Author Archives: Sparky
“Treasure” by Clive Cussler
Copyright 1988 by Clive Cussler Enterprises, published by Pocket Books This is a long book – 678 pages in this edition. But I finished it in less than 10 days which is a pretty good indicator of how much I enjoyed it. It isn’t great literature but it sure is a fun beach book. For … Continue reading
Smacked with the palm
No, not the palm of the hand; the royal palm. This morning, while having my second cup of coffee, I was startled by a loud BANG! My first thought was that a bird flew into the side of the RV. But when I stepped out to look, I saw no dead bird. Or anything else … Continue reading
Prepping for the schlepping
We are 12 days away from the start of the Fifth Trip North (TN5). I have abandoned all hope of getting more work done on the shed – including getting the air conditioner installed – but still have a long list of tasks to be completed before we go. I have already done some of … Continue reading
Flowering palms
I was doing some site cleanup yesterday – removing dead fronds from our palm shrubs – and noticed that they are all “flowering”. Not that a palm produces flowers, but they all go through a reproductive phase. Some had pollen-covered “antlers” growing from their stems. But one had pods of what looked like bananas, split … Continue reading
Playing out the string
The park is about half empty now. All activities have ceased. The weather is hot and humid. It seems like we are just waiting until we leave. In sports terms, we are “playing out the string” – not accomplishing anything other than passing time. This feeling is supported by the lack of progress on the … Continue reading
“Running Blind” by Lee Child
Copyright 2000 by Lee Child. Published by Berkley, New York. Yes, another Jack Reacher book. I always expect to be entertained and I am never disappointed. Some of the Reacher books are set during the time when he is in the army, but most are set post-Army when he is an aimless drifter. This one … Continue reading
“Almost Killed by a Train of Thought” by David Benjamin
Last Kid Books, April 2019 This is a collection of essays. That, alone, makes this book unique among the books that I have reviewed. It is also written by a guy I know very well – a good friend who goes way back – he was my best friend in high school. So this will be … Continue reading
Skirt! (a start, anyway)
A finishing touch on our shed (which is far from finished) is putting a “skirt” around the bottom to hide the underside ugliness. It is strictly cosmetic and not vital in any way, but it is also pretty simple and the idea of paying a guy $580 to do it (that was the quote I … Continue reading
“Tick Tock” by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Copyright 2011 by James Patterson, Grand Central Publishing I NEVER read books of the famous-author-and-some-nobody variety because you know damn well that the book was written by the nobody and the famous author is just getting paid to put his name on the book. So I don’t know how this one slipped into my “to … Continue reading
The cost of climate control
No, I am not talking about fixing global warming; I refer to the cost of getting heat and air conditioning in my truck. If you recall, the blower failed – with the mode of failure being that it wouldn’t shut off – in Tennessee on our way south for the winter. I have been driving … Continue reading