My favorite job:

My worst job:

I would have to mention two different jobs as being the “worst job” I ever had, and they were for different reasons.

When I was still in college, but on break during one summer, I got a job “on Base” (Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base). My mom was working, as a clerk typist, somewhere on base. This was late in her career. I got a job with a “maintenance” company that was cleaning & repainting an old cafeteria building. She drove me in to work that morning (she ended up being within walking distance, but several blocks away).

The job I was given was mopping down the ceilings with a caustic solution (maybe Clorox and water) to remove any old mold. I think this would have been in preparation of repainting the walls & ceilings. The ceiling was very high up. Think of it as a two story building, but no second story, just a really high ceiling on the single floor. Well, they had a really tall wooden ladder that swayed a little when I climbed it because it was really tall, but narrow. There was a bucket with the cleaning solution, and I was give a mop with a wooden handle and sent up the ladder.

So, I dip the mop into the liquid and then lift the mop head up and scrub the ceiling. Almost like mopping a floor, but in the opposite direction. Well, I didn’t like being high up on this ladder, but the clincher was that I had no work gloves and as I mopped the ceiling, the cleaning solution would run down the wooden mop handle and onto my hands and arms. I did this work for about four hours, until it was time for lunch. I realized that the cleaning solution was “eating into my skin,” so I told the boss that I was going “home for lunch” and was going to buy some work gloves. But, I ended up walking several blocks and found my mom. I took the car to drive into Jacksonville (NC) and home. I didn’t get any work gloves, and I didn’t go back to work after lunch. I drove back later to pick up my mom after her work (probably 4:30 pm).

I never went back to that job. I only worked four hours. But later that night and possible for a couple of days, I was washing my hands in the bathroom sink (at night because the light was on), and I looked down and could press the skin on my fingers and small air bubbles would come up through the pores of my skin with the water on my hands. The cleaning solution had eaten down into my skin, and yes, they were raw for several days.

I think it was several months later that I got a check in the mail paying me for the four hours I had worked. I don’t recall how much I was paid, but I thought it was good pay for such a short time of actually working.

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In my twenties, and after college, I got a job as a house parent for emotionally disturbed children. This was a State (of North Carolina) funded job and was located in Elizabeth City, NC. I was still living down in Jacksonville, NC but the scheduling worked like this. I worked from Sunday afternoon until Friday at lunch and lived in a “half way” house during that week. There was just one other “parent” staff person, and when I was working she was a pregnant white woman. And we only had two children to look after.

These children were “emotionally disturbed.” They both happened to be boys. One a teenage white kid, and the other a little black child about 9-11 years old (I don’t recall his exact age, but I don’t think he was a teenager yet.).

Here is part of the rub. I said we worked from Sunday to Friday, not even a full week. But, then we were off for 9 days. Work five days and then take nine off, making the full two week period. Oh, and the State provided all the perks that you might need to be happy. Color TV, games, food, a nice house, and even money to go out for ice cream and/or a movie. The problem was that these kids were an emotional drain on the staff (us). In reality, it took a couple of days to prepare yourself to work in this environment, and then it took a couple of days to recover after working just five days under that strain.

The little boy could not take orders from an adult, and would physically react. I recall having to wrap my arms and legs around his arms and legs to keep him from hitting or kicking me (and biting would also be a possibility) during one of his “tantrums.” It was sort of like he was demon possessed, and would lash out, but after a while he would calm down. *I normally protected myself pretty well, except for one time. The child was “acting out” and I was trying to protect my pregnant co-worker and in so doing the kid managed to kick me in the face (more like running sandpaper over my cheek, instead of a punch, but only because the kick missed most of me).

We would try to reward these kids when possible. I they behave, we all go out for ice cream and a movie (their choice) at the end of the week. And, they would be good for a while, but they “always” found a way, just before the reward was to come, to “act out” and spoil the possibility of a reward. They always found a way to “shoot themselves in their foot.”

I said the little boy couldn’t take orders from an adult, but here is the funny thing. One time (during the summer) we went to a local school where they were having some kind of youth program. These children were from the community . This wasn’t just for emotionally disturbed kids. So the two boys were down on the gym floor with a bunch of other kids, all milling around, playing. The other staff person and me were up on a raised area next to the gym floor, talking to other adult staff from the school/program. At some point, I see a big black kid run into our little boy. The other boy didn’t do it on purpose, and he was much bigger than our kid. I saw our boy turn and look up at the bigger kid with that demon-like anger in his face and his body tensed. I was helpless to step in because I was so far away from either of them. And then it happened, instead of our boy jumping on the big kid to fight him (as he would have with us), his facial demeanor completely changed, the anger went immediately away, and he untensed and walked away. When I saw this, I knew the little kid could control his anger but chose not to (with adults). In that brief encounter, he had realized that the bigger kid would have “kicked the shit out of him” if he had started a fight, and so, he chose to “let it go.”

