Okay, so it's a little bit over -- 1117 words, but if you squint really hard and round down really severely, it's very nearly under the limit, right? (Also, I understand that the sales tax is 15% in Nova Scotia.)

I blame some of this on shrift, who has been tormenting me with her evil, enticing, evil, evil, evil (and did I mention enticing?) painted Ray icons. The rest I blame on one of my favorite Australian movies, which seems to have come unstuck in time and place, and gone through a bit of a change of cast and location as well. There's probably a whole movie's worth of plot out there somewhere, you'll just have to make do with the section presented here....

( The Adventures of Regina, Queen of Manitoba: Part XI Regina Revolts )