My wife knows I like historical fiction books. She found this at Sam’s Club and said, “It sounds like a story you might like.
My first thought was “a piano player during wartime?” Then I read the Goodreads Synopsis:
Pianist: NOUN. Informal. A person who operates or controls a radio transmitter – often in code.
July, 1940
Blitz-ridden London: Marnie Fern’s life is torn apart when her grandfather is killed in an air raid. But once she discovers that he’d been working undercover as a radio operative – or Pianist – for the Dutch resistance, Marnie knows she must complete his mission – no matter the cost…
Nazi-occupied Amsterdam: At the other end of the wireless, fellow pianist Corrie Bakker is caught in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse as she desperately tries to keep her loved ones out of the line of fire – even if it means sacrificing herself…
Bound together by the invisible wires of their radios, the two women lead parallel lives in their home cities, as both are betrayed by those they trust the most. But when the Nazis close in on one of them, only the other can save her…
Two cities. Two spies. But which woman survives?
I enjoyed the book, even though there were a couple times where I thought “would they really be up and walking after that happened to them?” All in all, it was a good read that kept my interest.
I was looking for something for a coworker yesterday and was going through a bunch of thumb drives. I actually found some photos that I had forgotten about. Look at this gem:
Sam and I took a trip down to Cleveland for our anniversary one year. We visited the Christmas Story House and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The photo above was one of those green screen pictures they take when you first walk in. They used this ridiculous pose and put us on stage with a huge crowd in front of us in one picture. My favorite was this one.
This one made me think of the Dr. Hook song “On the Cover of the Rolling Stone.” Neither one of us thought that our pose was good, but it made us laugh, so we bought the pictures. When I found it I actually chuckled out loud remembering the first time we looked at it.
That was a fantastic trip! It reminds me that we are overdue for a getaway for the two of us!
Sometimes I get so focused on other things that I forget about me. Now I’m not saying there’s a lot going on in my life, but it’s been busy.
Many of my readers know that I am taking Bible classes. The course is a 3-year course with three semesters each year. I recently finished up the second semester of the second year and have moved on to the third semester. My hope is to keep the pace and finish up here within the next year.
Some of the classes have tests that go with them. Some of them do not. The course is designed so that you will be ready to preach if that is what you choose to do. I am currently in the last semester of the preparation and delivery of sermons class. There are no more tests involved in that class so I could literally watch the classes back to back and finish up sooner than expected.
It’s been an interesting journey. Early on when I began, it always seemed like there was something going on that took me away from being able to get it all done. At work, I get an hour break and each class is about an hour. I have made it a point to use my lunch hour as my school time and it’s working.
ADHD
I have to give props to those people in the mental health field. Life for me, has been very different since discovering that I have adult ADHD. I know that some people are against taking medications, however, I feel like I’m more myself even though we are still tweaking doses and medications.
A month ago I thought we were very very close, but I had some lingering issues. So my doctor tried a different ADHD medication. After about 2 weeks, I knew that I felt better on the previous medication.
Yesterday I met with her again and we’re going to try something else. You would think that the trial and error process would be frustrating, and it can be sometimes. However, with all of the different tweaks I know that we are getting closer to where I need to be.
Most guys might say it’s a guy thing to start something and forget about finishing it. However, that’s one of my biggest ADHD issues. So we are working towards correcting that.
Hopefully, soon
Uncle Again
Sam’s sister has had a pretty rough pregnancy. When she was at our house for the 4th of July, she looked so miserable.
On Sunday night, they went to the hospital because something wasn’t right. They kept her overnight for observation. Then it was decided that they were going to induce labor.
Over the course of the next day or so, they went from inducing labor to stopping labor and then starting it back up again and stopping it again and so on… She just wasn’t progressing like they had hoped. Finally, yesterday my newest nephew was born.
I worked yesterday, but my wife took my daughter up to see the new baby. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited she was to meet her cousin, and to hold him. When she got back home, they video chatted with me. All she kept telling me was how soft the baby was!
The word is that she’ll be out of the hospital sometime today. I’m hoping to get the chance to meet him very soon.
Plenty of Pasta
On Saturday, Sam’s adopted twin brothers had their open house. Originally, they were going to do a joint open house with a friend of theirs at a hall. I guess that fell through.
