Review: The Riddle of St. Leonard's

Next up on my reviewing list, a book I recently finished:
The Riddle of St. Leonard's by Candace Robb.

This is the 5th mystery in the Owen Archer series by Candace Robb. The year is 1369, and the story is set during the third bout of plague in the rule of King Edward. Archer is a one-eyed former archer, who now works as a spy for the Archbishop of York. The Bishop's nephew, Sir Richard de Ravenser, is Master of the Hospital at St. Leonard's. The hospital is facing a host of problems - someone is murdering "corrodians" (the elderly boarders of the institution), a series of thefts have been perpetrated at the hospital, and the hospital now faces financial ruin. In the midst of the plague in the city, Archer is 'borrowed' by Sir Richard from the Archbishop to investigate the murders and thefts in York.

I gave this one a try after being gifted it. I love Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series of books, set in the 1100s during the civil war between Stephen and Maud, and this looked like another series of fun historical mysteries. And, to a certain extent, it was.

I honestly have very mixed feelings about this one. I wanted to really like it, I really did! I just really didn't like any of the characters in the book! Granted, I did start with book 5 in the series, but I was gifted it and couldn't find books 1-4 in our tiny post library, so I had to start somewhere :) By book 5 in a series, you already know the characters, and care about them, and there doesn't have to be as much time spent developing them. And I dropped into the middle of that, so I do take that into account. However, the fact remains that the most developed character in the book was a thoroughly unlikable child (and she was described that way by the author too!!). The detective characters, Archer and his family and friends, almost seemed like side notes, characters that things happen to, rather than the strong protagonists I've enjoyed in other works.

Thinking about it, I think the most developed 'character' was the plague itself. The plague permeated every aspect, every scene of the book, as I imagine the actual plague dominated daily life at that time. The novel is very rich in historical detail, describing life in the hospital, in the town (York, a place I LOVE) and the turmoil that the plague threw daily life. It was a very interesting read, a very rich historical novel. Not quite one that I voraciously read, but one I was eagerly picking up each night.

If you're looking for a good mystery, however, I'd suggest another book. There really wasn't that much of a puzzle in this one. Because so few characters were introduced, it was very easy to figure out who the culprit was. You might not know why they were doing all they were doing, but you certainly knew who was up to no good.

Overall: 3 out of 5. I'm glad I read it, and I'll probably read the rest of the series too, but it'll be from the library, and not on my own bookshelf.

I is for...

Incorrigible imp!

Bunnies are notorious mischief makers. In the case above, if you can't tell, little Joey buns got to his food bucket. His pellets are stored in a latching plastic tub. Apparently I didn't latch it particularly well this particular evening, and as I was sitting reading in the library ('his' room), I heard this plastic ::clatter-clatter-clatter-CRASH::. Looking around the corner to where his food tub was, I saw this little face peering out over the edge and munching away happily. Somehow (I've no idea HOW) he'd managed to pop the top up off his food tub and hop in. And there he sat, happily munching away in the midst of enough pellets to last him for weeks. Once I finally stopped laughing and shooed him out of the tub, I made VERY sure to FIRMLY latch the tub when I closed it :)

But that was not his first bit of mischief!! Oh no, far from! He has certainly been known to snatch the stray baby carrot from an unguarded bag from time to time! And then there's the cage hopping, and the drr-trr destruction, and....

But I loves him!!!! :) How can you stay mad at that cute little face!!

Huzzah!

It's official - I've survived 3 weeks at the new job. Even have my first paycheck now! Yay!

I have learned, however, that something about me seems to say "I clean up messes." Before, it was the previous person who held my position at Horrible Job. Rather someone who never grew up, despite being in his 30s. His files were a disorganized mess, and his notes were IMPOSSIBLE to work from. Took a while to straighten that one out.

Now, I am a manager here on post, and the former manager (F.M.) left things in a bit of disarray about a month and half before I started. Things weren't on the best of terms between the staff and F.M. when F.M. left either, so there are still some disgruntled feelings to soothe over. Lovely. They've been stretched very thin over the past few months, low staffing and then covering managerial duties too, since F.M. left. I really did get dropped in the midst of a bit of a mess. Still, the staff is a good bunch, and we have great hopes for the facility and getting it back to what it should be. I'm really pretty excited about it, despite the long meetings involved and the forms-for-everything set-up.

