A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne: A Review

As I approach old age (I'm going to be 72 on the 23^rd of this month.), I know that I am not a homophobe. In fact, I have several dear friends and acquaintances that I know to be beautiful people who follow alternate life-styles. But, that being said, I would say that I have very little interest in reading novels from the category “Gay Literature.” And, I wasn't far into this read when it struck me that that was what I was reading.

I had been led to the book by a list of the 50 best books of 2018 on the Esquire web site. It's 40 or more years since I last subscribed to that magazine and I immediately wondered if maybe it had in the interim turned into a gay magazine. I mean, things happen.

I went back to the novel's amazon page and scrolled down. Sure enough, it was highly rated in the category of LGBT Fiction. But, it was also ranked in Psychological Literary Fiction. So, I read on. And I'm glad I did.

As the book went on, gayness became less and less a factor and the characters took over. On the amazon scale, I gave this 5 stars and it restored my faith in the Esquire list.

The Woman In The Window by A. J. Finn: A Review

A woman confined to her home who watches her neighbors through her windows witnesses a murder. To be honest, this whole scenario wreaked of same-old same-old at first glance. But, I was wrong and it didn't take long for me to become engrossed in this expertly conceived plot. NO SPOILERS HERE! So, suffice it to say there's a reason The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn wound up on multiple best reads lists.

Review: No-No Boy by John Okada

No-No Boy

by John Okada

Five Stars: “For me, the discovery of John's (Okada) 1957 novel was like a white writer feeling gloomy and alone in a literary history, discovering Mark Twain. No-No Boy proved I wasn't the only yellow writer in yellow history.” Thus wrote Frank Chin in 1976, referring to the discovery of Okada's ground-breaking novel in a second-hand bookstore in Seattle.

You may have heard of the Japanese interment, yet you might not have realized the devastating effects of that interment on those Americans victimized by it.

This seminal contribution to Asian-American Literature opened my eyes. Maybe, it'll open yours, too.

Review: Woman Hollering Creek: And Other Stories

Woman Hollering Creek: And Other Stories

by Sandra Cisneros

Five Stars: At a time when our President, Donald J. Trump, insists on dehumanizing our Mexican neighbors, this seminal contribution to Latino-American Literature is more relevant than ever. In this collection of stories, which often read more like poetry than prose, Sandra Cisneros reveals the souls of the Mexican people and their beautiful natures.

Pasco Tree and Crane Service - A Thumbs Down Review

They Fooled Me Once. Don't Let Them Fool You

Having just moved into a house, we've had to seek the service of various local companies - a plumber, a sprinkler service, a lawn and landscaping service, a concrete contractor, and, unfortunately, a tree service, the latter to remove some large trees from the property.

Let's get this straight, they can remove trees. Of course, during that part of the operation the boss/owner was there. Though he didn't identify himself as such, he was operating the crane. Unfortunately, when his work was done he left, leaving the stump grinding to his son and his crew. They don't have the same sense of honor nor the impulse to do good work as the owner. Not realizing this, I was operating under the premise that they wanted to do a good job for me. That's why when their foreman Sean approached me and suggested that instead of hauling away the chips from the biggest tree, a camphor tree, it might be a good idea for him to spread them around so the lawn, once sod was placed on top of the chips, would slope away from the house. It sounded like a good idea to me, so I said okay. That was a mistake. One, I didn't realize the mass of chips that stump and its roots would produce; and two, I didn't realize, as my landscaper later told me, that sod would not grow on top of the camphor chips and that it would take 5 or 6 years for the chips to compost.

My landscaper figured that PTCS had just been trying to save the cost of disposing of the chips. I think they were just lazy. BTW, did I mention that they covered a few of my sprinkler heads?

Anyway, I called the company and explained that my landscaper had told me the chips would have to be hauled away before sod was laid down and wondered if they would come back and pick up the chips. I was told they would get back to me, but they didn't. They weren't inclined to come back. Why should they? They had been paid their $2,000+.

I wanted to make sure I was operating under the proper premise regarding wood chips and sod so I googled for answers. It's pretty clear that it is not a good idea to place sod over wood chips. Check out this video:



And this article: How to Plant Sod Grass Over Tree Stump Grindings which suggests you "Remove any large wood chunks or sticks from the area. Remove as much of the wood chips and sawdust as possible and work the remainder into the soil."

So, I asked my landscaper to remove the chips. He and his two helpers did so for $275. In the process of removing the chips they uncovered parts of the tree, roots and stumps, that hadn't been ground down below ground level. He suggested I call PTCS and tell them to come back and finish the job. I called and was told by the girl who answered the phone that she would get back to me after she conferred with the men. She didn't get back to me. Before I called again, I emailed them some pictures.

That produced the desired effect. The boss came out to examine the unfinished job and told me they would be out the next day to finish the job the way it should have been finished the first time. They did. I was so pleased with the outcome that I was tempted to give this review a slight boost but, in his haste to leave the property, the foreman ran over a lawn sprinkler that he had been told he had to avoid. As a consequence, I continue to rate them "Avoid". If you do decide to use them, do so with caution.

Review: The Valley View Dental Consortium of Hudson, FL

My lowest rating: Avoid 

Are we supposed to address dentists as "Doctor" this or "Doctor" that. Probably not - they're just dentists. Anyway, my nightmare began when my previous dentist, an ex-marine who always treated me square, went out of business one day without notifying his patients and abruptly closed up his office. I was due for a cleaning so I called Valley View Dental. Oy vey!

To be honest, I've neglected my teeth most of my life and only for the last several years have I been taking care of them like I should have all along - brushing three times a day, flossing, rinsing with tartar control mouthwash. At 70, I can finally say "I'm on top of it."

No, these are not my teeth.

