Sandi's Day Nine

Day nine was not any better for her today. Her throat continues to massively hurt and she continues to have a hard time swallowing. The body aches and pain remain pretty bad and she is not a happy patient on any level. Today was also hard as they had to give her 2 more units of platelets.

She continues to feel lousy and is more than ready this "normal" stuff to end.

The fact she has been denied by Texas Medicaid without any explanation did not help matters.

Libraries

There seems to be a wave of anti library sentiment these days. Libraries remain wonderful places to me. One of the better responses to some of the anti library sentiment out there can be found here.

Dan Brown is Back...

and has been making the media rounds promoting his latest book. I'm not one of the Dan Brown haters Brian Lindenmuth commented about over at Do Some Damage. I tried a book or two of his and quickly figured out he wasn't for me. I give Dan Brown tremendous credit as the man clearly found a huge audience. When you generate a huge audience you will be loved and hated---Often for the exact same reasons.

I did come across "Dan Brown's Inferno: a tall writer offers his historic review" over at the Guardian and thought it was flat out funny. You can read it here.

Birthday--Plus Eight

Today marks the 8th day since Sandi had her stem cell transplant and the last 48 hours have not been kind to her. Early yesterday morning they suddenly had to give her a blood transfusion of 2 units of blood as well as 2 units of platelets. They started all this before she even had breakfast yesterday morning so the premeds on an empty stomach made her sleep and then she was nauseated when she woke up while they were putting the blood into her. She felt pretty lousy all day and thought she would feel better this morning.

Instead, today was much worse. She woke up before dawn with a raging sore throat that made it nearly impossible to swallow and body aches all over. She describes it as the throat is worse than any strep throat she ever had and is coupled with feeling like the worst case of flu ever. Her right arm is extremely painful to her and is interfering with her crocheting or being online very much. Everyone in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit seems to be thrilled with her feeling so bad as they have been waiting for this to happen. This is supposed to be normal and more proof that, so far, things are working like they are supposed to do at this point.

How long this will last is unknown at this point as this could last just a couple of days or go a week or more. Obviously, she would prefer the former and wants to feel like she did early last week when for a few blessed days she felt like she did when she was well pre--cancer from before I got sick.

Hopefully, tomorrow evening I will have better news.....

Review: "Scratchgravel Road: A Mystery" by Tricia Fields

“Given the right set of circumstances I think we're all capable of doing bad.” (Page 289)

The right set of circumstances has come together in this second novel from author Tricia Fields following last year's powerful debut The Territory. In fact, “the right set of circumstances” happens over and over again in a variety of ways resulting in numerous life and death situations as well as plenty of good old fashioned luck. In fact, it happens so often at precisely the right time, there is a strong hint of deus ex machina at work throughout the book.

“The right set of circumstances” happens from early on when Police Chief Josie Gray leaves home at noon in the June heat to begin her shift. On her way to the station, she decides to stop for a few minutes at the nearby watch tower. She climbs the tower at random times so she can evaluate the local area of the Chihuahuan Desert and keep eyes on Piedra Labrada, the staging point for recent cartel violence that crossed the border and rocked the small southwest Texas border town of Artemis. Things have calmed down for now, but memories are very fresh, and the 33 year old police chief expects the violence to flare again at any time.

As she drove toward the watch tower, Chief Gray didn't expect to find the car of former jail employer Cassidy Harper parked nearby on Scratchgravel Road. Cassidy is a decent enough person, but, she has made a few bad decisions and that includes the man in her life. She seems to have made another as she left her car and apparently walked off into the desert under a blistering noonday sun. Chief Gray heads off road and into the desert with her jeep and soon finds an unconscious Cassidy. She also finds her lying next to a man who clearly has been dead for days.