I don’t recall how long I worked at this job. Perhaps for a summer. But, and I haven’t met one in a long time, you can recognize people who work with emotionally disturbed children easily. They are laid back, and that is for their own personal protection. So, it would take me two days to prepare to go to work. I would work five days. It would take me two days to recover from the stress, and then I would have five days to enjoy before the whole cycle started again. And, I would imagine that although the State of North Carolina was probably paying a pretty good chunk of change to fund this merry go round, the general public would be completely satisfied that they didn’t have to face the angst and anger of these children.

from God Sees

Catalina Liquors

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Gloria Molina Grand Park near CCB, City Hall, LAPD HQ & LA Times Bldg.

I don’t recall if I have started this list elsewhere, but am doing it here to make sure it gets done. *Oh, and I consider myself a slow reader. I’ve always been a slow reader, but on the other hand, I remember a great deal of what I read. When you realize that I have read 28 of the Michael Connelly novels between November 2023 and July 2024 (approximately 9 months) and that most of those novels were about 385 pages each – The Overlook being the shortest at less than 300 pages, and originally published as a serial in a newspaper.

I make this list because after many years of not reading anything for pleasure but technical computer manuals and most of those online, I started reading again from the book resources I had incurred from my interactions with the Little Lending Libraries. I had not originally intended to read any of these books but to just act like a “book bee” moving a few from one lending library to another, within town and between towns as I visited elsewhere. Those other towns began to include Raleigh, Bennettsville, and Benson.

It may have been in Benson where I found, at the only Little Lending Library listed for the town, “Fig Pudding” by Ralph Fletcher. There were multiple copies of this little booklet, and I surmised that they might have been purchased for some group reading project, either for children, youth or adults. This was an enjoyable and quick read. I guess I would term it a “family” oriented novel, without being a Christian tome.

“Fig Pudding” primed the reading pump, and then the following “hinkey” event happened. It was late October of 2023, the 23rd I think. I had stopped at the Little Lending Library located nearest to where I lived. I think I left a book or two, but then I noticed the face of Matthew Perry (comic actor from the TV show “Friends”) filling the cover of his “memoir,” “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” I had no desire to read this book, but I thought that someone else would recognize him and want to read it. So, I took the book.

A few days later I was sitting in my easy chair, watching TV and browsing online on my Windows laptop. I happened to be on one of those web sites that memorializes celebrities that have died in the past year. I normally do not look at these until they start appearing near the end of the year, but as I started to scroll down the site, I happened to see a picture of Matthew Perry about the third celeb from the top. I thought to myself, “I didn’t know he was dead.” I hadn’t taken his memoir from the LLL because of him being dead, but because I knew he was famous. But I quickly determined that the actor Matthew Perry had died just three days after I had snagged his book from the LLL. That is what I called “hinkey.” And I said to myself, “I guess I’ll have to read his book.”

I started to read his book and within the first few pages he says, “I should be dead by now.” And then he goes on to explain that the “Big Terrible Thing” was his long time drug problem. He made a lot of money, and he also spent a lot of money. And, whether he could have stayed “on the wagon,” is now moot. One interesting aside is that Keith Morrison married Matthew Perry’s mother, and MP said that Morrison was a good guy.

I am now reading “The Men We Became” by Robert Littel who was a long time best friend of John F. Kennedy, Jr. The interesting aside from this story is that Christiane “Kissy” Amanpour of PBS fame (for me) was one of several roommates that JFK, Jr. and Rob Littel shared an apartment/house with during John’s last couple of years at Brown University.

So, once I finished the Matthew Perry memoir, I was stoked to read more. I had a bunch of Michael Connelly (Bosch) novels that I had collected to disperse via the LLLs. I had already said I had no plan to read any of those novels, and repeatedly said I wasn’t going to read any more of them once I had read several… and finally I finished all of the Bosch novels and included three others, “the Poet,” “Blood Work,” and “the Late Show.” “The Poet” was a Jack McAvoy novel. “Blood Work” was a Terry McCaleb tome, and “The Late Show” features Renee Ballard. *I did not read the Bosch novels in their published order. I learned to hate Harry Bosch from the novels. This was something I had not noted from the TV series.

