Bill's Top Ten Lists for 2015

Every year for the past 3 or 4 years, I've finished off the year by listing my favourite books/ movies/ actors and actresses and TV shows for the past year. So, since we're no mid-December, I guess it's time for the 2015 list. I'll qualify my selections as I always do by saying, the books or movies might not necessarily have been released in 2015, but they were watched or read by me during the past year. Over the next 11 days, I'll list my Top Tens starting with number Ten in each category. Today, as a teaser, I'm going to list my Honorary Mentions in each category; 3 of each. The categories are, once again, Top Ten Books; Top Ten Songs Added to My usb; Top Ten TV Shows; Top Ten Movies; Top Ten Actors and Top Ten Actresses (these could have been chosen from either TV shows or movies). OK, so let's get on with this.

Bill's 2015 Honorary Mentions

Books

1. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham - This is an old classic SciFi favourite of mine, originally released in 1955. I've read two or three times before and this was one of my re-read choices for 2015. It didn't disappoint, once again, I was drawn in and fascinated by the story. It's one book that I would love to see as a movie and with the popularity of movies like The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner series, I think this is just the time for some excellent director to pick it up and make a movie about it. The story is about the aftermath (many, many years after) some sort of manmade disaster when mankind is struggling to survive and in this small corner of Greenland, they believe that any sort of mutation is a sin against God. A group of young people, who have some sort of mutation must try and keep it a secret or face severe consequences. It's a fascinating story and has not weakened with time; still excellent.

2. Gallow's View by Peter Robinson. This is the first Inspector Banks mystery and after enjoying the TV series very much, I finally took the plunge and tried the original book series. I wasn't disappointed. This first story was excellent. This was my review of it. "This is the first book in the Chief Inspector Banks mysteries. I liked it from the very opening pages and enjoyed the story thoroughly. Alan Banks is an interesting character, having moved from London to Eastvale in Yorkshire, in the hope of a quieter police life. He quickly is involved in a case of a peeper as well as a number of break-ins and finally a murder of an old woman. I enjoyed getting to know Alan and also his personal life. His wife, Sharon, was well-presented and also some of the other police officers that worked with Alan. The story was gritty enough but not so that it was disturbing. The pace of the book was excellent and I enjoyed how the cases were worked and ultimately how they were resolved. All in all, it was an excellent first story and I'm glad now that I have a few others of the series in my bookshelves awaiting my attention. As an aside, this series has also been developed for TV and while I felt the TV show to be quite different from the initial book, I enjoyed both immensely. Nice that both have their differences but at the same time hold there own as excellent series. I highly recommend you give this series a try if you like good mysteries."

3. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - This was a pure joy to read, quirky, funny and an interesting, fantastical mystery. I definitely look forward to reading more of this series. This was my review - "I don't normally like to give 5-star ratings but this book was just such a fun, entertaining read that I couldn't give myself a reason not to. I liked Thursday Next's character very much and the strange and wonderful persons who surrounded her made for a joyful ride, from her time travelling father who dropped in and out for little moments to Uncle Mycroft and Aunt Polly and even the only lightly introduced pet Dodo. There are so many characters and back stories that I want to find out more about that I'm really looking forward to finding the next episode in Thursday's adventures. What about this story? Well, basically Thursday Next is an SO-27 Literatec agent who works to find lost books, false books, etc. That's such a simplification in this fantastical world, where the Crimean conflict is still taking place, where the walls between reality and fiction are fragile and people can travel both ways, into and out of stories, but that's the gist of her job. She is seconded to a higher branch of Special Ops and finds herself arrayed against Acheron Hades, a mad, psychopath, who has stolen the original Martin Chuzzlewit and intends to kill off the main character if his demands are not met. Of course this will have a catastrophic impact on the story; it will no longer exist basically. So there you have the beginning; Thursday's adventures progress from there. It's fascinating and wild and well-written and so darned interesting. Enjoy!!!"

Song Downloads (These are songs that have been added to my usb over the course of the past year.)

1. Cool Kids by Echosmith - Echosmith are an American band formed in 2009 in California. This was one of the first songs I added to my usb in 2015. I found it listed on the BBC Playlist and when I checked it out, liked it immediately. If you click on the song title printed in bold, you will be taken to it on You Tube. The song was released in 2013 originally and reached number 25 in Canada.

2. Under the Shadows by Rae Morris - Rae Morris is an English singer / songwriter from Blackpool. I first heard of her when I heard her sing on Bombay Bicycle Club's Luna and liked her voice. I found this song listed on the BBC Radio 2 playlist and loved it. This also was an early 2015 addition to my usb. The song was released in 2015. (Once again, just click on the song title in bold and you'll be taken to it.) I like the video, her voice and the whole beat of the song.

3. Nature's Law by Embrace - I found this song on a Ken Bruce, BBC Radio 2 show in August. Embrace is a English alternative rock band that's been around since 1993. Nature's Law was released in 2006 and reached number 2 on the UK singles charts. It's a haunting, beautiful song. Love the piano beginning.

TV Shows

1. Chasing Shadows - This was one of those quirky shows that we discovered. It's a British mystery mini-series that stars Reese Shearsmith, as 'troubled' Detective Sergeant Sean Stone, who has been assigned to work on serial killer cases, with DCI Carl Pryor, played by Noel Clarke and, social worker Ruth Hattersley, played by Alex Kingston. Unfortunately, it only went for 4 episodes but it was fascinating. Reese Shearsmith is difficult to work with, is almost an idiot savant in some ways, cannot work well with others and has many, many issues. But a relationship develops between him and Alex Kingston, who is also fantastic. The missus and I really wanted this series to continue as it was so enjoyable. But I guess that was never the plan. Darn ITV.

2. Bitten. This is a Canadian-made SciFi series based on the books of Kelley Armstrong. Season 2 showed on our Space TV network and continued the excellent work from Season 1. It may not be for everybody; I mean it's about werewolves and witches, but I liked it. I've read the first book and they are very similar. Laura Vandervoort is great as the main, only? female werewolf and the support cast, including Greg Bryk, as the clan leader, Steve Lund and Greyston Holt all add to the story. This past season brought the wolves into contact with a coven who are under attack by some spiritual, witchy being. I liked how it was paced and I enjoyed the story. It was full of action, sometimes very creepy and I thought gritty and well done. I'm looking forward to Season 3.