They had told Sam’s mom that they really didn’t want to do an open house. I am guessing that after talking to friends who had an open house, they realized that in those cards was cash and they decided they wanted an open house. Lol
Everybody pitched in. One sister-in-law brought a brisket, my brother-in-law brought macaroni and cheese, My mother-in-law and father-in-law made pulled pork and fried chicken, and I was the pasta man.
Despite working late on Friday, I was up early on Saturday boiling pasta noodles. Once they were done, I put them in a container and we made our way over to Sam’s mom’s house to set up for the party.
I had asked my mother-in-law if she wanted me to make the sauce as well. She said I didn’t have to do that, she was just going to get sauce from the store. I guess afterward, their friends were talking about how good the pasta was. My mother-in-law laughed because it was really just noodles and Ragu!
Is the Novelty Worth It?
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that I tend to feature a lot of music. Some folks have said music is life, and I tend to believe that. I can’t imagine life without music.
That being said, I was toying around with an idea that stemmed from a feature my friend Nancy did on her blog. She had Weird Al Wednesdays where she featured a different Weird Al song every week.
Her posts got a lot of reactions from her readers and I wondered how you felt about novelty songs in general. My thought process was maybe featuring a different novelty song once a week. Wacky Wednesday, or Silly Sunday.
I don’t know, I just feel like there’s a whole lot less laughter in the world these days. So many people are stressed out about what’s going on in the world, what’s going on in their lives, and stressing just to get through the day. I thought maybe a feature like this would bring a laugh that may change the attitude of the day. What do you think?
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again – being a father isn’t easy. For the record, neither is being a mother. Someone sent this to me after a phone conversation recently. I was saying how exhausted I was and how I felt like I wasn’t doing enough to make a difference, among other things. This arrived in an e-mail and I wish I knew who wrote it to give them credit.
I know I really needed to read this, and if you are a dad – you may need it, too:
Dear Dad, You’re Not Failing
Dear Dad,
You’re tired. I know. You’ve been trying to be everything for everyone — the helper, the provider, the rock, the fixer.
And some days you go to bed thinking you didn’t do enough. That you weren’t present enough. That you raised your voice. That you weren’t patient.
But I need you to hear this: You’re not failing.
You are learning. You are adjusting. You are loving — deeply, even if you don’t always know how to say it.
I’ve seen you hold your child like you’re afraid to break them. I’ve seen you make the bottle with half-open eyes at 3 a.m. I’ve seen you come home from a hard day and still ask, “How can I help?”
You’re not failing. You’re trying. And that counts for everything.
You are the quiet hero in the background. The steady beat in the family rhythm.
So please — give yourself the grace you offer to everyone else.
You are more than enough. You are doing a great job. And you are loved.
I have written about Linda a couple times on this blog. Both times were in connection with Dave Ruch’s music feature, Turntable Talk. The first one can be found here. The second one is here.
I have always loved her voice and was devastated when I heard she could no longer sing. It seems like her music has always ben a part of my life. Until I looked at a list of her songs, I didn’t realize just how many covers she did. Blue Bayou, When Will I Be Loved, It’s So Easy, Just One Look, Tracks of My Tears, Poor Poor Pitiful Me, That’ll Be The Day, Desperado, and so many others were all cover songs!
Her albums with Nelson Riddle are among my favorites. She had hoped to do one more album with him, but he passed away. So she took those songs and made the album, Hummin’ To Myself. One of my favorite cuts from that album is, I’ll Be Seeing You. It’s a beautiful song by a beautiful lady.
It was on this day in 1881 that Billy the Kid was shot dead by police.
His story is one of fascination and uncertainty. Eyewitness history says that prior to his death “Billy worked as a ranch hand for John Tunstall. Tunstall befriended the Kid acting in many ways as a surrogate father. Tunstall’s ambush and murder in 1878 by a sheriff’s posse set the Kid off on a path of revenge. His first victims were the sheriff and his deputy, killed from ambush on the streets of Lincoln. On the run for two years, the Kid was eventually captured, tried, convicted and returned to Lincoln to hang for the murders.
