The space under the train platforms is a lot more roomy than one might expect! (Alex Rider and Scorpia spent most of the day sheltered from the rain under there, after I accidently dropped the book while getting on the train. But hey, if it had to happen to one of my books, it's oddly appropriate that it was Alex. Okay, he wouldn't have *enjoyed* the experience, but I'm sure he'd have been capable and willing enough to spend the day staking out the underside of a platform, if he thought it was the only way to thwart an evil scheme against the schoolchildren of Britain.) (On the other hand, if anybody really did have evil intentions against the undersides of our passenger trains ... well, I'm just sayin'. I didn't even have to jump a fence to get down there.)

In other news, it's amazing how quickly I have gotten used to having wireless internet on a laptop again. :) I spent much of the day getting to know Nyx a little better, and now she interfaces with my brain a bit more smoothly, and I can't imagine being without her! Hooray for Katy's friend from work! I've installed my favorite programs, changed pretty much all the settings, rearranged the files, explored the programs that were already on there, tested the ones that looked cool, and deleted the ones that were un-useful to me. (Including a truckload of malware, unfortuately, a couple of which even required me to work with the window manager shut down in order to kill them. But don't worry! We used protection!) After a few hours, (and a few allowances for accesibility) you hardly even notice the scar anymore, except as just another feature of her appearance. And it still pulses in time with my heartbeat and my voice! (But other peoples' reactions to her looks have been ... informative. Poor thing!)

It's possible that my relationships with laptops are unhealthy. But they're so warm under the covers at night! And this is my third in the last 18 months; it's like adopting a baby bird with a broken wing, and loving it *because* you know the odds aren't good.)