3. Fear the Walking Dead. I've enjoyed The Walking Dead since it came out on AMC in 2010. I've missed the odd episode but have watched it religiously. I was interested when the ads started for this new spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead, wondering what it might be about. Well, basically, it features different people from The Walking Dead and is a sort of precursor to the events taking place in The Walking Dead. This is the build up to the plague of zombies and how a group of people in Los Angeles find themselves getting caught up in events as the plague starts. Very interesting, not quite as graphic as the original, since we don't really have zombies, per se, at least not those as eaten up and decayed as you get in the original series. I liked it and look forward to following this group of people into the future.

Movies (I qualify this category by stating that I don't get out to the movie theaters so usually try to catch up on any trips we go on, watching on airplane flights and also when they come up on our movie channel)

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - I think this was my favourite of the three. My enjoyment of the first was affected partly because I was trying to get used to stupid 3-D glasses and also, it was sort of slow developing. The second was also ok, but everything tied together nicely with this final story. Lots of action, enough of Evangeline Lilly as a lovely elf and just a darn good story and finale.

2. Maleficent - I was pleasantly surprised with this. The missus told me that she had watched it when it came up on our movie channels, so begrudgingly somewhat, I watched it the next time. I do like Angelina Jolie and she did seem to enjoy her role as Maleficent, the evil witch who puts the spell on Sleeping Beauty. But the story was so well-told, added some nice touches explaining why Maleficent was as she was and also was very touching as the movie moved along. Lovely story and a neat fantasy.

3. Godzilla - This was a pleasant surprise. There have been so many versions of the Godzilla story, from the original Japanese B-movies, where Godzilla battles everybody from Mothra to King Kong, etc. Then there was also the Matthew Broderick version, which I enjoyed, even if it was somewhat cheesy, but entertaining. This latest version came out in 2014 and was darker and grittier than I expected. Interesting and well-paced, I'm going to have to watch again, as I know I've missed bits and pieces. But it's worth watching again. Check it out.

Actresses

1. Nicola Walker - Nicola Walker is an English actor who I've seen in many TV series over the past few years, from the disturbed Helen Bartlett in 2013's Scott and Bailey to confused but lovely Gillian in Last Tango in Halifax. Most recently, the missus and I enjoyed her performance as DCI Cassie Stuart in 2015's Unforgotten, an excellent British series, about the investigation into the discovery of the bones of a young man in a cellar. She was excellent as the lead investigator, made the part serious and believable. She has a quality about her that draws you in, no matter what role she plays. It was nice to see her in this role, which was very sympathetic.

2. Claire Calbraith - Claire Calbraith is an English actress who I first saw as a housemaid in Downton Abbey, who has a brief dalliance with Lord Downton. The next time we noticed her was when she joined the cast of Vera, as an ex Military policewoman who joins the police force and works for Vera. In both roles, she was excellent, adding something to both series. Now she has turned up in the excellent series, Home Fires, about an group of women, all excellent actresses, I must say, members of the local Women's Institute, who work together to keep their town safe and secure during the beginnings of WWII. Excellent series and she is excellent in the role of Steph Farrow, common sense farmer whose husband has gone off to enlist, leaving her and her son to manage the farm and deal with the wartime bureaucracy. Looking forward to Season 2.

3. Marisa Ramirez -  Marisa Ramirez is an American actress out of Los Angeles, who we first noticed in Against the Wall, a police show where she played a pregnant, spunky Internal Affairs cop, partner to Rachel Carpani. For the past 3 Seasons, she's been partnered with Donnie Wahlberg in Blue Bloods. I think my wife would agree with me when I say she's the best partner he's ever had in the show and she adds such a great quality to her role as Detective Maria Baez. They'd better keep her on the show!!

Actors

1. John Simm - John Simm is an English actor who has popped up on so many shows that I've watched over the years; State of Play (2003), Life on Mars (2006-2007), Doctor Who (various times) and, most recently, in 2015, in the excellent mini-series, Code of a Killer, where he plays real-life scientist, Alec Jeffreys, who discovered DNA fingerprinting and used it successfully in helping bring in a double murderer. It was an excellent mini-series and he was believable and excellent in the role of the scientist. Great part.

2. Martin Shaw - Shaw is an English actor who has been around for ages but who I've only become acquainted with in his roles of Judge John Deed and more recently in the excellent Inspector George Gently series. The missus and I watch Gently whenever it is on and this past season, as Gently deals with the onset of multiple sclerosis, has been one of the best yet. I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to have the chance to watch him perform. He's excellent.

3. Peter Capaldi - Scottish actor, Peter Capaldi is another who has been around for a very long time, but I've only recently made his acquaintance as he took over the role of the Doctor, in the long running BBC series, Doctor Who. I was kind of disappointed the first season. I think I liked Matt Smith so much, that I had difficulty adjusting to an older Doctor once again. But I started watching again this season and have once again fallen in love with the show. And, giving credit where credit is due, Capaldi has been excellent and is the main reason I'm back to watching each episode with anticipation. He's grown into the role and has made it his own. Love it.

So there you go, the Honourable Mention portion of my Top Ten lists for 2015. Tomorrow we'll hit off with the Number 10's. See you then. :)

Reminiscences of a Military Brat - Part 19 - Final Thoughts on Cold Lake, Vacations, plus Gratuitous Family Photos

Old Friends

Before I move on to my short stay at 1 Air Movements Unit (AMU) in Edmonton, some final thoughts on my first posting in Cold Lake and other items. One of the nice things about the military life is that no matter where you are, you tend to meet old friends. I noticed this especially in my next posting at Edmonton, but more on that in my future BLogs. In Cold Lake, I met Gary Christenson, who was just finishing his initial training there and heading off to his next job. We had been on basic training together back in '75. I think he was in 12 Platoon and I was in 13. We had also spent that summer down in Halifax, where he was doing summer On-job training. In Cold Lake, he was working at the Base Pharmacy. Much later on in my career, as I was winding down my career in Comox BC, I was to meet him again, now a doctor and working at the Base Hospital.

Also in Cold Lake was one of my roommates from Basic Training, Jim Dunstan, working now in the Base Dental Section. Jim had the neatest cars, a Plymouth Road Runner and also a Mazda RX-7. And here I was, still walking downtown. He drove me to Calgary one weekend, so I could meet up with another old friend from my Halifax time, while he went on to visit his family in Lethbridge. This was my first time in Calgary and I also managed to spend a day at Banff, enjoying the scenery and the Hot Springs. One of the neatest things I recall from this weekend, was the change in climate as we went from Northern Alberta (-10 degrees or more Fahrenheit) to Calgary (sunny and mild; it was Chinook season).

