“The Big Dig” by Linda Barnes

Copyright 2002 by Linda Appleblatt Barnes. Published by St Martin’s Press, New York.

This was my first Linda Barnes mystery and I was impressed. She is a very good writer – describes people, places and events vividly and moves the story line along rapidly.  I never got bored reading this one.

The protagonist is Carlotta Carlyle, a private investigator who mostly operates independently but in this case was subbing for an agency doing undercover work on Boston’s “Big Dig” – the $14 billion Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel construction project.  She was tasked with searching for theft and graft on one of the many construction sites, but soon was investigating the death of a construction worker who was a whistleblower.  She also took another job searching for a young woman who had gone missing.  The two cases, which initially seemed totally independent, soon converged in a surprising way.

I liked this book very much. Never a dull moment.  No crazy coincidences.  No huge body count.  Just a story that got more interesting with every page.

8 out of 10.

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Camping World “diagnostics”

When we bought our fifth wheel in May 2015 we purchased an extended warranty plan that would give us “stem-to-stern” coverage for 6 years.  Recently we found a reason to use the plan: a cable on one of our black water tank valves broke, making our half bath unusable.  We thought this would also be a good time to address our chronic inverter problem: the inverter that exists solely to power our residential refrigerator while traveling (to keep our food cold) has never, ever worked.  Not once.  Every time the compressor starts up the inverter is overloaded and switches off.

Jett had a list of 6 other things that she wanted to have a RV technician look at and, based on the results of the diagnostic work, we would decide whether to fix them. So we made a date to haul the RV the 80 miles to the Camping World in Colchester NH with the expectation that they would keep it for 3 days, fix the 2 critical issues and give us estimates for fixing the others.

The only mention of a cost for the diagnostics was a statement that if the repair was not covered by the warranty then the diagnostic cost would be ours.  Fine.

So we duly dropped the RV off.  The next morning we got a call “reminding” us that there would be a separate flat-rate diagnostic cost of $67 per item.  So… 8 items, $67 each… $536.  I dropped two items – sticky windows which I felt pretty strongly could not be fixed; that is just how the windows were.  I should have dropped the living room shades issue as it would have been cheaper to just replace the shades rather than paying $67 to learn that the shades needed to be replaced.  I also should have dropped the problem with the awning tilt control as the control part – a knob – could probably be replaced for under $20.  But I didn’t.  They did fix the knob while diagnosing it, so there was no additional cost there.  But not dropping the shades issue was just stupid.  A waste of money.

But what did I learn about the two critical issues?

  • The “diagnostic” work on the black water tanks seemed to consist of the technician pushing on the control cable on the #1 tank (we have 2) and correctly determining that the valve was jammed open.  I could have told him that for free.  He apparently never tried the control on the #2 tank (the broken one).  I guess it would have cost me an extra $67 to have him try both controls (they are right next to each other).  He correctly determined that to fix the frozen one would require dropping the bottom shield and replacing the valve.  Again, I could have told him that.  What did I learn?  Nothing.  We didn’t even get the broken valve issue correctly reported to the insurance company.
  • The technician said that the inverter was failing due to a weak battery.  This makes absolutely no sense because (1) the problem existed even when the battery was new and (2) the error code on the inverter indicates an overload, not a low voltage.  If the technician had any diagnostic skill he would have put a new battery into the loop and tested the inverter again.  His writeup said that we should replace the battery (less than 3 years old – they should last at least 5 years) and bring the RV back so he can try again.  Idiot.  No useful information at all.

My diagnostics cost was $405.  That is over $400 to learn… nothing.  A total waste of money.  Worse, we learned that they would make no attempt to fix either issue until the insurance company ruled on whether the problems were covered.  We would have to pick up the RV and bring it back in a few weeks.

I am not eager to do that.  I think I need to do my own diagnostic work and, perhaps, hire an on-site RV repair guy to deal with the black tank issue.  As for the inverter, if I determine that it is, in fact, faulty, I will deal with the insurance company myself.

I really don’t want to go back to Camping World.

