Face Masks

Who ever thought that face masks would become a fashion statement. I've seen then advertised from 5 to 50 bucks. They go well with a bikini.

Random Thought

I wish I had a time machine so that when I see a photo, I could drop in, invisibly, to hear what the conversation was.

Is there truth in politics?

I don't believe there is 100% honesty in politics. It ranges from being slightly dishonest (still dishonest) to a down right thief. Within the spectrum, there is a small percentage at both ends, with the majority in the center. Most start out basically honest ( at least I hope they do) until it benefits them to be dishonest. Just something small, no one will notice.Then greed takes over. Once over the threshold, there is no going back. No longer working for the good of the people (if he ever did) but working for his own benefit.

Ramage's Prize (The Lord Ramage Novels, #5) - Dudley Pope

The only thing that kept my interest in this book was the information on the Packet Boats. Although it is based on true events, we have to take it with a grain of salt. I skimmed through pages of descriptions and conversations, like the discourse with the agent in Lisbon. Just a jumble of words. If the next book doesn't improve, I'll have to ditch this series.

This is a photo of my neighbors lawn.

Last year he had the pipe break that brings water into the house. So he ended up digging up the lawn to replace the pipe. That was the end of the beautiful lawn. He took very good care of it. This year he put down some new top soil and seeded it. Unfortunately the new grass is not the same color as the original as you can see from the photo. Don't know what he will do now. Maybe he will spray paint it.

History

History is written by winners although in this time period, it seems to want to be written by losers.

Crooked River (Agent Pendergast Book 19) - Preston, Douglas

This was a great book. I could hardly put it down. It gives us a much more in depth look at Pendergast and his ward Constance Green and their feelings for each other. Pendergast comes on as a bit of a snob while Constance rises to height's I hadn't expected and gives us an insight into her feelings for Pendergast. She steals the show. I'm looking forward to more of her story.

I've mentioned before

about the frequency of seeing or reading the same thing from two different sources. Take for instance yesterday, I read an article in "The Old West " magazine about the Indian who put the arrow in Gen. Custer. Last evening I was reading a book by Douglas Preston and one of the characters was an Indian in the F.B.I. He mentioned to his partner that his great - grandfather knew the Indian who put the arrow in Gen. Custer. Weird eh?

Statues

As we all know, there has been a rash of statues being torn down. What surprised me the most was the number of statues planted about the U.S. I don't know if the rioters see any purpose in it than to do some kind of damage.
From statues they will move on to something else. I'm thinking books. There are a lot of books that can be put into the racial category, Of course burning a book is not a big item, it doesn't make a very big splash. Maybe they will just burn down the whole library. I don't imagine that a lot of these people read a lot of books. That being the case, someone will have to tell them how bad books are. Then watch the fires.
From book burning, where will it go? Not to times of peace. It's too late for that. The fall of the Roman empire, all over again. Communism or Socialism. (You do know the Nazis were Socialists, right?)

A Thought

that there is an explanation for everything. To say something cannot be explained only means we haven't found the solution yet. 

Magazine Rack

Every time I watch a British TV show, the streets of London seem to be lined with bollards. I'm thinking that bollard manufacturing in England must be big business.

I remember that not too long ago we used to have magazine racks at home. I have the modern version of that. My son has taken an old iPad and downloaded the magazines. Small rack, tons of magazines.

That Old Lighter

In the last couple of days we've cut the grass, front & back, whipper snipped and started to clean out the shed. I was merciless in the shed. Getting rid of stuff and still more to do. Some things I have to put on Kijiji.
Did you ever notice in adventure movies where the bad guy is going to burn down something, he always douses it with gas, (he always seems to have some on hand), then lights it by tossing in his lighter. Why do they always use a lighter, have they never heard of matches? And why waste a good lighter? I've also never seen a movie where after he douses with gasoline, he doesn't have a lighter or gas.  It's a movie.

Shaving

What's with these men shaving their arms and their chest? Trying to bring out their feminine side? Maybe we'll have an upsurge in girdles.

The Butterfly Effect

states that the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Africa could result in a hurricane in Florida.
What it really means is that the tiniest change in the initial conditions of a system could snowball into gigantic efforts later on.

"Brokenclaw" (John Gardner's Bond #10)

This story started with possibilities. But this Bond is not the Bond I know. He hides rather than confront. The story was readable with a predictable ending.

Lost Love

I read this
"If a woman stops loving you, there is nothing you can do about it except put your hands in your pocket and walk away."

What Was Bad Is Now Good

I remember a few years ago when they had a riot in Vancouver and everyone was wearing face masks. So they made a law that no one was allowed to wear masks or they would be heavily fined. How things have changed.

"James Penney's New Identity" by Lee Child

A short story that I enjoyed. Action all the way through with a surprise near the end with the appearance of Jack Reacher. Hadn't realized it would be a Reacher story, even if it was just a cameo appearance. He did fit well into the story and again saved the day.

"A Case of Blackmail in Belgravia (Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventures #1)" by Clara Benson

This book reminded me of a blind date. Not quite what i was looking for.

"Last Stand at Saber River" by Elmore Leonard

I'm not much of a western reader but I really enjoyed this book. Great characters and well written with action all the way. It does end abruptly and the hero does not ride off into the sunset.