Property inspection and good readings

Sometime it is a delight to look our the window and see your front yard being inspected. This Heron recently walked around our front lawn and then decided to inspect our neighbor's yard. So off he went walking tall on the gravel stone walkway up to our neighbor's front porch.

I completed two good books this month: The Billion Dollar Spy, a true story of Cold War espionage and betrayal by Pulitzer Prize winner David E.Hoffman. He recounts in exciting detail how a Soviet engineer volunteered to spy for the CIA in the heart of Moscow. His tales of clandestine meetings put you on the street evading KGB surveillance and your heart pumps during fifteen minute meetings in darkened nights. (Doubleday Publishers, available on Amazon.com.)

The second book is a memoir from former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell, (with Bill Harlow) who was George W. Bush's briefing officer for much of Bush's presidency. The Great War of Our Time, The CIA's fight against terrorists from Al QA'IDA to ISIS, takes the reader inside the White House and the offices of the CIA from 9/11 to the present. (Publisher: Twelve - A Hacherte Book Group, also available on Amazon.com.

Take either or both of these books to the beach on the mountains on your vacation and you will have serious narratives; especially read Morell's memoir if you are at all concerned about terrorism. 

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Man and his automobile

Henry Ford's development of the assembly line in 1913 was one of those moments Eastman Kodak had been waiting for since it began mass production of the personal camera in 1888. Man and his new automobile have possibly been the subject of more photos over the last 100 years than scantily clad beauty queens at Atlantic City. Not one to break an American tradition, here is me and my new car purchased on Thursday. (The wife is the official photographer.) The auto is a 2013 Lexus ES 350 and easily the finest automobile I have ever driven. which includes a BMW and a long line of Lincoln Towncars (official car of the Mafia).

It will take a while to learn all the wonderful things in this car but already I particularly like the rearview camera which shows a picture on the dashboard of what is behind me when I back up. The built in GPS will be a great aid to getting around, and eliminates the need to carry a portable GPS on long trips.  I've keyed in the garage opener to a button on the bottom of the rear view mirror and will dispense with clipping the opener on the visor. This model is a front-wheel drive, and this eliminates a large hump on the floor in the back seating area; thus seating three comfortably. 

Now, all I have to do is pay for it. Isn't America a great country?

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PS: My earlier blog about a boat lock should have noted it is only one of three such locks on the East  Coast. Two are on Hilton Head Island and the third in Jacksonville, FL.