That discovery, a runaway teenage daughter of a fellow office, and the start of a monsoon season that breaks 100 year flood records are just some of the many factors at work in this complicated second novel of the series. While the heavy rains depicted in this novel may strike native Texans such as myself as way over the top as they simply do not happen the way they are depicted, the rest of the novel featuring multiple storylines works well. Josie remains a strong and interesting character and a number of secondary characters are allowed to bring forth their own rich and varied perspectives in Scratchgravel Road. That character development further brings to life the small town while also adding depth and complexity to those involved. While not nearly as good as The Territory the novel does work fairly well and keeps the reader entertained.

Scratchgravel Road: A Mystery

Tricia Fields

http://www.TriciaFields.com

Minotaur Books (A Thomas Dunne Book)

http://www.minotaurbooks.com

March 2013

ISBN# 978-1-250-02136-6

Hardback (also available as e-book and audio)

310 Pages

$24.99

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2013

Lucky Dog Books-- 2 DAY FLASH SALE

Please go see these folks as their store is not only great, they were amazingly supportive of Jenny Milchman, Shalanna Collins and Earl Staggs and everyone in their efforts to help us by way of the recent book signing. They truly do deserve your business and are simply wonderful people....


The sale message from Lucky Dog Books posted to Facebook yesterday.....

2 DAY FLASH SALE - 25% off any of our recycled hardbacks, paperbacks, DVD's, CD's, comics, audio books, etc. at all 3 stores today & tomorrow only. Mention this post when checking out to get 25% off the cash portion of your purchases.

You can still use your store credit from trade-ins to pay for up to the usual 50% before we deduct this discount from the remaining balance.

We almost never do this. In 40 years maybe once or twice before if that. So put us on your itinerary this weekend and tell your friends.

Our approach to sales has been that most of our patrons prefer being able to get 50% off every day by bringing things to trade-in rather than an occasional sale for a lesser amount a couple of times a year.

But Joe Wells suggested one when we asked about things to do for our 1st Anniversary at the Oak Cliff. So we are going to experiment and try an event such as this that does both for a change.

 

Sandi Tonight

Just talked to her and she is doing okay. She is fed up with being confined and various things that went sideways the last 48 hours, but, from a medical standpoint she is doing okay. The gastric issue has remain stopped. She now has developed two small mouth sores so they have changed her mouth wash to treat them. Unfortunately, this is another side effect of the stem cell transplant and the complete crash of her immune system. It was expected to happen and just took a little longer to happen than usual.

Other than that, Sandi is doing pretty good.

Still Waiting on Texas Medicaid

as is Medical City Dallas Hospital who has placed us on their BILL EVERY TEN DAYS NO MATTER WHAT program. Four bills came today with statement dates ten days or less from the last billing on the same account. One came with a statement date of three days later than the previous bill.  Not only have we blown by the quarter of a million dollar mark-- just with them-- as of mid April, thanks to her insurance and all the exclusions and limitations we now allegedly owe more than 37 grand to the hospital.

Scary stuff.

Karl, Kroger, and the Federal Lawsuit---An Update At Nineteen Months And Counting

Nineteen Months and Counting....that is how long it has been as of yesterday since William "Bill" Latham, the now former store manager of Kroger 581 on Custer Road in Plano, put this mess into motion. Nineteen months ago yesterday William "Bill" Latham and other Kroger staff  wrongfully suspended Karl. That eventually led to their decision to make the situation worse by wrongfully terminating him. Their actions directly led to state and federal complaints on Karl's behalf and his hiring of the Kendall Law Group last summer and ultimately the filing of the federal lawsuit against Kroger. They have no one to blame but themselves. Motions and counter motions have been filed, Karl was needlessly deposed back in March, and the case slowly grinds on closer to trial and a very public vindication of Karl that will also very publicly hold those involved accountable for their actions.

Having chronicled this mess since the beginning I can't say much more these days until it goes to court, but, the battle continues.....

