Author Archives: Sparky
“Trojan Odyssey” by Clive Cussler
Copyright 2003 by Sandecker RILLP. Published by GP Putnam & Sons, New York. This is #17 (of 27) in the series of adventure/fantasy novels by Clive Cussler featuring Dirk Pitt, Special Activities Director of NUMA, the National Underwater Marine Administration. I was surprised that there are 10 to follow this one because (spoiler alert) in … Continue reading
Four nights in Kissimmee
In case you don’t know Kissimmee is a town very close to Orlando. You might consider it a suburb of Orlando. And it is very close to Disney World and Universal Studios. We spent four nights there. Why? Because we got a “free” stay in a timeshare resort. Yes, we had to sit through a … Continue reading
Three festivals
There are two big annual festivals in south central Florida: the Swamp Cabbage Festival in Labelle in February and the Sugar Festival in Clewiston in March. They are similar in that they have a lot of food trucks and vendors of a variety of goods and trinkets and they both have some really fine live … Continue reading
“Separation of Power” by Vince Flynn
Copyright 2001 by Vince Flynn. Published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc, New York. This is the 5th in the series of books by Vince Flynn that features Mitch Rapp, a CIA assassin. Yes, a CIA assassin. I am not so naive to believe that our government never kills anyone, but, … Continue reading
I am not a loser!
That sounds like a mantra and I should probably say that to myself every day while I shave. I believe that am not a loser and two recent events reinforce that belief. First, the 2024 senior softball season ended with my team having a 9-9 record. Not a winning record, but not a losing record … Continue reading
Replacing the toilet. Again.
If you have been following my adventures long enough you will remember that the extensive repairs to the RV in 2018 included replacement of the half-bath toilet. This was a $500 repair item. That toilet started dripping from the water connection, occasionally, almost immediately, prompting me to put a cup under the connection to catch … Continue reading
2023 blog booklet
2023 was a year of extensive travel, though none of the travel was by RV. The amount of travel and the large number of photos posted in the blog necessitated breaking the booklet into two sections: 2023-1: Includes the transatlantic cruise (TC2) and the auto trip north (TN9) 2023-2: Includes the auto trip south (TS9), … Continue reading
Carnival Conquest wrapup
I have been very busy since the end of the Carnival Conquest journey so I am a bit tardy in my wrapup. I know you were on the edge of your seat… Highlights: Lowlights: My favorite ports were Curacao and Grenada, two islands that I like very much. The new ports – Antigua and Barbados … Continue reading
“Twisted” by Jonathan Kellerman
Copyright 2004 by Jonathan Kellerman. Published by Ballantine Books, New York. I was expecting this to be a mystery featuring Alex Delaware, Kellerman’s most popular protagonist. But it is actually his second novel featuring Petra Connor, a female detective in Hollywood CA. Delaware is mentioned several times but does not appear as a character in … Continue reading
A laptop death in the family
My laptop died 4 days ago. It was working fine, with about half the battery time remaining. I closed the top and put it on the charger. An hour later I took it off the charger and tried to start it. Nothing. Put it back on the charger but the light indicating that it was … Continue reading »