During my time working at Base Transport, I worked both as the MSEO (for most of my stay there) and briefly in the other officer's position, that being the Base Traffic Officer (responsible for movement of all Cold Lake personnel across Canada, movement of the furniture and effects and also for cargo movement to and from Cold Lake). I preferred the MSEO's job, but both were very interesting and a great start to my military career. I had a crusty Major, Pete Vetra, as my boss, as the Base Transportation Officer. The one thing I learned from him was, "If you are making making mistakes, you are making decisions. Just don't make the same mistake twice." Words to live by. He trusted his two junior officers very much, let us have all the responsibility we wanted and was always willing to stir things up if we asked him. I fondly remember him and our Master Warrant Officer (MWO) 'Moose' Breitkreutz squeezing into my small office when they were bored, both smoking cigars, asking if I had anything for them to do.

You have to remember that this was before we all had desk top computers, I add as a preamble to my next comment. One of my favourite sections in Base Transport, and this is probably due to my love of lists, was the Maintenance, Planning and Liaison cell, ran by one Corporal, Mike Parr-Pearson, and a civilian. In this small room across from my office, all of the vehicles we managed (over 100) were tracked and controlled. The walls were covered with large bulletin boards, carefully lined and blocked, listing every single vehicle we had, who owned it, how it was controlled. Mike pulled them in for maintenance, moved them around the base to get best usage of them, all those sorts of things. I know it seems boring, but it was such an important job. Especially when the team came down from headquarters in Ottawa to review our establishment and make sure we could justify each and every one of them. Preparing the books for each vehicle, engaging all of the sections to come and meet the team (who were there for a week) and explain why they needed what they had or why they needed more, was a big job. We still do that, but I don't think bases get the visits and oversight from HQ, as we did back then. The meetings were quite fun. One of the members liked to jog at the end of the day and was impatient to get out, so we quickly learned to slip in the oddball requirements in then for approval. We were pretty successful with that.

OK, enough work stuff, although, I have to say, it was such a great job, it's hard not to expound on it more. One last thing I recall with pleasure. On many Fridays, after lunch, the boss and the Administrative staff would gather around the orderly room in Transport. One of us would bring a bottle of something, whiskey, Caesars, whatever, and we'd spend the afternoon, having a couple of drinks, joking, chatting. It was a great way to finish off the week and to head out to the Mess for TGIF.

As I mentioned earlier, for my first year or so in Cold Lake, I didn't have a car. So to get down to Edmonton, I either had to rely on friends or take the Inter-base Bus service the base in Edmonton and them make my way downtown for whatever weekend activities I might be attending. There was also a commercial Grey Hound bus service and the other option was the Dakota flight from the Base to downtown Edmonton. We had one left over from WWII, I guess, and it was used for hospital runs to Edmonton once or twice a week, but if there were seats available, you could catch it as well. Early morning departure and make sure you were at the municipal airport for the return flight. I used it to meet my appointments to get my Officer's mess kit tailored and my first new suit make. In the winter, the people in the last two seats, closest to the passenger door, were given blankets to keep warm, due to the draft that blew in. It was an old plane.

I did finally buy my first car. It was a black 79 Pontiac Sunbird, 2-door, hatchback. I purchased it on one of my trips back home and drove it back to Cold Lake. It took four days to get back; North Bay to Sault St Marie; Sault St Marie to Thunder Bay; Thunder Bay to Regina and then to Cold Lake. My first big car trip. The car only had an am radio and driving north around Lake Superior was booooorrrrinng. I think I managed to pick up Radio Wawa for awhile and sometimes an American station that skipped across the lake. But I had a car!!



The boys at home for Xmas '78

Speaking of trips home, the easiest way was to book yourself on the Service Flight that traversed the country; west one day, then back east the next. At Xmas there was a special service and they catered to single folks and families. You did have to wait impatiently at the check in to see if your number was called. It could be tense.

The folks enjoying Xmas, checking out new books and relaxing after Xmas dinner

One year I lucked in as there was a VIP Falcon at Cold Lake and they had room for some extra passengers. I jumped at the chance, it was great. I think the general in charge of Air Transport Group had a daughter in Cold Lake, so the plane went there to pick her up (plus any other passengers), then stopped in Winnipeg for him and then carried us onward to Trenton, Ontario where I could make my way up to North Bay. Cool!

The boys again (that was my Cheryl Ladd poster by the way)

It was always nice to get home. I tried to at least once a year, especially at Christmas. But there were other opportunities as well and I got to spend some time with other members of the family.



A visit from Chris and the kids

With my cousin, Laurie Lee

I did get visits to Cold Lake as well. My roommate from my last year at university, Alan Harris, came out one time to spend a week with me. I got to show him around the base and the Cold Lake/ Grand Centre area. I don't know if he was impressed. ;0)

My trip to the West Coast

Before I headed off to Edmonton, I managed to get in one other road trip in 'Birdy' (yup, that was my unique name for my car), this one with an old friend from university, to the Victoria. This was my first time over the Rockies and we had a great time. We started in Edmonton, headed to Jasper, through Lake Louise, to Banff and then over the Rockies to British Columbia.

Maybe Lake Louise?

We got to see a fair bit of BC, heading to Vancouver via Kamloops on the way there. We stayed with other friends from university in Vancouver, then took the ferry across the Straits to Victoria.

The touristy things, Butchardt Gardens

We did all the touristy things, tea at the Empress Hotel, visit to Butchardt Gardens, all in all a great time. We returned to Calgary via Kelowna, through the Okanagan Valley, also lovely.

The Mountain shot

It was a great trip, beautiful scenery and a chance to break in 'Birdy' somewhat more. Then it was time to prepare for my next move, 1 AMU, Edmonton, Alberta. More next time.

Reminiscences of a Military Brat - Part 18 - Finally a Job!

Base Transport Cold Lake, Alberta

I start this section as I finished my last one, a photo of my first real job in the Canadian Armed Forces. I graduated in the summer of 1978 from University of Toronto and then headed out to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Cold Lake, Alberta. This was my first time west of Ontario so I went there with some trepidation. I remember asking my Dad about Cold Lake, as he'd gone there many times for training on the fighter aircraft. His recollection was what he called the Toonerville Trolley. From what he remembered that was how you got from Cold Lake to Edmonton and vice versa. So, not much help.. But, then again, his last time there was probably sometime in the early '60s.

