My Review: Double Jeopardy (Tweed & Co. #1) by Colin Forbes

May 13, 2015

rating	4 of 5 stars
bookshelves	read edit shelves
status	Read from May 15 to 20, 2015
format	Paperback (edit)
review	A story of European intelligence in the 1980's. The assignation of a world leader is in the mix, and the race is on to stop the assassin. It is not a complex story and the second half is fast passed.

My Review: The Holy Thief (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #19) by Ellis Peters

May 13, 2015

rating	2 of 5 stars
bookshelves	read
status	Read from May 13 to 15, 2015
format	Paperback
review	I was disappointed with this book of Brother Cadfael. He seems to have ben dropped back to a secondary character. I found it boring.

Oil Change

Got my tires changed on the van this morning. Faster and cheaper when you own the rims. Also, had an oil change. Oil changes for this van cost more because of the different type of filter. Strange looking filter. 6' high and about 2' across. Looks like an air filter. I'll put up a photo. On the way home it started to snow. Turned to water on the ground.

Daily Newspaper

      Well, there are three days left on my newspaper subscription. I didn't bother renewing it. $350.00 for a year. I hardly read it - just the obituary and the comics, and lately, I have been doing that on my pad. I can go on a comics site and get stacks of them. I read Blondie, Luann and Alley Oop.
      Of course, there other uses for a newspaper, spread on the floor for this or that. Fortunately, there another newspaper in the area that is free. Just pick it up at the supermarket.

Snow Tires

    
      There is no snow on my lawn, which means it's time to change my tires. I have to bring them up from the shed. With rims on, they're quite heavy. It's almost May, and normally I'm cutting grass by now. At least it has stopped raining.

Good Old Days

  

 
 You often hear people reminisce about the good old days. Well, I remember something special - the toilet paper was a lot rougher. And it didn't matter whether it was Eaton's or Simpson's, it just didn't crumple up all that well. If you were out in the woods, you could always use grass. The flies would be on it before it hit the ground.
      After the printing press came out, do you know what the most popular books were? You are going to say the Bible. Well no, it was books of poetry. The pages made fine toilet paper. They say you could see crumpled poetry pages tossed in the wind across the fields of England.
      Did you ever wash you hands after going to an outdoor toilet? No bathroom sinks there. When you were a kid, and they called you shitty-pants, there probably was a reason. And when they said you were as green as grass, they probably meant your ass. Yep, you're as green as your ass.

Rain

      I'm trying to force good weather by wearing short sleeve shirts. After the last few days, I'm worried that it might be the recipe for a monsoon. It started raining yesterday morning and it is still at it. I had an appointment for tomorrow morning to put on the summer tires, but I cancelled it until next week. The problem is, my back yard is like a swamp and there is still snow in some spots. And that's a problem because my tires are stored at the back of my shed. I built an extension on the shed to house my snow blower, the tires, and all the snow shovels. So I have to drag the tires through the swamp. I'm going to use a wheel barrow. Those tires are heavy. I rolled them down hill getting to the shed, but I certainly can't roll them uphill, and, of course, it's still raining.

Island

Did you ever see those cartoons of a small desert island, where there is just one palm tree? Usually it has a guy with a long beard, standing and watching. When I was on a cruise a few months back, I saw a few of those islands. There it was, all alone in the Caribbean Sea, with one palm tree. As far as I could see, the population was zero. The palm trees were quite high, so they must have been there for awhile. I wonder if those islands get larger or just sink out of sight. Could you land on one of them, plant your homemade flag, and say, this is mine? Set up a little bar. Get on the list as a cruise ship stopover. You would probably need a good radio to warn you when a hurricane was approaching.

Old Age

      One day I saw this woman I hadn't seen for many years. My God, you haven't changed. If I saw you walking down the street, I would recognize you. I blinked and said, "What? You mean to tell me that I looked 72 yrs. old when I was in high school.

Line In the Sand

When you draw a line in the sand, do you have to use a sword? That sentence makes me think of the Alamo, Walt Disney and Davy Crockett. I just finished a bottle of Davy Crockett wine. Visited Fess Parker's winery a while back. Wine tasting at 10 in the morning. That set the tone for the day.

If you go to a restaurant and don't have a steak - it's like wasting your time. So says my wife.

Spring Maybe.

      

So, here it is, Sat. and no snow. That's like a miracle. We have had a storm on Sat. for the longest time. We had snow last Tue. when I had to use the snow blower. After each storm, I would say, "Well, that's it for the snow blower for this year." That hasn't worked out too well, so last Tue. it was mouth shut." We are into rain and fog now. Last night the snow banks dropped by 6 ins.
      I put my latest book on Amazon. "St. Peters Bones." The bones actually tie into the story. I'll explain it all tomorrow. The what and the why and the how.

 It's snowing like a bugger. The weather channel says its light snow. Yeah, sure, when you weigh one flake at a time.
The garbage man just picked up the recyclables. He's certainly not a wimp.
Had to get out the snow blower. I suppose the plow will come and fill in some more.

With the help of a Doctor, you can now commit suicide. I think it is a short step from here untill society tells you to get in that lineup.

Flash Freeze

  

     Flash freeze is not a term that I am very familiar with - until yesterday. Two nights ago we had a bit of snow, 3-4 ins. Next, there was a bit of freezing rain. Then, the temperature dropped 10 degrees and everything wet, froze. The driveway, walkways with the 3-4 ins. plus small snowdrifts turned to ice. The van and car looked like two ice cubes. Ice all around, and the hood, windshield and roof wore a covering of 3-4 in. of ice.
    I had to let the vehicles run for about 45 min. to get the bottom of the ice heated. Then I could slide the ice away. I eventually cleared the roof of the car. The van still has a block of ice on the roof.
    That was yesterday. Today it is raining, and it is supposed to rain all day. Hopefully, I can clear the van because tonight we are getting another 12 ins. of snow.
    Of course, the snowplow had to go through early yesterday morning, forming a two foot wall at the end of my driveway. My snow blower was useless. Wished I had my coal-mining ancestors to dig that out.
   

Premonation

While editing my next book, I came across these sentences.

"He looked at the choppy "whitecaps" and visualized a Roman trireme under full sail with its slave operated oars dipping in the water. He wondered how many ships lay beneath them and how many sailors are destined to have their ashes spread over its waves. "
 
A year later my next door neighbor had his ashes spread over the Mediterranean.

Holy Moly - The King of Saudi Arabia had 45 sons.

Flu Shot

I heard yesterday that this year's flu shot is only 30% effective. At the best of times, they are 60% effective. Personally, I don't get flu shots. When I did get them, my lips became plastered with cold sores all winter. Now, no sign of them.

I'm glad I wasn't depending on winning yesterday's lottery. They should change the name from lottery to Fool's Tax.