I just finished reading “Lost Light” and just before that, “A Darkness More Than Night.” “…Darkness…” dealt a great deal with the former FBI Agent, Terry McCaleb, who had had a heart transplant and had to leave the Agency and was then performing charter boat fishing tours, and taking a bunch of prescription drugs twice a day to stay alive. He was living with his wife, Graciela, and children in Avalon, on Catalina Island. Terry had thought that his partner on the boat, Buddy, had betrayed his trust by “eves dropping” on a private conversation, aboard the vessel, between Terry & Jaye Winston (female Sheriff’s Deputy), and then selling that info to a reporter. Eventually Terry figured out that Buddy hadn’t admitted to selling the private info, but had thought he was admitting to using the boat to entertain a hooker.
Terry was attacked aboard his boat by the murderer, a crooked cop, and his younger brother. Harry Bosch came to his rescue, and by the time everything was over, the younger brother was dead, and the crooked cop was seriously wounded. There was a large media coverage of these events & the death. Terry even had Buddy untie the boat so that Terry could leave the marina without having to face the questioning by all the congregated reporters.
Now I have started reading “The Narrows,” and once again we find ourselves down at Cabrillo Marina, San Pedro, The Port of LA…
[NOTE 02/20/34]: As I am writing the above sentence I just checked and the YM Warranty has left the Port of LA and is now just rounding the eastern side of Catalina Island, and Avalon, heading up to the Port of Oakland. The BBC Volga is still tied up at Douala, Cameroon. [end NOTE]
I am surprised by the interaction between Harry and Buddy. I know that Buddy had no direct interaction with Harry in “…Darkness…,” but it seems as if neither of them ever had any clue about the existence of each other but both were involved intimately with the other participants: Terry, Harry, and Jaye. *And, just a page or two later, Buddy realizes who Harry is, awkwardness solved.
Already, Terry’s widow has called on Harry, the PI, to investigate Terry’s death. Apparently, Terry in his last days was taking placebos, unbeknownst to him, because someone had replaced his actual heart medications with a benign powder. The first interview after Terry’s widow, is his former boat partner, Buddy.
[NOTE]: I’ve read little more and then went out to Cross Creek Mall for a massage, and then over to Publix to buy some small scallops. I bought .75 of a pound at around $9 plus tax. I’ll probably use half in each Seafood Chowder.
But, while I was driving around, I came up with the rest of the plot for “The Narrows.” From what we have been given currently, it is obvious that Graciela, Terry’s wife killed her husband. She was having an affair with Otto. She is a nurse, so she would have been able to research the medications and realize that she could just change out a couple of medications for placebos, and on a four day fishing trip, which Otto arranged, that would be enough time for Terry to bring his own life to an end, unknowingly. Graciela was unhappy with her marriage to Terry and his insurance was an incentive. Look at all the time he was spending on the boat. Once Terry was gone, Graciela would be able to move herself and her kids back to the mainland. The Poet is just an unimportant side hustle. Prove me wrong Connelly;-) [end NOTE]
[NOTE 02/24/24]: So, I knew my version of the plot of the Narrows wasn’t going to be correct. Mainly because that simple a plot could have ended the novel at about page 100. Once in the rushing torrent, not sure that Harry, actually would ever survive. Like going for a swim in the Cape Fear River. You go in, and you come out dead. [end NOTE]
Avalon Freight Services In watching the Port of LA web cam, I have seen a vessel like the “Catalina Provider” coming in or out of the Port. Not sure if this was what Graciela planned to use when “packing up the children” and heading to the mainland.
Zzyzx Road
Finished this one and on to “The Narrows.”Stylish cap that blocks the glarefrom this floor lamp beside my easy chairLike peas in a pod, don’t you think?I’m three years younger, but a much, much, more talented writer.
At the end of “Lost Light” Harry meets his four year old daughter, Maddie, who he didn’t know existed. A welcome, ex-wife’s surprise, and Harry’s salvation.
On one end of Selma Avenue in Los Angeles is Hollywood High School
The only bungalows on Selma Ave. are on the opposite end, where Selma Ave. does a slight “S” crossing N. Gower Street. It was at the “shooting” location of one of these bungalows that “the shootout” occurred during the $2 Mill robbery.
In some ways, Los Angeles seems quite navigable. You begin to build your layout on the main routes, you add some notes of interest, and you learn the freeways that get you from point A to point B more quickly… except during rush hour.
Echo Park is just off the 101, as is the Hollywood Bowl. And you can get off the 101 onto Hollywood Blvd., or below it, Sunset Blvd. and a little further below those Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica Blvd. parallels Hollywood and Sunset Blvds. until it does a dog leg and heads to the Pacific Ocean. And just before you get to the Ocean, there was “Little Ruby.” But, you wouldn’t take Santa Monica Blvd. if you wanted to get from downtown. There are faster routes.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Federal Building – FBI Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
Gessler heads up S. Sepulveda Blvd. from the Federal Building, buys gas, and isn’t seen again.
Los Angeles Central Library
Nat’s
Not sure where or if there actually was a Nat’s Bar, but this is the approximate location, “about a half block, south of Hollywood Blvd.” Musso & Frank Grill is behind us and to the right from here, on Hollywood Blvd. To our left if we turn around from this view.
Kate Mantilini’s Restaurant (permanently closed)
Branch Bank
Okay, I do not wear caps. Never have, or never have for very long, and rarely trying them on to see that I really don’t want to wear a cap. But, I bought this one as a test, to try and solve a problem with me reading from my easy chair. I have the floor lamp shown above which is just to the left of my easy chair. I can reach over and pull it to me to turn it on, or turn it off, but when I am reading, the light hits me “directly” at an angle;-) It’s just irritating to try to read for too long with this light glaring at me. So I’ve tried sitting up, or holding the book at a different angle, but all of that is uncomfortable also. At some point I thought that wearing a cap, and having the brim shade my eyes might work… I thought about it for a time. And, I asked Jeff about how much a cap should cost. I think he said it’s about $25. Now, at one point I might have thought $25 was too expensive for a cap, and that $12.95 plus tax was the more reasonable, but this time I went on to Amazon.com and found a cap, a “Port of Los Angeles” cap, black, adjustable (aren’t they all, and this one with a velcro adjuster), and added it to my Cart, but I didn’t complete the purchase. I left for a day or a couple and then came back to it, in a buying mood, and finished the process. Now this cap didn’t include free shipping. That was another $4 or so. And it said delivery would take about 10 days (It didn’t in reality.).
This afternoon, I decided to take a drive, and go grocery shopping for steak and a red bell pepper up toward Lillington. Lillington is about 25 minutes, one way and I’ve shopped at the Food Lion and IGA there quite a few times. As I walked out my front door, I noted a small square box (my new cap) just outside. I brought it in, and sliced it open. Looked in real life as it had in the online photos. I put it on, had to readjust the fit, and then put it back on, and then on backwards, and then on sideways. I took the cap into the bathroom before I left and put it above the Bosch novel I’m currently reading.
After I got back home, I went and got the cap and the volume of “Lost Light” from the bathroom and brought them both back into the living room to test the reading. Works fine in shading my eyes from the floor lamp light. I decide to take a few pictures to illustrate me & my new cap. Oh, and I don’t have any other caps in my apartment or in my car. As I said, I don’t feel comfortable wearing one, and except for reading, I probably won’t wear this one much.
Why did I get a “Port of Los Angeles” cap? Well, as written elsewhere, I had just finished reading “A Darkness More Than Night,” which has a good deal of it’s time spent down near the Port of LA, and Catalina Island. But also, I was watching an episode of Perry Mason and some of that show was down near the Port of LA (but probably late 50s or early 60s), with much fewer cargo cranes, and an LA Fire Station which is probably near where the current one is located very near to the Vincent Thomas Bridge and the Battleship Iowa. *And ironically, a short time after this episode of Perry Mason ended, I was watching a commercial, a Dodge car commercial with Dodge Darts (I think.) from 2023 (just last year), and they were driving across a bridge, but I recognized the bridge, or thought I did. And, later in the commercial, several cars are speeding away from a tall building with the label “Port of LA – Warehouse #1.” I went to Google Maps Street View and found that this warehouse was located right next to the Cabrillo Marina (a setting in the Bosch novel), and a building that the large container ships have to pass when entering or leaving the Port of LA. *And the YM Warranty passed it coming into port just a few days ago, and will pass it again on it’s way out in a day or so. On the opposite end of this warehouse is a large lettering saying something to the effect, “Welcome to the Port of Los Angeles.”
I think my current moustache & beard remind me of those of Michael Connelly. Not intentionally grown for that likeness, but just noted by me. I think Connelly is about three years younger than I am.
Before I forget it, I happened to look at the book cover for the current novel, “Lost Light” and realized what it was showing. I recognized it because I had just read a short time earlier in the novel where Harry, feeling paranoid, and sensing he might be, “being followed,” cuts his car sharply across traffic and into a tunnel, and Connelly through Bosch describes how the car lights, of a following car would show up in the tunnel. *Makes me wonder if the tunnel may have greater meaning that will be revealed later. Otherwise, it would be strange to choose this image for the cover of this novel. Still, I don’t see how it could have greater significance. We will see, or at least I will;-)
NOTE [02/18/24]: This is just a navigational reference that I noticed recently. I was looking at an old posting, and had made note of where the old motel was located in Pulp Fiction, where the Bruce Willis character & his wife stay, just before leaving LA for the last time. By the time I had pulled up the location on Google Maps, the motel had been torn down and a new storage warehouse built there. But I happened to see that you could head in an almost southerly direction to Silver Lake and then on to Echo Park, and then to downtown LA (with all the skyscrapers), but here’s the thing, you now have a straight line all the way to the Port of LA. It’s a long way from Silver Lake to the Pacific, but it is a straight line. And, you could come close to following that line out to Catalina Island and Avalon.[end NOTE]
So far, this is the oldest Harry Bosch novel I have read (from about 2001), and about the eighth. It took 37 pages, not counting the prologue, before Harry is mentioned as the original detective assigned to the case. I’ll call the former FBI profiler (not sure if that is the correct term for his job), who has had major surgery (heart), and been recovering with other major changes in his life: a wife, a new born baby, and running a charter boat with a friend around Catalina Island, Terry McCaleb. I guess I have to since Michael Connelly has called him that.