Sandi Saturday Morning

Just talked to her briefly this morning as they had done something wrong with her breakfast and she was not happy. Sandi needed to get that handled and said she was tired of stupidity. She says she feels "fine" and the stomach issues stopped late last night.Then somebody showed up and she had to go.

In less than an hour I am supposed to get a call from a worker with the Social Security Administration who wants to talk to me about something with Sandi's case. Not sure what that is about.

And Texas Medicaid folks called twice this past week with vague voice mails about our case and long distance numbers to call them back. Can't do that as we don't have long distance. Hopefully, after five applications in five months they are finally doing something to fix things.

So, I am up, the tea pot is on, and another not so fun filled day in paradise begins....

FFB Review: "BRASS KNUCKLES: The Oliver Quade, Human Encyclopedia Stories" by by Frank Gruber --Reviewed by Barry Ergang

Friday means Friday’s Forgotten Books hosted by Patti Abbott on her blog. Please welcome back Barry Ergang…..

BRASS KNUCKLES: The Oliver Quade, Human Encyclopedia Stories (1966) by Frank Gruber

Reviewed by Barry Ergang

Frank Gruber had a fondness for itinerant book salesmen who stumble into murderous situations. His best-known series of novels features Johnny Fletcher and his partner Sam Cragg. Fletcher pitches the book Every Man a Samson while the muscular Cragg, who maintains he's the strongest man in the world, shows off his physique to the audience. For the pulp magazines Gruber created Oliver Quade, the Human Encyclopedia, ten of whose adventures are collected in Brass Knuckles. (One was published in Thrilling Detective. The rest appeared in the legendary Black Mask.) Quade pitches the one-volume The Compendium of Human Knowledge, which he sells for only two ninety-five. Declaring himself possessed of "the greatest brain in the United States, possibly the greatest in the world," he maintains that "I know the answers to all questions." Over fifteen years, he has read a twenty-four volume set of the Encyclopedia Americana four times. "I've an unusual memory," he tells a woman in one of the stories. "I remember everything I read and therefore I know everything that's in the encyclopedia." The odd bits of knowledge he's picked up often aid in the solutions of the murders he has the convenient habit of stumbling upon.

The book opens with a lengthy, fascinating foreword, "The Life and Times of the Pulp Story," in which Gruber reminisces about how he struggled to break into writing for the pulps, and about the early failures and eventual successes, large and small, he experienced. It includes an eleven-point formula he claims is a "foolproof" method for plotting a salable mystery story. Although I enjoyed them, I'm not convinced all of the stories that follow exemplify it.

In the first and shortest story in the collection, "Ask Me Another," Oliver Quade and Charlie Boston are on the verge of being locked out of their hotel room because they owe three weeks' rent. But Quade figures they can raise the money by pitching the Compendium of Human Knowledge to the attendees of the Great Chicago Auditorium Poultry Show. Neither he nor Boston expects to encounter murder.

At the kennel show in Westfield, New York, the last thing Quade and Boston expect to find in their booth is the corpse of one Wesley Peters. Even more confusing is the willingness of several people in attendance to confess to shooting him. Before long, Quade tangles with the local police chief, a renowned private detective named Christopher Buck, a gangster just out of prison, and has another corpse to account for in "Dog Show Murder."

"Funny Man" takes Quade and Boston to Hollywood, where Quade is hired by Slocum Studios head man Tommy Slocum to dub the voice of cartoon character Desmond Dogg, since the actor who usually voices the character has laryngitis. Coming out of Slocum's office, Quade encounters his old adversary, self-declared "world's greatest" private detective Christopher Buck. Buck assumes Quade is working as an investigator and wants to know what he knows. Conversely, Quade wants to know the same about Buck. When studio executive Stanley Maynard, Buck's client, is found murdered, the amateur and professional sleuths compete to discover the killer's identity.