I never had any desire to become familiar with Los Angeles, California, but because Michael Connelly puts his fictional characters in “real” settings and I recognized this first in the Original Amazon Bosch Series. If you pause these videos the street signs are perfectly readable. They are not blurred out as most TV shows and movies usually are. So, I started pulling up these streets or street corners on Google Maps and did Street View which gave me an even deeper understanding of the settings. Bosch liked Chicken Pot Pie on Wednesdays at Frank and Musso Restaurant. And, this restaurant after 100+ years actually does have this as a special on Wednesday. And as I began to read the Bosch novels, I saw this Michael Connelly influence. Avalon is the only incorporated town on Catalina Island. The large cargo ships loading & unloading their containers at the Port of Los Angeles all night probably does annoy nearby residents (even those trying to sleep on their boats at a nearby marina). City Hall, LAPD HQ, the LA Times, Bradbury Building, Grand Central Market and Angels Flight. In the opposite direction the CCB, China Town, and over to Union Station. Also on 1st Street is Mariachi Plaza. I already knew of High Tower Apartments from a favorite movie, “The Long Goodbye,” but I didn’t know how close the Hollywood Bowl was located to them. And now when I rewatch that movie I note the small garages down below those apartments. And, the iconic Chateau Marmont in “the Drop.”

I’ve always been a “cat person” so watching Marlowe (Elliott Gould) deal with his finicky cat has always been pleasing. Somewhere in the last 30 years it seems that everyone else got on the “cat loving” bandwagon and now are endlessly entertained by Cat Videos on YouTube.

So, here is the list (not necessarily in the order in which I read them, but I read them):

• Who Goes There? – John W. Campbell, Jr.
• Fig Pudding – Ralph Fletcher
• Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing – Matthew Perry
• The Black Echo – Michael Connelly
• The Black Ice – Michael Connelly
• The Concrete Blonde – Michael Connelly
• The Last Coyote – Michael Connelly
• Trunk Music – Michael Connelly
• Angels Flight – Michael Connelly
• A Darkness More Than Night – Michael Connelly
• City of Bones – Michael Connelly
• Lost Light – Michael Connelly
• The Narrows – Michael Connelly
• The Closers – Michael Connelly
• Echo Park – Michael Connelly
• The Overlook – Michael Connelly
• Nine Dragons – Michael Connelly
• The Drop – Michael Connelly
• The Black Box – Michael Connelly
• The Burning Room – Michael Connelly
• The Crossing – Michael Connelly
• Two Kinds of Truth – Michael Connelly
• Dark Sacred Night – Michael Connelly
• The Night Fire – Michael Connelly
• The Dark Hours – Michael Connelly
• Desert Star – Michael Connelly
• The Poet – Michael Connelly
• Blood Work – Michael Connelly
• The Late Show – Michael Connelly
• Resurrection Walk – Michael Connelly
• The Wrong Side of Goodbye – Michael Connelly *The last Bosch novel I read.
• The Men We Became – Robert Littel
• Highest Duty | My Search for What Really Matters – Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, III – 08/06/24
• Fair Warning – Michael Connelly
• The Little Black Bag – C. M. Kornbluth
• Toys!: Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions – Don L. Wulffson
• Tim Russert, We Heartily Knew Ye: Wonderful Stories from Friends Celebrating a Great Life – Rich Wolfe

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[NOTE 08/09/24]: I think the first version of “The Little Black Bag” that I watched had Burgess Meredith and Chill Wills in it, and it was an episode of “The Night Gallery.” Meredith was a disgraced former doctor, turned drunken street bum, who finds the little black bag and proceeds to recover some of his former life as a practicing physician aided by the bag’s futuristic healing instruments, tools and potions. The bag comes from the far future which explains its miraculous contents. Meredith’s character finds redemption by using the contents to heal, the until now unhealable. But, Will’s character sees dollar signs and a way to a vast wealth. Wills ends up killing Meredith with a scalpel from the bag, and the future monitor revokes the bag’s useful contents. But, this revocation isn’t obvious to Wills, who is about to show the current medical professionals and example. Unfortunately for Wills, the scalpel he now plunges into his neck, as a demonstration, has lost it’s miraculous powers for healing and instead kills the surprised Wills.