So I wasn’t familiar with Cabrillo Marina, but I quickly became aware that I knew the area, pretty well. *See Footnote at bottom regarding San Pedro. In 2022, I became interested in a select group of cargo ships. I started by following the BBC Volga as she was coming into the Port of Morehead City. The Port of Morehead City is the smaller of the two Atlantic Ocean ports in North Carolina. The other NC Port is at Wilmington. It was there, that I was introduced to the YM Warranty (Yang Ming) which was just coming up the Cape Fear River and turning around just south of the “new” bridge that crosses the river near downtown Wilmington. I caught the Warranty just as she was stretched across the river, in her turn, to put her bow heading back downriver, and before she docked to begin her off/on loading.
I guess old men are childish. Okay, men are childish, but maybe old men become more childish. We choose to focus on things, perhaps insignificant things that were never important during most of our “adult” lives. Cargo ships & ocean shipping was never important to me, but with the Volga and the Warranty, a whole new world was opened to me. And, whether insignificant or not, I made an education of my journey along with these two vessels. I used Google Maps, various port & river web cams and the vessel following apps to bring the various locations to life as these ships travelled around the World.
Surprisingly the BBC Volga, a Handysize container vessel, almost travelled around the World twice in a year. Not figuratively around the World, but in actuality, around the World. Starting in Japan, she headed east. Through the Panama Canal, eventually to Gdansk, Poland, and back through the Kiel Canal in Germany. But around and through the Gibraltar Straits, across the Mediterranean, and through the Suez Canal, across the Indian Ocean, down & around Singapore, and up the Coast of China, eventually back to a port in Japan. And then, she turned around and followed much of that route from west to east, back, from east to west. And now she has headed down the west coast of South America, and around the southern tip of South America back up to Jamaica and now nearer to the west coast of Africa. West & east, east & west, south & north, and more east.
But, the Volga has nothing to do with Los Angeles, or at least not so far. However, the YM Warranty introduced me to the Port of Los Angeles, the USS Iowa and the Wilmington area nearby. The “other” Wilmington. Apparently, the Warranty was assigned to a circuitous route between Busan, Korea and Wilmington, North Carolina, USA. It has stopped travelling through the Panama Canal to the US east coast, and only travels between Singapore, China, Korea, Los Angeles & San Francisco.
The current Google Street View actually shows the YM Warranty docked near the Wilmington (Port of LA) area. And incidentally, the Warranty is once again nearing the Port of Los Angeles having travelled across the high Pacific. I call it “high” because of the northerly arc of travel that many vessels take across the Pacific Ocean, that keeps them nearer to land & islands, which a more direct route across the Pacific would leave them far from any rescue or repairs.
And another aside, when referencing the vast Pacific Ocean, what about Johnston Atoll about 750 nautical miles, southwest of Hawaii? What a surprising place! I think at one time there were about 4,000 US military and staff, employed on this island that included a large airfield. The island had been used for Nuclear bomb testing, and later as a location for decommissioning biological & chemical weapons. At one time there was a thriving community, albeit, in the middle of nowhere to the Nth degree. So, ironically, I watched a YouTube video of the island as it is today (maybe a few years ago now) and there is now only one dilapidated two story building still left on the island and some storage bunkers. The barracks and other buildings torn down, the pool & movie theater gone except for their concrete foundations, the facilities for “toys” (sailboats, jet skis, water sports) for employees gone, and tropical vegetation taken over many of the paved roads and airfield. This island is toxic, and I pity those few that get to live on the island, in rotation, to monitor the environment. I hope they are paid well (probably not) because they are putting themselves in extreme danger. Okay, a vast Pacific Ocean, so let’s cross it with as many ports of rescue as possible.
Cabrillo Marina
West Basin – YM Warranty
I’m on Google Maps Street View and heading up the 110 from just above Cabrillo Marina (passing by where the Warranty docs and is visible from the Freeway) past West Basin and
on to Farmers Market Pl and Du-Pars Restaurant & Bakery. A trip that takes a little over 40 minutes (I guess with good traffic.). McCaleb is meeting with Jaye Winston at Dupars. McCaleb and family like the pancakes there, any time of day.
Bosch and McCaleb take a working lunch at a Cupids. Cupid’s Hotdogs Est. 1946
Inside El Conchinito RestaurantLechon asada, black beans & rice, fried bananas, etc. ALL OUT!Channel Island Fox
Hollywood Forever Cemetery (on Santa Monica Blvd.) – not from this novel, but Harry attended a funeral here once.
Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a short distance from the LAPD Hollywood Division. Further down Santa Monica Boulevard, from the cemetery toward downtown and just across the 101, is L.A. City College.
Lemon Grove Recreation Center just down from Romaine Street. *Elsewhere I recall the story of a young woman who was attending LA City College, and who was murdered and later found near Lemon Grove Recreation Center & the 101. She lived a short distance away on Romaine Street. What I noted from the aerial view of this area was that the Hollywood Forever Cemetery was only a couple of blocks away, but Romaine Street did not go directly there. I think this story may have been about a murder that was never solved, but because I visited these places via Google Street View, they are burned in my memory as if I had actually been there. And from this, I know that if you head up the 101, the Hollywood Bowl & the High Tower Apartments (from “Echo Park”) are about six minutes away.
[FOOTNOTE 02/13/24]: I was just watching an episode of Perry Mason, “The Case of the Arrogant Arsonist,” and quite a bit of the show had scenes from the San Pedro area down near the Port of Long Beach. The Vincent Thomas Bridge is there at the Port of Long Beach and San Pedro and this bridge was in the background for some of the TV show’s scenes. Here is a current webcam view of the bridge. Cabrillo Marina was there, but I didn’t see anything in the show with scenes from there.
There was a scene located at a fire station (Los Angeles Fire Department) along the waterfront. It was a different structure from what is there today, but I think it was approximately the same location. The YM Warranty has arrived at this port today and is docked at West Basin as in the Streetview of this area.
Funny, I just looked up at a Dodge car commercial and I am almost sure the cars are on the Vincent Thomas Bridge. I found the Dodge car commercial on YouTube and sure enough the commercial was made down in the San Pedro / Thomas Vincent Bridge area. Warehouse #1 is included in the commercial, and this warehouse is next to the Cabrillo Marina.
As I have mentioned elsewhere, I like that Michael Connelly uses real locations in many of his books. I understand that you can’t make a real location a “murder scene” but you can have Bosch, Ballard, or Haller meet in actual restaurants, or suggest a body was found near a public park, and have the school, streets and residence realistically real.
[NOTE 02/04/24]: I’ve read about six of the Harry Bosch or Bosch-Ballard novels, by Michael Connelly in quick succession. I just finished “The Night Fire” this morning and added the El Tinajon Cafe in Las Vegas entry to this posting. But, what I am wrestling with now, is that I have a mental image of a Google Maps “directions map” showing the route that a victim, a young college-age girl, might have taken, bicycling from Los Angeles City College where she was attending, to where she was living. And about half way between her residence and the campus is where they found her dead body, near Lemon Grove Recreation Center. *And, I cannot recall who killed her, or the ending to that story, or even in which Bosch novel the story was included.
Hollywood Forever Cemetery – Tyrone Power Memorial
But, as to why I even thought about the above geographical layout, is that I flipped back to the first page of The Night Fire in which Harry is limping his way to his mentor’s (John Jack Thompson) funeral and he sits to take a rest at the memorial of Tyrone Power. And the connections I place here is that the dead girl’s place of residence, on Romaine Street, was only a couple of blocks from Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where the funeral is being performed. And, without going back to the novel, I’m not absolutely sure that Romaine Street is the correct street. What I recall is that her street did not go the extra two blocks to get to the cemetery. [end NOTE]
The Night Fire came out in October of 2019. I’m almost three-quarters through the book and Ballard and a representative from the DA’s Office meet for a conference and breakfast at a cafe in Santa Monica, near Ocean Boulevard, called “Little Ruby.” From online this is a NY type restaurant that has an Aussie style. The two women meet briefly, discuss a case and have a breakfast of coffee and avocado toast, and Ballard brings along her dog Lola.
I see from Google Maps & Street View that “Little Ruby” in Santa Monica is now permanently closed, but there are still quite a few photos of what the location, atmosphere and food were actually like. And I now know what an Avo Toast at Little Ruby looks like, or perhaps where the two women might have sat during their talk.
Above is a basic Avocado Toast, but I see that you could top it with 1 or 2 poached, or a fried egg., and/or bacon, etc. And apparently Lola would have been quite at home there.