Still in Hollywood and staying at an expensive hotel, Quade and Boston owe more than four hundred dollars for rent, meals, and incidental charges—money they don't have. The hotel manager confronts them in the dining room and tells them they have until six p.m. to come up with the cash or he'll have them arrested for intent to defraud. Having overheard, another diner named George Grimshaw offers them twenty dollars to deliver a letter to a Martin Lund. They accept, not worried about the two thugs who want to relieve them of the letter. They find Lund but can't give him the letter because he's been murdered. So Quade opens the envelope, finds another envelope inside and a note from Grimshaw telling Lund to meet him at the track. Thus, it's "Oliver Quade at the Races," where Grimshaw is also murdered and Quade must use his wits and wiles to get to the bottom of things—and pay the hotel bill.

A small passenger plane makes a "Forced Landing" in a snow-covered clearing in northern Wisconsin. One passenger is dead, the result of flying glass from a shattered window. The pilot is dead, too—from a bullet wound. Around the same time, Oliver Quade and Charlie Boston are driving through the area on their way to Duluth when the car runs over an animal that turns out to be a silver fox, a creature whose pelt is very valuable. When their car won't start, they have to start walking. Eventually they come to a house owned by fox breeder Karl Becker. Not long after they arrive, the airplane's co-pilot staggers in and tells them of the crash. They set out to find and bring back the remaining passengers. That's only the beginning of an adventure that includes a pair of profit-minded fugitive kidnappers, another murder, and plenty of action.

In "Death Sits Down," Quade, sans Boston, goes to the Bartlett Cash Register Company's recreation room to launch into his sales pitch, not knowing the employees are about to go on strike and prevent anyone from entering or leaving the building. Among those in it is a vicious murderer who doesn't intend to let anyone hinder the scheme he's hatched. The author does a good job of building the tension in this fast-paced story.

"Words and Music" opens with Quade and Boston "in the dough" for a change, and relaxing in the cocktail lounge of New York City's Midtown Hotel, where they have rooms. They're approached by a drunk named Billy Bond who says he's a song writer, claims "I wrote the best little damn song that's been written in this damn town in the las' five years." He then hands sheet music to the lounge's piano player, tells the man to play, and sings the lyrics himself. After a pause during which he gulps some beer, violent convulsions seize him and he falls into Quade's arms—dead. The police are summoned, and Quade describes a man he saw switch glasses with Bond. The police detective recognizes the description as belonging to a deranged chemist named Soup Spooner, so named for providing nitroglycerine to safecrackers. Quade can't resist investigating, despite Boston's objections, and plunges into the world of music publishing rackets. Spooner is still out there, setting an insidious and deadly trap.

The second shortest story in the book, "State Fair Murder" takes Quade and Boston to the titular location in Minnesota. Quade has barely launched into his pitch when a man in the crowd falls into him, the victim of a poisoned dart in his back. As usual, despite Boston's protests, Quade can't resist playing detective in a case dealing with conflicts within a publishing company.

Among the "how-to" advice often given to both beginning and experienced writers is never open a story with a description of the weather. But in "Rain, the Killer," Frank Gruber does exactly that—and very effectively. This is, for me, the most exciting story in the book, so I don't want to give too much away. Suffice it to say that it's a take on the isolated, impassable locale that puts Quade (who once again is without Charlie Boston), the members of a wealthy household, and a sheriff and his deputy in dire peril from the weather and a particularly brutal murderer, one of whose crimes is depicted somewhat graphically. A whodunit, it does not play fair with the reader, but the tense and exciting situation that befalls the cast of characters more than makes up for it. The only element in the story that is somewhat dubious by modern standards is the psychology of the murderer.