So, what I'm looking for from my dental consortium, unless I have an emergency of some kind, is a cleaning every 6 months, and a free toothbrush. Thank you very much. Cleaning my teeth isn't all that much work since my upkeep prevents much in the way of tartar buildup between visits. Candy, the girl at my previous dentist's office and Miranda at Valley View agreed on this. Unfortunately, dentist Wilson Maddoff of Valley View Dental wasn't happy with this arrangement. He decided it was necessary to improve my dental health - big time.

First, he decided the cleanings I was getting from Miranda were not sufficient. What I needed now was a deep cleaning. Cost? A slight difference, he said, but it would be well worth it. Later, his assistant informed me that the deep cleaning was going to cost me $1500. I went along with it.

Next, after that was all done he decided I needed some whitening. Really? You'll be amazed at the difference it makes, he said. Now, I've always been a realist when it came to my teeth. I do not have a Hollywood smile and my teeth, except for one souvenir of a long ago root canal which is brown, are hardly what you would call white. So, I went for it. $800. That's $2300 of dental improvement. I should have been feeling good but I didn't because, to tell you the truth, when I checked myself out in the mirror, my teeth looked exactly the same as they had when I was under the care of the ex-marine. Maybe, I thought, the benefits weren't readily visible. Yeah, that was probably it.

During my next visit, Miranda cleaned my teeth, told me how good everything looked, then took x-rays and called in Maddoff to check out my mouth. Things didn't look so good to him. Bone loss. Well, I'd been told about this before but my former dentist had been satisfied that it didn't seem to be getting any worse. Not so with Maddoff. I needed laser surgery, right away. $500. I left his office without enough for cab fare. Thank god I didn't need a cab.

By the next time I was due for a checkup, I was a little wary. Wilson Maddoff was into me for $2800 and my teeth didn't look any better. So, when Miranda finished with the x-rays and said she was going to fetch the dentist to have a look, I said, "Please, don't. Everytime he looks into my mouth it costs me money. I don't feel like another unneccessary treatment, today." Faithful to her employer, she reported what I had said and two days later I received a note in the mail advising me to find a new dentist. I don't believe my teeth were his primary concern - my money was.

I imagine if I told Wilson Maddoff that I only had 6 weeks to live, he'd try to talk me into some last minute dental treatments to make my dwindling time more enjoyable. No thanks.

There's a guy up in Spring Hill who offers free x-rays on the first visit for new patients. Next time, I think I'll try him.

Mel Gibson: Edge of Darkness

Though I know we can never resurrect the Martin Riggs of the Lethal Weapon classics and I realize the trials of time have forever taken the shine off his star, I was hoping Mel Gibson could recapture some of his former luster as Boston homicide detective Thomas Craven in Edge of Darkness. And he did, but just barely.

Is it the case that we will never again allow the Jew hating, crucifix toting Gibson to emerge as a victorious hero in a modern day police drama? That seems to be what we’re being told here. After Craven’s daughter Emma is killed by a shotgun blast outside his Boston home, it appears at first that the shot was meant for Craven himself. But, in time, it’s revealed that she had gotten on the bad side of a coalition of industrial bad guys, a private security death-squad and your run-of-the-mill government assholes who, in retaliation for her threatening to blow the whistle on their nuclear bomb business, had managed to poison her by slipping some radioactive morsels into her food supply. In other words, she would’ve died even if she hadn’t been blasted.

Unfortunately, we learn how this particular poison works because the avenging Gibson is also poisoned. With nothing to live for and not much time, he manages to kill quite a few culpable people. Enroute he meets his adversaries’ Security Consultant Jedburgh, played by Ray Winstone, whose respect he apparently gains since untimately it’s Jedburgh who eliminates the remaining no-good scum who orchestrated the plot, shooting them at point blank range during a meeting where they were deciding how they should spin Craven’s demise.

As cheery as that ending is, the reality that Craven and his daughter are both dead sort of takes the shine off the moment. The final cut shows the spirits of Emma and her father walking off into the white light. I guess that was supposed to be uplifting. It didn’t work. Everything that precedes that moment confirms that that could not happen, ever.

I think this movie would have been somewhat better if all the good guys hadn’t gotten killed, but such is life. I give it a C-.

House Hunters – Home Sweet Home

Staying married for almost 44 years involves more than a little compromising. That’s why I can be found some evenings watching along with my sweeter-half one of her favorite TV shows, House Hunters.

For the uninitiated, House Hunters follows the real-life exploits of a couple or family as they try to buy a house. The show invariably starts off in the buyer's present digs pointing out the dwelling's shortcomings and elaborating on what they are looking for in their new place. Then, a realtor shows them three different places from which they ultimately choose one. That’s the show in a nutshell.

Along the way to hovel happiness, we get to see firsthand the insights and observations of the prospective buyers. Some want yards for their dogs. As if the dogs really care about the place where they lift their legs or squat! Others desire finished basements for their musical pursuits. Recently, a man complained about the narrowness of a bathroom. I couldn’t help wondering aloud, “What’s he want to do in there, practice ballroom dancing?”

And kitchens are very important to some women, and men. Many, nowadays, are disappointed if the countertops are not made of granite and their appliances are not stainless steal. I don’t know what bugs me more, their whining, or their need to keep up with the latest trends. I’ve sold a couple houses and I can tell you that if prospective buyers tried to negotiate the asking price down by citing some perceived shortcoming, I’d simply state “Then this isn’t the house for you. Go look someplace else.”

Another of my wife’s favorite shows involves people who have sold their houses returning sometime later to see what the new owners have done to it. The drama involves the host sharing reactions of the old owners with the new owners. I rate this show a strong Who-the-Hell-Gives-A-Shit. It’s not your house any more! These people can do whatever the hell they want with it.

What I don’t go through for my lady.