I must have researched this restaurant previously, seeing it referenced on the Bosch TV Series. I can’t quite tell if they are still in business at this location or not. I do have an image in my mind from maybe a couple of years ago. Seems it was a black couple eating at a small table. I did find their current web site for the Crenshaw location. But Ballard is in the large banquet hall “surveilling a couple of perps.” The web site has a couple of photos showing the banquet hall. There are also pictures of their fried chicken, collard greens and peach cobbler. She would have gotten a couple of cornbread muffins automatically with the meal. Not sure if she got their iced tea.
Harry meets his daughter Maddie “Mads” at Urth Caffé in Old Towne, Orange, CA for a late afternoon snack of Avocado Toast and coffee. He’s catching her just before she needs to go to an evening class. He feels the need to give her “a cancer update.” The cafe, located on Orange Circle, is just a few blocks from Chapman University where Mads is currently attending, but she’s thinking about law school, and going to the “D” (the District) after tonight’s class.
NOTE [04/17/24]: I turned on ABC 7 from LA (perhaps Long Beach, CA) this evening and while watching, I caught a police accident where a fleeing car ran through the circle and crashed into a fountain. Looking at the accident, the traffic circle seemed so familiar. I thought that this looked like one of the Google Street Views that I had recorded for where the fictional character, Maddie Bosch, was attending college and the Urth Caffe was nearby. Sure enough I found the article where the fountain was destroyed back in March. [end NOTE]
Is that an Almond Cheese topping with some micro cilantro? And for only $14.50 not including tax & coffee. Oh, and those heirloom tomatoes are extra…
So, Harry orders Sanddabs at the Musso & Frank Grill. It appeared to be lightly breaded & fried fish. At some point, I asked myself if this was like flounder. The images of prepared Sanddab didn’t appear to be wide enough to be flounder-like, but later I did find that the Pacific Sanddab was a form of flounder.
So I learned two new things. One, was that a Pacific Sanddab was a type of flounder. The other, was in looking at a picture of “Filet of Sanddabs” as served at the Musso & Frank Grill, I noted what appeared to be a covering for the lemon half served on the plate.
El Tinajon in Las Vegas, NV where the Black Widow may, or may not, have gotten her last café con leche with Cuban toast. Ballard and all were there to arrest her.
The truth is that the Shrimp Burger with coleslaw and a side of fried okra & a cold Diet Pepsi (and a small plastic cup of Cocktail Sauce), was really delicious and… I just made dinner with a pork chop fried in bacon grease, steamed asparagus, polenta & a Greek salad and it was really delicious also. So was the gravy I made from the little bit of grease in the pork chop pan mixed with some Wondra flour and chicken stock. The gravy went well with the polenta and a little slice of pork chop, each bite.
The Greek salad was delicious, and the homemade dressing (red wine vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, Italian herbs, and sweetener) is spot on. The salad is simple: romaine lettuce, sweet onion, assorted olives, grape tomatoes and Feta cheese. Simple, yet easily repeatable, and consistently delicious.
And this homemade Greek salad went really well with the Lamb Gyro sandwich that I got from Pharaoh’s Legacy in Fayetteville (other side of town) last Wednesday. The next day I drove to Jacksonville, NC and had lunch at Marakesh Restaurant, and I had another Lamb Gyro there, with their small Greek salad. That was delicious also, but just a hair below the flavors of the previous day. Celebrated our birthdays, I together. I was born on Mary Ann’s 16th birthday, so she is now 86 years old, and I am 70 years old.
As far as I know I am in good health. I do have the pacemaker, to keep my heart from beating too slowly, and am taking one or more drugs to make sure it doesn’t beat too fast. Both of those seem to be working. And my Type 2 Diabetes has been better kept in check, until just recently when my resting Bgl has started to inch upward, I think because I am having trouble getting a refill for my Trulicity 4.5. Seems Trulicity is on back order across the board, not just CVS, but several CVSs, both n town and out of town (Erwin & Lumberton), and Walgreens (who said they were told not to order before February 23rd). That’s a full month from today. I’ve lost about 10 pounds in a little over 2 months, and my average resting Bgl has dropped about 30 points. My lows were just hitting about 150 about three months ago and for the last two months, just a few highs have been above 150. Quite a jump.
So, I feel relatively good. I’m able to live without assistance. Able to drive myself wherever, and daily to at least a couple of grocery stores (Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Publix, Fresh Market, Sprouts, Lidl, IGA, Walmart & Pates Farmer’s Market), and plan, days in advance, and cook my meals, with a relative sense of control of what I am eating, and varying the meats & veggies enough to not tire of any of it.
On the fly, I can change what I have scheduled to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Today, I replaced a salad for baked beans at dinnertime.
I’m enjoying reading the Connelly’ Bosch novels and am currently on my 5th, “9 Dragons.”
Still wondering what happened to “the Overlook,” which I thought I had bought down in Washington at the Brown Library Book Sale last Friday. But, either I didn’t buy it, or I bought it and it has “magically” disappeared. I marked four novels (that I didn’t already have) on my phone as having been purchased in Washington. But, now I can only find 3 of them. I bought 10 Connelly hard backs in Washington. *Now, having mixed the books I had, with the new ones purchased, I can’t tell which is which, or even if one is missing.
From reading online, Eleanor Wish, Harry’s Ex, is murdered in “9 Dragons,” and Harry is exposed to radiation, which eventually leads to cancer, in “the Overlook.” I recall the Overlook story from the Bosch TV series. A woman’s husband is set up to steal radioactive material from a hospital, and then is killed by his wife’s lover (an FBI agent), which sets up the story to be told and the crime to be solved in that story. *The actress played a Princess of Mars (is that Barsoom) in the unsuccessful Disney movie. I liked the movie, but apparently the rest of the public did not, or at least not enough to pay for the exorbitant special effects. **The actress, Lynn Collins, who successfully played a “goddess” of Barsoom, is proof that movies can make “an ordinary looking woman” into a goddess, using makeup, wardrobe, lighting & camera angles.
So, at my age, I am facing, “the next moment” in which my life is severely changed, and in a negative way. I won’t be alive, or I won’t be able to live on my own, or cook for myself, or drive myself around (and that may be as few as five years more), or perhaps think clearly.
Sometimes I make homemade hummus (garbanzo beans, lime juice, olive oil, cumin seeds, S&P). I like to cut up some sweet bell pepper (assorted colors), a little sweet onion (Vidalia), halve a few grape tomatoes, add a few assorted olives and open a can of smoked oysters. I may even pour the oil from the smoked oysters into the hummus. I can make a meal off of this.
The replacement I bought. Oneida Golden Julliard Cocktail/Seafood Fork.
I gave my whole Oneida Golden Julliard pattern away including the flatware box, and then I realized how dependent I had become using the above Cocktail/Seafood Fork, so I bought just one from the Replacements Showroom, just outside of Burlington. I use this fork a lot when eating olives, or the smoked oysters, pickles, or maybe even Spicy Chili Crisp out of the jar.
I drove down to Jacksonville on Thursday morning to meet up with Mary Ann and Ray & Jacquelyn at Marrakesh Restaurant at 11 am. Mary Ann had said they open at 11 am, but I think I saw online that they normally open at 10:30 am, except on Sundays, which I think was 11 am.
On the way down, I stopped at the rest stop where NC 24 and I40 cross paths, to use the bathroom. There were a bunch of young children all being naturally loud, some in the bathrooms and some in lines against the hall walls. As I am coming back to my car, the children and their teachers had all migrated out near the church vans they were being transported in. A sign on the side of one of the vans was the name of a church, perhaps something like “Emmanuel XXX Church Rocky Mount, NC.”
Feeling playful and sensing their excitement of the whole experience, I asked, “Are you on a field trip, from Rocky Mount.” The nearest adult, I presume a teacher, responded that they were on a trip, and that they were from Rocky Mount. I did not find out where they were going, but I could surmise that they might be going down to Wilmington, NC. I waved at the children, who had now formed a line, with two children each side by side. Their teacher had grouped them in twos before they were to cross the street to get to their van. But, as I begin to get ready to back my car out of its spot, I see the last little girl in the line and she is looking at me and starts to wave. And, I am glad that I was still looking at these children, and so I make an animated wave back to her, as she joins her line-partner.
My thought on this waving to this child, and I’m not always attentive, is that she was the last child in the line of children I had been “playing” with and asking questions of. I probably didn’t even look directly at her while I was playing. But now “my playing” had been important enough to her that she was giving me a special wave goodbye. And that gift, unacknowledged, would have sent the wrong message to her. But the message I wanted to send to someone that had just given me a special wave, was that you are just as important to me as all those others were, maybe more so, because of you thinking enough of me to wave.
I had a picture book, on my passenger seat that was about “the Ocean.” Not just one ocean, but all oceans, and all the stuff and things that swim about and in these oceans. Something interesting for a child to look at, while physically holding a book. I wanted to roll down my window and hand this book, as a gift to the teacher, but I didn’t. That is a little regret. That would have made our interaction even more special & memorable. Oh well.
So, I had asked Mary Ann if I could stay the night (I normally just go down for the day and return home at night.), since I was planning to go to Wilmington for the Library Book Sale on Friday morning. She said okay. I wasn’t sure if I was going to both book sales, one in Wilmington and one in Washington, NC, but I thought that the Wilmington sale might have more books that I was looking for. *That actually turned out to be incorrect. There were 10 hardbacks in Washington and only 6 in Wilmington, but I went to both & bought 16 books for a total of about $45. ** Some of the extra money I gave, as a donation to the libraries above the $1 or $2 prices per book.
