rlfj: Blog

Now we get to see a totally different sort of police consulting. Do companies like this exist? You bet! Other than Miles & Madigan, the other companies are real. While researching this I went through their websites. Fascinating stuff.

The expensive dinner reminds me of a dinner I 'hosted' a dozen years ago or so. My son was stationed in Norfolk at the time and we all went down to visit. It was my wife and eldest daughter and me, my youngest girl and her fiancé (now husband), and my son, his wife, and their baby daughter. Anyway, we decided to go to dinner in Virginia Beach, where I had never been before, and we parked near a place called Ruth's Chris Steak House. I'd never really heard of it, just the name, and since Dumb Grandpa was paying, we went inside. I gulped when I saw the menu, but by then we were committed. At least we didn't have to pay for the baby. For the seven adults the price was well over $500. At least we didn't get the expensive stuff!

Here's a question I need some help with. For those of you who read ebooks, whether purchased through bookapy or other retailers, what format do you prefer? Epub, mobi, or pdf? What format does your device use? There have been occasional requests to change the format from the standard epub or offer alternative formats. Thanks.

Got an answer from zork on the CDC naming question. "The CDC was originally called the "Communicable Disease Center" (founded in 1946). It was renamed the "National Communicable Disease Center" (NCDC) in 1966, then the "Centers for Disease Control" in 1970 and then the "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" in 1992. However, Congress requested that they continue to use the CDC acronym as it had been in use for 46 years by that time and everyone was used to it." Thank you, zork!

Congratulations also go out to Ursus32, who noted that Joe Scarborough talked about Grim 'winning a chest full of medals including the Congressional Medal of Honor' and how this was an error. Nobody wins medals, they are awarded, and it is actually the Medal of Honor and is simply presented in the name of Congress. They have nothing to do with it. I wrote this specifically that way. Does anybody out there think that an ex-politician reporter will understand his errors, or care? Or that Grim will correct him on Scarborough's show when he is trying to get him to push his book and invite him back in the future?

Anyway, Grim is back to consulting. Let's see where that goes. Enjoy!

I've heard from numerous readers about wives and significant others having symptoms like what I wrote about and the results. I heard from people who had family members with ovarian cysts, torsions, fallopian tube problems, ectopic pregnancies, and all sorts of other things. These things are real and dangerous and require serious medical care. Many thanks to my medical editors. I think they gave me the info to get it right. The women's clinic I mention is modelled after the Bellevue Women's Center in Schenectady, where my youngest daughter had her daughters. Very good quality medical care.

I am still getting emails on coronavirus. Even though the disease seems to kill both Republicans and Democrats alike, not everybody believes that. I have been informed by conservatives that the death tolls are inflated because the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (they always leave off the P when talking about it, not sure why), has ordered doctors to report all deaths as Covid deaths. I found that curious, because the liberals have informed me that the CDC has ordered doctors to stop reporting Covid deaths in order to keep the death count low. I hope the guy at the CDC giving out the orders is keeping it straight! This is giving me a headache. Oh, no! That's a symptom!

Lots of different things going on in Chapter 15. Enjoy!

Now you know why I asked about detailed info on female anatomy several weeks ago. I wanted to get the details right on IUDs and oophorectomies. After writing parts of the story I realized that I didn't know what I needed to know. Several doctors and nurses were able to respond and help me. Many thanks.

We are beginning to see signs of PTSD among the doctors, nurses, EMTs, and paramedics who are responding to coronavirus victims. Several have already committed suicide and many others are openly discussing not being able to continue working in the health field. I hate to say this, but I wasn't surprised. We've seen it happen before.

For those interested, I've begun publishing on bookapy, the publishing site affiliated with SOL. Not sure how that will work out in the long run. They aren't linked up yet with Amazon or iBookstore, for instance, and royalties are only paid quarterly. On the other hand, a purchase through them earns a higher royalty payment to the author. At least the authors can still publish elsewhere at the same time. We're just going to have to see how this works out. For those interested in purchasing elsewhere, send me a note.

FYI, Chapter 12 was the last chapter that could be considered in any sense political. Just remember, because a character says something, it doesn't mean I am saying it. It's fiction! That being said, I just can't believe that some people think coronavirus is political! For all of you who think it's faked, please feel free to take some hydroxychloroquine, wash it down with some disinfectant, and get in your tanning bed. Me, I'm going to listen to my doctor. Please don't complain. I'll just hit the Delete key.

Another complaint, of sorts, has been about the lack of action in this story. Where's the 'trigger time'? Sorry about that. Grim's no longer in Iraq at the height of the war or serving on a SWAT team. He's a civilian. As a general rule, civilians are discouraged from running around shooting people. Then again, his name is the Grim Reaper. We'll just have to see how that works out.