Now, an unexpected “must read”. The recent book by Ted Bell, “Warlord”. In the Michener-like mold of fictitious characters in real settings, this excellent book brings in everything from Florida prisons to the death of Diana. While I’m not a spelling Nazi, I find typos quite annoying, and by page 380, there was not a single error, not even grammar. What’s gripping is that the author is either a better fact hound than Clancey, or he’s been there.I can bear that out, since he describes localities I’ve been and you don’t get that depth of knowledge from the tour guides. No, I’ve never been to prison, but I’ve been at the intersection of Alton and the causeway. Bell has already supplied me some new vocabulary, such as “shrinkology” and “Sick-ago”. If you like detective novels and don’t read this one, you do yourself a bad turn. Favorite line so far, the two cops discussing if the john doesn’t pay the prosititute, “Is that rape or shoplifting”?
The only flaws are the enormous number of characters and a style that will make this difficult reading in fifty years. At least Bell’s character names are believable, as long as you accept that the entire British aristocracy is taller, smarter and bluer-eyed than the remaining subjects. Plus they have the added advantage of all having been schoolboy chums. But by 2062, there will be no England or USA, so who cares.?
Newest car scams, going beyond the zero payment plug, is the $1,000 low price guaranty. The payment only applies if the car is, among other things, the exact same color, both in and out, with identical options right down to the tires. When’s the last time you saw two such vehicles on nearby lots?
I prefer old cars back when they made them right. Such as this Dodge, year unknown but long before I was born. The radio takes up a full third of the dash. This color is from outer space, but the interior is really nice. Totally restored. Despite the Kansas plates, the rear tags show this to be registered in Florida.Another enlightening viewpoint is the Social Security in Canada, called Canada Pension Plan. Touted as in much better shape than the American counterpart, if you look at the payouts, you’ll know why. Examine the average payment below. That maximum payment is a lousy $930, which only 1.5% of the seniors get. To qualify for the top dollar, you must work full time for 44 years after your 18th birthday.
The average payment is $532, which you cannot possibly live on in Canada. (The desperately poor are “topped off” with a welfare payment called “Old Age Security”. However that carries a set of conditions, one of which is that you reside in Canada, not the Riviera.). I can verify the tax system in Canada is so confiscatory that few people ever really gain over their lifetimes and basically become state dependents after “retirement”. That’s a rather nice way of putting it. If you want to live there, they’ll make damn sure you don’t live anywhere else.
Just when you’ve seen it all. “Pour Me” by Trick Pony had a bass riff during the verses I could not nail down no how. I tried the usual of tuning E down to D and bending to the note. I finally got it, and leave it to you to do the same, but what do you know, a new and refreshing bass run that doesn’t make sense. When you think you’ve got it, you don’t. Hint it is a jazz riff, not a country rock pattern. It’s piano lick for sure because you don’t even hear it the first twenty times you listen, but you know something isn’t quite right as you play along until you find it.
