The Collectors by David Baldacci

The Collectors

by

David Baldacci

The Camel Club series by David Baldacci is a delightful series.  Although the books are considered political thrillers,  they are amusing because the main characters are a group of older men that are a bit on the bumbling side.  The Collectors is the second book in the Camel Club series.  It revolves around the Library of Congress and a spy ring that is using the library setting to export governmental secrets.  It also has characters that collect books.  There is murder and suspense along with the treasonous spy's that our Camel Club members are pursuing.  Most books that contain mysteries I can figure out before the ending.  Not so with David Baldacci.  His books keep me guessing till the end.  As always click on the author's name and book title above to follow links to more information. Enjoy the video that follows that tells about one of the books that was sought after by the book collectors in this novel.  

Epilogue To The CPNE

Two weeks ago I was spending my first night in Pennsylvania getting ready to begin my three days of testing which has been the topic of my last few blogs.  Since I have been home I have been in a bit of a daze.  I sit and stare into space a lot, my mind a million miles away.  But I have realize in my thinking that I have left a lot of thank you's out of my blogs.  So many people supported me emotionally and as a cheering sections while I prepared for my test.  I worry that even with adding another blog I will still leave people out.  If I miss you I very much apologize.  

First I have to thank my children and step children.  They probably heard me talk on and on about the test the most.  They were all patient with me and great support.  But my adult twins,  Nick and Nicole,  listened the most and Nicole sent me to test with a Starbucks gift card to spoil me while I was testing.  And one of my husband's adult twins, Amy,  made a special effort to make sure I had a talisman that she picked out specially for me to keep in my pocket while I tested.  

Many friends too heard of little else from me for months.  I was so bad about it I almost hated to talk to people during that time.  Everyone I emailed heard about it at least once a week as did my yoga teacher who loaned me a small piece of Hematite to carry in my pocket.  

My siblings and father heard of nothing else from me.  My only brother Jim was especially reassuring with his belief in me.

But no one put up with more than my husband Bruce.  He carried the slack at home so I could study and he was very patient through out the fall months as I was struggling and not always in the best of spirits.  He was my support throughout.  He even drove me  to Atlanta so I could take my mock test.  

All these people deserve specific thanks along with anyone else I forgot to mention.    

An Educational Journey Part IV: My CPNE Test Weekend

Required attire for a CPNE test weekend is business casual on Friday night and all white uniforms with no flashy jewelry and no long sleeves Saturday and Sunday.  Also on Saturday and Sunday hair had to be off the collar and there could be no visible tattoos.  As I mentioned in earlier posts,  I started to seriously study for my mid December test weekend early in August.  Toward the end of September I had perused my closet for a pair of dress slacks.  suitable top and conservative shoes for Friday night business casual.  When packing a few days  before the test I slipped the outfit back on prior to taking time to press it.  Oh my.  Four and a half months of study time munchies and nervous eating had turned my loosely fitting dress slacks into those "skinny" type pants the young women  wear today.  I tried on every pair of dress slacks in my closet.  Oh my.  Then I remembered a box of clothes I had not put away yet that my daughter had given me.  Digging through it I found a larger sized pair of dress slacks that fit.  Crisis averted.  My shoes still fit.

The drive from SW Ohio to South Central PA on Thursday afternoon and evening was uneventful except for my last bathroom stop at a rest park just before getting off the PA turnpike.  I was parked in an isle that had no other cars but right next to an isle that had cars.  As I was walking toward the building I saw one of those  vans without windows on the sides park next to me.  I felt concerned but took my time in the ladies room and before starting back out to my car looked the situation over and the van remained.  So I went back to the store area and asked for security to walk me to my car.  They directed me to one of the fast food places to talk to the manager who assigned one of her young men french friers to walk me to my car.   He was very polite and said he thought it looked really creepy too. 

When I checked into my room at Country Inn and Suites I had two Queen sized beds and set one up with lab practice supplies and study materials. (see picture above)  The motel was located near the hospital test site and there were plenty of restaurants to choose from in the nearby area.  They had an Excelsior discount which was nice.   Chambersburg PA is a small community so I was comfortable there.  The girls at the check in desk at the motel agreed that I had every right to ask that french frier young man to walk me to my car.  They said the man in the van should never have parked next to me  and sat with his running lights on. 