It was sometime later that I saw another version of “the Bag” from an episode of “Tales of Tomorrow,” a 1952 Sci Fi anthology show. In this version, the disgraced, alcoholic doctor has a nagging wife and she wants the monetary reward from his use of the tricks from the little black bag. The wife ends up stabbing her husband in the back, killing him, and then finding the revoked bag’s contents reduced to straw and putrid liquids. And now I’ve read “The Little Black Bag,” and I cannot tell you the twists and turns from this reading. I like the Night Gallery version because of the “just desserts” ending that the Wills character receives.

I like the 1951 Howard Hawk’s version of “The THING from another world.” I watch it and think of how “cutting edge” this movie must have been for it’s time. I liked the 1980s version of “the THING” and it’s remake, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, but for different reasons. But, after enjoying these movies through out the years, the thought finally came to me, “why not read the original short story”? And, I found that the 1951 movie left out the most important element of the “Who Goes There” story. The alien could fool humans by it’s appearance. Thus the natural response by a soldier standing guard and being approached by someone unknown, “Halt. Who goes there?” *The two later versions of the story focused on this shape-shifting element.

I prefer the 1945 adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery, “And Then There Were None,” but a close second is the 2015 version which may come closer to the original written story. Several characters from the 1945 movie were deserving of sympathy, much less in the 2015 version where Vera Claypool has been responsible for the death of a young boy under her “nannyship.” The choice of endings for the various versions of this acted story are myriad. In 1945 the story should have been re-titled as “Then There Were Two.” And, the Hugh O’Brien and Shirley Eaton version would also become, “And Then There Were Two.” And then there was one, in the 2015 version. Which was a surprise for me when Vera shoots and kills Phillip Lombard. And it was this version that prompted me to actually read the Agatha Christie short story just to see who, if anyone, actually survived to the end.

I found the story online and copied the text to my laptop. As I read through the story, I realized that Christie must have originally written it with the idea and intent that it would eventually be “acted out,” either as a play or a radio drama. And so, I started reformatting the text to make it more readable as a “script.”

[end NOTE]

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I went to the Friends of the Cumberland County Library yesterday (08/16/24). I bought nine books, one of which was “Tim Russert, We Heartily Knew Ye: Wonderful Stories from Friends Celebrating a Great Life” by Rich Wolfe. This was the last book choice I made there because I was looking for something to read “next” after the book about toys I was reading. I bought one cookbook by Martin Yan (Several years ago I enjoyed watching him on TV, but haven’t seen him recently.) and the rest were current fiction (fodder for the Little Lending Libraries). *Russert has been dead since 2008, but I recall enjoying watching Meet the Press on Sunday mornings when he was hosting the show. A sharp and personable guy. Oh, the hardback books were only $1 each and I think I left a $1 donation to round out the $10 bill I gave them for payment. **I had talked briefly with a woman (two women standing behind me in the line waiting to get into the Library book sale) and for some reason we had been discussing how police forensics (my term) had changed drastically through the years. DNA only because really important during the 1990s and computers, on detective’s desks, were also slow to appear. I had picked up a copy of “Fair Warning” to buy and when I saw her I thought I would give her a gift of this book. I fished around for a dollar and stopped her searching, temporarily, to give her the book and the dollar to pay for it. I also told her as I was walking away, “You can read it, or give it away, if you want.” Later, I thought of this book’s content and mildly regretted giving her this to possibly read. The reason? The book starts off with the bad guy, the Shrike, breaking a woman’s neck (killing her) and in the end, the killer gets killed in an automobile accident.

After the Library Book Sale, I drove around, went to the bank, and eventually rode over to BJ’s Used Books before returning home. I bought 6 or 7 cookbooks @$1, and I bought another copy of “The Narrows,” another Bosch novel. I may have this confused, but I did give the copy of “Fair Warning” to the woman while still in the Cumberland County Library. And I did buy a Bosch novel while at BJ’s and I think it was “The Narrows,” because this would be one of a set that I might put together as a gift for someone who likes police fiction. *I’m not sure how accurate Connelly portrays police procedure.

“The Narrows” has Harry Bosch and Rachael Walling (FBI) and Harry is looking into the suspicious death of Terry McCaleb. I would add “The Poet” (Jack McEvoy & Rachael Walling) and “Fair Warning” (also those two fictional characters some years later), and also in there I would add “Blood Work” which was about Terry McCaleb (FBI agent that has a heart transplant). And, “The Narrows” has the Poet returning from the supposed dead.

