Both Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Luka and the Fire of Life are amazing examples of the giddy art of storytelling almost bursting at its seams. To read them is a treat, and it adds to the feeling of happiness as I, today, have been both promoted and granted a quite substantial raise. It has definitely been a good day from that perspective.

There is a downside, however. The temperature in our house plummeted yesterday as the radiators stopped working, and, since it is quite cold outside, we really needed the fireplace to keep us warm. The bedrooms were freezing cold, but fortunately our thick duvets kept us warm. The indoor temperature has gradually become worse and worse over the last few weeks, we believe. We dreaded to have to tell our landlords, since our relationship to them is rather strained especially since they haven't done anything at all to the dishwasher that broke down three weeks ago, but at the same time we were worried to have to spend the weekend without any heat. We contacted them and took the opportunity to ask about the dishwasher as well. None of it was well received.

T. tried to read up on heat pump maintenance online and we also called an HVAC repair company and a friendly man gave us a few pointers. T. was amazing and managed to clean the filters and reset the pump a few times, before it actually began to work properly again this morning and we were happy to be able to tell the landlord this. There is no news on the dishwasher, though, except that the landlord supposedly had tried for these three weeks to get someone to come here but that they were "all busy." We then contacted a repair man we had been in contact with before and he said he would be able to come today if we wanted to, but from our description he said that the dishwasher seemed to be beyond repair. We said that we'd have to talk to the landlord and ask if they wanted him to deal with it. It's obvious that the landlord has severe money issues, and we realised that our news probably wouldn't make them jump with joy. We still haven't received a response, but we know that the real estate agent, who is trying to sell this house, has alerted them that this house cannot be sold without a dishwasher that is in order. Moreover, we are paying rent on the basis that all of the equipment works and the only comment we have received from the landlord so far is that we'd "have to do the dishes by hand, then."

With all this as a backdrop it feels great to dive into Salman Rushdie's multifaceted fictive universe, but it certainly helps to have some good news with regard to work, which probably is even more important since this is actually substantial and real — and on top of it all we're warm. I do feel a certain giddiness and lightheadedness at the moment. Happy.