You know me, normally I don’t complain about the rain, I like the rain. Me, I complain about hot weather. But right now it’s getting me down. Blame global warming (which I understand just doesn’t cause warming but more extreme weather of all kinds) for the fierce weather system that blew through southern B.C. almost a week ago now. Okay, so it wasn’t a hurricane or tornado you get in other parts of the continent but it was more powerful than we’re used to in these parts. Lashing rain and high winds, toppling trees into buildings making for spectacular television. Even here, with our building relatively sheltered by a hillside that normally doesn’t get much wind a tree snapped on the other end of the patio. Of course, it was new comics day so I had to go out. It was all rather fun but the aftermath has been less than jolly. The storm washed a lot of silt into our reservoirs, the city of Vancouver and some suburbs, about a million people, are under a boil water advisory. Usually Vancouver tap water is about the best there is, not know. You can’t drink the tap water or brush your teeth with it. Some sources say it’s safe to wash your dishes in tap water, some no. I have a pile of dirty dishes in my sink while I prevaricate. Is there any point in washing my clothes or will they just come out dirtier than they went in? So every day I fill all my pots with water, boil’em for a couple minutes, fill my juice jugs with liquid the colour of weak piss water and put them’em the fridge. Boiling may make the water safe but it still tastes of dirt and makes crappy tea. One is somewhat reluctant to cook with it. Perhaps it’s all in my mind but it’s been affecting my health drinking that turbid tap water, hurts me head.

But I continue working, pencilling the “secret” project (damn hands are hard to draw) and painting those Samurai miniatures that will hopefully go into that games Workshop Book… Samurai are tough to paint, all that lacing, but the Kingsford Miniatures look really good. Got those done. I also finished the Zeppelin/Armoured Car model, unfortunately the rotter who commissioned me to do it is in Tokyo until the end of the month! Arrgh! Need money… I am so broke right now and in a week I’m going to get my teeth looked at by a UBC dental student! I really hope there’s nothing wrong this time. I’m still waiting for my cheque from the UBC Library Rare Books section. I’m now looking for my copies of my own comics to complete their collection, I found a Skunk, still looking for Incubus #1 & #2, Big Thing #2, Big Black Thing and Buddha #1... I’ve got a lead in the U.S.A., me old publisher buddy Edd Vick, so we’ll see how it goes.

I finally broke down today and went out to buy a flat of bottled watered, it’s been long enough that the mad scramble for water at the beginning of our water crisis has abated, on the news it was sounding pretty crazy with people hoarding and scuffling over water. In many places it was impossible to find for days. Man, the bottled water does taste good! My first decent cup of tea in days! If I ration myself to two bottles a day (one for drinking, another for tea) I’ll be fine for almost a week, hopefully the tap water will be clear by then. If it doesn’t rain heavily again… never happens in Vancouver…