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Okay, so I missed another week in this somewhat intermittent series. Sorry for leaving you in such suspense; I know, that's supposed to be the government's job. I do, however, have good reason for this latest lapse in my hypertext chronicle.

As I said 2 weeks ago, all I'm doing now is waiting for my wife to arrive, and reading is a great way to pass the time. If you've been reading this space for the last few years, you'll know that I have been reading Braille for over 5 years now. But, like this column, I took a couple of years off from that as well. Shortly after moving here, to New Orleans in 2000, I finished my fourth Stephen King novel, " It." That one was suggested by my sister-in-law, Katy, after I asked for recommendations in January of 1999. Before that, though, it was " Needful Things."

Last year, I decided that I had to choose another Braille book and get back to reading before I forgot how. This time I thought I'd try a different author and found that there were 2 Dean Koontz novels available in Braille. I finished " Dragon Tears" early this year and then began reading " House Of Thunder."

Four years ago, I wrote that I was reading at a rate of about 10 minutes per page (6 pages per hour). I'm now reading at between 8 and 10 pages per hour so, while that's not much faster, at least I didn't lose any speed during my hiatus.

So, anyway, I finished "House Of Thunder" this week and ordered another book: " Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," by J.K. Rowling. The library has 5 copies and they're all out right now but as soon as one comes back in, I'm first on the list.

My ex-wife, Julie, called me Wednesday and asked, "So where's last week's column?" So now I've not only got a new wife who likes to nag me about this, but my ex-wife is also getting in on the action.

I don't know what I can write about next week, but if I want any peace at all, I had better think of something.