Great excuses of our time No. 345: Writer's block

TOTNES, England, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- A Whitbread prize-winning author got slightly more than $225,500 in a settlement after she blamed shoe factory fumes for her career troubles in Totnes, England.

Joan Brady, 67, said she was forced to work on less demanding novels when the fumes from chemicals used at the Conker Shoe Co. next to her former home allegedly caused her legs and hands to go numb, the Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

"It made me terribly angry and it made me ill. I couldn't finish the literary work because I was so angry," Brady said.

Author gets fumes case settlement - UPI.com

MCN says: Keep this one in mind next time you can't be arsed doing any work, on the job or at home: "It's the shoe-fumes what made me (not) do it".