Up on Friday morning, read just a little of “Echo Park” and then had a very enjoyable warm shower. Short trip to Helen’s Kitchen for a country ham breakfast, with one egg over medium, grits, biscuits & coffee and water, with ice. *My routine is to save one biscuit (which I love how they’re made, really flat with little insides), slice it open with a knife and then put a good portion of the good portion of country ham that they bring out for my meal. I then ask for a sandwich wrapper, and in this case the waitress also brought out a small brown bag to put the wrapped country ham biscuit in. The breakfast was good, as usual.
It takes just a little over an hour to drive from Jacksonville to Wilmington, NC. Dixon, mostly unchanged, but most of the rest of the way (Highway 17) has become extremely developed, maybe even overdeveloped. Holly Ridge and Hampstead more development and then at some point there is only development on each side of the highway… endless stores, shops, conveniences, etc.
Made it to the library location in Wilmington shortly after 10 am. It was to open at 10 am. I walked through the front door and immediately there were all the books, on tables for sale. There was another room with books also, but there was no waiting in line to get inside, as there is at the Cumberland County Library Book Sale (Fire Department Limits). I was in, asked where Connelly books might be located, was directed and found a small box, on a table with Michael Connelly novels. I think I found two or three that I didn’t already have but ended up buying six hardbacks (at $1 each). Got a card with a 6/1 on it, which meant 6 @ $1 and 1 @ 50 cents, walked to the cashier, presented my card, was told that I owed $6.50 and I gave her a $20 and said keep the change for a donation. And, I was out the door, and in a brief time, once again on Highway 17, but this time heading back to Jacksonville, and then New Bern, and eventually Washington, NC.
So, I drove up to Little Washington to go to the Brown Library Book Sale (01/19/24 – Open to the Public) in the Washington Civic Center. I’m currently reading some of the Harry Bosch (LA detective), Michael Connelly novels, and have found I can buy them at library book sales for a dollar, or two. Brown Library was selling “hard backs” for $2@. I ended up finding 10 Connelly hardbacks, and paid $20 plus a small donation. Still, “what a deal” compared to spending $35 per book, when they are brand new, only paying $1 or $2 each.
Met a couple of women, friends of each other, going into the book sale. One was asking me about the yellow bag I was carrying in. I told her it was my grocery bag, and that I had forgotten my larger, heavy duty, light gray, bag that I had used for the Cumberland County Library Book Sales in Fayetteville. She went back to her car to get her own bag, and I talked with her friend briefly. The friend said she had become interested in “detective” novels, and I told her briefly about the L.A. detective, Harry Bosch, and that Michael Connelly was a very good writer. She repeated the last name, “Connelly” and we all made it to the front door and went in. I left them and went over to the “C” section for Connelly, and other authors with names beginning with C.
At first I couldn’t find any Connelly books, the name is usually prominently displayed on the colorful book jackets. I asked one of the staff whether there was a “Connelly” section. She wasn’t familiar with the name but she was putting a long string of another author’s books together. I then found about 4 Connelly novels grouped together. I already had a couple, and two I didn’t, but I bought all four. And then I found that there were others, not in the group, but there amidst the other authors if you looked, a Connelly here, a Connelly there, and eventually I found 10 Michael Connelly hardbacks (@$2). *Surprisingly finding more of these in Little Washington than I had at the book sale in Wilmington, NC. Only six of the Connelly novels I wanted in Wilmington that morning, but I did also buy a German Language softback for 50 cents also.
Before leaving the book sale, I looked around trying to find the two women I had talked to before coming inside. Since I had bought ALL of the Connelly books that I had seen, I had left none for the woman. I had a couple of duplicate books, and thought it would be a cheap present for someone I didn’t know to introduce her to Harry Bosch, and Michael Connelly. But, I didn’t see the women, but then thought they might have already left, and the next thought was that I might be looking at them and not remembering what they actually looked like.
So, I left and drove the short distance around to “Down on Main Street“. I’ve been to the restaurant, “Down on Main Street” several times. Perhaps first with Leo Taylor, on one of our visits to Washington. I think I may have had their Spaghetti “lunch special” and immediately fell in love with their spaghetti sauce. Most restaurants, that I visit, “dumb down” their spaghetti sauces, trying to not offend anyone with distinctive ingredients, like onion, mushrooms, Italian spices, or maybe even some meat (ground beef). But this spaghetti sauce was DELICIOUS! It had distinctive flavor and the garlic bread was good with it. *The problem, was eventually “Down on Main Street” stopped offering the spaghetti special for lunch. I think they stopped serving spaghetti altogether, at least for a while.
But, yesterday, January 19th, 2024, I had a Shrimp Burger, with slaw, and a side of fried okra, with a cold, Diet Pepsi. The burger was delicious, the shrimp good, the slaw good, the Kaiser Roll (maybe just a burger bun) soft & moist. The fried okra were cooked well, and there was a little plastic cup of cocktail sauce. It all came together for a very pleasurable lunch. My waitress, Jo Jo (not sure of how she spells it), was very friendly and attentive to my drink refills, and at the last, my “to go” cup. In our banter, I asked about the spaghetti special, and she said they offered it on Tuesdays for lunch. I told her I had enjoyed it before they discontinued it, and was glad that they had started offering it again.
While I was eating lunch, I think it was a waitress coming out from the kitchen, and a female customer, coming out from the bathroom awkwardly tried to occupy the same space briefly. And, the waitress, without really being at fault, contorting to try to avoid the customer, dropped a couple of small bowls and the food made a mess of a rug and the floor in that walkway area. Someone came out with a caution sign, and someone with a broom, and someone with a mop. These someone’s were all young men, not sure if they are all waiters also, but that the cleanup duty came to them, and they stepped efficiently into the fray, and the cleanup was, in a brief time, complete… except for on small dollop of perhaps mayo, left on one edge of the throw rug. And this, only something that someone, myself, that had witnessed the whole accident & cleanup, would even notice.
I mentioned the “accident & efficient clean-up” to Jo Jo, my waitress. I said that the young men reminded me of the Roomba Robots (there is a current commercial showing the imagined, behind the scenes, chorography controlling the cleaning robot). She said that her husband had also made a comment on how efficiently they cleaned up, when necessary. They are a good working team!
After my very pleasurable lunch experience at “Down on Main Street,” I decided to drive around the town. I wasn’t going to go far, but just wanted to see if there were any changes in the immediate area, and knew I wanted to “get on the road” back to Fayetteville. I had already been on the road for three hours that morning, from Jacksonville to Wilmington, and back through Jacksonville to New Bern and on to Washington, NC.
Just a few blocks up from the restaurant, I came upon Moss Landing. I found this new neighborhood to be immediately captivating. The homes were colorful, mostly in pastels & whites, and very reminiscent of the nice “beach” homes, that you find, “on the beach.” I drove slowly through the new development and then came back taking several pictures of the homes with my phone. I liked this neighborhood immediately and thought that it was a very nice addition to “Little Washington.” Something positive and to be proud of. *I live a long distance from Washington, NC, rarely visit, but have had good experiences in Little Washington and as “Down on Main Street.” I miss my good friend, Leo Taylor. He was very good to me, as a friend, and a boss.
[NOTE 01/21/24]: Finished “Echo Park” early this morning. There was something about the Wait’s garage description, and the hole in the wall that jogged my memory. I must have seen this in the Bosch series, but don’t recall how many years ago. *[01/22/25 UPDATE]: This novel starts with a car being found in the small garages leading to the High Tower Apartments, and the High Tower is an icon from the 1973 movie, “The Long Goodbye,” in which Elliot Gould plays the fictional detective, Philip Marlowe. I love the “feeding the cat” sequence and now there is even a view from the tower looking down on the small garages. Brief, but if you know what you are looking at, rewarding. The High Tower (elevator) is located just over the hill from the Hollywood Bowl Amphitheater. I learned to despise Harry Bosch from reading the books, not from the TV series. [end UPDATE]
Not sure of what criteria I’m going to use to choose the next book to read. Go to the latest, well next to the last one, unless Connelly has published a new one for this year… or go to the earliest one I have, which is probably about 2001. **Not sure that I am really interested in the early Bosch, although at one time I would have enjoyed it. Sort of like all those Midsomer Murder mysteries I watched over the years (20+ seasons). I enjoyed most of them, but no longer have a desire to rewatch them and I actually began to dislike Barnaby. What a shit family man he was.
NOTE [ 01/22/24 ]: Got around to writing to “Down on Main Street” Restaurant via email, complimenting them on my good experience there (again):
I first visited Down on Main Street several years ago with a friend, who had grown up in “little” Washington. His name was Leo Taylor and his parents had managed the Trailways Bus Station for many years. I think I had your “Spaghetti Special” and thought it was so good because you didn’t “dumb down” your spaghetti sauce. There was a lot of flavor in your sauce! And, I came back several times and enjoyed this special, until you stopped offering it.
I live out of town, but last Friday had come up from Jacksonville, NC and decided to have lunch with you. My waitress was “Jo Jo” and she was excellent, friendly and attentive. I had your Shrimp Burger, with coleslaw, and a side of fried okra, with a cold Diet Pepsi. Let me say that was the BEST tasting lunch, from the first bite to the last.
While there, there was an accident between a waitress, coming out of the kitchen, and a woman, coming out of the bathroom. They both tried to occupy the same space at the same time, and unfortunately the waitress dropped some of her order on the floor making a mess in the walkway. It wasn’t her fault, by the way. Here is the compliment… there were several young men who went into action, like the Roomba Robot, and cleaned up the area quickly and efficiently. They acted as a team, one with a broom, one with a mop, etc. Floor clean, viola.
So, you have really good food. You have a really good waitress, and you have really good staff that are working as a team!
