Odd Policeman and the Apocalypse

Just finished reading a great trilogy, and I rarely get invested in any book that has an immediate sequel.  This series is worth it.

"The Last Policeman,"  "Countdown City" and "World of Trouble" are the three titles in Ben H. Winters' trilogy about a lone policeman trying to retain his moral compass when the world is, seriously, about to end.  The literary conceit is that an asteroid is flying towards the earth and without a doubt will hit and destroy life as earth knows it.  In the first book, the asteroid is about 18 months out.  Things are falling apart, people have taken off to fulfill life-long dreams, have left their jobs, their families.  The foundations of civilization are crumbling faster than a stale shortbread cookie.  Police departments, fire departments, hospitals, utilities are all failing.  But in this slowly sinking boat is Henry ("Hank") Palace, a true detective and an  honest one.  He is randomly assigned a suspicious death, one that every other cop would write off as a suicide, especially since no one cares anymore about unimportant deaths.  But Palace feels a duty to find out what happened to this person, and off he goes to investigate.  Along the way he sees how the impending apocalypse is turning the world inside out.

The first of the three novels catches you.  The second leads you on and the third is deathly dark, almost depressing in its portrayal of the depths to which humanity has sunk.  By the start of the third novel "World of Trouble" the asteroid is one week away from slamming into the earth.  There is no electricity, no communication system, no food and no water available except what people have hoarded.  Money has no value.  A jug of water is worth a life.

Hank Palace knows that everyone is a few days away from annihilation and he is just about ready to phone it in, to walk down a road and die on the plains but an old friend asks for his help in finding someone.  And Hank realizes that he also needs to find his sister, a renegade wild child that he needs to see before the End of Days.  So he sets off, with just a bike and a small dog, to track down two people before everything ends.

Hank reminded me of Will Kane, the marshal in the movie "High Noon" who faced his nemesis alone, without the support of his townies.  Hank Palace knows it is all for nothing but his moral code will not let him dismiss someone's search for the truth. It isn't that Hank is a hero. He simply wants to know the answers to the questions. In his heart, he is a cop and he believes in right and wrong. As he faces the end of everything, he is not immune from taking the law into his own hands, and he  knows he will have blood on his hands, but he also knows he has done the right thing for the people he cares about.

This is a really good series. The descriptions of the breakdown in the structure of the world, how people (fictional) deal with the end of their world, the chaos and deprivation that ensue, are brilliant. Hank is the most well-drawn character, but every character in the trilogy is very well done, very clear, very real.  If you decide to read this, definitely start with the first book, "The Last Policeman" and if you are not ready to read book 2 and 3 right after that, I will be surprised.  Yes, the asteroid could be construed as a gimmick, but it never seems that way. It seems feasible and honest. It isn't science fiction, it never gets into that territory. Hard to explain but very easy to like.

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End of complaining

The complaining posts about the  upcoming roommate have been deleted.  Too caustic and negative.  Not that I will now be all positive and nice, we all know that isn't going to happen.  But it's time to get back to real stuff, like books and food and friends.

So I will.  Later.

Thinking about time and memory

There was an excellent article in the NY Times today, written by a man whose Mom has Alzheimer's and how he was trying to cope with it in a less sad and terrible way. The link to the article is at the bottom and it is really worth reading.  He tried to join his mother in her randomly wacky moments and in doing so he found that the disease had moments that were less scary, less frustrating and less sad.

I have been thinking a lot about time and memory lately. Turning 65 makes you think about every malady that could occur: Alzheimer's, dementia, cancer, stroke, heart disease, death by gray hair. It also makes you think about every good thing that you want to do and it makes you promise yourself that you will do some of them: travel, join the gym (once you are confident you know where you will be residing,) eat better, drink better (not less,) travel more, read better books, walk faster, travel to Paris, look at the sky more often and, finally, travel.  (Theme?)

Time and money.  And plans.  And memory.  Joseph Campbell said "We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us."   Life is the only thing that is next.  That life, that one that is waiting for us, is just out there. It is all there is, that life. The past is that: over.  Memories are good tools to keep us in touch with the past but life is what's out there.

So, when you lose those memories, when Alzheimer's sets in, where is your future?  Where is that life? What is left?
And why?

Just me, thinking.  Here is the link, this is a very good article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/opinion/sunday/my-mother-lost-and-found.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

With hesitation I say this: I have a roommate!

Yes, it seems I have a roommate!  I am sort of holding my breath, not really waiting for her to change her mind but this whole process has been so ....  fraught with weirdness, so even typing this might incur the Curse of the Roommate Karma Gods.  But I don't think so, she liked the house and the landlords approved her and she seems happy about this outcome.

I won't give you any details other than she is my age minus a year, which is so much better (for me) than a 20-something student.

That's all for now. I am going to have another tiny delicious Margarita in my small, quiet celebratory way, make a salad and watch something strange on TV.  I will fill you in on the details as they become solidified.

