Friday, August 18, 2006

So much for the nice relaxing a.m. that I had in mind. Received a call from the condo management company that my downstairs neighbor's ceiling has a leak. Sure enough, it was the commode in the master bath. And no Steve home to fix it. Luckily my new neighbor works for a different management company and sent their plumber over to fix it. A relaxing a.m. it was not. The plumber told me that the water here has lots of chlorine in it and does a number of the rubber gaskets, so I guess this won't be the last time I see him. Oh joy!

Love the cover on Firestorm by David Klass - a beautiful blue undersea scene of a guy surrounded by what look like sharks. Sure got my attention. I had read some of the prepublication information on this book - it is the first YA book that Greenpeace International has supported. If you visit their website at http://www.greenpeace.org/international/photosvideos/audios you can download and listen to an interview with Klass. Because of this link to Greenpeace and my love of California Blue, an earlier Klass novel with an ecological theme set in a logging area, I was looking forward to reading this. Both books have older teenage males who must decide what role they will play in stopping the destruction of endangered species. In Firestorm, Jack is a human transported back from the future to find the Firestorm and save the oceans. The ecological lessons are given by Gisco, a very large furry telepathic dog that communicates with Jack. The ecological lessons/warnings are a bit "heavy" at times, but the point is well taken. Also, Gisco is the only one in the book with a sense of humor! This is the first in the Caretaker Trilogy so it ends very abruptly, clearly unfinished. Jack's feelings of betrayal when he realizes the life he has lived for 17 years has been a lie - his parents are only caretakers from the future to help raise him to the age that he can save the world. Now that he is trained to do so, the next book should be just as interesting. Can't wait to read it.

Off to the Hyundai dealer to have them "detail" the car yet again. Let's see if this time they can finish up without leaving a black footprint in the carpet! I am taking a book for sure. Last time I sat there for over 2 hours.