In another story that omits Charlie Boston, Quade finagles his way into the barn Reggie Ragsdale converted into an arena on his Long Island estate in which to hold cockfights. "Long Island didn't see many cocking mains. Cocking wasn't a gentleman's sport like horse racing and fox hunting In fact, many of Long Island's blue-bloods had shaken their heads when young Ragsdale took up cock fighting. But they had eagerly accepted invitations to the Ragsdale estate to witness the great cocking main between Ragsdale's birds and the best of the Old South, the feathered warriors of George Treadwell." When Treadwell is murdered, Quade as a gate-crasher becomes a prime suspect and has to solve the crime himself. "Death at the Main" is sort of fairly-clued, if one allows for an obscure bit of lore that provides the solution.  

Were he writing today, Frank Gruber would be designated a minimalist, so stripped-down was his style. The physical descriptions of characters in these stories are always very brief and sometimes non-existent, and the people themselves are largely dimensionless names on the page. There is no sense of place of the kind one finds in, say, Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler and, except in "Rain, the Killer," no real sense of atmosphere. I would not rate Gruber as one of the top-tier writers who honed their skills in the pulps, but he could nevertheless tell a story effectively, as the tales in Brass Knuckles demonstrate. They aren't serious literature to be pored over and explicated; they're fast-reading fluff meant strictly for entertainment. Regarded in that light, they're recommended.

Barry Ergang ©2013

Brass Knuckles is among the many books from his personal collection Barry Ergang has for sale at http://www.barryergangbooksforsale.yolasite.com/. He contributes 20% of the price of the books to our fund, so please have a look at his lists. A Derringer winner, some of Barry's work is available at Amazon and Smashwords.

Sandi Tonight

She remains the same with her stomach bothering her and cuasing frequent trips to the bathroom. While she is very naseuated at times, she has still not thrown up which is the one small peice of good news in this gastric distress. Expected to last a couple more days before subsiding.

Got reams of paperwork from the state disability review folks today in the mail. Of course, this stuff duplicates everything they already have via Social Security and was supposed to be avoided by the expedited application filed back in January through MASH. When Sandi filed then it was supposed to take 120 days max to determine she did qualify for Social Security Disability. Now, because the state of Texas is making her fill all this out --which she can't do until she finally gets back home in mid or late June---it means that it is going to be months more before she is approved --if she is---by the state so that she can receive her SSD.

I'm absolutely disgusted. I called her this evening and broke the news and she started crying hard. Just brutal.

The Morning After

This morning more storms have formed in the local area and are now going severe. These storms are sliding by to the north and hopefully they will miss us and not hurt anyone. It had been a relative quiet spring until last night. The aerial and ground pictures are just heart breaking.

I have spoken to Sandi this morning and she pretty much remains the same. The nausea is still very much present as is the need for the bathroom, but,  so far she still has not thrown up. Everyone involved tells her this is normal and nothing to be concerned about. The hope is that these symptoms will subside after another 48 hours.

Tornadoes in North Texas

It has been a very bad night across North Texas with destruction from tornadoes and large hail. There have been multiple mass casualty situations and there have been fatalities. The preliminary tornado count in the area is ten with hundreds of homes either destroyed or damaged.

Here in Plano the civil defense sirens sounded earlier, but, so far we have been spared hail and damage. We have had some wind, some incredible lightening, and torrential rain. Storms continue to track across the area and the tornado watch continues till 1 am, but the local meteorologists seem to believe things are starting to wind down.

We personally have been very lucky tonight.

Sandi Wednesday Evening

With multiple tornadoes on the ground here in North Texas (five confirmed at the same time just minutes ago) along with hail up to the size of  softballs, it seemed like it was a good time to update while I can....Sandi is doing okay. She is having some expected gastric issues and is having to spend a lot of the time in the bathroom. Fortunately, so far, despite some nausea, she is not throwing up.

Other than that, she says she feels okay. Obviously, with the stomach issues, she is not feeling as good as she did. Her numbers remain up and everything else remains stable and positive.