Sigh......

And thanks, all of you who read this, for hanging in there, reading this, following along, projecting your good thoughts out into the universe for me.  As you know, I recently just sort of waved my hands at all of this, let it go, asked my universal friends to help out, stopped worrying about it and finally the tiles aligned and things clicked and it seems good. 

xo

"Hector and the Search for Happiness", a movie

A good friend recommended this movie and you can get it on Netflix, streaming, for free.  Lovely, funny, poignant, nothing too serious except the question of "what is happiness" which is, of course, impossible to answer. And therein lies the movie. 

Seriously, check it out.  You, all of you, will like it unless all you really watch are Arnold movies about Cyborgs and rat-people or you only like documentaries about the NRA or how glue is made.  Otherwise, I think everyone will like this movie. Not love it, mind you, but like it. Some of you will like it a lot.  

Happy Independence Day.  Be independent.  Create your own Declaration! Fire off your own works.  (Whatever that means.)  Make like John Hancock and sign something!

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Maple Syrup Sunset

Yes, I know those three words, maple + syrup + sunset don't go together but the sunset just now was so incredibly gorgeous and familiar in a nostalgic way that maple syrup came to mind.  Be glad I didn't toss in 'bacon' along the way.

Reading over my earlier post of today, I want to almost apologize for the tone of part of it.  When I was talking about applying for a new place to live, turning in my applications for cottages, it sounded like I was whining. (Actually, yes, I was whining.)  "Oh, sad me, these mean landlord/owners/managers are being so harsh, not granting me what a I want!"  What a crock.  They have the right to do whatever they want, it's their property.  I am simply an applicant (and sometimes a supplicant) and trying to be hopeful.  It came off whining.  Sorry about that.

I am one of the lucky ones. As my good friend Stacey reported, only one in three people, pretty much around the world, have working toilets.(See it here:  http://time.com/3942630/toilets-who-unicef-report/)  Thus, what do I have to whine about?  NOTHING!

It always amazes me that when I flush the toilet, the poop goes away.  We lucky few do not have to worry about where it goes, it just zips down that drain and out of our lives.  No more "Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo" for us, no matter how nice that poo is. To think about the above article, to really understand the ramifications of open defecation which is practiced in a lot of the world, means to 100% bow our collective heads at the power of septic and sewage treatments.

Enough said.  I stick with the heat and the CICGC part of the previous post because part of that is worth checking out but I take back all the whining parts of the looking for a new place to live.  Except the part about seeing places for rent that I would not let a snake inhabit. Seriously.  Rats, yes.  A poisonous snake, OK.  But a nice, harmless garter or gopher snake, no way. Substandard is substandard for all living creatures unless those creatures are either substandard (like rats) or harmful to us, like those killer snakes.  Otherwise, bring it up to code!

that's all.  Except one more thing:  Spinster Sisters here in SR: a glass of cold dry Chenin Blanc, some perfect fries, the local newspaper and a good friend = a lovely evening.  Great restaurant, great wine list, great french fries.

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Hot Roommate Comedy

First, I know I have mentioned this before, but if you haven't watched any of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" you should.  Jerry Seinfeld hosts it, so you sort of need to like him to like the show.  You can watch it on your computer or, if you do the Roku thing, it is on Crackle.  This one is particularly good, two really smart men being very funny.  Check it out: http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/bill-maher-the-comedy-team-of-smug-and-arrogant

The heat:  there is nothing to say except Global Warming.  Hot, hot, hot.  The Santa Rosa house has not one leaf of shade, so once it gets hot, it stays hot.  It was 86 in the house when I got home last night at 9:00 and it was 76 this morning at 6:30.  Fans on all night, went to sleep in a wet tank top.  Hot, hot, hot.  Oh well, at least there is running water, no head lice and I can sit outside until 10:00 and read a bit on the patio.  It was nice OUTSIDE, just not INSIDE.

A couple of young women are sort of interested in being a roommate and separately, I have put in applications on three  cottages in the area.  The problem I have is that my income is so low that I usually get disqualified right up front.  Most places want you to have an income of three times the rent, which would mean grossing over $3500 a month and I make way less than that.  I show them my investment statement which has a small chunk of money it in and that sometimes helps but not often.  Even with ZERO debt, no outstanding credit card balances,  no loans, no loan sharks, perfect landlord references, really high credit score, it's very difficult to qualify for one of these 400 square foot, overpriced cottages. Or they like me but they don't take dogs.  Or they like me and they take dogs but it's a place I wouldn't let a snake live in. However,  I remain hopeful and positive, the above sentences  notwithstanding.  Either a cottage will appear, an apartment will appear or a roommate will appear. Obviously, I am waiting for an apparition and I am confident one will show itself to me!

OK, back to work, there are hungry hotel guests waiting for their crispy poached egg on a bed of summer succotash and house made sausage.  Isn't customer service grand!!!


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