The signing was uneventful; not bad but not really classifiable as good, either. There was going to be mead served by the store to celebrate, which was a lovely idea, but when the bottles were opened the contents unfortunately proved to be undrinkable. I appreciated the thought, though.

There were about a dozen people who stopped by so that I could finally sign their books, and/or to congratulate me. I’m told the books sold lots during the day, but by the time of the signing the crowds had vanished, leaving the store remarkably empty. Thanks go out to Sandman7 and Talyesin, who were waiting for me when I got there and whose moral support was invaluable, otherwise I probably just would have turned around and gone home. Which would have been a pity, really, because Jteethy and Pasley and t! and Jan and Mousme all showed up later too, and of course HRH and Liam made an appearance. As the only one I was expecting was HRH, the presence of friends made me feel nice and warm inside. The staff were wonderful and supportive, too.

There’s something about the month of September that I simply love. Maybe it’s that particular quality of golden light. Maybe it’s the crisper evenings, or the need for a light cardigan during the day. Whatever it is, I feel more relaxed and happy throughout this month than during any other month. We took the light coverlet off the bed yesterday and put on the fluffy, snuggly eiderdown quilt, buttoned into the denim duvet. And we did it just in time, too, because the temperature went down to a brisk eight degrees last night. We also took the air conditioner out of the kitchen window, so the kitchen has full light again, which really makes a difference in the morning.

Friday night Blade came downstairs, and spent more time unscrewing the dozen finicky little screws holding the two halves of the router together than unplugging the fan. We were so tired that the actual microsecond of unplugging it was remarkably funny in contrast to the lengthy lead-up, leading HRH to peek into the office because we were laughing so hard. It was a very small fan to be producing the huge threatening rattle that it had been. Now my router is silent and stealthy, because it has no moving parts. While Blade worked on that, I opened up the tower casing and turned it so I could see the motherboard. “See that?” said Blade, pointing to the RAM with the screwdriver. “Take it out.” I did. “Now plug the new one in.” I did. It was being a bit stubborn about snapping in, so Blade gave it a extra push, and there it was, installed. I closed up the case and started the computer, and I had a functional system that didn’t get nervous when I opened more than two programs simultaneously. I know more about the innards of computers than I give myself credit for knowing. “Next time you want a new computer,” said Blade, “I’m just going to throw a bunch of computer components and a screwdriver into a room with you, and close the door. When you come out with the computer, you’ll get a prize.” I just like having Blade around so that if I try to do the wrong thing, he’ll stop me.

Right. To work.