My mantra for the weekend that I kept repeating to myself was "I am competent.  I am confident.  I am determined.  I am not nervous."  And every day before I left my car in the hospital parking lot I played a you tube video of the Mary Tyler Moore show theme song.  The one where she throws her hat in the air and they sing "This girl is going to make it after all".   The CPNE is a weekend test of basic nursing skills.  They don't ask us to do anything much that we haven't been doing all along in our careers as LPNs.  Only LPNS,  Paramedics,  and Respiratory Therapists can take Excelsiors program.  It is very stressful because so much is at stake.  But it is a rite of passage.  Nurses have to be able to handle stress as stress is an every day thing in many nursing jobs.  It is three days where you have to do it the Excelsior Way  and  it is very much a frame of mind thing.  

I slept good on Thursday night.  I got up early for my second shift self - about nine am - on Friday morning and reviewed things.  Business casual Friday night consists of four lab station simulations.  I was to be at the hospital at 4:30 pm so arrived at 4:15.  I wore my hair in one braid down my back because nothing said I had to put it up on Friday night.  Putting my hair up had been a problem to figure out because it is long and heavy.  Whatever I had tried to do with it the last couple of months would fall out.  I got it off my collar on Saturday and Sunday and it stayed but it looked terrible.  Of the four lab stations only one was a task that I hadn't done about a zillion times  in the prior 37 years but that night I  had to be sure to include all the Excelsior critical elements.  Three of the labs were limited to 15 minutes and we had 20 minute to complete one of them.  I got through them and passed all four.  It seemed like they were most concerned with Asepsis.  Of course they wanted other steps to look good too but the girls that failed labs were ones that made mistakes in the area of Asepsis.  My hands shook which was silly because I had practiced these labs many times and knew what to do.  I had to re-draw my insulin before I could stick the dummy.  I have only mixed insulin in a syringe a half a dozen times a day for most of the past 37 years but that pm I pushed past the dose and could not re-enter the vial because it was the second med.  I was glad to see the tape was not paper tape at the wound dummy station.   The tape they had tore nicely and was easy to get that one inch limit on each side of the dressing when I used the method Sheri had shown me.   The IV piggy back station went smoothly.  It helped me that when I went to LPN school back in 1976-77 that we counted drips.  Back then  the IV pump era was just beginning.   The station that had me the most worried was the IV push station.  Other than flushes I did not do IV push as an LPN.  It is out of the scope of practice for an LPN to IV push meds.  I did have to redraw one syringe because of a stubborn air bubble.  But over all I was pleased with how that station went.  Those that failed lab stations on Friday evening had a chance to repeat them on Saturday afternoon.  Only one student was sobbing Friday pm during the labs.  Of the seven students that showed up Friday evening six returned both Saturday and Sunday morning.  Three of us had passed when I left on Sunday.  Three were still at it.  I don't know how they came out.  

Saturday consisted of two patient care situations and Sunday consisted of one.  If a person didn't fail any of them then they would be done Sunday morning.  If they failed one they could repeat it on Sunday afternoon.  Depending on which ones they failed they might get the chance to repeat two.  A PCS (patient care situation) consists of writing a care plan,  then completing assigned assessments and managements and evaluating and charting.  It is a basic nursing test.  As LPNs in long term care we did Neurological assessments and Respiratory assessments daily.  But since it is important that a nurse have the ability to pay attention to detail all the paper work had to be filled out exactly right.  Missing one initialed spot could cost a student their  goal.  The double stethoscopes they had at my test site were good.  I had heard that the ones that were used were hard to hear out of but I had not problems hearing. 

Through out the weekend we were tested by CE's (clinical examiners) and we had a CA (clinical associate) that over saw the weekend and made sure we had a fair testing experience.  I had heard stories that some of the CE's and CA's at some of the sites were pretty hard to get along with and pass hardly anyone.  As nurses we have to know how to get along with difficult people so I guess that is why they have some of those types of people testing us.  But I was so lucky at my test site.  The CA and the CE's were all very nice.  They wanted us to pass and encouraged us.  One of mine got so excited when I had my bandage scissors in my pocket to cut open a transdermal patch she said "I know you are a nurse - you have your scissors".  I silently thanked Jean Stone for that one.  (see part one to know who Jean is)

During the entire weekend I did notice that they were very strict about Asepsis.  With all the antibiotic resistant organisms out there these days I think that is important too.  Once I picked up on that focus I made double triple sure I did all the gelling and hand washing needed and I gloved up when ever something was wet and wasn't mine as we are taught.  

