Establishing a routine

Over the last week or so I've 'got into the groove'. This consists of leaving the house around 0830, toddling off down the hill to 'ye olde Hop Hing caffe' for my F$2.60 breakfast, a mug of tea and the' bigger than a McWhoppa with extra whoppa breakfast bun', then along to the yacht club to check on progress with the boat. This inevitably involves paying out various sums of money (there is a looming problem with this, especially since the bank has kindly decided to close one of my accounts, despite my not being above the overdraft limit and recently making a couple of payments. In the long term this may well be my problem, should I ever need the dubious services of a credit agency, but in the short/medium term they are the losers).
After the inspection of work in progress, I'll then act as a 'gofa' and pick up any small items that need to be purchased, then I sit at the club for an hour or so, before going back up the hill, showering and reviewing/writing. I reckon that I now have slightly over 50% of Eliezer 2 on the hard drive. Working on the assumption that the book will be about twenty eight chapters, I'm on chapter thirteen, with another three written out of sequence. I'm experimenting with writing the book as one continuous document, at the suggestion of a fellow writer/chum (Larry Jeram-Croft). In some ways it's easier, formatting mainly, but in other ways there's a lot of scrolling around the document and of course doing a grammar/spell check becomes a major excercise. Now you would think that this wouldn't be the case, having corrected something it should stay corrected, but the version of Word that I have on the PC seems to have difficulty with the concept 'ignore this'. Oh yes, the Mac Lapdancer. The video chip was in Nadi (Fiji airport) on Friday afternoon, and should be delivered to the Apple reseller on Monday morning. It is their number one job so I'm really hoping to be reunited Monday afternoon. Right now, I'm working in Word 2000, and I'll be transferring the document into Word 2003, so it'll be interesting (i.e. somewhat tedious) to see if the two versions of the spellchecker agree with each other. My experience is spelling yes, but grammar not always, despite the fact that I have inputed the same criteria into both grammar checkers.
I'm starting to enjoy writing again, although I do suffer from the occasional bout of 'oh what's the point'. I think the point is that all the publishing houses will be preocuppied with the run up to Christmas, so realistically Emma the Agent won't get a request for a full manuscript until the new year. Getting book two finished will help her I think, and it'll also mean that I can take a bit of a break once it's done and dusted.
I find it fascinating how I actually write most of the book in my head as I'm walking. Provided I remember it all, it's then relatively easy to sit in front of the keyboard. Speaking of walking, the F$20 sandals are wearing a bit thin, the tread on the soles is wearing away, so I'm almost down to 'racing slicks'. This is fine when it isn't raining!
Christmas.... I saw a depressing headline in the local papers the other day, "24 days until Christmas". For the last few years, Christmas to me has meant having a party on the boat in some pleasant anchorage, this year, assuming the GRP dust has been cleared up (i.e. by me) I think I'll take a bottle of wine down to the boat, hook up the electric so I can have a bit of music, and sit and contemplate. This coming week I'm going to attempt to reserect the hob, so I'll be able to make a curry or something.
To end on an good news note, my passport and driving licence that I couriered to the UK to renew the licence, has been returned to my Stepmother's flat and she will courier them out to me on Monday, so with a bit of luck I should have them in my hot and sticky hand by the end of this coming week. I also ordered a solar panel regulator which will be leaving UK on Monday and likewise should be here the end of the week. Just one minor detail, the emailed invoice showed VAT, so I've pointed out their clerical error. As a point of interest, even with VAT, couriering and four metres of wire, the cost was less than just buying the controller in Oz. Exchange rates, I suppose. Finally, the cat had three kittens and we thought that they hadn't survived for some reason, but last night there were three balls of fur running shyly around the living room. 'Mum' has been ravenous the last week or so, feeding three not so small kittens I'm not that surprised. I'll try and get an 'ah' picture in the next day or so.