As another “side note,” I think I have been healthier, regarding the common cold and Flu, since COVID. I didn’t have any colds or the Flu during the two serious COVID quarantine years, because of wearing a mask while out, and not eating at buffet food bars. And because I don’t eat buffets any more (many have closed shop permanently) I think that has severely cut the possibility of the cold and Flu bugs being spread (to me). Before COVID I might eat at Golden Corral twice a week, and Ryans also had a buffet.

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I don’t recall if it is the first episode of Tales of Tomorrow, or another early Sci FI anthology series but the basic story is that a woman from the future has come to the present time and asked a man to “acquire” (steal) certain items (paintings & other items of artistic value) for her. She gives him a special device that stops time, except for people in his immediate vicinity. She gives him a specific period of time in which to make all of his acquisitions. He completes his tasks and then she reveals that the Earth will shortly be destroyed by a special bomb (atomic, I don’t recall) and she has been acquiring these art works to preserve them. Now, I don’t recall but I guess the world won’t be completely destroyed but just all life. I also don’t recall how human life continues into the future from which she has come. *It was episode 37 of season 1 of Tales of Tomorrow, called “All the Time in the World.” Not to confused with the Twilight Zone episode called “Time Enough at Last.”

The man who has stolen all the items asks the woman if he can keep the time control device. She lets him keep it, but basically tells him he only has a minute left and he can choose to stop time, exist alone for as long as he would like, or let time run out. She leaves.

But, I immediately thought there could be hope. Stop time, and make a plan. She had told him not to get too near other people or they would be drawn into his “stopped time” environment. I think I would approach the problem from this perceived weakness. He would need to research who or what might be done to stop the end of the world. I don’t recall if automobiles & other equipment worked for him in his “stopped time” environment, but I think they did. And he could bring others into his STE (stopped time environment) that could assist him. Maybe he could bring a brilliant scientist into his STE, and they could go to wherever they needed to go to control/stop the bomb from going off. Or they could bring another bomb to destroy the doomsday bomb. But the flaw with this story was that he could bring others into his STE, and if you could do that, even a few seconds could be an eternity to work on & possibly solve this problem.

[04/24/25]: Some time ago, I was playing with an AI, either Gemini or ChatGPT and I started going through the logic for an alternative successful ending to the above SciFi story, and according to the AI, I came up with a valid solution where the World and myself were saved. The basic logic was that I had an endless amount of time to research a solution, and then I could go to where one or more people might have the knowledge or skills to help me stop the bomb. If you get to within a certain distance of a person they come into your endless “time bubble.” So, I go somewhere and ask knowledgeable people who might be able to help me. I then go to the suggested person or persons and get them in my bubble and ask if it is possible to stop the bomb. If they think it is, we go to the bomb mechanism and I let them try. I guess you can walk away from a person to remove them from the time bubble. So, if more than one person is needed, I could get them in the bubble and walk them to the bomb location, and then go to get as many other persons they need.

Still, I guess the paradox is that the woman that came from the future had to come from somewhere in the past, and if the bomb goes off and kills everyone, then where did she come from. And if my quest is successful, then there wouldn’t even be a need for her to come back to try and salvage all the art works. That’s the problem with the time travel, change the past scenarios. [end]

https://www.wral.com/story/netanyahu-visit-sparks-wave-of-protests-in-dc-with-all-sides-criticizing-the-israeli-pm/21538362/

Like President Trump couldn’t have called in a bunch of pepper spraying police to disperse the Republican attackers on the US Capitol on January 6th, if he had wanted to.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 tablespoon Avocado/Olive Oil
• 1 Chicken Tender (cubed)
• 1 small Onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon Fenugreek powder
• 1 medium Jalapeno slit (opt, adjust to taste)
• Sweet Bell Pepper
• Mild Colorful Exotic Peppers
• 1 teaspoon Ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
• ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
• Salt to taste
• 1 medium sized Cauliflower cut into 1 ½ “ Florets
• 1 medium Tomato chopped
• 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder

I was looking for a recipe to use some of the Fenugreek Powder I had bought this morning. The original recipe used the fresh herb Fenugreek, but I just used the powder. I added the chicken to this dish. Instead of a garlic/ginger paste, I used powder for both of these. I had Avocado & Olive Oil on hand so I used a combo of these. I chopped the cauliflower into smaller florets.