For any one who might read this in preparation for their weekend I would like to suggest one hint.  On Sunday morning I left my name tag in the motel.  This caused my stress level to soar.  I would suggest a person leave their name tag in the glove box of their car and not take it into the motel.  Then if they forget it they only have to go into the parking lot to retrieve it. 

So that is the story of my Excelsior College Journey.  If you missed the prior posts they can be found at the following links.  

Part One.  

Part Two.  

Part Three.  

I am so very glad to be listening to audio books again on my way to and from work instead of my home made audio study files.   I am so glad to be reading a fiction book instead of my huge almost 600 page study guide.  I am so glad to have last weekend behind me.  After the holidays I have to think about the state board exam.  But I am not even going to think about it till after the first of the year.

And as far as my prior aspirations to continue my education,  I really don't know at this point.  Not for awhile.  I have some of the past few months expenses to pay off first while I decide.  And I have doubts that I would be a very good teacher following this experience.  My home made audio study files revealed to me that I tend to mispronounce an awful lot of words.  They sound right in my head but when I listened to myself on the audio files I  realized that they are not pronounced correctly.  So a teacher is probably not a good choice for me to use to supplement my retirement income.   For now I have the goal of passing the state board nursing examination to keep me busy and a trip to plan to ride on a covered wagon on the Oregon Trail.   Beyond that - who knows.  

An Educational Journey Part III: The Home Stretch

As I was completing my last couple of modules the summer of 2013  I recieved a message from Excelsior that my seven year limit for completing the program would be up July 2014.  I wrote back and explained that I had enrolled in the school of nursing four years not six years ago.  They answered explaining that the two years I had been enrolled in 2002/2003 counted toward my seven years.  But they also said I could write a letter of appeal asking for an extension.  This I  did and that they gave - till the end of 2014 as long as I had my application in for my CPNE by the July 2014 deadline.  (CPNE stands for Clinical Performance in Nursing Examination).  So I finished up my last module September of 2013,  took my two FCCA's by early 2014, and was eligible to apply.  Did I mention the end of December of 2013 I moved from NE Indiana to SW Ohio and that during the process of filling out the CPNE application I got married again?  The application requires a back ground check,  a physical with lots of vaccination titers and repeated vaccinations for any titers that no longer covered me.  A copy of my current CPR certification had to be included along with a copy of my current negative TB test.  And proof of a flu shot.  That sort of thing.  None of which are hard but all seemed to take forever to gather up and complete.  Therefore it was early May, I think, before I sent off the last item.  I waited on them till July and they messaged  me my test date of December 12-14.  Pass rate for first time testers of the CPNE is like 44%.  The over all pass rate is 66%.  I had till December 31 to get this thing done therefore I had to pass on the first try or face the fact that I was never going to be a RN in this life time.  At age 57 I was not going to start a new nursing program.   So there was nothing else to do but prepare all I could prepare and to be successful.  Plan B would be to change majors.  If my life has taught me nothing else it has taught me to always have a plan B.    My original idea was to get my RN to make more money now and to continue on with my education till I had the credentials to teach as I felt a part time teaching job would supplement my retirement.  Plan B would scratch the more money now but there was nothing to say I couldn't prepare myself to teach something other than nursing.

So it was July and time to get busy preparing.  Right after I knocked out the 24 CEU's the state of Ohio required by August.  How did I miss that requirement was coming up?  And two waiver things the job required me to read and take little tests online about to get certificates.  In the meantime I worked on reading the almost 600 page CPNE study guide and signed up for a one day workshop Excelsior offered which I attended the beginning of August.

Another fly in the ointment I had pop up was that I suddenly found out about two weeks before the online class started that I had not taken a requirement called "Information Literacy".  Which was not hard and I knocked it out.  It just cost money I didn't expect and if I had not noticed it I would not have made my end of the year deadline.  It also took up some  time that I could have used studying for the CPNE.  

