Month: September 2024

ECONOGAL > 2024 > September

September 2024 Wrap-Up

Posted on by Econogal

Fall is Here

The September 2024 calendar was filled with travelling, canning, reading and writing. Warm daytime temperatures and cool nights make this one of my favorite months. Add in the beauty of the turning leaves and the ripening of vine fruits and you have just about everything one could ask for.

Unfortunately for those not living on the High Plains and within driving distance of the Rockies, the weather may not have been as pleasant. Plus, my heart goes out to those residing in the Southeast part of the country. Hurricane season is not to be taken lightly.

Travel in September 2024

The mountains of Central Colorado are at peak fall color. So, I tagged along on a business trip to Vail Valley. In addition to Vail, I spent time in Silverthorne with a dear friend. We had a delicious lunch at Enza’s Delicatessen and Market, sitting outside along the creek.

Dinner in Vail the first night was also along a creek-Gore Creek at Mountain Standard. The restaurant hosts a hearty menu of various meats. We try to eat here every time we are in Vail.

The second night we wandered through the village for an hour before finding a pizza place. Pazzo’s Pizza had the Thursday Night football game on. Now that these games are streamed for pay, it was nice to find a spot with a subscription. On top of that, our pizza earned Pazzo’s a rank among the top in pizzeria’s west of the Mississippi.

Fall Colors

Aspens in Background ski lift in foreground
Vail Mountain

Gore Creek

Stream flowing

Silverthorne

Aspens turning blue sky with two stray clouds

In the Garden September 2024

The abundance of tomatoes and cantaloupe continues in this year’s garden. The green beans are now producing as well. I am watching the calendar closely. The sweet potatoes need to be dug just after the first light frost. This helps cure them for storage. Also, it is time to plant the garlic for next season. So, work in the garden is not quite finished.

In the Library

This month I zipped through the Sunshine Vicram trilogy by Darynda Jones. Each was enjoyable. September 2024 also marked a return to a favorite series.  Paul Doiron’s Mike Bowditch appears in Pitch Dark. Once again, a master author weaves action-adventure with thought provoking plots. Full of twists and turns, look for a review soon.

Final Thoughts

Social media continues to baffle me. Searching for first-hand accounts of Hurricane Helene yields bitter political discourse. Also, there are a variety of conspiracy theories regarding the weather. No common sense and very little compassion and understanding.

Fortunately, in-person conversations continue to uplift. One recent encounter at a C-Store on an interstate provided much joy. Little Daisy Mae in her side car is a service dog with excellent training and great behavior. Her owner was tickled with recent awards at a car show in Goodland, Kansas. Our conversation ended because vehicles were waiting for their turn at the pump. I need more of this in my life! Real people and real experiences.

Daisy Mae

Australian Shepard riding in a side car of an Indian Brand Motorcycle

Updating The GO Bags

Posted on by Econogal

Emergency Preparedness

Watching the coverage of Hurricane Helene prompted me to pull the GO Bags out of the front closet to check for needed updates. Quite a few were needed. To be honest, it has probably been close to two years (or even more) since I last checked these important evacuation items. So, this morning’s chores included a shopping trip to replace a few key items in the bags.

Essentials for GO Bags

Clothes, medical items, food, rescue equipment and toiletries make up the bulk of what goes into the GO Bags. Additional items might fall under entertainment. These may end up being very important if you have children in your family.

It is important not to overload the backpacks. One might need to carry the load for a distance. A key item not on the list is water. I keep that in a separate rolling bag.

Clothes

Clothes for the GO Bag include gloves socks T-shirt and sweat shirt
Clothes

I have the following packed in my bag:

  • 2 pairs of underwear
  • 2 pairs of socks
  • 1 short sleeve T-Shirt
  • 1 pair of leggings
  • 1 hooded synthetic sweatshirt
  • Rain Jacket
  • 2 pairs of gloves; one cotton, one wool
  • 1 pair of ankle supports
  • 1 LL Bean beanie with head lamps

The lights in the beanie still work, unlike the small flashlight with similar LED technology.