Thanks.
Bill
[end NOTE]
[NOTE 01/22/25]: As I was reading the Bosch novels, I would go online and use Google Street View to get a better feel for the Los Angeles area. It may have been “Echo Park” and I was looking at a cafe that the character might have passed in the novel. I visited the web site for this restaurant and saw their long handled silverware. This inspired me to buy some like them. Yes, it made no sense, but I did it.
However, there is something rewarding about having a set of stainless steel chop stix. Well four sets. One for each place setting. [end NOTE]
[ 01/04/24 ]: I was looking for library book sales online yesterday and came across the online site for the Chapel Hill Library (friends) bookstore. I saw there was a pickup area where book purchasers could come to pick up the books they had bought online. *I did drive all the way to Chapel Hill and drove into the Staff Parking area, where there were a couple of “pickup” parking spots for the two days designated. I then drove around and parked in the Library parking area and made a call to the Publix in Fayetteville to reserve a “Roasted Chicken – Original.” I told them I would stop by to pick up the chicken at about 4:30 pm, and within a few minutes of that time, I was there. They were busy, but I saw what I wanted on the hot counter. I took the bag with the roasted chicken in it and went to the Service Desk, where I was able to pay and where I asked them to notify the “Prepared Foods” section that I had already picked up my order.
While looking online, Google Maps, for the Chapel Hill Library location, I viewed the aerial view of the location where the old Southern Seasons store was located. But, there was nothing there, or very little. The store was gone, or a good portion of it. I wasn’t sure if I was looking at a view from a long time ago, or something more recent. But, when I actually drove by this location later in the day, “Yup, it’s gone.” And, I just checked online and they started to demolish the Southern Seasons building back in March 2023.
I liked visiting & shopping at Southern Seasons. The store was large, had a cafe/restaurant section accessible from inside, but maybe not a part of Southern Seasons proper. There was a large coffees/teas section, cheeses & deli meats, a wall of candies, a wine and spices section and a large area of kitchen utensils. I think this is where I first purchased “Grains of Paradise.” They also had “tongue” baloney. They had the Hot “Chinese” Mustard that you could add water to, for egg rolls.
Once, I seem to recall buying the various ingredients to make a sandwich lunch in my car. I had a tongue baloney sandwich and I think I bought a single serving bottle of special ginger ale.
As it was.As it is.
On my way up to Chapel Hill, I stopped by Golden Hex in Cary, walked up and down the various isles, past the cheese and deli meats section, and only ended up buying some pickles. As I am watching more closely what I am eating, I know I don’t need the fatty sausages and deli meats. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy the different flavors, but I know at this time I don’t need to buy any more. I wish Golden Hex well though!
After Golden Hex, I drove over to the Cary Wegmans and went in. I had been thinking of buying a single Miami Onion Roll (@$1.10) but when there decided against it, and although a large blueberry bagel would have been delicious, I didn’t buy one of those either. I looked at the Andouille sausages, but didn’t buy those either, although an Andouille & Lentil soup would be good (today is much colder than yesterday).
I did buy a puck of Bucheron (semi-soft, tart, goat cheese) and also some yellow/orange grape tomatoes. I looked for unsweetened dried cranberries, but they only had sweetened ones. I did buy dried Currants that were supposedly unsweetened, but later noted that they had a bunch of natural sugar.
I walked out to my car and drove to a less crowded section of the Wegman’s parking lot and ate the lunch I had brought with me, along with a little of the Bucheron cheese. I had carried my homemade Greek Salad, with dressing, a cooked hamburger patty, a slice of sweet onion and a slice of wheat bread, cut in half and dressed with my mustard/horseradish/sweetener on one slice and Duke’s Mayo on the other. I had a couple of the rice crackers I like with my salad. They don’t become soggy, but these had become tougher to chew.
This Wegmans is in the flight path for RDU Airport and it is amazing how many large jets fly overhead in a twenty minutes period of time. There must be at least two runways, set slightly askew, because all the jets took one of two different angles toward the airport.
After going by the Chapel Hill Library, I headed back through the UNC Campus & Chapel Hill on a slight “scenic” tour. I drove past my old dorm (Aycock), who’s name was changed a few years ago because Charles B. Aycock was racist. But in his day, he was the next Governor of North Carolina after Lindsay Russell (Republican and distant relative). But, they had a mutual respect for each other, and Russell left the Governor’s Mansion better kept and stocked for his successor.
When I lived in Aycock Dorm in the early 1970s (1972-74) it was a standalone three level building (4 if you count the basement). I lived on the 3rd floor, 318 I think. But some years ago they built a connector to an adjacent dorm and completely got rid of the small courtyard and bicycle parking area at one end of these dorms. Oh, there was a Lewis Dorm at that time. Probably still is. But, I had a slightly younger roommate that would call out from our 3rd floor window and say, “Lewis. Leewisss…, Lewis.” And someone from Lewis Dorm would inevitably say, “What,” to which my roommate would reply, “Eat Shit!” *This roommate also taught me the art of cussing.” I think to that point my cursing vocabulary only consisted of “shit,” “damn,” and the occasional “fuck.” But this roommate would string together a bunch of dirty words in a quite artistic manner.
I don’t recall the name of this roommate (he wasn’t Keith Smith, my first roommate at Carolina, and Keith a Senior), but he was a very good tennis player and had nice rackets. I was never interested in tennis while there, but only a year or so later when attending Campbell College (it was a college then) did I take up the sport of tennis, and after several years was an okay player, and even taught both youth and adults (through Onslow County) tennis.
I don’t notice it in Bosch Legacy episodes, but the early Bosch shows did something that I found quickly odd. Odd compared to almost all TV shows & movies that came prior. The locations were real, and street signs were real, with a few exceptions where an actual location was used for a different purpose, such as, a bank and it’s parking lot being used as a restaurant and “shoot out” scene for the story. But, for the most part, if you paused the video and looked at a street sign, then you could actually google for that location in Google Maps (Streetview) and you could usually find it. I do recall one house that I couldn’t find on my own in this way, but that was because there was only a house number showing on a gaudily painted house, and nowhere in the scene was there a street sign visible.
So, I have never read a Stephen King novel (that I can recall), but I have watched the myriad of movies which have been made from his writings & novels. Until recently, I could say the same about the author Michael Connelly and his Bosch (and Lincoln Lawyer) novels. I rarely read fiction, and for most of my working life only read technical manuals & industry related items. The exception might have been in reading various works regarding education.
But, I am now almost 180 pages into reading “The Crossing” by Michael Connelly. I’ve cheated, and looked, and there are 388 pages of the actual novel. Why? Well, this is about the third book that I am reading because of my experience with the Little Community Lending Libraries that I took on as my own project, of being a “book bee” (my term for moving a few books from one location, area or even city to another). I normally don’t take a book or two to actually read, but only to cross-pollinate these little book drops. Two exceptions have been “Fig Pudding” and “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” which was the late Matthew Perry memoir. I will attribute “The Crossing” to these little libraries, but not because I actually found it there, but because I’ve started collecting these Connelly novels to add to these lending libraries starting this coming spring. *I’ve stopped my “book bee” process since it’s gotten colder, because I am guessing that fewer people walk around to these locations in bad weather, and I also don’t want to leave a book, “out in the cold” during stormy winter months. Oh, and I settled on Connelly novels because I had enjoyed the Bosch series on TV. And it was an added bonus that I had independently liked the Lincoln Lawyer series, before I ever knew the connection between Haller & Bosch, and Connelly, the author of both. At the last Cumberland County Library Book Sale, I found a whole shelf of the Connelly-Bosch novels and that was the second day of the sale. No telling how many had filled the shelves on Day One.
I don’t plan to read even a few of the Bosch novels, but I am finding The Crossing to be enjoyable. First, I know most of the characters mentioned, and have probably even seen the story line on TV first, but I do see where an event where Haller is “set up” by crooked cops on a DUI bust… so the cops can view the files he is carrying in the trunk of his Lincoln, after he is carted off to jail, actually happens to Honey Chandler in the TV episode. And I’m not sure of how a fictional event in a book, or a fictional event in a TV episode can “actually happen.” I guess it’s just poetic license.
But all of the previous writing above, was just to get me to the point so that I could mention that the novels apparently echo that of the TV series. Places mentioned in the book are many times, actual places that you can find in Streetview. I’ve skipped over a few locations already mentioned in the book but plan to go back and include them in my Streetview searching.
So, Harry Bosch is meeting another character at a local bar. The book mentions the name of the bar and even describes a large mural painted on the side of the building as being of an old Mariachi. This was the trigger for me to finally go to Streetview searching for this bar & location. Sure enough I put in the bar name, “Eastside Luv” and quickly found it and yup, there was the grizzled old Mariachi musician portrayed on the side of the building.
As another aside, I will miss Lance Reddick, the actor. I liked him in everything I saw him in. Enjoyed his character in “Fringe.”
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I came across the Matthew Perry memoir in one of the little community lending libraries about three days before the actor died. I snagged the book because I thought someone would like to read it. However, less than a week later, as I was viewing one of those online tributes to actors & other famous persons who have died in the current year, I saw a picture of Matthew Perry. My thought was that I didn’t know he was dead, and when did it happen. I quickly found that he had actually died, very recently, and just 3 days after I snagged his book.
