rlfj: Blog

I got several fascinating emails from readers about calling 9-1-1. Here is a typical response:

“I was a fire fighter for 30 years. When 9-1-1 started we would tell people to dial 911, and it was pronounced nine eleven by everybody. After a while it was tell them to call 9-1-1, cuz people could not find the eleven.”

Another was:

“There's a reason for it being called 9 1 1. It used to be called 9 11. My favorite aunt was told to call 9 11. Her reply was that there was no 11 on the dial. It was common enough they changed the name.”

A different reader reported that 9-1-1 is not common in Europe. I did some investigation, and the answer is more complicated. 9-1-1 is used in North America (US, Canada, Mexico) as well as Anguilla, Argentina, Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Jordan, Liberia, Palau, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Tonga, and Uruguay. In England, where the idea started, they use 9-9-9. However, it seems that when countries create emergency systems, the new ones use 9-1-1. A different reader noted that because American TV and movies are seen worldwide, 9-1-1 is also understood worldwide. Let’s just say that in the next hundred years, the world goes to a common 9-1-1 system.

I learn so much from my readers! Thanks.

I have a scene in Chapter 20 where somebody calls for the Martian equivalent of an ambulance. If you think what I wrote can’t happen, think again. After my second heart attack, when I was laying on the bed, sweating like a pig, totally without strength, and feeling like a ton of weight was on my chest, my wife says, ‘I’m calling 9-1-1. What’s the number?’ I can barely breathe but I did manage to gasp out, ‘Are you for real?’ I can’t make this shit up! Enjoy!

Everybody seemed to enjoy the scene in chapter 18 involving the papal delegation. I’ll admit that I enjoyed writing it, even more so when I consider that my wife is a devout Catholic and will be outraged when she gets to chapter 18. Still, the description of religious life on Mars, or the lack thereof, comes straight from both Greenies and A Perfect World. Don’t blame me if it offends you. Anyway, enjoy!

I’ve had a couple of responses to my request for a reader with psychiatric/psychologic training or experience. Still interested if anybody else responds. Thanks.

Immigration is a big topic in Chapter 18. Enjoy!

In addition, I need some assistance for a possible future story. Any psychiatrists or psychologists out there? Please send me an email. Thanks.

I had a very interesting set of related questions related to Chapter 16. Here is one of them: “What? No taking captured ships into service? Why didn't they keep the Gustavus Adolphus? I would have thought the Martian Navy could use whatever they could get. (They probably wouldn't think paying prize money was the Martian Way though.)”

When I was writing the story, I considered it briefly but decided against it. The fact of the matter is that the Martians didn’t need to keep the Gustavus Adolphus.

1 - They will need to totally rebuild the ship just to be able to make it fly. The engines have been destroyed, the fusion bottle is blown, the computer system has been melted down, and all the sensors are destroyed. It is little more than a hulk.

2 - I would be very nervous about going onboard a captured ship. How hard would it be to hide a scuttling charge? We have had small “backpack” nukes and nuclear artillery shells since the 1950s. It wouldn’t be hard to hide one and trigger a delayed explosion.

3 - The Martians are familiar with WestHem ships, not EastHem. There would be a steep learning curve just to be able to gain a singleton ship.

4 - Somebody wanted the Martians to use it for scrap. The cost of taking a hulk somewhere would probably be prohibitive in terms of fuel and the usage of a tugboat system. It would probably be cheaper to mine metals on Mars, which has plenty of metal available according to the Greenies universe.

5 - They don’t need to examine it for technical information. They already have backdoor access to both WestHem and EastHem military databases. They have all the technical info they need.

6 - Finally, Martian ships are lots better than Earthling ships. Why take a broken down junker when your shipyard is about to begin building much more advanced ships?

Regardless, the questions were excellent. I had to laugh at the concept of prize money. I had forgotten about that practice. I remember hearing a quote from the Napoleonic period that armies plunder, but navies take prize; it made the British Navy seem so much more civilized. (Churchill once called British naval tradition ‘rum, sodomy, and the lash.’) All I can say now is that more fun and games are coming up. Enjoy!

PS: Voting has been turned on. Vanity, thy name is Author.