Author Archives: Sparky
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
Lights!
The shed was given electricity last week and, shortly thereafter, acquired lights as well – two shop lights which gave off a surprising amount of illumination. We will have plenty of light by which to do laundry, even at night. The electricity was provided by an electrician, all properly permitted and inspected. I installed the … Continue reading
TN5 plan
The plan for the fifth trip north (TN5) has us towing the RV 1,732 miles in 15 days and 7 hops, from Fort Myers FL to Conway NH. It will be a relatively quick trip, the compressed span being necessitated by our obligation to be in NH by Memorial Day and our interest in getting … Continue reading
Plans for summer 2019
Last summer was spent hanging out in Phillipston MA, which was great because it was close to the summer cottage of Jett’s brother and his wife. The time spent at the cottage was wonderful. But the rest of the time was rather boring. The summer of 2017 was spent touring New England and then taking … Continue reading