In order to pass the CPNE one had to know something called "critical elements"  which were things that had to be completed without missing any during the course of the performance exam.  None of the critical elements could be missed or the exam was  failed.  There are around 24 areas that each have up to about ten critical elements.    In order to learn these something called mnemonics have risen up over the years.   This exercise in memorization brought to mind the section in one of the modules during the written part of my course work about how the plasticity of one's brain lessons with age.  Memory work is not what it was at age 20 at age 57.  I worked hard.  It was work hard enough to slip in the sweat time.  I made audio files on my IPod and gave up listening to audio books from September till December.  Every day to and from work I listened to critical elements and mnemonics.  I drove down the road saying them aloud along with the audio files. I read the almost 600 page study guide 3.5 times.  I was doing the Excelsior offered message center "PCS"   exercises and as soon as I was able I started the weekly phone conferences with Excelsior. And as I mentioned earlier I had attended the one day workshop offered by Excelsior early in August.  But I was not getting it.  I felt like I was walking toward a firing squad.   Then I was saved by three things.

The first thing that saved me was on one of the various pages on FB that are students either trying to pass or just done passing the CPNE.  Lots of moral support are on those pages and much advice - some good some not so good advice.  But on one of those pages was a post from a paramedic in the Cincinnati area looking for a study buddy for the CPNE.  That paramedic,  whose name was Michelle,  was one of the things that saved me.  She had purchased all the lab station set up from Excelsior for practice and we met weekly at one of the Cincinnati hospital's classrooms and studied and practiced.  I would not have passed the CPNE without Michelle.

The second thing that saved me was Sheri Taylor.  She has a workshop in Atlanta, and an online workshop, and she offers mock tests for those that want to sign up.  She is a private entity and is not affiliated with Excelsior College.  Her speciality is to prepare students to pass the CPNE.  I would not have passed the CPNE without Sheri Taylor.   I took her  online workshop for two months.  I went to Atlanta for a one day mock.  And Michelle and I went down to Atlanta and took the three day workshop.  Excelsior College is adamant that it is not necessary to go to an outside source to pass their CPNE.  They say that everything needed to pass is offered by them.  And the information is there in the items they provide.  What Sheri provides is a system and strategies for a student to hang that information on along with tools for a student to be able to do the work to pass the CPNE.  Also she says the same things that excelsior says information wise only  in simpler language.  There are several workshops available out there to help students pass the CPNE.  I have heard good stuff about many of them.  Sheri Taylor's program worked for me.  I did not use the others so I can't say anything good or bad about them.  I would not have passed my CPNE without Sheri.  

The third thing that saved me was an Excelsior instructor.  Three weeks prior to my test date I was hit with the most paralyzing test anxiety ever.  When I had my weekly phone conference with Excelsior staff I asked about any ideas about what to do about it.  The Excelsior staff member gave me concrete things to do that had me functioning again in about 48 hours.  I was still nervous right up and including during the CPNE but I was no longer immobilized.  Her recommendations included to begin taking the Rescue Remedy I had purchased to take the weekend of the test immediately four times a day.  It is by Bach Flowers and is a herbal remedy for stressful situations.  The second thing she told me to do was to look in the mirror every day and say "I passed my CPNE.  I remembered all my critical elements and mnemonics.  I read my kardex carefully.  I made no silly mistakes. In fact I made no mistakes at all.  I was not nervous.  I had a good testing experience."  A third thing she told me was to find something to keep in my pocket during the test weekend  to touch to ground myself when I started feeling nervous.  I would not have passed my CPNE without Ellen.  

This brings me to my test weekend.  That part of the story will be told in Part IV.  

An Educational Journey Part II: A False Start And Then Steady Slow Progress

In the spring of 2002 I received one of the junk mail advertisements from one of the private companies that publish study materials to help people get through Excelsior College's Nursing program.  It might have been RUE.  There are several companies that have packages and programs.  After I investigated the various claims and ending up on the Excelsior Web site itself I learned that it was cheaper to go through the college directly and order the college text books rather than to go through any of the various publishing companies.  What this program entails is studying an entire semester of these college courses and taking a very long test by proxy at the end for what was usually three college credits.  By the time I signed it up was a couple of months and then by September I moved into an apartment and out of the home of my third marriage.   It seemed like my entire life every time I made a start to proceed with my education either a marriage or a divorce happened to complicate my concentration.  I messed around reading the text book for about a year and a half - so much for getting through the entire program in that length of time - and then it was time to test.  I had no cash to test and my credit cards were entirely too high to start putting a college education on them.   So I gave up.  Here is the first word of advice I have to any one starting out in the Excelsior program.  I am sure that it says this in the large volumes of info on their site but I missed it.  When you start paying their annual tuition fee the clock starts ticking on your program.  It is not necessary to enroll until you get to the actual nursing courses.  You can take the pre-requisites off the clock.  But the two years I was enrolled and did nothing almost cost me my goal.  There is a seven year limit to finishing up the nursing program.