My message told me I was going to work at Base Supply. I shipped my meagre possessions out to Cold Lake and discovered that I was to take the Service Flight, a CF Boeing 707 from Trenton to Cold Edmonton, via Winnipeg (as I recall anyway). Getting off at the Air Movement Unit in Edmonton (we travelled in uniform back then, by the way), I looked for the way to get to Cold Lake. Luckily, at the check-in counter there was a sign for Cold Lake and/ or Calgary passengers to report in. I discovered that those of us without our own ground transportation (*raises hand in the air*, that was me) were to be transported to their home base on the Inter-base Bus Service (IBBS). So, baggage was offloaded and picked up by the passengers and those of us heading off to Cold Lake boarded our bus and away we went. The trip was a few hours, with a stop in Smoky Lake for a drink and snacks. I had my first experience with Old Dutch potato chips there (yummy). We arrived in Cold Lake around 10 pm and the first thing I noticed was that it was still light out.

Because everything was closed for the night, we single folks, who were just arriving to start work there, were dropped off at the Transient barracks. Officers reported to the Duty Officer and received keys to a room in transient quarters and then we were expected to report in next morning. Due to the time change, 2 hours difference from Ontario, I woke up around 2 or 3 in the morning and once again noticed that it was already beginning to get light. (Yup, that was summer in Cold Lake).

Anyway, next day began my in clearance routine, where the first thing I discovered was that I would not be working in Supply but instead was to report to Base Transport. Hmmmm, I wondered, what do they do in Base Transport. I found the place and reported in. The Base Transportation Officer (B Tn O) of the time was Maj Peter Vetra, but he was in Edmonton for the summer, providing transportation support to some major activity taking place there. I want to say the Commonwealth Games, but they didn't take place until a couple of years later, so, honestly, I have no idea what. But, the Acting B Tn O was a grizzled Capt by the name of Price Carson. I discovered that I would be taking over his normal job, that of Mobile Support Equipment Officer (MSEO) (okie dokie, still have no idea what this meant) and that another new Officer Cadet coming in, Maude Pellissier, would be taking over as Base Traffic Officer as that officer was being posted out to Edmonton that summer. (ah.. now I remember, yes it was the Commonwealth games, because I went down to Edmonton later on and stayed with the Crichtons and attended the Games with Karen Crichton.). I think so anyway.



My room, overlooking the Officer's Mess

I also got the keys to my new barrack block room during this in clearance process. I was basically one of two or three officers living in this block as the majority lived in Officer's Circle in a different Barrack block. This building was the overflow and in the summer was also occupied by Cadet officers who were there in support of an Air Cadet camp that took place every summer. I was pleasantly surprised by the size, if not the starkness, of my new room. I had a bedroom and through an alcove, a separate living room. It was furnished with the basics, bed, sofa, a couple of easy chairs, everything a man could want. I fitted it out with my belongings and made myself at home.

My fancy book case

Over the next 3 years, I learned my job and became quite active in Base and Section activities. This being my first ever posting, it became one of my favourite jobs. I learned that as MSEO, I was responsible for of the military vehicles at the Base, those operated by my own drivers, about 50 or 60, if I remember correctly, and all those other vehicles that were used by the other sections and Squadrons on the Base. This was normally a Captain's job, hence Price Carson normally filling the role, but for the time being, I was given the job and for the next few months, learned what it all involved by the seat of my pants.

Tpt course (I'm in the back row, 3 from right)

I did eventually go to Camp Borden for the Transport Course to learn what I'd been doing for the previous 4 or 5 months. Prior to the course, Maude and I spent an hour or so each day for a few weeks, learning how to drive a 2 1/2 ton truck, a jeep and a 5/4 ton truck so we would be prepared for our road move portion of the course. Then off we went in the Fall of '78 to wonderful Camp Boredom to learn about being Transport Officers. So what did I learn? Well, we did learn that the Transportation Manual was an awful mishmash and that nothing was anywhere that it would make sense. We started counting how many times our chief instructor would play with his moustache during lectures and go ahem. During the road move, I learned that I wasn't very good driving a manual transmission, as I lightly, I repeat, lightly, bumped into the jeep in front of me. (The favour was returned by the way). But it wasn't a total waste of time, as I met some new people and reacquainted with others.




The Flight Line

Cold Lake was a great place for a single guy. I had a great, challenging job. I ran the General Purpose Vehicle section (buses / cars/ freight), the Refuelling section (which was a busy place as there were 3 Squadrons (CF-5 and CF 104 fighters) and the Aeronautical Engineering Test Establishment (AETE) to support and also the Heavy Equipment section, that maintained the roads and runways. And that was a challenge in the winter with temperatures down in the low -20s (Fahrenheit). There was also a small section out at Primrose Lake, (a Fighter weapon range) and a marine section that patrolled Primrose Lake as a safety boat when the aircraft were flying there.



Some visiting aircraft

While I was there, Cold Lake hosted the first ever Maple Flag Exercise. This was the Canadian version of one that took place every year down at Nellis Air Force base in Las Vegas. The premise for the exercise was to give combat pilots the necessary experience in air to air combat that would stand them in good stead in operational, wartime situations. The Americans had discovered, during the Vietnam War, that most pilot losses occurred during the first 3 combat missions. So the aim of both Red and Maple Flag was to give those pilots that experience before they ever experienced real combat. It was a massive exercise with aircraft from both the US and UK and from all across Canada, deploying to Cold Lake for 2 or 3 weeks for this training exercise. My transport folks were extra busy and we had to get extra drivers and refuelling tenders from other bases across Canada to make sure we were able to provide that support. It was lots of fun. Also while I was there, the various fighter aircraft companies were bidding to replace our CF-5's and 104's, brought their test planes to Cold Lake to demonstrate their capabilities. It was always neat watching the shows they put on.



Fun - Run

But it wasn't always work. There were so many activities to take part in. There were lots of parties, of course, but because everyone lived on the base in those days, everybody took part in activities. I curled, played inter-section baseball and even intersection hockey. Luckily the Transport team played in the C-League; no body contact, no slap shots.. Our games usually were Sunday evenings either 9 or 10 p.m.


