spiffy new battery and a newly-tested alternator and starter.
3. Due to having a really late start at work, I did not take a lunch break. I just discovered that the vending machine is only taking change today and I can't find anybody with quarters to trade for my dollar. Alas, Snickers, we shall not meet this day.
4. I have a copy of my book list back!!! Granted, it's from a year and a half ago, but it is still 4 1/2 pages of glorious book list. I can add the most recent additions for the most part, since I don't add to it all that often, and since I tend to buy the newest additions first, so I have a good chunk of them. But still! My book list!

**UPDATE**
I might get the book list in it's entirety back - a friend is in charge of a slew of IT newbies at her company, and they are willing to take a crack at it to see what can be saved, if anything at all. Hooray!