So I worked as an LPN supporting myself.  The kids were young adults and independent.  I was living in a condo that I had purchased.  Life was a lot of hard work but I was enjoying my freedom and all was good.  Except that even when I was taking all of those various classes I wrote about in Part One of this blog series,  I really thought I would get my RN eventually.  But my biological clock was clicking and it was looking like it wasn't going to ever happen.  Then I met a nurse friend at work named Peggy.  Her husband liked to hunt and fish on his vacations.  The man that I was dating at the time was not a traveler.  He liked his own pillow and his own toilet.  Travel was one goal I wanted to realize so Peg and I took an annual vacation for a few years.  We would take turns planning it.  One year she would plan and the next year I would plan.  I am a President Lincoln fan so in 2007,  the June before I turned 50,  we found ourselves in Springfield Illinois.  She had her College Network modules with her.  She had one more module to pass to complete her written tests for Excelsior and then would be preparing for her clinical weekend test.  The College Network is one of the many publishing companies that charge an arm and leg for study materials for assist people in getting through Excelsior's Nursing Program.  Peggy and I talked and made an agreement.  Which follows.

Back up to when I was nine years old.  I seemed to get grounded a great deal.  When my kids were growing up we did time outs that were about ten minutes but when I was growing up in the 1960s the trend was grounding - for like a week.  I would have to come home from school and go to my room.  I would be expected to come down stairs to join the family for supper and then return to my room.  I spent a good deal of time assigned by my parents to that schedule my fourth grade year.  My fourth grade teacher felt sorry for me.  She sent me home from school with my arms loaded down with books.  And I learned to love reading.  All that time spent in my room I was traveling to wonderful times and places through books.  And one place I seemed to read about was the Oregon Trail.  I really liked those pioneer books.  So Peggy and I's agreement was when I completed Excelsior College's nursing program - which would end with something called the CPNE -  we would take a vacation and ride on a covered wagon on the Oregon Trail.  When we got home from Springfield Illinois I emailed The College Network.

As I said before,  it is cheaper to go through Excelsior College directly.  I would caution any prospective Excelsior College Student Wannabe to avoid publishing companies if they can.  But The College Network worked for me.  Their modules are like cliff notes for the college textbooks - still they were each around 300 to 350 pages long - and the main thing they do that was the clincher for me is that those high testing fees are rolled into the financing package.  So I made the monthly payments and when I was ready a module arrived.  When I finished the module and was ready to test I called and they cut me a check to pay for my test.  It worked for me.  But it still took me forever.  I have to say I enjoyed it.  I would get up after working second shift the night before late morning.  While I sipped on my coffee I would spend about an hour reading the module.  When I got done with a module before testing I would take a couple vacation days and do Excelsior's practice tests and cram.  I got all A's and B's on my eleven written classes except one C.  I enrolled back into  the school of nursing in July of 2009 because I had completed my pre-requisites and was ready to start the nursing written exams.

I feel I learned a lot and digested a large amount of information.   I feel I got a very good education in the nursing field with distance learning.  Following the written tests I had to complete two online courses called FCCA before I was CPNE qualified.  Those were hard for me.  There was a great deal of reading and they boxed me into the eight week online classes to get it done.

I should also mention that besides The College Network modules I did purchase the actual textbooks used.  I would get one edition back and it was pretty inexpensive that way.  And I would google.  My main problem with the modules were they were not indexed.  So when I was reviewing and cramming I was  unable to look up information.  So that is why I needed the text books and google.

So this brings us up to 2014 when I was finally ready to begin the application and preparation process for the CPNE.   That part of the story will be told in Part Three.