Medical Items

Both prescription and non-prescription medicines are in the bag. I only have a week’s worth of the two medicines I take daily. Additionally, the following over-the-counter items are included:

Align Probiotic             Thera Tears     Tylenol              Benadryl Cream         Airborne

Neosporin       Aquaphor Lip Repair               Ricola Cough Drops

 

Food for the GO Bags

This is a bit tricky. Perishable goods are not great in storage, so rotation is important. I limit myself to what fits in a one-gallon plastic bag. And I include plastic utensils. Currently, the following items are available:

  • Variety of powdered drink mixes
  • Clif Bars
  • Beef Jerky
  • Trail Mix
  • Nut Butters and Jelly
  • Individual packets of instant oatmeal and hot cocoa

Rescue Equipment

My favorite piece of rescue equipment is the Four Function Whistle by Coghlan’s. Click here for their website. The four functions are a whistle, a compass, a thermometer and a magnifier. I also include:

  • Matches
  • Mirror
  • Handwarmers by Grabber
  • Dryer Lint

Since there is room left in the quart sized bag, I also store mosquito wipes and sunscreen here. The lint is stored inside a recycled medicine bottle.

Toiletries and Personal Care Items

Within the GO Bags, another one-gallon storage bag is chock full of hand selected items to make life a little better if I must evacuate. A combination of wants and needs as follows:

Wash Cloth     Bandana          Toothbrush and toothpaste      Floss   Feminine Products              Comb

Toilet Paper     Band Aids and Tape   Kleenex   Cotton swabs Nail file             Head Band

Cotton Rounds           Hand Sanitizer              Shampoo        Deodorant

Organization of GO Bags

I use quart and gallon sized bags, clearly labeled for everything except the clothes. A drawstring bag holds the clothes in a tight bundle. Then the bundle and most of the other containers go inside a waterproof zipped storage bag. This zipped bag was recycled from some purchase long ago. The Food Storage bag is kept separate.

Since space is still available in the side pockets, other items such as spare reading glasses, a map, a sheet of paper with contact phone numbers, extra shoelaces and a belt are added. The last two items are a small hand sewing kit with buttons and a small fabric bag with cash in mixed denominations. Just beware of the overall weight. Mine weighs about twelve pounds. This falls into the guidelines of staying between ten and twenty percent of my body weight.

Hopefully, I will never need to use a Go Bag. But if a natural disaster heads my way…I am ready to go.

 

Out of Nowhere Book Review

Posted on by Econogal

Changed in an Instant

Sandra Brown’s Out of Nowhere starts with the premise that both tragedy and love can strike out of nowhere. Lives are changed in an instant when a mass shooting occurs at a county fair. Brown’s characters include guilt-ridden survivors, frustrated law officers and the unknown sub(ordinate) as they struggle with the aftermath.

Romantic Interest

Calder Hudson, surviving victim of the shooting, fights his attraction for Elle Portman. Ms. Portman lost a family member in the shooting. Both experience survivor’s guilt. Yet they take different approaches to healing.

Over time, their attraction grows, and romance arises from tragedy. However, the shooting is not as random as first thought and thus complications interfere with their relationship.

Readers should be aware that the romance is spicy not sweet.

Portrayal of Law Enforcement

Ms. Brown’s treatment of the characters portraying officers of the law is mixed. Ineptitude is first with the misidentification of the shooter. More mistakes are made in the investigation. Yet the lead officers do not come off as bumbling or uncaring. Instead, they are thwarted, and the reader can identify with their frustration.

Out of Nowhere Shooter

The author cleverly hides the identification of the shooter while still giving the character space with a point of view. However, Brown drops clues so that true sleuths may deduce the name. Others such as this one may have a “that makes sense” moment.

The shooter’s revealed identity and actions prove evil comes in many forms. Unfortunately, a case is made for the connection between severe mental health problems and mass shootings. Out of Nowhere highlights a problem existing in this world.

Recommendation for Out of Nowhere

Sandra Brown is a master storyteller. I have read a few of her books over the years and they contain much suspense, violence and hardcore love scenes. I enjoyed Out of Nowhere even though the premise is so heartbreaking. But Ms. Brown treats the topic with care. Survivors need to take time to heal. Then they need to go on living even with tremendous loss.

Furthermore, the author addresses the issue of instable individuals. Mental health needs attention. A major flaw is one of blaming others for anything going downhill in life. Perhaps it is as easy as going back to keeping score in children’s games. We all will have wins and losses in life. It is important to learn how to deal with the losses. Win-win situations are few and far between.

Out of Nowhere has depth. I highly recommend this novel.