The Transport hockey team (front row, 1st from right) (I do sometimes smile)

My favourite past-time was working at CHCL radio, 1450 on your dial. This was the base radio station, and everybody, other than the secretary was a volunteer. It operated 7 days a week, from around 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., when we would switch over to the CBC.


WRD in Medley, Alberta. :0)

It was a small radio station, I think, 50 watts of power. Basically you could get it on the base, itself, and downtown Grand Centre. Maybe in Cold Lake as well, but was about the extent of it. We played all varieties of music, country, classics, French, jazz, easy listening and rock. Certain people had regular shows, I did the Saturday night rock show and the Sunday night easy listening show. But you could fill in gaps in the schedule if you were available and nobody else had put their name down. I did a country show, alternating weeks, a jazz show every third week and sometimes helped out with the French show (that was interesting) and the classics show. At various times during my time at CHCL, I was the pop music director (I set up the pop charts and did the Saturday chart show); the country music director (I did the same thing with the country charts) and finally I was the Station manager for a year. It was all very exciting and so much fun. I think I spent about 20 to 30 hours a week there.

I haven't looked like that for awhile.

After my first year, I moved to the other barrack block, where most of my friends stayed. It was definitely a better room and atmosphere. We all got along very well, usually ate at the same table for dinner in the Mess and took part in activities together; heading down to Edmonton en masse to go to the Police concert and such. Trips to Edmonton were a highlight. For all that the Cold Lake/ Grand Centre and base had to offer, there was no McDonald's!! Grand Centre was a town of around 3,500, Cold Lake somewhat smaller and the base probably as many people as both of the other towns together. So a trip to Edmonton was a highlight. You always made a MacDonald's stop (pathetic much). I mean they couldn't hold a candle to the burgers served at the Base's Chimo lounge. There were many times that the boss and I and some of our section would head to the Chimo lounge for lunch, the day after a big party (hangover time) and have a couple of hot Caesars and one or two Chimo burgers to cure the ills. Ah, that was nice. But MacDonald's was sort of a tradition.



Going away party from the Kiwi Club

I was in Cold Lake from '78 - '81 and was offered a year long French course. Once again I turned it down, as I was still pretty sick of school. So instead, I found out I was posted to 1 Air Movements Unit in Edmonton, Alberta. (As an aside here, because I won't talk about this very much, I did leave Cold Lake a married man. Because it didn't end up very happily, I'll leave it at that.) So after 3 years in a great job, with lots of responsibility and recognition, I was moving on to the next phase of my military career. (It wasn't quite so enjoyable.)

More to follow.

Retirement - First Blush

To set the record straight (not that it really wasn't straight in the first place), I retired from the Canadian Armed Forces (the Regular Force) in April 2009 after nearly 35 years in the military. If I'd stayed in until September, it would have made 35 years complete. However, as fate would have it, retiring when I did, opened up another career opportunity for me, pretty well immediately. I had checked with the Air Reserves in Comox British Columbia, and as luck would have it, there was a Reserve Captain's position just starting up that was almost tailor-made for me.

So in April of 2009, I started work as a full-time Reservist in the Wing Operations section at 19 Wing Comox. My main responsibility at the time was helping plan logistic support for any units deploying to Comox in support of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I was also a Plans Officer and that meant similar type duties for any visiting units and just general all-round Planning responsibilities within Wing Operations. It was a great job with great people and it made me enjoy being in the military again.

For both Regular Force and Reserve Force personnel, compulsory retirement age is 60 and this past week, I reached CRA as it is called and retired for the second time, this time from the Reserves. So my military career started in September 1974 and ended November 10th, 2015, basically 41 + years of service. I do have possibilities of future employment with the Air Cadets, but that remains to be seen and sorted. But if I manage to get some part-time employment with them, I believe I can work until 65. But we'll see about that.



She's Here!!

My section took me out to lunch at one of my favourite restaurants on the Friday before my last days of work, that being a very nice local Indian restaurant, Manvirros. It was a fun lunch and great food, a nice way to say good-bye to some really wonderful people. Jo couldn't make lunch as she said she had some errands to run and would pick me up when we finished. So she showed up at 1ish, with the dogs in tow in the back seat and took me home to a wonderful surprise.

Let me tell it this way. We drove into the garage, let the dogs out (Barkie 1 and Barkie 2) and they proceeded to run into the house, howling like banshees. I followed them in, shouting at them to be quiet (or words to that effect) and followed them to the front door. I was very surprised to see it was open a crack and that somebody was hunching down by the door. I thought maybe we had been broken into, but no, it was something much worse (OK, I'm kidding, it was something very nice), my daughter Jennifer. Jo had arranged the surprise, some months ago when she knew my retirement and 60th birthday were coming up and booked flights for Jennifer to come out from Ottawa. It definitely made a nice day become a wonderful day and week, as Jenn stayed until Wednesday.

Down at the Spit

So that was my retirement and birthday celebrations. We've had a very nice relaxing week, playing cards and games in the evening and wandering about town. I even went for a couple of morning runs with the girl, as she ran me into the ground. I had two more days of work, but since Wednesday, I've been officially retired. A couple of more pay cheques and then living off my pension. That'll be interesting.

So what is retirement like? Well, it's only been 5 days and Jo and I have been fighting a cold that our 'visitor' left with us. I'm trying to get into a new routine. I used to get up sometime between 5 and 5:30, took the dogs out, then got ready for work (on work days) and headed off to the office, sometimes stopping off at Tim Horton's for a double-double (that is a large coffee with two milk and two sugars; for non-Canadians. It's kind of a Canadian classic) and a muffin, then would get my email started up, maybe read for an hour until the other guys showed up, then start the work day.

I'm still waking up pretty early, but the dogs are now going out between 6 and 6:30. They don't seem to mind. It's still pretty dark and now fairly cool out, so they are happy to stay in bed with us. I'm going to try and run 3 times a week and I've got a membership at the Base Gym, so will try to go there a couple of times a week. I plan to spend a couple of hours in the morning, reading and doing other things like updating this Blog and maybe working on a book idea.. (like that'll really happen). The rest of the day should be pretty well open; maybe some yard work, laundry, that sort of thing and just enjoying life with Jo. I'll try to provide updates on any exciting happenings and goings - on, as well as continue with my Reminiscences thread here.

Anyway, today is a lovely sunny day, it's unfortunate the missus is still feeling poorly. I think she's at the worst stage of her cold, headache, chest cough, so I'm going to take the puppies for their noon walk and feed them and see what else to do.

