Germ-free entertainment

For germ-free entertainment, I previously recommended the Department Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Featuring Danish police inspector Carl Mørck, the novels are excellent, but they can be dark. There are some exceptionally creepy people at the heart of the stories, so I stopped reading them.

I’m finding during this pandemic that dark is relative. It turns out reading about imaginary creepy people doing bad things is less disturbing than lying awake at night ruminating on our current reality. I jumped back in the pool, and I’m enjoying the books very much. 

The cold case investigations are detailed and suspenseful, which makes for great reading, but I especially love the character development. Carl is an interesting guy, but he is no less interesting than his current sidekicks, Assad and Rose. I peeked, and there’s another colleague arriving in a future book. They all have a back story, and I love the interaction among them.  

I downloaded the first Walt Longmire novel from the library, and it was great, but the rest were not available in digital format. While I wait for the library to re-open, I started watching the Longmire series on Netflix. There are six seasons, and I’m in the middle of Season 2.

While Walt seems the classic Wyoming sheriff, he’s a complex character … as is his deputy sheriff Vic Moretti. As a woman checking out another woman, I would say she’s tough and hot in the same breath. The stories have a strong connection to the Native American community, and that makes them all the more interesting.

The new season of Bosch has arrived on Amazon Prime! My first inclination is to binge-watch the whole thing, but I’m learning to appreciate the slow reveal. I’m watching Season 5 of Outlander on STARZ, and new episodes are delivered weekly – and then sometimes they skip a week! What? But I like the anticipation, and I certainly have plenty of time these days. I will probably alternate between Bosch and Longmire.    

I read a million good reviews of The Princess Bride, both the book and the movie. I can’t speak for the movie, but I did not get far with the book. I rarely say this, but I absolutely hated it. I hated the style of writing, the forced humor that wasn’t actually funny … even Buttercup. I found her completely unlikeable.

The good news? I downloaded it from the library!! I love not paying for a book I hated. To celebrate, I snagged a free Kindle book on Amazon. Dirty Little Secrets by Liliana Hart. It’s the first in a series featuring J.J. Graves, a small-town funeral director and coroner. I haven’t started it yet, but it sounds promising.

In my current role as director of supply chain management, I’m using a mix of Amazon and local grocery stores, depending on what we need. Although it’s working pretty well, we are talking about doing another in-store trip. I suspect the wackos are going to come out after May 1, you know, thinking this whole thing is over, so I’d like us to get there before the crush.

I got an email from Raley’s, a local chain, and they seem to have an aggressive approach to managing risk:

• Shields at registers
• Hand washing stations
• Cart and hand sanitizers
• Sanitation Marshals in each store
• Social distancing signage and overhead messaging
• Metered customer count

I like all that. I’ve become a wee bit obsessive about germs. As usual, Dale has adopted a more relaxed approach and does not appreciate my interventions friendly advice. I’m like the police, following him around to make sure he washes his hands a hundred times a day like the rest of us.

He suggested I apply for a job as Sanitation Marshal. Probably just to get rid of me, although he did make me a badge …