So I told myself that I probably will have to read it now. And, I started slowly, but then picked up speed and finished it, except for the last half page, which I superstitiously left unread. He was a tennis player in his youth, so I had that in common, although I started much later in life. He made $80 millions mostly from “Friends” but he also spent $7 millions on therapy. By the end of the book, I was thinking another title might have been “Self-Inflicted Wounds.” Catch-22. Without the holes in his soul, he probably wouldn’t have been talented enough to be on “Friends” and make millions & millions of dollars… and with the holes, he was so “fucked up” that he could never be happy, and would put himself through more pain than almost any enemy would have thought “too brutal” to foist on even the most hated foe. And ironic. From the start of the book he is saying, “I should have been dead by now,” ”many times.”
I got “Fig Pudding” from a LCL in Benson, NC. It was one of many (perhaps 15 or more copies) in the little hut on a stick. I’m guessing this many copies might have been purchased for a Sunday School class, or other group reading project, perhaps at a school. In any case, the read was quick and enjoyable. Not really religious themed, but a family story with ups and downs, and one of the downs being really down. The sudden death of one of the children. It’s not a real family or story, but an entertaining look, that makes the reader want to participate in that kind of cohesive unit.
[NOTE]: On the actor, Titus Welliver… ”Mullholland Falls” from 1996 is still fun to watch, and in it Welliver, a much, much younger Welliver, plays a letch, who is about to screw a young, naive girl, even if it means doping her up beforehand. The Nolte character, a policeman, steps in hard, and kills the Welliver character with his own dope filled hypodermic syringe. But none of that keeps the bad guys, other bad guys, from throwing the Jennifer Connelly character from an aeroplane. And, I don’t know if Michael Connelly and Jennifer Connelly are any, if even, distant relation.
[ A LATER NOTE ]: ”I don’t plan to read even a few of the Bosch novels, but I am finding The Crossing to be enjoyable.“ Funny, since now I am on my fifth Bosch novel, “the 9 Dragons,” and may read more. I am finding “9 Dragons” to be a little slower reading than the previous four Bosch novels I have read, and enjoyed. I think this may be the novel where Harry has to fly to Hong Kong to rescue his daughter, Maddie. Not sure if his ex-wife, who Maddie lives with all but two weeks of the year, (is it Eleanor Wish) is killed in this story. In the TV series, his ex-wife is gunned down in an L.A. parking lot, and I don’t think that Harry flies to Hong Kong in the TV series.
*I enjoyed the first Bosch TV series, and the latest, “Bosch Legacy,” but having started to read Connelly’s Bosch novels, I really like the author’s stories better than the TV adaptations, and part of that is because I like the Mickey Haller, his Lincoln Lawyer half-brother, character. I think I read that it is licensing agreements that limit the Bosch-Haller interaction on the TV series, and that is probably why the Honey Chandler character was prominent in the TV series. I haven’t read if she even exists in the novels, or if she does, probably plays a much smaller mentionable role there.
[AN EVEN LATER NOTE 04/02/24]: Having mentioned above that I don’t plan to read even a few of the Bosch novels, I am now reading “The DROP,” and I have already read about 15 other Bosch novels, and have a couple more ready to be read after the current one I am reading. I haven’t read them in order, and there have been some interesting insights because of the timing & order of reading that I have made. That is one reason for why I wrote a brief article called, “Harry Bosch, that lying sack of shit.” [end of NOTE]
[NOTE 07/04/24]: The 4th of July, 2024, and I am at home watching part of the “Twilight Zone Marathon” on the SyFy Channel. And the current episode is, “Time Enough At Last,” which stars Burgess Meredith. This is the episode in which Henry Bemis, a bank teller, who is a voracious reader with thick glasses is repeatedly stymied at both work and home by “non-readers.” One day, while reading on his break, in the bank vault, an H-Bomb goes off killing everyone else on Earth. Bemis emerges from the bank vault into a world of twisted metal and ashes. He walks the earth and finds that there is enough canned goods and other food in a demolished grocery for him to survive. (I know that canned goods, most of them, have a shelf life, and eventually will spoil, even in a well sealed can. So, eventually he would need to figure out how to reproduce food by “tilling the soil.”) And then, just before deciding to put an end to his aloneness with a bullet, he spies a fallen pillar with the words “Public Library” written on it. And here he finds and starts to compile his readings, sorted by months, as stacks of books on the front steps of the demolished library. And here’s the twist. While bending down to pick up a tome, his glasses slip from his face falling to the concrete steps and completely shattering the lenses. He cannot see to read, which seems to be the most important obstacle for the rest of his life. And the episode ends, “in the Twilight Zone.”
So, I’ve read all the Bosch novels except for “The Burning Room” and “The Wrong Side of Goodbye.” I am a little over 50 pages into “The Burning Room,” which I thought would be a story about the death of a young girl, killed by smoke inhalation during an apartment fire started by a fire bomb. The “bad guys” were trying to get tenants out of this apartment complex so they could build something bigger. *That storyline was from several Bosch episodes on TV. **But that hasn’t happened yet, and we are focused on a Mariachi player, who having been shot ten years prior has suffered and finally died of blood poisoning, due to his original injury. Thus this becomes a homicide which is now handed off to Harry Bosch and his novice Spanish speaking protege, Soto. This is Harry’s last year, not many more cases left in his LAPD detective career before the DROP (not the Bosch novel).
Mariachi Plaza
The shooting occurred at the crowded Mariachi Plaza and was for 10 years thought to have been a “drive by” shooting. But now, with the player’s death, an autopsy has produced a rifle slug that had been lodged into his spine. And the bullet, having been fired from a rifle, was proof (if not positive) that the shooting had been deliberate and not just random.
There is a description, from a store security camera located across the street from the Plaza, of the actual shooting. I suppose from the current Google Street View that that store no longer exists.
The Corner of Boyle and 1st Street at Mariachi Plaza.
As I explored Mariachi Plaza via Google Maps & Street View, I came upon a surprise revelation. I was just looking to find a concrete table, like the one described from which the Mariachi player had fallen after being shot. I found several concrete outcroppings, not quite where I thought they should be, but that made me go to Street View to get a different angle on Mariachi Plaza. And, that is where I looked in the opposite direction from the Plaza. There it was, a view that I was familiar with, from a long ago Bosch novel, “The Crossing.” And here it is,
Eastside Luv Wine Bar
I just checked the publishing order for the Michael Connelly’s novels and see that “The Crossing” was published directly after “The Burning Room.” But, I read “The Crossing” a good many books ago, so it seems at a much different time. ***There has also been a description of a drive-by shooting regarding the “White Fence” Gang. Not sure which novel this other vignette comes from, but there was a shooting into the walls of a garage, in which, at a much later time, LAPD tried to recover the slugs, but unsuccessfully. ****I mention this because I put “two and two together” between two other novels, that I had read, “out of their order.” I read about an Oriental shop/store keeper (wine shop?) who had been shot and killed in his store. Bosch finally reveals that the store owner’s daughter had actually killed her father. But, now I was reading another novel in which Harry drives a crooked detective into hostile territory, during the LA Race Riots, and this detective is pulled from the car and beat to death, while Harry managed to drive back to safety. On safe ground, Harry walks over to a looted wine shop to get cigarettes and some matches and finds the Oriental store owner cowering down behind his cash register. There was something about this description that made me look further, and I realized that this was when Harry first met the store owner that some years later was killed by his, the owner’s, daughter.
Another note. If you look in the opposite direction from the Eastside Luv Wine Bar, up 1st Street, you are looking a short distance to downtown LA.
The first day of book sales, there being two more, was yesterday. Friday’s book sale was from 12 noon to 5 pm. I made it to the Library a little after noon, and the small parking area beside the library was almost full. A couple of open spaces were marked as DO NOT PARK, and a couple were too small because the cars on each side were a little too close to each other. But this forced me into the last open space, second from the stairs, that go down to the Book Sale Entrance.
When I got to the entrance there were only two women, probably in their late 20s to early 30s standing in front of the entrance door. I asked if they were standing in line, and they said they were. I thought one of them said that only 15 persons were allowed inside at a time (fire regulations), but she may have said 50 persons, which is the number one of the staff later told me. But, it took a long time before we were allowed inside. In fact, I was able to read 4 books of the Bible on my phone before the next people were allowed in. And by that time, the line behind me had grown to maybe more than 20 persons.
Just outside the entrance there were some books labeled “Free.” While standing there I looked over some of the free book titles & authors. There was a book by Leon Uris, and one by Tom Clancy. Okay, maybe not Clancy, but another recognizable author’s name and to think that they were now “free.” Did Uris do “Exodus,” which was made into a movie? ***I just googled, and I did remember correctly, he did write “Exodus” which was made into a movie with Paul Newman. And google listed as one of his books, “Redemption,” which was the free book.
I walked inside carrying my large, light gray, empty tote bag. It is sturdily made, and I used it a few months ago when I was at that book sale.
There is a small room to the left as you walk down a short hallway to the main book room. This apparently is the “discount” book room. A sign said, “Books 25 cents each or 5 for a $1.” I knew from last time that most of the books were children’s books and that there was a small “cookbook” section. But, and I may have missed it last time, the cookbook section wasn’t just one small unit, but several, side by side. I only noticed the extra cookbooks after choosing several and then walking all the way around the children’s area and back to the first cookbook section I had noted. There were also foreign language books, but I didn’t see any German Language books. But then I noticed that there were more cookbooks, and even more beside those. I started looking through those. I happened to see a large book by John Besh. I knew this chef from a cooking show he had on a few years ago. He was family oriented, cooking with his children on the show, and I think that was the theme of this cookbook. He was also a former Marine, so I knew some of where he was coming from. *But, I haven’t seen his show on TV for quite a while and at some point I think I saw something about him having an affair with one of his staff. What a shame because that blew much of what he had to offer, a family man, chef, out of the water. *But then, I guess having an adulterous affair blows all of us, guilty of it, out of the water.