Oh, as a final few thoughts, these were the books I bought with the gift certificate the guys at work gave me and also the book that Jennifer and Martin gave me as my birthday present. I can't leave a post without a few words on books, eh?

From Jennifer and Martin

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett - This is the first book in the Demon Cycle and I've got to say, it looks pretty good, a mix of supernatural, demons, and lots of action. This is one of the books I've got planned for my 2016 reading challenges. Thanks you two!

From The Laughing Oyster

I have to thank Cookie and the other guys in Wing Ops for this; the perfect retirement gift. These were the books I purchased with my gift certificate

1. The Maze Runner by James Dashner - This is another fantasy series, I think along the ilk of The Hunger Games books. It has been made into a movie as well, which I have yet to see. I do like these kinds of series. It's another book for 2016, as part of my Fantasy/ Sci Fi/ Dystopia challenge.

2. Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins by James Runcie. I think I've mentioned this series before, both as a British TV mystery series and also because I bought the first book in the series a few months back. One of my challenges for 2016 will be to make some headway in the various mystery series I've got stockpiled. This is one I plan to enjoy.

3. Lamentation by C.J. Sansom. This is the 6th book in the Matthew Shardlake mystery series, one of my favourites. I've read the first four books so far and I have to find Book 5 still as I plan to finish this series in 2016, of course that is unless Sansom continues the series. The premise is that Matthew Shardlake is a hunch-back lawyer in the time of Henry VIII, who finds himself being drawn into mysteries that involve the King, his wives and mistresses and others in the court and trying to survive the court's intrigues. Fascinating stuff.

So there you have it, thoughts on my retirement and birthday parties and about my new retirement lifestyle and more about books. I hope you enjoyed. Have a great Sunday.

Reminiscences of a Military Brat - Part 17 (University continued and some summer activities)

University winding down (3rd or 4th year)

In my last entry, I tried to focus mostly on my last three years of university. Each summer in between I was sent off for either educational training or on-job training. For the life of me, I can't remember which summer I did which, but to the best of my foggy recollections, after my second year at university (when I learnt that Political Science was not going to be my main study program), my brother sent me to Canadian Forces Base Halifax, our main Navy base on the East Coast of Canada.

CFB Halifax Dockyard (It's changed a lot)

 I spent that summer learning how to be a Supply officer, working in the Base Supply Section as the Customer Services officer. Another officer cadet, a fellow logistician, Wayne Haggart was sent down there as well and worked in the Ration Depot. There were 4 officer cadets living in the same building behind the Wardroom (the Officer's Mess); Wayne and I plus a pharmacist, Gary, and a MARS (Navy type) officer, Roger. The four of us had a great time, travelling to Cape Breton Island to visit Sydney, N.S. and Fort Louisburg during the Canada Day weekend and spending most weekends wandering around the pubs downtown Halifax (I must apologise here for not having any photos of this portion of my life, but I can't seem to find that particular photo album. You'll just have to imagine it). Work was very interesting for me, my first real exposure to my future military career. My boss, Dave Blaney, gave me all sorts of responsibility and also provided me the opportunity to experience the social aspects of military life too. I learned of the Navy tradition of Weepers, basically their equivalent of TGIF. He and the other officers in Base Supply would gather Wayne and I on a Friday afternoon at lunch and we'd head off to one of the ships to spend time in the wardroom or we'd head over the Army officer's barracks for a similar Army style Friday afternoon. We usually managed to get them to let us spend the rest of the afternoon there as there was no point going back to work after a lunch spent enjoying a couple of ales, eh?

Halifax was a wonderful city. At the same time we were spending our summer there, there were also some young lady Navy reserve officers doing their summer training, so we used to go pubbing together, saw the premiere of the first Star Wars movie downtown. It made the summer go that much faster. The base was located in an interesting part of Halifax. From the base to downtown, you travelled down Gottingen, through one of the seedier areas in Halifax (at the time anyway). There were many evenings where we wandered by police cars with one person or another spread out over the hood being frisked. But, then again, we were fearless youngsters and tended to wander about with blinders on.

The downtown core was being gentrified and there were so many excellent pubs to go to on a Friday night. One of our favourites was The Privateers' Warehouse, which featured three levels and three kinds of music; rowdy down home music downstairs, more rocky on the second floor and jazzy on the third with a nice dining room. All in all, that was my favourite training summer. I learned a bit and got experience an area of Canada I'd never visited before.



Yes, I did date.. :)

I enjoyed my last two years of university the most. I dated a bit which was a nice surprise for me. I was taking courses that I enjoyed; mainly literature courses, which allowed me to spend lots of time with one of my favourite past-times, 'Reading'. I still have a few books that I purchased at that time decorating my bookshelves. As well, my time in Toronto was so much fun. I saw my first concerts there; the Electric Light Orchestra, JJ Cale, Harry Chapin, plus plays and the Toronto Symphony.



How do you like those slacks? (bottom left) Yup, I had style

Besides that, I had an excellent core of friends and when we weren't hanging around in the hallway (we did seem to spend an inordinate amount of time there.. lol), we were out on the town, or visiting friends who lived off campus. In my fourth year, as I mentioned earlier, I moved off campus, myself, sharing a place with Al Harris. It was an interesting experience, although I think we both ended up getting on each others' nerves by the end of the year. Having said that, we did make up and didn't depart on a bad note.


Home visits

Of course, it goes without saying that I did manage to get up to North Bay quite often to visit with my parents and younger brother, John. I tried to combine these visits, with times Rick and Heather went up; travelling by bus wasn't my favourite past time, but I did my fair share of that too over the course of my four years at university..

Basic Logistics Officer's Course on the road again.

After 3rd year, I headed back to Camp Borden for my Basic Logistics Officer's Course. This was not my favourite course; basically a rehash of portions of my Basic Officer's Training Course (meaning more military writing, public speaking 'instructor's comment - we kept waiting for you to rock that podium so far that it would crash to the floor', general service knowledge, etc. Combined with that was a basic overview of the Logistics classifications; Supply, transportation, finance, food services. There was a lot of information thrown at you but because you really had no frame of reference for it, very little sunk in. (Of course, I am speaking personally here, I may just have been a thickie).

BLOC course buddies

But, overall, it was an ok course. We lived at the Rafah barracks, basically in a co-ed situation, which was interesting and for the first time, had single rooms. (Small pleasures) The people on the course were all very nice and we got along very well.

