+JMJ+

(In which an unexpected move causes me to rethink my strategy)



I'm starting to think I've underestimated my evil grandmother. She has blocked my queen and threatened my king, and as of now I am unsure of what my next move should be.

We have no gas for our stove, you see, and she doesn't want to buy any.

We haven't had gas for a week and have been relying on the single electric element on the range. It has been very frustrating for me.

She, on the other hand, is taking perverse delight in not only refusing to buy gas (which I couldn't possibly afford on my own, in case you were wondering), but also in refusing to let me touch the Japanese-made, two-range induction cooker she recently spent a small fortune on.

"Nobody is using it until I can buy a platform for it," she decreed.

"What do you mean by platform?" I snapped. "And where in the kitchen could you possibly fit it?"

She pretended she didn't hear.

So I grabbed a pot and proceded to fill it from our water dispenser. It was a move she couldn't ignore.

"Do you have to do that?" she grated.

Without turning, I answered: "I have to boil potatoes."

"Are you in a hurry or something?"

"You try boiling water over an electric element. It's not easy."

From the sounds she made as she gathered her cigarette stuff and got up to leave, I concluded she was miffed.

Yet miffed is nothing next to frustrated. I'm going to have to think about my next move in this game. I need my gas!!!