I used my electric wok starting with the chicken and onion. I had all the listed spices so I just added them, without actually tasting this as I went along. However, this ends up being a very savory chicken dish which is very pleasing, and I would make this again. *It is a great change-up from my usual sweet stir fries in which I add pineapple, Agave Nectar and/or Splenda. You could probably serve this with rice or a baked sweet potato, with cinnamon, sweetener, sour cream and margarine/butter, and this sweet element would set the savoriness of the chicken off well.

I haven’t had any fresh Curry leaves in a long time. But, I think these might add positively to this dish. I bought some of these leaves at the Indian Market in Apex, NC several years ago.

Original recipe here.

[NOTE 07/26/24]: I fixed this the next day also. I then realized that probably what I liked about the flavors was that they were the base of a curry. And, then I realized that I wouldn’t want to make this very often.

I fix a good stir-fry, and do so quite often, but I’m not completely satisfied with the flavors. I use chicken usually, and often shrimp, and even rarely some pork or beef strips. I’ve found a “garlic crunch” that tastes pretty good once I add some sweetener to the dish.

I was in an Oriental Market (in Fayetteville) and asked some of the workers about what seasonings they might use for Thai Basil Chicken. One woman suggested “Oyster Sauce,” which I had tried a year ago, or more, and that didn’t float my boat then. But I bought a small bottle again and plan to add it to see if anything pops.

Many recipes suggest adding anchovies to various dishes. I noted that “Fish Sauce” is made from anchovies, but it is watery, and there is no visible particulate matter. No fish parts floating in the juice. So, I’m thinking that using Fish Sauce instead of actual Anchovies might go well.[end NOTE]

Last night I decided that I was going to drive up to Greensboro so that I could have pizza at Sticks-n-Stones Pizza. Several years ago I was watching something like a network morning show (don’t recall which one) and someone mentioned that “Sticks-n-Stones” in Greensboro was ranked 3rd nationally for artisanal pizza. They have a wood fired pizza oven. So, I made a note that at some point I would visit this pizza place and try their pizza.

I don’t recall when my first visit occurred, but I do recall that I enjoyed the pizza, and definitely thought that was really good pizza. I chose their “To Be the One,” a margherita pizza, roundish in shape with a raised edge and garnished with hand-crushed peeled tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil leaves. Eventually I would add jalapeno peppers to my pizza order, but have stuck with the margherita style. *Today, I brought a small glass container that included both anchovies and sundried tomatoes. I liked the anchovies, but the tomatoes really added nothing to this pizza. I generously sifted on parmesan cheese and hot pepper flakes.

I think there were four groups of customers at tables and in a back booth and a few more women came in separately and were directed to the back booth (maybe 5 women total before I left). I first asked for only water but a short time later asked for unsweet tea with sweetener. They have Splenda sweetener. The tea isn’t that flavorful, which I should have already known and remembered from a previous trip. I make a note now, if I ever go back, don’t order the unsweet tea.

If I ever go back? The pizza was good, but not exceptional (which I have had exceptional pizza there previously). I think the good pizza maker or makers have left and whomever is left or current doesn’t either have the skills to make a great pizza, or the desire. I put some anchovies and sun dried tomatoes on a couple of slices of the pizza which already had the jalapenos I had requested (not pickled). ***I would add anchovies again, but the sun dried tomatoes did nothing extra for the pizza flavor. I think I noted a slight orange color to the cheese on my pizza today, which I equate to Cheddar being added to the Mozzarella… and I don’t like Cheddar on my pizza. I didn’t taste Cheddar, but.

I left with a to-go cup for my unsweet tea. In my car I added a packet of Dragon Fruit powder to the unsweet tea and this made it more palatable.

I got to Sticks-n-Stones after 11:30 am this morning but that is because I had chosen to go to Ken Chappell’s Peaches (stand) near Candor, NC. and then to Deep Roots Market in downtown Greensboro before hitting lunch. This was the correct order, and the route was so fluid, with little wasted time or any backtracking.

I had a really good time at Chappell’s and bought two bags of peaches. I honestly think that the “Sugar Giant” peach (white) had better flavor than the “Blushing Star – White” peach that I bought two or three weeks ago, and that was a really flavorful peach. And the “China Pearl” peach (also white) had good flavor, but not as good as the “Blushing Star.”

I wanted to try a peach of each type before I bought a bag of them, and the “girl” that I have known for years (but never asked her name) was willing to let me taste both. Surprisingly, I thought both of these peaches were delicious and worth buying. I also saw and bought a couple of ears of corn @ .50. *I just had an ear of corn and it was pretty good. Not the best I’ve ever had, but definitely flavorful and big in size.