I rarely spent a weekend in Borden (this was an ongoing theme when it came to my training courses at Camp Borden), either spending my weekends in Toronto with Rick or with university friends, or going up to North Bay to spend a weekend with the folks. This was definitely a more relaxed course than my BOTC course. There were at least two occasions when I  had to call the base up at midnight and let the Base Duty Officer know that I had missed my bus from Toronto and please advise my course officer that I would arrive a bit late for my Monday classes. The first time it happened, I anticipated the worst and basically received a shrug from my instructor. So it wasn't quite so scary the second time. Yup, I was still a bit of a slacker. After my summer, I was now considered a Logistics Officer (Basic) with no speciality yet. I went back to university to complete my 4th year. After 3 years, I managed to organise almost the perfect schedule; by Wednesday I was pretty well finished my classes and I could focus on spending time reading and enjoying 4th year.

Base Transportation CFB Cold Lake Alberta, circa 1978

Upon graduation, I found out where I was going to spend the next 3 years of my life, someplace out in Western Canada, at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake, Alberta. My message said Wing Supply, but that was a mistake, as I actually was going to Base Transportation. More on that next entry.

Reminiscences of a Military Brat - Part 16

In my last two entries, I talked about my first year of university and my acceptance into the Regular Officer Training Program (ROTP) and also my first summer of military training (Basic Officer Training Course/ BOTC) at Camp Borden. Well, for the next three years I alternated between university and more summer formal training courses or on-job-training. For Part 16, I'm going to focus on the three years of university and in the next one, my next two summers of training.

Some things of note happened in my 2nd year. Firstly, my brother Rick became my University Liaison Officer (our watcher) and that was fun. The first year he worked out of the Avenue Road offices and then, if I recall, he moved back to the Base at Downsview. I've mentioned Avenue Road before, it was also the home of the Canadian Forces Staff College course and an old military site. I used to go up once in awhile for meetings with Rick and he also introduced me to Hand Ball and Squash as they had a court on the facility; great work outs. He tried very hard to make us realise that we weren't just university students, but also in the military. He scheduled a few Mess Dinners for us so we could be exposed to the more formal (but fun) sides of the military. One thing I learned from mess dinners at that time was that throwing buns during the guest of honours speech was not acceptable conduct anymore. (not that they didn't throw buns anyway). Also, there were many fun after dinner games, some involving two teams trying to go from either end of an overturned sofa to the other and finishing first, the other involving players balancing on empty wine bottles and trying with a broom stick to knock the other player off. Very mature we were. Rick also tried to ensure that my summer training was also fruitful. If I wasn't going on a course, he made sure I went someplace where I could learn more about my future Classification (that being the Logistics Classification)



There were no secret societies in our residence... lol

The second item of note that I discovered in 2nd year was that I wasn't suited for Political Science. I had planned to major in Pol Sci and in 2nd year I took five Pol Sci course and one History so I could complete my minor at least. Of course, this also coincided with my first full year in Residence, once more sharing a room with Chris Bradford, even though as 2nd years we could both have moved into singles. He was an easy roommate, albeit somewhat sloppy and spent lots of time away with his girl-friend so quite often it was just like having a single room. All that I had to remember was to push his dirty laundry under his bed when it started to spread to my half of the room. Anyway, back to Pol Sci. I started off 2nd year with six full courses, but by Xmas exams, I realised that I would have no chance of passing one of my Pol Sci courses and also my Spanish history course.

And why was that you might ask. A fair question. I was very much enjoying the social aspects of living in residence. Cody House was a very fun place to live; not Animal House fun, but just friendly and we did a lot. I've described this before, but the first floor was for the guys and the next two for the ladies. We spent many evenings just sprawled in our hallway, chatting, drinking wine and joking around. There were regular evenings of cribbage or backgammon, with snacks and wine/ whiskey. (Yes, I did enjoy the odd guzzle). Once every couple of months we hosted Friday night dances that were very popular on the campus. We started a Bridge Club and spent many Fridays, thru early Saturday, playing Bridge and just shooting the shit. And I did find that I wasn't totally oblivious to the fairer sex and did manage a couple of very serious (to me) relationships. There always seemed to be something going on and what ended up suffering was classwork. When it got to Xmas exams I realised that I had maybe attended 3 or 4 classes only in my courses and that Spanish History and Canadian Public Policy had to go. That meant picking up a couple of half courses (both history) for 2nd term so I could at least make my five credits. (Needless to say, my University Liaison Officer was not best pleased. Especially when my poor marks were compounded with me missing a couple of Friday night events he arranged for his students)



Ah the annual Xmas brunch in residence

So as I say, thus ended my plan to finish off university with a Major in Pol Sci and maybe a minor in History. What I ultimately ended up with was a Minor in Pol Sci and maybe a minor in English as I switched paths in 3rd year and started taking English. This suited my needs much more readily. I basically spent all my time reading; Canadian Literature, Classic Lit, Science Fiction Literature, and watching movies; my Film Studies Course. It was much more enjoyable although most likely useless for a career in Politics.  It was so much easier to get into a routine; read the book by mid- week, write up a book review or whatever by Friday, then spend Sunday at the main library in the typing room, hashing out an essay (yes, no laptop computers then, just your old-fashioned electric type writer.) I will say that my marks improved greatly with this program shift and it still enabled me to comfortably take part in the social aspects of university life.



Funny how many people got locked in this closet. lol

In 3rd year I moved across the hall into a single room and in 4th year I moved into an apartment with one of my pals from residence. 4th year was a bit stranger; living off campus meant that life revolved more around the apartments of those of us who had moved out. I still had friends living in residence and still spent time there, but more often that not our functions were off the campus, at friends' apartments or at pubs and restaurants. It was a fun time for me, an experience that I would not change for anything. Having said that, with the moves I've made over the course of my military career, I have lost touch with pretty well all of those people I spent so much time with at university; something I regret but have learned to live with. It's become a common theme in my life at least. I don't know how other kids who grew up in military families found their lives, but for the most part I did find that while I made many friends over the course of my life as a military brat, long-standing friendships have been few and far between. I don't mean that as a complaint, just a fact of life.

My 4th year roommate

At the end of 4th year, I obtained my Bachelor of Arts from University of Toronto and found myself moving on to Cold Lake Alberta for my first post-university job. Before I get to that, however, I'll get into some of the activities I got into with the military during my summers between 2nd and 3rd year and between 3rd and 4th year.