On the evening of April 28, 1881 as he was climbing the steps returning him to his cell, the Kid made a mad dash, grabbed a six-shooter and shot his guard. Hearing the shots, a second guard ran from across the street only to be gunned down by the Kid standing on the balcony above him. Mounting a horse, he galloped out of town and into history.”
After his escape he was pursued by sheriff, Pat Garrett. “I knew the desperate character of the man,” Garrett later wrote. “That he was daring and unscrupulous, and that he would sacrifice the lives of a hundred men who stood between him and liberty, when the gallows stared him in the face, with as little compunction as he would kill a coyote.”
That July, Garrett and his deputies followed the outlaw’s trail to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and to a ranch owned by Peter Maxwell. On that fateful night, Garrett snuck into Maxwell’s home and found the rancher in bed. There, in the dark, the sheriff suddenly heard someone else approaching. He hardly had time to react when a shadowy figure appeared in the doorway and demanded in Spanish to know who else was there.
“That’s him,” Maxwell whispered to Garrett, so the sheriff raised his gun.
Billy the Kid died that night at the age of 21, shot near the heart as he lurched into Maxwell’s bedroom. But despite several people coming forward in the subsequent days to identify his body, it didn’t take long for rumors to circulate that Billy the Kid had actually escaped death — again.
Emilio Estevez starred as Billy the Kid in the 1988 film, Young Guns and the 1990 sequel. A third installment is currently in the works with Estevez returning again as the Kid.
For the sequel, Emilio Estevez asked Jon Bon Jovi for permission to use the song “Wanted: Dead or Alive” in the movie. Bon Jovi didn’t feel the song’s lyrics were appropriate; however, he was inspired by the project and resolved to write a new song for the film that would be more in keeping with the period and setting. He quickly wrote the song “Blaze of Glory”, and performed it on acoustic guitar in the Utah desert for Estevez and screenwriter John Fusco. John loved it and put it in the movie.
Fun Fact: Bon Jovi wrote the song on a napkin in a diner on the set of Young Guns II. Emilio Estevez has it framed on a wall at his home.
Bon Jovi ended up recording a whole album of songs inspired by Young Guns II, which was released a week after the film and also called Blaze of Glory. It was his first solo album, and it sold over 2 million copies. To play on the album, Jon recruited some big names, including Elton John, Little Richard and Jeff Beck, who played slide guitar on this track.
Sources: Songfacts, All That’s Interesting, Eyewitness History.
You may remember me mentioning my kids painting with colored ice recently. I was surprised this week when a “postcard” arrived for me.
He had a bit of help from mommy, but his message warmed my heart.
He calls me “Big Fella” all the time now. The kids on Bluey called their dad that once and it has stuck with him. I started calling him “Little Fella” now, which makes him laugh.
One morning he had crawled into bed next to me and said, “Time to get up, Daddio!” That had me cracking up! All of a sudden he’s a 50’s hipster!
Now, to be clear – I’m not necessarily sharing my tools. Recently I went out to the garage looking for a pair of pliers and they were gone. They were in HIS tool box. Also in his tool box was a hammer, my crescent wrench, about 6 screwdrivers and my box of drill bits!
It’s been a while since I posted a book recommendation. I slowed down a bit over the past couple weeks as I was finishing up a semester of my bible classes and taking exams.
In searching for my next read, I had scrolled through my Goodreads “want to read” list. This one had been on their for a while – Murder on Black Swan Lane. It looked “Sherlock Holmes-ish,” so I read it.
I had no idea that this was part of a series of books. I lucked out because it is the first of the Wrexford and Sloane series. It was written in 2017. Andrea Penrose had put out a Wrexford and Sloane novel every year since, with the latest due out this year. That will bring the series up to 9 mysteries.
I was right in my thoughts that it was Holmes-ish. It takes place in England and would be considered “Regency-era historical fiction.” Before I move on here is the Goodreads synopsis:
In Regency London, an unconventional scientist and a fearless female artist form an unlikely alliance to expose unspeakable evil . . .
The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London’s most popular satirical cartoonist, A.J. Quill, skewers them both. But then the clergyman is found slain in a church—his face burned by chemicals, his throat slashed ear to ear—and Wrexford finds himself the chief suspect.
The thing I liked about this was that it broke away from the “norm.” Instead of there being a murder and a detective swoops in to solve the crime, the main suspect has to solve it to save himself. You see the story from a whole new angle. The suspect is in a race against time to put together the pieces before he is arrested and tried for a crime he didn’t commit.