I left the girl a Bosch novel (paperback), “Trunk Music.”

But I also wanted to see if I could find a vendor for Dulse. I googled and “Deep Roots Market” came up as a possible provider. This is a co-op, but you don’t have to be a member to shop there. I came up 220 from Candor to Greensboro, and the phone GPS directed me right to Deep Roots.

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I took my yellow shopping bag in with me. I was impressed immediately with the way the fruits and veggies were displayed (different, but noticeable care like Wegman’s). Shortly I found a spice section and ended up weighing out some Fenugreek powder, Horehound Herb and around the corner was some coffee and assorted tea, and I bagged some Assam loose leaf tea.

*I recalled that I had tried and enjoyed some Assam Brahmaputra tea at Dobra in Asheville several years ago. The Dobra tea was brought to me in a pot but there was no sweetener, and I drank it all, and enjoyed it even without sweetening it.

**I think I later googled and found that Assam was the tea type and Brahmaputra was the region of India where the tea was grown. And just across the border in China is also their tea growing region.

I added some Fenugreek powder to a recipe some time ago, but couldn’t distinguish if it had added any additional or different flavor to the finished product (and I don’t even recall what the recipe was for), so I had thrown out this powder ages ago. But it smelled interesting this morning so I bought some more and will google for how to use it. The Horehound Herb smelled good also. I had bought a Horehound flavored hard candy several times at Dunrovin near Southern Pines. This flavor was unusual but pleasant.

I asked about dulse at Deep Roots Market and a young woman checked, but there was none on the shelf where it was usually located. I asked specifically if the Dulse they carried was the one I’ve see for years (from Maine) in a small cardboard shaker. She said it was and that it had been reordered and should be in tomorrow.

So it was a relatively short distance from Deep Roots Market over to Sticks-n-Stones. There were a few parking spaces in front of the restaurant/bar and I took one and went inside.

I was planning to go to the book store in downtown Burlington but never made it as I saw a sign advertising Replacements.com. I missed which exit to take for this but saw the building as I passed it and took the next exit, thinking I had missed the correct exit. I had the urge to try to come back to the Replacements Showroom via a side road, but ignored this feeling thinking that the Interstate would be quicker. My bad! After much zigzagging, back and forth, I came at the side road from a different direction and finally arrived at the Showroom just as a good downpour of rain started. I got out of my car and walked quickly into the Showroom.

Seems that several years ago there was an easy, off the Interstate exit for the Showroom, but this had been blocked and now the one side road, with little signage was the only way in and out. They must do more business online than actual in store sales.

The young woman that came up to me was very attentive (I think she was almost ready to go home.) and listened to me for a long time. I didn’t buy anything from her choosing to go the the bathroom and then browse the Showroom, Museum and Bob’s Back Door offerings before coming back to eventually buy an Oneida Golden Julliard Cocktail Fork from another salesman. The first girl had gone home for the day, by that time, but I did ask for her before making my purchase.

I did ask about an Oneida Stafford Satin finish serving spoon, but they didn’t have one. This was the spoon I lost after taking it to work for a casserole, and then forgetting to take it home afterwards. Never saw it again, and I am left with the slotted serving spoon which is much less useful, unless I was serving some green beans, and potatoes with seasoning meat and didn’t want a bunch of liquid on the plate.

The Oneida Golden Julliard Cocktail Fork was something that I had become used to using for years, before giving them to Jeff and Robin. I didn’t realize how comfortable this fork was for digging out pickles, olives, smoked oysters and other veggies for my homemade hummus. I bought one of these and yes, I do use it often.

The book differs from the Amazon BOSCH TV series, in that the fire bombing of an apartment complex is a cold case in the book, not present day, and some of Soto’s friends had been killed in the fire. So Soto is looking into that case, unofficially, and now with the help of Harry Bosch.

In the book, currently there are two cases: the shooting and eventual death of a Mariachi band member, shot in Mariachi Plaza, and the other case is the fire bombed apartments.

Travelling 1st Street gives the Bosch reader several familiar locations.

The Hollenbeck Police Station, in East LA, is on 1st Street.

