+ I recently ordered new, to me, entries in mystery book series I had read back in the 80s and early 90s – the Father Koestler series by William X Kienzle and Simon Brett’s Charles Paris books. I did not keep track of these series over the years and was not aware that they were ongoing into the new millennium.
I met Simon Brett in the 1980s at a murder mystery week-end I attended with my uncle at the Mohawk Mountain House in New Paltz NY. He portrayed one of the characters in the “It’s Murder, Jeeves” mystery. Participants like my uncle and I were organized in teams who interrogated the suspects, all famous mystery writers, at staged events and came up with a solution that was that was presented to the group. My team’s solution was “It’s Jeeves’ Murder” – the butler did it. I do not remember who the murderer turned out to be, but it was not Jeeves.
Also, at the week-end event was Stephen King and his family. King was not a character in the mystery – his family was there so his teen-aged sons could participate on one of the mystery-solving teams. He and his family were very down-to-earth and showed no indication that he was a multi-millionaire (who actually earned his money) celebrity. And Ed McBain, aka Evan Hunter (neither were his real name), who I had met earlier on a QE2 mystery cruise, was also there as a character in the story.
Some of the mystery writers gave lectures during the week-end (as themselves). During Simon Brett’ presentation he told a humorous story of a day out with his infant son.
Simon was out for a walk in the park with his son, carrying him in a “backwards papoose” baby carrier, with his son positioned on his chest instead of his back facing his father. Simon had a “call of nature” and headed into a public restroom to a row of urinals. On each side of the urinals was a divider, the top of which was just above Simon’s shoulders.
While he was “taking care of business” a man entered the rest room and went to a urinal three down from Simon.
The baby, who had been sleeping, opened his eyes and looked up at his father. Simon acknowledged his son by smiling, looking down and saying out loud, “Hello my big boy!”.
The fellow pee-er turned his head toward Simon and gave him a strange look. Apparently, he could not see the infant on Simon’s chest, who was hidden by the divider.
At a book signing event, that also included King, I presented one of my Charles Paris books to Simon Brett for signature. My uncle had acquired the book I presented via his subscription to a book club. Brett immediately identified and acknowledged the book as coming from a club because of its size – slightly smaller than “normal” hardcovers sold in books stores. I think authors received a smaller commission from books sold via clubs.
I look forward to some good fall reading.
+ Ignorance and stupidity are not a crime. But ignorance and stupidity are truly a danger.
Ignorance and stupidity are a danger to the health and safety of the ignorant/stupid themselves, to their families, to their communities, and to the country.
One of the main problems in America today is
the severe ignorance and stupidity of too many of its citizens.
+ It seems there is a day for everything. Last Wednesday, September 29th, was National Coffee Day. National Coffee Day shouldn’t be confused with International Coffee Day, which was October 1st, originally created by the International Coffee Organization and launched in Milan.
My fellow tax blogger Kelly Phillips Erb, aka TaxGirl, provided “8 Fun Facts About Coffee and Taxes for International Coffee Day” (not National Coffee Day) at her Bloomberg,com blog. She points out that “Coffee is considered the most popular drink in the world, with about two billion cups of coffee consumed each day.”
KPE also told us –
“While we don’t exactly know the origin of coffee as a drink, legend suggests that it began in Ethiopia. There, a goat herder named Kaldi noticed that his goats were more energetic after eating berries from a particular tree. Kaldi shared this information with the abbot of the local monastery, who made a drink out of the berries. Finding that the drink kept him alert, the monk also shared the word, and coffee eventually spread around the globe.”
Thanks, KPE, for the word.
+ An employer – be it a government agency or a private or public business – has a legal and moral obligation to protect the health and safety of its employees, vendors, customers, and clients. This includes requiring employees to get vaccinations and mask mandates for employees, vendors, customers and clients.
If you do not want to wear a mask or get
vaccinated that is your right, and your problem. But it does not negate the obligation of the employer
– and employers have a legal and moral right to ban you from employment that
involves interaction with others or from entering their facilities if you
refuse to get vaccinated or wear a mask.
TAFN