Funny thing is, even being a paper-pusher and having this mess to clean up, I'm SO much happier than in SC with Horrible Job!! One of those situations where you don't realize how bad it was until you're out of it and looking back behind you. I'm feeling physically lighter, if you can believe it, not so worn down and drained. I'm working out more, and reading more, and knitting more - I just have so much more energy than before. I don't come home from work and collapse in front of a movie and just try to forget my day, or the fact that I have to go back again then next. I don't mind being with people outside of work, or doing things on the weekends. I can actually be myself again! You simply would not believe how much happier I am out here in the middle of nowhere.

'Course, I do still want to burn down the disorganized filing cabinet dominating my office space and rebuild the files from scratch...

Review: The Bank Job

So, being out here in the middle of nowhere, I've had lots of time to read and to watch movies since arriving out here. Not to much else to do in an evening, unless you like listening to Redneck Neighbor's 3 dumb dogs barking their heads off out back. Which, in case you hadn't guessed, we're not too fond of. As a result, over the past few weeks I've had a chance to read some new books, and to see some movies I hadn't before. So, I figured I'd share what I thought with you all.

First up, the most recent I've seen: The Bank Job.

Summary according to Netflix: Based on a true 1971 event, this thriller tells the story of Terry (Jason Statham), a car dealer who becomes involved in a London bank heist only to find that the contents of the bank vault will draw him deeply and irrevocably into the city's criminal underbelly. Murder and scandal abound in this tale of corruption populated with a surprising mix of offenders, from low-level thugs to government officials and all the way up to the royal family.

I liked it. I have a weakness for a good heist film, and this one didn't disappoint. It's not a thinking film, but it is a good caper film, a perfect "Saturday afternoon popcorn flick," if you know what I mean. The story is more about what happens after the heist, than about the theft itself. The seemingly-simple job draws them into a corrupt mess, ticking off a lot of ruthless people in the process. The actual heist in the beginning is only one small part of the movie, and is told in a much lighter tone than what follows, as the movie does get rather dark as things fall apart around our band of villains. Not for the easily offended, as there is a good bit of T&A (what do you think those damning pictures are of, anyway?) and some scenes of torture and of murder when things go awry. Thankfully, happy endings (or at least very satisfactory ones) abound by the end of the movie, as should be in any caper film.

Jason Statham is fine in the lead, as he doesn't really have to do much emoting. Love Jason Statham movies, but do have to admit he does have a niche character carved out for himself. The important thing is to look perplexed, tough, and determined to overcome the disaster that's befallen you. And he does that well, so who am I to complain? :)

Finally, the British TV dork in me loved identifying so many actors in the movie from the British shows (particularly mysteries) that I've been watching them in for years. Always nice to see actors I like at work, and I always like the feeling of satisfaction that I've recognized an actor, even if the other things I've seen them in are 20 years old :) For example, the man who plays Maj. Singer in The Bank Job is the man who played Stapleton in the Jeremy Brett version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. And Michael X's lawyer in the very beginning (very bit part!) is Julian Firth, who played Brother Jerome in the Cadfael mysteries. Finally, David Suchet (TV's Poirot) played the part of Lew Vogel, "the Porn king of Soho"! Always does catch me off guard when he uses his own accent :) Yes, I know, I'm a dork.

Overall, I'd say 3.5 of 5 stars. A good movie, I don't feel like I wasted my time or that any brain cells died in screaming agony, but not an Oscar contender. Would definitely see it again.

Playing Tourist!

So, it's not a major site to see if you make it out to the west coast, but Sunday Zach and I went to Calico Ghost Town. It's right near Barstow and Yermo, so only about 40 minutes away from post. I think it's the closest tourist-type thing to post. Not much here, really, but having grown up in SE Virginia (the Colonial Triangle area), the eras of American history I'm most familiar with are those from the 1600s and 1700s. Oh, and a good chunk of Civil War era stuff too. But, once you get into the late 1800s and all this moving west nonsense, I'm pretty unfamiliar. So, it was neat seeing some of the exhibits about silver mining and the mining towns back then.

For example, silver processing was almost as bad for you as the mining itself. No cave-ins to worry about, but several processes used mercury to refine the silver, and then a different step found sodium cyanide was the most effective chemical. So, I guess the choice was death from cave-in or death from long-term chemical exposure. Fun choices!