The book was not one of those “find out who the killer is on the last page” books. Whether you consider that a spoiler or not, I don’t know. I will just say that the way everything falls into place adds to the excitement and leaves you waiting for the next adventure.
As a customer, all I ask is that you do your job right the first time. If I have to call you more than twice, you will be speaking to “Angry Keith.” Honestly, I feel bad for the “smiling customer care representative” who answers my call.
We’ve used the same physical therapy place for both of our kids. With each one, they have messed up the billing. My insurance is the primary, Sam’s is the secondary. When we call about a bill they either don’t have both insurances or they bill the wrong one. The call always goes the same way – they ask for all the insurance information and say that they will correct the problem.
We received a fourth or fifth bill for my daughter this week. It was for over $2100. They still have not billed it right. So, today I called from work on my break. I explain the situation once again to the lady who answered the phone. She puts me on hold to look at the case. When she returns, she tells me once again that the primary insurance is out of state or out of network, so that is why they billed the secondary and why the secondary only covered part of it.
What this poor soul does not know is that I called my insurance company before I called her. I had them look for any attempts for the therapy place to bill them. The statement is for therapy sessions dating back to November of last year. Surprise, the insurance company says that the only bill that they received was in April of this year. It was covered and all we owed was the co-pay. That is what was supposed to happen with all of the other visits.
I asked the lady at the therapy place if they had billed all of the dates on the statement to my insurance. She says that they did and some claim committee (whatever that is) reviewed this and said that my insurance was out of state/network and that is why they told them to bill the secondary. At this point I kind of lose it.
I tell the woman on the phone that I talked to my insurance company and they never were billed until April. I said that I wanted to speak with someone on this “committee.” She told me, “I’m sorry, sir, but they don’t speak with customers and we can only communicate with them through e-mail.”
“Of course,” I said, “Because they certainly don’t want to speak with a customer like me. They don’t want to admit their mistake, their lie, and have to actually pay for the service that IS COVERED!”
I said a few other choice words, but said, “I need to to e-mail those bigshots on the committee and tell them to rebill those dates of service to the primary insurance, who stated that they have covered the first and only bill they have received from you. You can also tell them that if this isn’t rectified, I will go up the ladder – even if I have to e-mail them!”
If I had a dollar for every time the woman said “I’m sorry,” “I understand your frustration,” or “I will get this taken care of,” I could pay off the bill!
The kicker? After listening to me rant for what seemed like 20 minutes, she then says, “Is there anything else I can help you with, today?” Seriously?!? You didn’t help me with anything today! Even if I had another problem, I wouldn’t ask you to help me with it.
One thing I hate about working second shift is I lose Friday nights. One thing that was a very common thing for us to do on Friday nights when we first moved up to the area was go to the local hockey game.
We moved up to the Flint area in about 1999. There was a minor league hockey team called the Flint Generals. Watching these guys was an absolute blast. There was no bad seat in the arena. These guys would be hitting the glass right in front of you.
Our station used to sponsor games there. We gave away tickets all the time. It was a cheap night of fun. At some point, and I don’t remember exactly what the details of it were, team was disbanded. This left the town without a hockey team.
Now today we have a very successful hockey team called The Flint Firebirds. It’s very similar to the hockey that we watched when the Generals were around. Up north in Saginaw, they have the Saginaw Spirit and they’re kind of our rivals. The team actually plays pretty well, however the tickets aren’t as cheap as that used to be and neither is the concessions. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a game.
I tell you all of that, to tell you this. In between the Firebirds and the Generals, there was a short-lived team. This team was the Michigan Warriors. It was in a league that was lower than the other two teams, and it was mainly college kids playing. You might see a fight now and then, but it wasn’t as often as the other two teams. It still made for a good night out.
When the news broke that there was another hockey team coming to town, they had a contest or something who name the mascot. The mascot was a skeleton and that went right along with the logo of the team. Eventually, they called the mascot Skully. My kids absolutely loved him.
Whoever they had inside that suit was just absolutely fantastic with people. I really miss those games.
Somewhere in my basement, is my Michigan warriors jersey, which probably won’t fit me anymore!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 