Plano Author Polly Holyoke BookSigning Saturday May 18, 2013

Plano Author Polly Holyoke will do a book signing and launch of her book The Neptune Project at Barnes and Noble, 2201 Preston Road on Saturday, May 18 at 1 pm. This is the Barnes and Noble at Park and Preston (same strip as Whole Foods and Ross among other stores) and the same store I helped stock and open years ago. In addition to refreshments and games for all, "Barnes and Noble will be giving 10% of the proceeds to My Very Own Book, a wonderful local Dallas charity that gives new books to students in Title One schools." (from Polly's website here.)

I second Polly's comments about the My Very Own Book charity. I have worked with students who didn't have any books in their homes and absolutely could not have any books of their very own because their families were unable to provide them. This is a wonderful charity doing great work and they deserve all the support they can get. You can find out more about them and their awesome work here.

The 2013 Lexicon Writers Conference

The Lexicon Writers Conference is back in Denton, Texas this summer and will be held July 12-14. This is primarily a conference aimed at book promotion. As noted on the website:

"It (Lexicon) focuses on networking, building sales teams, increasing sales, and revealing the latest marketing trends. It's about friendships and the pure enjoyment of writing...and being a writer. Imagine having five, ten, or twenty people (or more) pushing your book, blogging, tweeting, posting,reviewing, interviewing, and recommending you for personal appearances, book signings, etc."


Details (including the basic charge of $100 for admission) and other information is on the website.

Medical Updates

Yesterday was a bit much for me as both Scott and I had doctor visits. With that doctor office deal, a trip to one store for groceries and a trip to another for a new medication for me, and a couple of more errands, the day was way too much for me. So, I have not been online and have not updated this blog.

First and foremost, Sandi feels great. Considering how dangerous the procedure on Monday was and what we expected IF things went right, neither one of us expected her to do so well. We weren't the only ones as the doctors and staff there are absolutely amazed. She remains on some cardiac telemetry, but all the IVs remain pulled. Her appetite remains up and all the blood work so far looks amazingly good. One gets the feeling nobody can explain what happened or why, but everyone is just keeping fingers crossed that it keeps up.

Sandi's biggest complaint is that she is seriously bored. She feels significantly better than she did last week, or in recent memory, and is now feeling very trapped in the hospital. Sandi feels exceptionally fine and wants out and to get back home. She has told me over and over she feels like she did way back before the cancers and feels like she is completely well. It seems too much to hope for, but, we are hoping this continues.

As much as I have been mad at Wal-Mart for overriding the doctors here, the transplant center, their own insurance company, the doctors at Mayo, and numerous other medical folks who all insisted that Sandi needed to stay here for the transplant, this may have, in fact, been the best thing for her. So far things have worked out wonderfully once she was in the BMT Unit and the results to this point are amazing. I have not heard her sound this good in years.

In other medical news......

The results came back and everything is fine with Scott. We didn't expect anything otherwise, but this is still good news. He has finished the semester at UTD and is awaiting his grades. He is taking the summer off to recharge as the stress of everything here and school has clearly been way too much. The kid needs a break and is taking one while he can.

As to me--for the most part things are what they normally are. A couple of issues did turn up in the blood work which could indicate MS or some other neurological disorder. I'm being referred to a new neurologist for further evaluation and testing to look at what has happened to me and how I am gradually getting worse. At this point it is too early to say definitively that I have MS, but there are indications that it is a definite possibility.

I've never really believed the diagnosis of sciatica I was given three years ago this month. Not just because the two back injections I got failed to do anything (the second one made me worse), but the fact that I have issues with my arms and hands from time to time that do not fit the sciatica profile. Considering my injections came from the same company that has been in the news with all the issues, I do feel very fortunate to not have contracted another problem thanks to the injections.

Hopefully in a few weeks I will have some definitive answers and maybe even a treatment plan to alleviate some of my constant pain and symptoms. If it is some sort of neurological disorder I know that in all likelihood whatever it is can't be cured. More than anything, I would be very happy to be in less pain.  I can deal with the falling, tremors, weakness, etc, but the constant pain is what really gets to me.