This picture is in Maggie Mine, one section of about 30 miles of mine passages in the Calico area. The story behind Maggie Mine was that two brothers bought it, worked it, and gave up when they weren't finding anything. Then a 10-yr-old school boy found a rock with silver ore in it about 50 feet higher on the mountain. The claim was purchased again, and the new owners actually punched through to the Maggie Mine passage, because it was so close. Talk about frustrating!! This particular point in the mine is called Deadman's Draught. Based on the configuration of the mine, this area was dynamited out, and not supported by timbers as other areas were, putting it at a higher risk of cave-in. Don't worry - those are dummies there in the picture! What we liked was that those pipes you see in the photo are wooded. The mines didn't use metal pipes because the water was so mineral-laden that the metal pipes corroded too fast!!

The town also did a lot of Old West sort of themed stuff. For example, they had a gun show scheduled several times during the day. In this picture below, we're standing with the guy from the gun show. He also trains actors working on Western movies how to handle and fire the gun, or acts as a stunt double for them. Was pretty neat to see it in person - he was very fast!

The best part of the day was pulling up in the parking lot and seeing a pair of cars with the NSS sticker on them! Made it totally worth the trip too, because it was the San Bernadino Cave Search and Rescue team!! The CSR team works through the San Bernadino County Sheriff's office, and was meeting with the Barstow Mine Rescue team at Calico on Sunday! So we made our way up the hill to where they were meeting and introduced ourselves. :) Apparently San Bernadino County, although being the largest county in the US, has only 1 limestone cave and a handful of lava tubes. Seems you have to go up to the Sequoia area or over to AZ to get to some good caving. Still, the county does have a lot of mines, and a lot of idiot people who "are just taking a look around" and end up getting themselves into trouble. So the Mine Rescue group is actually rather active, and Zach and I are looking at heading to one of their meetings in the future, see what's up!

So yes, Calico was pretty small, but it was a nice little detour and it felt really good to be getting out and seeing some of where we live now. What makes this area unique, what makes this area famous (or did in the past, as the case may be). Makes me feel more a part of where I'm living, y'know? I get to appreciate what's here while I'm here, and then we'll learn what makes our new duty station unique when we get there in a couple years. Until then, there will be lots of pictures of the desert :)

(gasp)....water.... water!

Yeah, I'm over this whole 'desert' thing... I had dry skin in the humid Southeast, and now I'm supposed to survive in the desert!?!?! My nose keeps bleeding, my feet are cracked and painful, and I'm surprised my hands haven't totally fallen off. And we're here for 2 more years?? Bah...

Heck, even Joey's suffering from the dryness. He's so fuzzy, that the dryness means he's static charged like CRAZY. You really notice it when you're petting him and you hear the static charges crackle, or when he's eating on his shelf, and lot of little hay bits will stick to him. Poor little hayface. Neither of us were built for the desert...

Yeah, I'm just grumpy tonight.

I am nothing if not consistent!

So as part of the "Get Zach Back into Shape" Plan, I have been recruited as a motivational tool. If I go running or workout, then he will too. Works for me, because I have another kick in the but then to keep myself moving as well.

It does come with it's drawbacks though. Like his constant amusement at my running pace. :)

Tonight, as we were finishing our run, Zach had doubled back so I could catch up, and was asking how long we'd been running. I answered "30 minutes." His response? "Oh, 3 miles then. That's why I go running with you!" Bah!

I am a human metronome. I have one speed, it seems. Only one. However, I can go at that speed for quite a long time. Doesn't matter if the pace is for a 1 mile run, a 5K (3.1 miles), or a half-marathon (13.1 miles). My pace varies only slightly between the different distances. In fact, my PR pace for the half-marathon was only about a minute and a half slower than my PR pace for the 5K. Cracks him up no end that my half-marathon pace was so close to my 5K. I should be able to go so much faster on the shorted distances. Like I said, one pace, can go forever. My swim coaches fussed about it too - part of why I was a distance swimmer, not a sprinter :)

Still, felt good to know my metronome hasn't broken. Have felt very out of shape recently, with the move and all. Has felt good to be running and swimming again recently. I'll be back in shape yet! :)