I’ve been slowly working my way up through the list of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books, a fact that those of you who had to wade through three of my “Book Reviews (?)”, are aware of. I’ve read the first ten, with another ten ahead of me. The next on my list is One Shot, the book that was made into a movie, and started me on this quest.
I recently picked up four books in the series, all on the same day. I stopped on my way to the Farmers’ Market, to take some cash out of the bank. The branch was having a fund-raising program, which included donated books for sale. There was a decent copy of one title – for $2.
At the market, the wife and I visited the Used Book Lady. She doesn’t often get Lee Child books, and they disappear quickly, but two had just come in, and she remembered my interest, so she held them for me. She sells second-hand books $4/ea., or 3/$10. Along with another author’s book, I now had two more at $3.33/ea.
On the way home, I stopped at a Chapters bookstore and bought the next one I needed in the series. Piggybacking on the son’s discount card, the $10 book cost me $8.
I recently published a post, critical of the French culture and language – only because they deserve it. The language illustrates how entitled and impatient the French are. In English, we are content to watch, to see what the time is. A French wristwatch is a montre-bracelet – a show me timepiece. R.F.N! 👿
In English, we let the good times roll, and often translate that as “laisser rouler les bon temps.” But in correct French, they insist, fait rouler des bon temps – make to roll (some of) the good times.
I’m glad to hear that stupidity still carries the death penalty. The first selfie suicide (at least the first one I’ve heard of) has occurred. Some macho goof in Mexico held a gun to his own head and his cell phone camera out at arm’s length, and snapped a photo. The camera flash startled him, his finger involuntarily twitched, and the pic includes brain, bone and blood.
A tourist couple in Portugal, climbed over a barricade and past signs in three languages that said, Don’t Go Here, Fool!, to get a better view of the ocean, 140 meters ( 460 feet) below. They backed up to the edge for a photo, witnesses say that one of them stumbled, and they both plunged off the cliff while their horrified children watched.
Not to be outdone, there was a large outdoor concert in Toronto this summer. Somehow, two different types of recreational drugs got spilled on the ground, solid tablets, and powder-filled capsules. Concert-goers snatched them up and swallowed them. The final count was two dead, and thirteen in serious condition in hospital. Not content to merely ingest unidentified chemicals, one of the dead is said to have swallowed at least ten of the pills.
And, the stupidity rolls on! In an attempt to close the barn door after the horses have died, the police issued a request that anyone who purchased drugs at the concert, but had not consumed them, could surrender them to police, and no charges would be laid. Orrrr…you could just throw them in the garbage, or flush them down the toilet, and no-one would know.
About a year ago, I included a story about an alcoholic, DUI Paki. He’d had six or more convictions for drunk driving. He’d caused several accidents, and driven away from most of them. He threatened the cop who arrested him, in court, and told the judge that he would just go out and drive drunk again. His excuse (there is no excuse for this behavior) was his first name. He was Sukhvinder, and all the white kids had made fun of him and his name.
Recently, a drunken Paki named Sukhvinder drove an oversized dump truck onto a bridge on the main (only) major highway between Toronto and Buffalo, with the dump box fully raised, and ran into the overhead support beams. The bridge was closed for four days, with heavy traffic going through residential areas, while the damage – considerable – was assessed.
I almost hate to think that this is just a coincidence in names of drunken Pakis. If this is the same guy, we can now charge him with reckless endangerment and either throw him in jail, or deport him. Maybe Sukhvinder is a common Paki name. Maybe they all drive drunk. I read a story about the legal problems of an actor named Vincent D’Onofrio. Aha, says I. I know him from Law and Order. Apparently I didn’t. Believe it or else, there’s another actor named Vincent D’Onofrio.
Speaking of names – again…. The Indian reservation just outside my home town, fronts on Lake Huron. Its backside nestles against the Saugeen River. The road signs on the highway declare it to be Chippewa Hill. So the Indians in it are….Ojibwa??!
The little city on the other side of the Bruce Peninsula has two rivers which run into the bay. The Sydenham, a good British stream, from the east, and the Pottawatomi from the west. There is a Pottawatomi Indian tribe….just north of Kansas City, a thousand miles away. Did one of them drunk-ride his horse all the way up here?
Archon's Den 