A Bad Day for Sunshine Book Review

Posted on by Econogal

Author Darynda Jones

Another missed book due to the pandemic is A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones. This 2020 release contains both suspense and mirth. Not at the same time. Jones creates characters with deep backgrounds and intriguing personalities. There is also sexual tension and violence. So, I am recommending this for adults only.

Setting for A Bad Day for Sunshine

Del Sol, New Mexico is a fictional town in the northern part of the state, up the road from Sante Fe but not quite to Colorado. The region is sprinkled with small towns where everyone knows everything and everybody. Secrets are hard to keep. And town folk tend to rally around their own.

Five minutes from one end of town to the other. The kind of town where parents receive phone calls about kids skipping school before the truants can even get to where they are going. Strangers are noticed instantaneously and newcomers…well, it helps to marry into the community if one’s not fortunate enough to be born there.

Sunshine Vicram née Freyr

A new sheriff is in town. Widow Sunshine Vicram left Del Sol without looking back with infant Auri in tow. Through the years she has made a name for herself in law enforcement in the bigger cities of New Mexico. Then, unbeknownst to her, she manages to win an election, so now she is Sheriff Vicram.

Auri is a teenager. Facing a new high school mid-year is treacherous as the busted New Year’s Eve party resulted in a confiscated keg. Fellow students think she was the narc. To make matters worse, the only friend made during said party is missing. As in abducted. Thus, Auri is anxious to help her mom find Sybil.

Complications

Author Jones weaves many backstories in this introduction to a new series. The multitude of characters makes it tough for the reader to determine the “bad” guy. And there are multiple threads requiring police investigation, including the cold case of a long-ago abduction.

Secondary characters pepper the story. And the most complicated of all is Levi Ravinder. Naturally, Sunshine gravitates toward him just as in their youth. But he may prove even more dangerous now. The skill of the writing brings all the cast to life.

Recommendation

A Bad Day for Sunshine was checked out from the library since it was the start of a series, all with catchy titles. The page turner was read in one sitting with nary a break except to eat. Also checked out was the second in the series A Good Day for Chardonnay, and the library has the third title as well. The Sunshine Vicram series will most likely be devoured by this reader much like The Boxcar Children and The Happy Hollisters from years gone by.

If you have not discovered this series and enjoy suspense tempered with humor, look for Darynda Jones books at your library or favorite bookstore. Well-written with only one (necessary?) plot glitch—NO PARENT would leave the side of a newly found abductee- this series is one to put on your radar.

2034 Book Review

Posted on by Econogal

A Pandemic Miss

Recently, in a book store I grabbed both a new release 2054, and its’ prequel 2034. Both books are written by duo Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis. The original release date for 2034 was 2021. So, yet another novel missed due to the pandemic. After completing 2034 in sobering fashion, it will be a while before I tackle 2054. Thought-provoking books take time to digest.

Plot of 2034

The plot of the novel is realistic. The Chinese push back on the Americans trolling of the South China Sea. In real life, and in the book, the status of Taiwan sits as a sharp thorn in the middle of the ocean. Many parallels exist between fiction and life.

2034 posits that the Americans have lost the edge with respect to stealth and cyber defense. Furthermore, the authors create a situation where a cat-and-mouse game gets out of hand due to actions of third-party alliances. This escalates into war.

Cast of Characters

The story is told with multiple points of view. Always tricky, but well written by Ackerman and Stavridis. Interesting enough, the main Iranian character comes across as the most relatable. At least to this reader.

A few real-life individuals are alluded to in the story. But not the ones I expected. And women have a large role in the fight. As usual, rogue characters create havoc. Most interesting was the diversity of the characters and their relative points of view. Thus, 2034 is very global.

Overall Impressions of 2034

At first, the novel strikes one as very technical. Only toward the end do the personalities of each highlighted character come through. Divergent themes are also present. First is the idea that the United States of America is slipping a notch in technology-and doesn’t realize it. Second, expressed mostly through the Indian-American character of Dr. Sandeep “Sandy” Chowdhury, is the thought that the ideal of America is not necessarily bound by borders.

Perhaps the most lasting impression for me is the knowledge of the warriors who tire of war and seek peace in nature and family. The dichotomy of destruction and nurture is best told through the American naval officer Sarah Hunt and the Iranian hero Qassem Farshad. Both seek quietude in the aftermath of war.

Finally, wars produce more losers than winners. They also realign world order. This was true after World War II and true of the fictional war of 2034. Readers may be surprised at the change in power and influence.