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“The Sacred Vault” by Andy McDermott

2011 Bantam Books Mass Market Edition

This is a book of epic adventure, #6 in the series featuring archaeologists Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase. These books are reminiscent of the Clive Cussler novels in that they involve fantastic locations and non-stop action.  And a huge body count.  In this book I counted 87 deaths, plus however many people were killed in a terrorist attack on a G20 meeting of world leaders. That is 87 deaths in 500 pages or about 1 death every 6 pages.

The plot involves a search for the Sacred Vault of Shiva, a legendary place that contains, so the story goes, the Shiva-Vedas, stone tablets containing the wisdom of the Hindu god Shiva.  An Indian billionaire wants them because he believes that with the wisdom of Shiva – and his control of worldwide information flow via his Qexia search engine – he can bring an end to the current final stage in the Hindu cycle of existence, the Kali Yuga era – an end that would embroil the entire world in war, death and destruction but would also usher in a new era of peace and enlightenment.  Khoil, the Indian billionaire, wants to be in charge when the new era begins and also wants to do everything he can to hasten its arrival, which he believes can be best achieved by killing all the world leaders meeting for the G20.

So the fate of the world hangs in the balance.  It is the Indian billionaire and his army of mercenaries against two archaeologists and a few close friends.  Guess who wins?

How they win is kind of fun, if you are willing to suspend your disbelief.  In addition to the Shiva-Vedas, the sacred vault contains a wide assortment of amazing ancient fighting machines, including some rocket-powered gliders at least 1000 years old.  One of the gliders is used to escape the mercenaries.  Yes, the heroes board an ancient flying machine and it not only is still functional, but manages to safely transport them out of the Himalayas despite being chased – and shot at – by a helicopter gunship.

See what I mean about suspending disbelief? Pretty ridiculous, really, but the book was a fun summer read.

Still, I would take a Clive Cussler book over an Andy McDermott book any day.

5 out of 10.

 

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“No Safe House” by Linwood Barclay

Copyright 2014 Barclay Perspectives, Inc. Published by Penguin Random House.

I will give Barclay credit for coming up with a plot that I have never encountered before. A small-time gangster goes into the “private banking” business, taking in cash and other valuables from people who don’t want them where the authorities might find them should their properties be searched.  He takes a percentage off the top and he hides the booty where no one would think to look: in the attics of unsuspecting neighbors. But his scheme encounters a problem when one of his stashes is stolen – obviously an inside job – and, in the course of the robbery, the son of one of his henchmen – who is there on a totally unrelated criminal purpose (taking a hot car for a joy ride) – is killed by the robber.  Accompanying the would-be joy rider is the underage daughter of a high school teacher.

Things rapidly spiral out of control, for the gangster, his henchmen, the people supporting the private banking enterprise and especially the teacher and his family.  The body count reaches 6, plus three earlier deaths that are eventually linked.  The second biggest question is: how is the teacher going to get out of this mess?

But the biggest question is: why the hell would a gangster store booty in the attics of unsuspecting people?  Why not just bury it in the woods, with the GPS locations carefully noted?  It would have been simpler and safer (fewer people aware of the criminal activities, much less chance of being caught in the houses).  At one point in the book the gangster admits that it was all a pretty dumb idea.

Barclay ties up everything nicely. Perhaps too nicely, with too many coincidences.  I think he is a decent writer but I had a very hard time keeping with the story, maybe because the whole idea was so ridiculous.  But I slogged through and the final 100 pages went pretty quickly.

If you don’t mind a head-scratching plot, the rest of the book was okay.

5 out of 10.

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Cruise claims

Our insurance claims for the aborted cruise total $13,601.97, not counting the $202.34 that was automatically refunded by TAP when we cancelled our airline tickets from Venice. There were four separate claims:

  • $394.00 to AIG (airline insurance carrier) for the non-refunded portion of the Venice airfare.
  • $9,253.86 to Aon (cruise insurance) for trip interruption.
  • $2,963.29 to Humana for medical expenses while out of the country (80% coverage).
  • $990.82 to Aon (cruise insurance) for non-reimbursed (20%) medical expenses.

Not all claims have been paid, but so far the only expenses that have been denied have been the hotel and meals expenses that were incurred in Cartagena while waiting for the arrival of our travel nurse.