I didn’t pay for the books from the discount room, but was given a chit with a $2 amount on it. This I was to show to the staff in the larger book sale room, and then they could total all the books up and I could just pay once. So at 5 for $1, I must have had 10 books from the discount section.
I bought six more books in the other room, but they were only 50 cents each, and children’s books. So I ended up with a $5 price tag for 16 books. I took out a $10 bill and gave it to the clerk telling her to treat the extra as a donation. Still, that’s only about 63 cents a book, even with the donation.
But, I almost totally ignored my book buying parameters. I bought mostly cookbooks. And, most of the books that I bought were large in size, if not large in number of pages. Size does matter because I wanted to buy books to add to the various Local Community Book sites that I visit. Most of these are small cubicles on posts, some looking like little houses with glass front doors, so that you can see the books that people have left. The idea being, “Take a book, leave a book.” My routine is normally to take 2 and leave 2, but I don’t plan to read most of the books I take. I also take a picture of the unit, and the two books I have taken. That way I can try to not return a book to where I originally got it from. I am being a “book bee” and pollinating each little book stand with books from another stand elsewhere. So, I may take books from several locations in Fayetteville, and move them to locations in Sanford, Raleigh, Benson or even Florence, SC. **And there is an app that makes it easy to find locations of the units, and to record when you visited. Not all units are listed in the app. Not rogue units, just not in the list.
Little did I know, this was Briggs Farm.On the corner of Briggs Farm at Briggs Elementary in Florence, SC.
I did find a small Local Library next to a goat pen at an elementary school in Florence (Briggs Elementary). And may I say, the goats there were fine looking specimens. A pretty brown haired one was a little skittish at me taking it’s picture. The school also had a pretty garden area for children to learn about agriculture, etc.
I mentioned Benson because there is only one community library location there. I’ve visited twice and I may have gotten a copy of “Fig Pudding” both times. I was unfamiliar with this story, but it is a good family oriented tale, that even includes the death of one of the children in the family, and a messy, child’s foot in the communal fig pudding at a family to-do.
So the books need to “fit” in these little units. A large one might not be able to be squeezed in.
Not sure if I have written about this elsewhere, but back in October, I happened to see and take a book by Matthew Perry, the actor/comedian. I recognized his face on the cover and didn’t actually expect to read the book, but knew someone might. I don’t recall the exact title of his book, but part of the title was the equivalent of “and the Elephant in the Room,” to paraphrase his title. And looking online I quickly found that his elephant was a life long “drug/alcohol addiction.” Well, just a short time (less than a week) later I was looking online at a list of recently (this year) deceased celebrities and who should I see but the face of Matthew Perry. I then googled to see when he died, and surprise, he died three days after I had received his book. Now, I sort of felt an urge and obligation to try to read his book.
I’ve only gotten a page into the book, but “creepy” he starts off presenting his addiction, and saying something to the effect that he is surprised that he has lived this long. He easily could have died due to complications of his alcohol/drug abuse, but he hadn’t. So he dies alone in his hot tub. Maybe not ironic. You might say he died of natural causes. To which the joke about the bank robber who was shot and killed. It was stated that he died of natural causes. Well, being shot to death is a natural cause for a bank robber, isn’t it?
NOTE [ 11/30/23 ]: Well, I took the Matthew Perry book with me this morning when I went for scheduled maintenance for my 2018 Toyota Camry. I was in the Hendrick Toyota waiting room for almost 2.5 hours and much of that was spent reading his book. I’m now about 70 pages into the book. I’m thinking another more appropriate title might be, “Self Inflicted Wounds.” *Reading a book where people, places & things are mentioned is much more fun when you have a Handy connected to the Internet. When Perry mentions his tennis playing, you can go online and see him in his tennis garb. Or when he mentions a small group of actor friends, you can see each one of their faces, or even see each one of them with Matty. Or River Phoenix & his first movie, that too is also documented online. **I played a lot of tennis when I was younger, but I didn’t start playing until I was older, which meant I would never progress to a “world class” level. Much like Matty being a Canadian star, but just a good club player, when he reaches LA. Also, I realized from the book that the 1984 Summer Olympics were played in Los Angeles. I was in Wedowee/Lineville, Alabama that summer. And sometime that summer, tennis players started saying, “My bad,” when they made an error on the court. I always hated that phrase because it sounded “so dorky” to me. Almost as bad as, “I shit my pants.” No, dork, it’s “I shit in my pants.” Or the demise of adverbs that have “ly” appended to them as, “He walked quick into the room.” “quickly, suddenly, gingerly, etc.” [END NOTE]
Oh, I hadn’t thought about winter time and these small lending libraries until just a short time ago. I don’t want to put a book outside during the coldest time of the year. I don’t think that as many people would be walking and taking books during the winter. I think this is mainly a spring, summer & fall activity. But, I might be wrong.
NOTE [ 11/18/23 ]: So, I went back to the Friends of the Library Book Sale again this morning. It started at 10 am, and I was a little late arriving, but found a space in the parking lot and there was no waiting line when I got to the door. Eric Hyman was sitting guard at the door and pushed it open to let me in. We talked briefly. I was surprised that he was not retired from FSU. He said something about being on partial retirement, and working a limited amount of time with classes, and some time off for his writings.
I asked about the new chancellor, but he said he didn’t see him.
I walked past the discount room and directly into the main book sales room. The criminal/murder mystery writers were directly in front down an isle, and they had the books organized by author, and there were a bunch of books by Michael Connelly. I picked up & picked out several books by Connelly, and saw that in addition to the Bosch novels, he also wrote the Lincoln Lawyer character. As I drove down the street today, I made a note to self that I had never read a Stephen King novel but only enjoyed the movies made from his novels. I say I’ve never read one of his novels, but I am haunted by the thought that I may have read something by him, and just don’t remember it. So, I’ve also not read a Michael Connelly novel, but have enjoyed the Bosch TV series and several episodes of the Lincoln Lawyer.
I have read “The Red Dragon” by Thomas Harris many years ago, while I was still working for the New River Baptist Association at the Hem of His Garment. A paperback copy of his novel was donated to the Hem, and Maribell Jarman brought it up and put it under our checkout counter. She sheepishly said to me that she wasn’t sure what to do with it. I took it home and read it, and as I did, I realized that I had already seen this story in the movie, “Manhunter.” By that time, the Iwo Jima Theater on New Bridge Street in Jacksonville offered $1 movies and “Manhunter” was one of those that I had seen. But, years prior, I had also watched “Planet of the Apes” and “The Godfather” at the Iwo Jima.
“Manhunter” was a movie that was ruined, by Michael Mann music. Well, if you had lived through the “Miami Vice” TV series, which reeked of Michael Mann, then listening to his music in “Manhunter” made it impossible not to keep thinking about Miami Vice. So “Manhunter” was based on Harris’ “Red Dragon.” And the story was later remade into a movie called “Red Dragon.”
There were a select few novels with $2 price tags, the rest of the hardback novels were only $1 each, and before I left, I also found a section of cookbooks also at $1. I only had one $2 book and the rest were $1 each, and I think I paid $15 total, so is that 14 books total? I got online and have a list of the Michael Connelly novels he has written. Not sure if I will try to collect them all, not to keep, but just to have put them all back out in the Community Libraries.
So what am I going to do with these books? I’m probably going to store them during the winter, and start leaving them at the little lending libraries beginning next Spring 2024. I hope to make it till then, but if not as with everything once you die, it won’t be my worry any longer.
NOTE [ 11/24/23 ]: Yesterday, before I headed up to the Mitchell’s, I took my red cart out to the car and took out a bunch of mail, trash and books that I had in the front seat and passenger-side floorboard. I was surprised by finding three books that I didn’t recall having. One was a book of things that a mother learned from her children and another was “Fig Pudding.”
All three of these books were youth/child oriented, and smaller in size, so they would fit easily in almost all of the little community libraries that I have visited. However, I look over against the wall from my easy chair and see the books I bought at the recent Cumberland County Library – Friends of the Library Book Sale. I bought very few child/youth oriented books. I bought a bunch of cookbooks, most of them not thick in size, but larger, and about 8 Michael Connelly books (both Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer), and one Harlan Coban book. I don’t even know the genre that Coban writes, but I’ve seen the advertising for a bunch of movies from books that he has written. So I consider Coban & Connelly in the same ilk as Stieg Larsson. I just googled on how to spell Stieg Larsson’s name, and see that he died of a heart attach in 2004 and his Millennium Trilogy was published after his death. Who knew? Not me.