But head back up 1st Street toward downtown LA and you come to:

Eastside Luv Wine Bar

and on the other corner, across the street, is:

Mariachi Plaza

and from another side. Lucha Reyes bronze statue to the right of the three palm trees.

and the shooter may have been on the second floor of the Boyle Hotel (across the street from Mariachi Plaza):

and much further up 1st Street we come to:

LA City Hall & Police HQ

and next door to LAPD HQ (reflecting City Hall) is the LA Times Building.

Los Angeles Superior Court
Clara Shortridge Foltz Courthouse

Los Angeles Superior Court from Temple Street

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Philippe Original (French Dip Sandwiches)

Philippe The Original (web site)

Union Station

Union Station Online

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Your choice: Left to Mulholland Drive, Right to Woodrow Wilson Drive.

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What’s for dinner? Poquito Mas

Poquito Mas at 3701 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Studio City CA 91604

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Ralphs at 3rd Street and Vermont Avenue

Ralphs Online

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Pacific Dining Car

Pacific Dining Car Online

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[NOTE 07/09/24]: The L.A. Public Library (Not in this Bosch novel.)

[end NOTE]

I just finished “The Late Show.” I am a slow reader but the 405 pages went quickly and it was a good read. Several times I almost came to dislike the main character, but she managed to “not cross the line” as others have done. About the only loose end was how Trent managed to find out Ballard was a cop, AND her location in Ventura, while visiting her grandmother. *I think we were led to believe that Trent had an insider in DMV to help with the license tag number on her van, and it was registered at her grandmother’s address.

My next hopefully will be “Resurrection Walk,” which I think is a Mickey Haller, “the Lincoln Lawyer” novel with “some” Harry Bosch included. I really have come to dislike the way Harry Bosch “gets things done,” and as I have said elsewhere, if I had read the Bosch novels in order, I would have probably stopped reading by #4 or #5. “The Black Ice” #2 started my dislike of Bosch when he betrayed the trust the “interim medical examiner” had put in him regarding her autopsy findings.

The Poet was fun as we are led from an apparent suicide into a deceptive murder.

[NOTE 06/29/24]: I’m almost a hundred pages into “Resurrection Walk” and Harry Bosch has become an innocuous limo driver for his half-brother, “the Lincoln Lawyer.”

** So now Maddie has surprised Harry as he is having his radiation therapy trying to stanch his bone marrow cancer. She has come up to drive him back home, although he was expecting to use Uber. I’m not saying that old people can’t be useful or productive, using the vast experience they have gained through living a long life, but there comes a time for the End. Not sure how I want Harry to go out, but it might be similar to the end of Endeavor Morse. Morse had flipped roles with his protege, Lewis. And on his death bed, in the hospital, Morse is alone when death comes, and Lewis is out on an active case.

Seems to be a recurring theme, with President Joe Biden “showing his age.” It’s a sad time for America when you don’t have a viable alternative to either current Presidential candidate. Biden is too old, and Trump is just too wrong for America. What turmoil society will be if Trump is re-elected.
[end NOTE]

[NOTE 07/02/24]: Just finished “Resurrection Walk.” It was enjoyable. So I’ve read 26 Michael Connelly novels, since last year. I started the Bosch novels after I finished reading the Matthew Perry Memoir, which I got on October 23, 2023. A few days after I found the Perry book in the Little Lending Library nearest my apartment, I happened to see a picture of Matthew Perry online in one of those famous deaths for the year. I said to myself, “I didn’t know Matthew Perry was dead.” I then went on to find that he had died a few days after I had taken his book. I thought that was hinky, and suggested to myself that I would need to read it. I hadn’t read for pleasure, for most of my life. But now I began to read crime fiction. Only because I had bought several Connelly novels to put in the little lending libraries. I’ve paid anywhere from about a dollar to over forty dollars for these novels, and I have given away a bunch of them. *The forty dollar novel was “The Overhang” hardcover copy that had a special author’s autograph “For Bill,…” I wasn’t the original Bill, but I just felt the power of having the fictional character, Harry Bosch, speak to me by name, and then the Michael Connelly signature beneath. Who can speak for the fictional character better than the author?

I have become very familiar with the Los Angeles area because Connelly placed his fictional characters in actual places. I’m 70 years old and will never visit Los Angeles. Last night I was watching an episode of BOSCH which I had seen years ago, but now I knew so much more. The vignette was taken from “The Black Box,” and a minor character is killed in a tunnel at the Hollywood Bowl. As soon as I saw the two actors walking up to the underpass steps, I knew exactly where they were. I had visited this area using Google Street View and I doubt that I could visualize it any better unless I had actually been there. [end NOTE]