I still have my fingers crossed, but it is looking good that the cruise, while being a medical and vacation disaster, won’t be a financial disaster as well.

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TN4 wrapup

TN4 Actual

TN4 Actual

I am belatedly doing the post-mortem on the Fourth Trip North (TN4). By the numbers: 17 nights in 8 hops, 1664 tow miles, 1930 truck miles, $757.93 in campground fees ($44.58 per night). The campground total does not include the 2 nights we spent in the Quality Inn in Lexington MA and if I were to provide a total cost I would have to include the 5 days we had to rent a car in Newburgh NY and fuel, not only to get to the destination but also to make that trip by rental car to Lexington so that Jett could make her medical appointment.

In short, this was not the trip that was planned. The main feature was mechanical problems with the truck – first in NC then again in NY. The failure in NY caused a 5-day delay in reaching the destination. It also resulted in unexpected expenditures of over $1,500 for hotels, an 8th campground and a rental car. Those problems were definitely the main “lowlights”, but not the only lowlights. Once again we were plagued by rainy weather all the way from VA to MA, including a threat of flooding in PA. The highlights? Visiting family in VA and an always-pleasant stay at James Island in Charleston. God, we love that park and love that city!

We also picked up Rusty along the way in VA. Many thanks to Jett’s sons for taking such good care of him. He almost didn’t want to leave.

We left NY with a repaired truck and hopes that we would have a reliable (and maintenance-free) truck all summer. Well, those hopes were dashed a week later. I will describe those separately.

This was probably the most difficult north/south trip ever. We need a problem-free trip south in the fall to feel confident that we have a reliable truck.

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Update on Jett’s health

Her most recent blood tests show that her hemoglobin is holding steady at a low-normal level. Her doctor is putting her on B12 supplements and will monitor her condition closely. So while we still don’t know the cause for the near-catastrophic drop in hemoglobin while on the cruise, the fact that it has recovered and seems to be a manageable condition is very encouraging.

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TN4 Hop 8: Newburgh NY to Phillipston MA

TN4 Hop 8

TN4 Hop 8

190 miles via NY 32, I-87, I-90, MA 21 and US 202. Truck miles: 267. Cumulative tow miles: 1694. Cumulative truck miles: 1930.

This was a hop that, like the stay in Newburgh, was not in our plan. The original, ill-fated Hop 7 would have taken I-84 to I-91 up into MA. But from Newburgh the I-87 route was basically the same time, though 10 miles longer and about $20 more expensive due to tolls. But having traversed I-84 twice on our “road trip” and enjoying it not at all, I opted for the longer, more expensive route.

I am glad I did as it was a scenic route on a beautiful day. The traffic was, relative to I-84, light and the navigation was simple. The first 20 miles were, as usual, white-knuckle because it would have been disastrous if the engine problem reappeared. It didn’t. But I didn’t start to relax until we had gone about 50 miles. At that point Jett called the campground – the New York City North/Newburgh KOA Holiday – to let them know that we had vacated the site a day early. We kept our reservation for as long as we thought there was a chance we would have to return.

The KOA was a port in a storm. I chose it because it was closest to my truck, so I really didn’t care what it had to offer. I didn’t look around with a critical eye. But it is a nice little campground. A few too many long-term residents for my taste, but maybe they are waiting for their trucks to be fixed, too. We were next to a lovely couple who were attending his 65th class reunion at West Point. Wow.

So it appears that the truck has been fixed. I won’t fully believe that until I haul the RV back down to Florida without encountering an engine problem. But I am cautiously optimistic as the service rep showed me a service bulletin which described my symptoms perfectly.

And only $861 to fix it. A bargain.

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TN4 Road Trip

The truck was left for repair while we rented a car and drove to Boston for two nights in the Quality Inn in Lexington MA. The road trip was necessary because we had two critically important commitments: my first summer softball game on Monday and Jett’s appointment with her doctor on Tuesday. Both went reasonably well: my team won both games, though I can’t take much of the credit, and Jett got lots of blood taken for a battery of tests. We are keeping our fingers crossed on both the truck and the blood tests.

