Neverwhere: A Novel by Neil Gaiman Read more about this book...

I was given this book to read by someone who generally doesn't read fantasy.  That is what you would have to call this book.  Not a fantasy in a far off land, but London.  A modern day fantasy.  They enjoyed the book so I figured I should read it.  Unfortunately when I read and like a book, I read until it's finished and don't get much else done. 

The protagonist, Richard Mayhew, is a normal boring man, with a very predictable life.  He never even seems to make his own decisions, until one night.  Then his whole world falls apart, or rather slips through the cracks.  He sees an injured girl fall on the sidewalk and decides to help, his fiance seems to not care about the injured girl and you expect that from her.  But you find out the real reason why she could not dwell on the mysterious girl.  She was of London Below.  The place where things and people go when they just fall through the cracks in real life.  A world of mystery and ... sewers.  People from the Above cannot really see people from the below, if they do they are quickly forgotten.  And there is a whole world in the Below.  A world that Richard is thrown into utterly confused.  A world where he plays a instrumental role in the out come of both the Above and Below. 

All around I really enjoyed this book.  It kept me reading.  I like the modern day references in the fantasy world below.  I think I will be sure to check out some more of Neil Gaiman's work.  After I catch up on all of the other reading I need to do of course. 

The FURminator of course!  A lethal looking dog comb.  It has a narrow razor like blade with tiny teeth in it.  It is not sharp but does come with a plastic guard.  The small teeth grab the undercoat and comb it out.  On first try on my beasts I didn't think it worked that well.  But then a few brushes later I was convinced it did.  During the summer Nukka loses all of her undercoat.  Totem does not for some reason.  Maybe because Nukka fights to be combed, she wuvs it.  Totem fights not to be combed.  I think this summer I will get Totem to lose most of his undercoat. 

So to any potential buyers, this expensive comb is well worth it.  If you have a long haired dog that sheds like mine, maybe you can spin their fur into yarn.  I mean chiengora.  I've seriously thought about it.  I mean my monsters stay outside all winter and love it.  Who wouldn't want a super warm, stinky, smelly, dirty dog sweater?  Right?

I really dislike change.  I don't like having any in my pockets.  So when I get home I usually throw it in my horizontal filing cabinet( my kitchen table ).  Eventually it finds it's way to a old change jar that looks like a coke bottle.  Well it has been a few years since I've done anything with my change.  I decided to gather up all my change from the random locations it was strewn about and turn it in at the bank.  Thankfully they have one of those machines that sorts it for you.  Fifteen minutes later I have a handful of Canadian and Mexican Peso rejects and a receipt for $353.35.  Damn that is a lot of change. 

• 2 Sacagawea coins
• 1 half dollar
• 700 some quarters
• 1700 pennies and I can't remember the dimes or nickels. 

But really what is the point of pennies anymore?  What ever was the point of pennies?  They just weight your pockets down.  And make for funny prices like $1.23 or $4.34.  I did hear on Michigan Radio that non rounded prices we seem to perceive as less than say $5.00.  I think that was for large numbers though, like houses.

So in a few more years it will be time to turn in change again.  Though I use my debit card much more, so I don't get any change.  There are programs like LaSalle Bank have, Keep the Change.  Basically it will take the change on the purchase, round up to the nearest dollar and put it in an account.  Then they will match a certain percentage.  Not a bad idea really.

Well I'm going to try out the Windows Live Writer and see how it works with my blog.  So far it looks neat, but seems a tad

How about some inserted code?

   1:  if( true )

   2:  {

   3:    return formattedCode;

   4:  }

Neat.  Even formatted it!  Hmm not sure what these tags are...