Updates on This and That

For the record, Swimsover was October 5th this year. On Sunday, with the sun shining and the temps in the low 70s, I spent the afternoon poolside and in the water. But, acknowledging that the end was near, I put away the rafts and Robbie the Robot (the automatic vacuum). I also set out the cover for the pool guys when they come this afternoon.
Yesterday, after work and a gym workout, I came home and had one last swim. The last report from the "temperature team" before they were removed from the pool for the season, had the water at about 70 degrees.
Laurie, ever supportive, came out and proclaimed, "Look, everyone, there's a polar bear swimming in the pool!"

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I commented a couple of weeks ago about a 67-year-old woman who disappeared from a cruise ship in Alaska and the ensuing search. A follow-up news story reported that video surveillance from the ship showed her jumping overboard, an apparent suicide. She suffered from an undisclosed illness and had wrapped up her affairs before going on the cruise.
The news report goes on to say that it is presumed she drowned and that the search by the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards has been ended.
Presumably, there is no one to send a bill to for the cost of said search.

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Following my revelations about Ted P. Skimmer, I received an email pointing out that a Google search leads to a book credited to him as well. Joe's Lost Home, published by McGraw Hill in 2001, is indeed the handiwork of "Ted."

For an educational project Laurie was working on, I wrote ten or twelve story books. The publisher, however, wanted different authors for each of them, so I had to come up with a dozen names. Among the others I used were Robert Harris, O.G. Smedley, and Chris Hobart (but not Bob Rozakis). And while the books still appear on school-approved reading lists, I have never seen any of them.

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