As you can see from the photo below, the weather for the softball game was sunny and warm – a perfect softball day. This was just a stroke of luck because it rained all the way to Boston and rained all the way back to Newburgh. The traffic on the return trip was terrible. A miserable 5-hour trip.

We had a couple of hours to kill on Tuesday morning – Jett’s doctor appointment was at 1:30 pm – so I went out in search of a used car. We wanted an inexpensive car that we could use while we are in MA – a “summer rat.” Buying and selling should be cheaper than renting. Unless we run into mechanical problems, of course.

I found a 2008 Ford Fusion that looked like it would meet our needs, so I took Jett to see it. She loved it. So within the course of an hour we had bought it. We will take possession on Saturday.

It wasn’t part of the original TN4 plan, but it turned out to be a pretty productive road trip.

First softball game

First softball game

Summer rat

Summer rat

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TN4 Hop 7: Milford PA to Newburgh NY (barely)

TN4 Hop 7

TN4 Hop 7

38 miles via I-84. Truck miles: 52. Cumulative tow miles: 1504. Cumulative truck miles: 1673.

This was supposed to be the last hop of the TN4. Not so. 37 miles into the trip the “check engine” light once again reappeared. And was persistent. We waited, on the side of the very busy I-84, for about 25 minutes before the light went off. The good news, if there is any, is that we were able to pull over at the top of Exit 6 and that a Pilot Truck Center was located at that exit. When I got the engine restarted, We were able to take the exit ramp, wait at the bottom through a light cycle, make a left turn and travel about a tenth of a mile to the light for the turn into the truck stop. Then the engine failed again. We had to wait about 10 minutes in the left turn lane, hazard lights blinking, until the engine restarted normally and I was able to pull into the truck stop. Where the light came on once again.

Three failures in a mile. I suppose we could have made it to Massachusetts a quarter of a mile at a time, but it would have taken a week.

Time to get this annoying problem fixed for real.

The $100 diagnosis

The $100 diagnosis

I went into the truck stop and talked to the mechanic. He had no diagnostic equipment, but gave me the number of a guy who did. I called the number and he appeared within 20 minutes. Diagnosed the problem as a voltage issue on injector 2 – same problem we had in NC. No surprise there. Paid him $100 for that bit of information (cash – it would have been $200 on a credit card – don’t tell the IRS), got permission from the truck stop manager to park the RV overnight, got it parked, found a local GMC/Chevy dealership 3 miles away and drove there in “safe mode”. The truck actually can travel in safe mode, but sounds like hell and is useless as a tow vehicle. I talked to the service guy at the dealership. There was no real hope of fixing the problem before Monday (they had one “diesel guy” who was swamped) and very likely wouldn’t be looked at before Tuesday. So… get a rental car (the service guy called Enterprise for us), take what we needed from the truck (not much – some sewer hookup stuff and the dog), book a site at the closest RV park (a KOA 10 miles away), make arrangements to haul the RV there the next day (the RV park had no sites on Friday), get a hotel room for the night, go back to the truck stop to get what we needed overnight and drive to the hotel. Then find a pizza place for dinner.

Tough hop. We will lose everything that we have in the freezer. We were smart enough to dump the ice so that we wouldn’t come back to a pool of water on the floor tomorrow.

Oh – almost forgot the other “fun” aspect of this day: the broken glass. When we pulled out of the River Beach Campsites park, the right RV tires dropped into a pretty deep hole. I saw the RV rock behind me as I made the turn. The severe dip/tilt/rock was enough to toss the recliner about 2 feet and throw open one of the kitchen cabinet doors, allowing two glasses to tumble out onto the countertop, break and spread glass all over everything. Just a little insult on top of the injury.

Broken glass

Broken glass

This was arguably the worst hop in our 5+ years of traveling. To come on the heels of our disastrous cruise makes it even more painful.

We had to call Lamb City (our summer campground) and tell them that our arrival would be delayed indefinitely. They were sympathetic, but still insisted on full payment of the balance. I guess I would call that limited sympathy.

Jett says that we should be grateful for the good fortune that we had – we were able to get the rig into the truck stop and make arrangements to fix the truck and stay in Newburgh, all within a few hours. I guess. But let’s say that I have limited gratitude.

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