Not directly related, but I was just reminded of the incestuous father/daughter relationship, and recall from several of the Scandinavian police/detective shows that Europeans find this a problem worthy of death or at least keeping in the family as a “dark” secret. I think from the Wallander series, no matter who is playing the character, there was at least one murder as the result of an incestuous father. *Oh, oh, I just thought of the first episode of “the Mentalist.” This came out in 2008 and in the first episode, there as a “prologue” not related to the rest of the show. We are introduced to the character of Patrick Jane, who is acting as a consultant to a state police unit. Jane wanders off from the rest of his unit, and finds himself in the kitchen/small dining area, of the victim’s home (a very nice home). He makes himself at home, fixing himself some hot tea and a sandwich. And then the mother walks into her kitchen and Jane and she introduce themselves. Jane begins to probe the mother. It is her daughter that has been found murdered, and the current suspect is a teenaged, Goth themed boy in black. But Jane begins to sense that the mother has doubts about what has happened. She may even suspect her husband, who comes into the kitchen and sees Jane and his wife talking a a small dining table. The husband is confrontive toward Jane, but instead of backing down, Jane brings himself to ask the father if he is responsible for his daughter’s death. The father is incensed at this accusation, and threatens to report Jane to his unit head (maybe higher). The wife/mother has gotten up from the table and disappeared briefly. But, she now returns to the room, with a gun. Jane backs away from the husband, the husband tries to defend himself from the guilty verdict his wife has obviously put upon him. But, in short order the wife puts about four bullets in her husband’s torso (the red splotches vibrant upon his crisp, white dress shirt) and he falls to the kitchen floor. Jane’s boss and the others in the unit arrive promptly in the kitchen having heard the gun fire. The wife drops her weapon, and Jane steps back and says to the police, “Honest, it’s not as bad as it looks.” And this little segment ends and the show goes briefly to a commercial break.
I recall the first time, as I was watching this, I thought to myself, “Now that’s funny, I’m going to like this show.” And, I did. I watched several seasons of the show, religiously, right up until we learned that the evil character of “Red John” has been killed, but it wasn’t actually Red John. This type of writing has happened in a few other shows that I have been watching intensely and as soon as it does, I lose all interest in that show. I don’t ever want to watch another episode because the writer could keep doing this, ad infinitum. If I had still been watching the TV show, Dallas, when they revealed that a whole season of the show had just been a dream, I would have been so angry that I wouldn’t have watched any episode after that, and would have felt cheated by the “dream” season.
So, in America an incestuous story only merits 10 minutes of an episode, which the Europeans can stretch into a story of several hours or even 5 or 6 episodes.
In the past ten years, I have watched a bunch of Scandinavian detective/police shows, filmed in a snow bound environment. Not sure why this is attractive. I wouldn’t want to live in a place where there were more days of the year with snow on the ground than not. *Although when I lived and went to school in Louisville, KY, I liked walking about in the snow for hours. If you have the right clothing and boots, you can enjoy yourself, even if you are not sledding down a hill, or doing other kid-type stuff. Northerners know how to thrive in snow. **Actually, Northerner’s can be just as big pussys in snow and ice, if you provide them with enough snow & ice, and maybe a little more cold wind and sleet than they are used to. Then, they whine and act just like Southerners do, when there is an inch of snow on the ground. If you don’t have the right equipment, or aren’t prepared for a good snow (and that is a relative term) we are all whiners & complainers. Whether we have a Southern drawl, or don’t know how to pronounce an “R” in words like park, bar or car. Is that, “paak da kah at da ba?”
I bought some snow boots, probably at Walmart. They seemed to be made of the same rubbery material that commercial fishermen wear. Although the color of boots for commercial fishermen has changed to white. They weren’t white when I was growing up. **Oh, and the style of oyster knife has changed since I was a child. Some oyster knives are still made, with a bulbous wooden handle, but the majority have a rubber/plastic handle, not as bulbous, and the knife blade may be almost stubby.
The snow boots had a thick insulation material, probably over a half inch thick. I mentioned being out in the snow for 3 hours. I did this, tromping about the snowy Southern Seminary campus in my snow boots & heavy coat. Probably also wearing several layers of shirts & pants. I recall my feet were actually sweating after several hours. My body heat was sufficient with the thick book insulation.
I used to like to listen to Garrison Keillor on the radio. He had a lengthy show that came on weekly. I think it may have been 90 minutes in length. Maybe not, but because there was so much entertaining material, the show seemed to last a long time. Well he had a segment of the show where he would start to tell a story. He painted beautiful, intricately designed scenes with his words, and he filled those scenes and rooms with interesting characters. But, one of the things he did extremely well was to start one story, and very quickly, without the audience even being aware of the segway, he would dive into another story and make that just as intricate as what he had started with. But, near the end of this segment, he would bring us all back to the original story and finish that tale. And, over and over, I would realize that the majority of that segment was filled not by the original story, but something entirely different. I would wonder how he got my mind sidetracked, so easily, and without being aware that the train I was riding on has switched to another track, even another destination for a while, until the conductor decides to switch us back to the main line.
NOTE [ 12/09/23 ]: I’ve continued to read the Matthew Perry memoir. *As I write this, I am watching “Leave the World Behind” a movie with Julia Roberts. One of her (the character she is playing) children was watching an episode of “Friends”. This was probably intentional because Matthew Perry and Julia Roberts dated for a brief while, as is recounted in his book.
The book is interesting because of several things, such as a movie that Matty did with Bruce Willis, “The Whole Nine Yards.” I recall seeing this movie, years ago but couldn’t have told you that Matthew Perry was in it. The two actors I recalled were Bruce Willis and Amanda Pete. But, reviewing it, I see that Natasha Henstridge was in it, and without rewatching the film, I think she became the love interest of Matty’s character, not recalling what happened to his wife. But, Bruce Willis’ character was a notorious “hit man” hiding out. *Perry mentions that this film was #1 for about three weeks, so he, like Michael J. Fox, had a #1 movie and a #1 TV show at the same time. But Matty also mentions that because of his alcohol/drug additions he “felt like shit” (my translation) during this time of success. And the irony, was that later, when the sequel, “The Whole Ten Yards” tanked, he didn’t feel that bad. **I don’t recall if he had hit rehab again before the sequel. ***I just rewatched “the Jackal” with Bruce Willis as a contract hitman and Richard Gere as his nemesis (1997). “The Whole Nine Yards” came out in 2000.
Now, I recall seeing Matthew Perry’s dad, the actor, on something in the past. It was either a TV show he was on or a commercial he had done. Several of the friends he mentions, his drinking buddies, all had faces that I recall seeing as actors. As I have said, either in writing or to someone, the memoir could just as well have been named, “Self Inflicted Wounds.” He made a bunch of money, and he spent a bunch of money, and fame & money didn’t make him happy, or fill his holes. His deal with God was something to the effect of, “You make me famous, and you can do whatever you want with me.” So, he knew God had honored one part of the contract, and he was going to have to live with the consequences.
I came across one of those Hacks slideshows online and started looking at them. Surprisingly, I saw several suggestions that I decided to act upon. *Actually, my recent order from Amazon, for a couple of fire extinguishers , for the kitchen & car was because I had read the “Life’s Little Instruction Book” by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. I said to myself, “Yeah, that would be a good idea.” **Unfortunately, the Novete 2-pack of small fire extinguishers arrived with some leakage, which discolored the package, and smelled of ammonia. I got a full refund from Amazon.
One of the items on the hack list wasn’t actually a hack, but a simple awareness. Not sure how many years this has been the case, but the little “Gas” icon on your dashboard actually has a little arrow, which points in the direction of your tank. Not actually the tank, but the side on which you would go to put the gas nozzle in your car. The picture above is for my Camry and sure enough, the little arrow is pointing toward my driver’s side..
A hack I liked showed a large plastic cereal storage container, with a flip top. They showed someone who had put a plastic grocery bag as a liner for this container. You can then use this container as your auto trash can.
Another hack that I intend to explore more thoroughly, and tried out a little already is, to use a cloth and olive oil to wipe down your dashboard and doors, or where dust collects inside your car. I had a microfiber cloth that I wasn’t using and I put a little olive oil on it and tried wiping my dash. It sure looks like it works. Not just after you wipe, but later, there appears to be no dust.
NOTE: I used just olive oil and a microfiber cloth to clean my dashboard. That appears to work really well. The dust hasn’t reappeared by the next day (today). But I also read online that combining some distilled water, baby oil, white vinegar and a few drops of Dawn dishwashing soap makes a really good cleaner/dusting concoction. I’m guessing you could substitute olive oil for baby oil?
This wasn’t a hack, but I actually bought a 4-pack of Box Cutters. Four colors of the plastic holder and a safety switch to lock the blade, either when it is out, or when it is retracted. I had a black box cutter that I keep by my easy chair, and often used it when an Amazon package came in.
But, I have already put one of these in my kitchen utensil drawer, and one in my car. *Don’t cut yourself! These are really sharp, and are useful for opening various plastic bags. Having it handy, means instead of fiddling with a difficult package, I just slice it open. And, for resealable packages, these cutters make a straight cut.
I’ve ordered a dishwasher basket for small items. I have some little plastic bottles that seal well, and I carry various sauces (wasabi, horseradish mustard) for use at the restaurant. But, they are difficult to clean by hand. If I can put these in a basket, then the dishwasher can do it’s thing and I won’t lose them to the bottom of the dishwasher. *And, stupid me, I threw away two of these small capped vials just a day or two before I ordered this dishwasher basket. They could have been cleaned by throwing them in the dishwasher in this basket.
NOTE: I’ve used the dishwash basket once and put a few of the little snap-top bottles in it. The inside of these containers wasn’t cleaned out completely, so I am going to run them again, next time I use the dishwasher.
NOTE [03/24/24]: These box cutters have been very useful. I use one to cut into the protective layer of my prescription medicines. I cut the bacon packages so that I can fold the clear plastic away from the bacon. I sometimes have something (seeds) in a plastic bag, and twist the top and then use the box cutter to remove most of the plastic. This makes it easier to pour the seeds out into another container. I slice the outer skin of the liver pudding to make it easier to peel away from the inner sausage. I slice the outer plastic package for both the polenta and the Nueske’s Smoked Liver Pate. Oh, and the box cutter is excellent for opening an Amazon package or box. [end NOTE]
Bill Gibson, II 