Third Quarter Update and other thoughts

While we start to watch the new TV season and cheer on the Blue Jays as they make their way to their first play-off season in 22 years or so, I thought I'd take a look at my recent Blogs. I discovered to my consternation that it's been quite awhile since I last 'put pen to paper' (remember when we used to do that?). I don't know why it's been so long, although I guess I've been sort of out of sorts the past couple of weeks. Nothing major I'm sure, except maybe getting accustomed to the idea that shortly I'll be hitting my 60th birthday and also being forced to retire from the military (we call it Compulsory Retirement Age or CRA) after 40+ years in the Canadian Forces. When I hit 40 and then 50, it just seemed like another birthday, but maybe the double whammy has hit me a bit more than I realised. I'm looking forward to spending more time with Jo and the puppies and I'm sure I'll keep busy, reading, writing my Blog, puddling around trying to do some of the chores I've been putting off and other things.

Work is ok these days. I still go in at the same time and follow the same sort of routine but I am finding it harder to motivate myself. I start to write handover notes for my replacement, but then get bored with them. Anyway, enough feeling sorry for myself. I've got a pretty darn good life here, a loving wife and two yappy dogs, a lovely home. My life is better than I've ever thought it could be. Hey and the Blue Jays are in the playoffs!!! :)

It's a lovely evening tonight, sunny, bright and freshly cool. Sitting her in the den with the window open while Jo is cooling cheesy bacon pasta seems pretty idyllic.

Anyway, back to my Blog. I've been alternating between a series of posts about my Reminiscences as a Military Brat and my normal Blogs about my current/ past/ future reading materiel and other such bookish entries. To get back on track a bit, I think I'll do my 3rd Quarter 2015 reading summary. So let's get on with it.

Goodreads 2015 Challenge - I've read a total of 72 books of my attempt to read 95 this year. According to Goodreads, that puts me 1 book ahead of schedule. (Yay me!) I've also read approximately 23,000 pages. I don't know if that's impressive or not, but it averages out to 320 pages a book. Once again, so what.. lol

Author Gender - Male - 49
Female - 23

Ratings - 5 star - 9
4 star - 35
3 star - 28

Genre - Mystery (spy/ thriller/ etc) - 47
Fiction (post 1900) - 6
SciFi (fantasy/ etc) 8
Classics (pre 1900) - 3
Non - Fiction (travel/ hist/ bio) - 4
War (incl adventure) - 3
Poetry - 1

My 5-star selections
(from most recent to first)
1. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (SciFi) (1955)
2. Excession by Iain M. Banks (SciFi) (1996)
3. The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham ((Fic) (1942)
4. Gallows View by Peter Robinson (Mys) (1987)
5. The Soft Talkers by Margaret Millar (Mys) (1957)
6. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (Classic) (1860)
7. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (Mys) (2001)
8. Zoo Station by David Downing (Mys) (2007)
9. Peyton Place by Grace Metalious (Fic) (1956)

A nice mix of stories and genres.

As to my other challenges, a quick summary:

1. 12 + 4. I completed this challenge 3 Jun. I decided this year to read the first book in a new series, a good strategy as I've had many sitting on my shelf. My favourite was David Downing's Zoo Station, a spy thriller set during the early days of WWII. I also particularly enjoyed The Eyre Affair (also a 5 - star), A Beautiful Place to Die, a South African mystery by Malla Nunn and a Canadian mystery, Louise Penny's first Inspector Gamache, Still Life (oh wait, there was one other five star selection, Gallows View, the first Inspector Banks mystery).

(I enjoyed this challenge so at the risk of affecting some of my other challenges and, partly due to the fact that I still had a number of other first series books, I made up one more 12 + 4 challenge. So far I've read the 12 books and am currently working on the first alternate, the first Charlie Mortdecai mystery by English writer, Kyril Bonfiglioli.)

My other challenges

Classics (I've read 3 of 4 possible books). My last selection will probably be Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. I have already enjoyed The Moonstone, The Mill on the Floss and Vanity Fair, all excellent.

Non - Fiction (I've also completed 3 of 4 possible books in this challenge, all solid 4-star selections) I'm not sure what my final selection will be, maybe The War that Ended the Peace by Margaret MacMillan. I have read a couple others of her history selections and enjoyed very much.

Science Fiction (Fantasy/ Alternate history/ Steam Punk, etc) I've completed 4 or 5 books in this category. It's rekindled my interest in SciFi, which was my favourite genre as a youngster. I am leaning toward Goliath by Scott Westerfield, but might squeeze in another before end December.

Fiction (post - 1900). I've completed 6 of 10 in this genre so far, with some great writers; Metalious, Forester, Maugham, Shute, etc. At the moment I'm working on my 7th, a classic from Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca, featuring Mrs. Danvers. This is my second du Maurier and I'm enjoying and wondering why it took me so long to ever take a chance on it. I should be able to finish this challenge by year end or come close.

Mysteries (series I've already started). This is the genre that will be most impacted by my decision to pick another 12 + 4, but they also were series. So far I've managed to complete 11 of 25 books and am currently reading the 7th Lincoln Rhymes thriller by Jeffery Deaver, that being The Cold Moon. It's a long story but I'm enjoying very much so far.

Mysteries (standalone) I've completed 7 of 10 books in this challenge. My favourite was from Canadian writer, Margaret Millar, that being The Soft Talkers, an excellent story. I've got lots of options left for my final three. I would guess that one of the books will be The Breaker by Minette Walters as I love her writing.

Rereads (Old favourites) - I've read 2 of 5 so far and enjoyed experiencing these stories again; The Chrysalids by John Wyndham and The Borribles by Michael de Larrabeiti, both nice SciFi stories. I would like to read The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Leguin and / or Friday by Robert Heinlein before end December. I may still complete this challenge.

Freebies (books purchased in 2015) I do tend to focus on older books, but I did want to make a concerted effort to read books that I bought this year, not that they were necessarily written this year. I've so far managed to read 7 of 15 and for the most part enjoyed them. They featured a mixture of genres, from poetry to Erotica. I often used this category to satisfy some challenges in another book group I'm in.

Anyway, there you have it. My reading for the first 9 months of 2015. I'll have a fair bit of time to focus on my reading after I retire, a couple of good months of reading. I'm quite looking forward to it and am already toying with possibly challenges for 2016.. heee heeee...

Have a great evening!