Writer's choice: Speed king on the track

[hypatia-66.livejournal.com]

An Italian car factory offers possibilities for crime — for Illya the attraction is its test track

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15033182

Illya: I want to go fast...

Comments

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this for the Writer's and Reader's Choice. How's it going with your muse? Are you home or still traveling?

[hypatia-66.livejournal.com]

I'm home temporarily, but in London for a few days next week - seeing lots of friends, an exhibition and an opera. Last week in Amsterdam, Maastricht and even Brussels (which isn't my favourite city, really) was great. We had a good time.
The muse isn't very helpful at the moment. We're both sulking - disgusted and ashamed because of the farce of Brexit. I'm wearing my European flag badge defiantly. However, I've half written something for this week's short affair challenge. Whether I get any further remains to be seen.

How are you?

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Yeah the Brexit thing is completely confusing to me. Last I heard May offered to resign if Brexit goes through. I wonder how much of an impact that would make on the government's thoughts to go ahead, or not. Hopefully your muse will return in spite of Brexit or no Brexit.

I'm feeling much better. 2019 wasn't off to a good start for me with the surgery, getting hit with hospital bills and then in February I sprained my back. No idea how I did it but it was very painful and disabling. Finally no more pain this last week, what a relief. I go back to my chiropractor next week for hopefully my final visit.

[hypatia-66.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you're getting better - you've had a bad time. And bills as well - we're luckier in that respect. The NHS, which always suffers under the Tories, has so far survived, probably because they're too busy wrecking the country in other ways.

Their handling of the Brexit referendum and subsequent negotiations is nothing short of shameful. Utterly incompetent, utterly ignorant of the ramifications - particularly the risk of setting off the Troubles again in Northern Ireland. Theresa May's mind runs on parallel tracks - she has no awareness or interest in the wider global perspective. Her threat to resign had no effect whatever - nobody cares and there is no-one capable to making a better job of it. Her trade minister boasts of achieving a trade deal with the Faroes with its minute population, apparently glad to have alienated our trading partners in Europe (population 500,000).
Sorry, I'm ranting. I'll go and scream into a pillow...

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Pillows come in handy to save one's sanity. Having to deal with all the confusion with Brexit...I can't imagine it, except here we have had to deal with the daily witch hunt within our government. The parties are at each other's throats. They attack the president for the most insignificant things just to have their voices heard. I can only image what's going to happen when the rest of the Mueller report is released in April. And now because the initial findings of the report aren't what people wanted to hear and were so sure of, now all hell is breaking loose.

I've quit watching the news, (and late night talk shows). They all have only one topic, Trump. Isn't there any other news going on in the entire country or the world. I may use my pillow as well!

[hypatia-66.livejournal.com]

I look at American papers online so I can see that the political situation is like it is here - it sucks the energy out of everything. It's very important but stifling because it's insoluble. You have to read what's buried in the inside pages of the newspapers to discover what else is going on in the world.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

I read through Google news, ( I get articles from The Guardian, as well as a number of foreign newspapers) and papers here like the Washington Post, the Times, USA today (to name a few) and it's insane how I have to dig through all the nonsense to get to something interesting or important.

[hypatia-66.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed. I was really shocked to discover, for instance, that there had been a ferry disaster in Iraq a couple of weeks ago - 100 people drowned. Not a whisper on the front pages.

(By the way, I made a typo somewhere above - the population of Europe our main trading partner is 500 million, not 500,000. Out by a factor of 1,000. Silly me.)

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Luckily since I read my news through Google, I do get to filter out a lot of the political nonsense or at least I can scroll past it. Major disasters usually make the top of the "World" section.

I thought those population numbers a bit low and figured it was a typo... "D