An Educational Journey Part One: The Early Years

There has never been a really firm idea in my mind of what I want to be when I grow up.  When I was a teenager, back in the 1970's, this concerned my parents.  They wanted me to be interested in college prep courses.  I tried those my freshman year and hated them.  They required way too much work.  So my sophomore year of high school I took general business classes and home economics.  Those bored me to tears.  My junior year of high school I moved in with my great grandmother in order to switch to a near by school who had this new idea called Vocational Education.  I took something called Health Occupations.  That class was a blast to me.  I loved it.  We attended it at the local hospital education building four days a week and on Wednesdays we went to a near by town where the Vocational School was located.  Our teacher was Jean Stone.  I went to visit her last year before I moved to SW Ohio.  She is in a retirement home not far from Fort Wayne.  She looked wonderful and it was great to see her again after many years.  No voice visited me as much over the years I worked in health care more often than hers.   No other person had the influence in forming what kind of nurse I turned out to be more than she did.  After my junior year ended I decided that nursing was what I wanted to study.  Of course that took pre-requisites - like chemistry.  So I moved back in with my parents and went back to my previous high school and attended half days.  I worked 5-9 pm through the week and 3-11 pm on the weekends at a local nursing home as a nursing assistant.  They paid me $0.85 an hour.  We got a five dollar bonus at Christmas.  And I kind of, sort of took Chemistry.  Let's just say I got through it with a little help from Paul,  and Steve,  and Phil,  and well you get the idea.  I didn't do a lot of the home work alone.   But I got good enough grades on the homework to pass in spite of my poor showing on the in class tests.  So the spring of 1975 arrived and I graduated.  The following August I moved in to St Joseph School of Nursing in Fort Wayne.  It no longer exists.  I tried to find some info about it,  or even a picture of it on the web but sites were scarce.  I did find an old book about it HERE.    I lasted six months.  We did have fun.  We all had metal lock boxes to put our valuables in.  A small bottle of Southern Comfort fit in them nicely.  Back then we all had rather big purses.  In fact a six pack of beer fit in them nicely.  Henry's bar was for gays and in the 1970s they did not card us.  It was within walking distance.  Of course we had to get rid of the evidence because we were not allowed to have alcohol in the dorms.  Once we threw the cans down the laundry shoot.  Once we threw them out the window into the teacher's parking lot.  They made great noise the next morning when the teachers ran over them.  We were all called to the auditorium once and given thirty minutes to clear out our rooms before they did an inspection.  I forget which of the above times preceded that event.  Once they sent me back to the dorm to iron my uniform.  They had large billowy cotton skirts with pleats.  My pleats were not creased.  Then one day I got my ears pierced.  The teacher on the unit told me that I could not be doing my clinical rotation unless I got those ear rings out of my ears.  I had just gotten them done and they had to stay in two weeks.  I went back to the dorm and called my mom and told her to come get me.  I quit.  She sat in the directors office with me and they argued with me about how good my grades were and I was almost done with the semester and would have quite a few college credits if I stayed a few more weeks.  I said no.  I am going home.  My mother asked many times but I never told her it was about the earrings.

I went home and got a job waiting tables.  I was no good at that.  I got in big trouble with my boss because I waited on the table of a farmer before a judge.  When he was yelling at me about why would I do such a thing I explained that the farmer arrived first.  Then he really  yelled and said I must never do that again.  I explained we might as well not continue with this employer employee relationship because I will serve whoever comes in first first.  So I ended up back at the nursing home and they really needed help and were very glad to have me back.  I think I was up to $1.65 an hour by then.  But living at home was not what I wanted to do forever and one could not get an apartment on those wages.  So after much brainstorming,  LPN school sounded like a good idea.  My father made me sign a written contract that I would not quit or I had to pay him back the $1000 it cost for him to send me there.  I lived at home and commuted.  I liked it.  I tied with this other girl for valedictorian and no one said a word about earrings as long as they weren't dangling ones.  The picture of me at the beginning of this blog is in 1977 when I graduated from LPN school.

They really stressed that we not stop going to school.  I took one psychology class at Manchester College after that but the drive was far and I was working a lot.  The professor gave me a B but it was a gift.    I might have taken English Comp there too I forget.  Then I got married and my education halted for a while.  I had three children.  Time passed.  When the kids went off to school all day I went back to school.  I was married for the second time by then.  I was getting quite a bit of progress as far as collecting credits although I did not know what to study.  I did enjoy a mis-matched bunch of courses at Lake Michigan College and IU South Bend.  Then that marriage ended and there was no money for school and I had to get a job again.  I did take a class here and there over the years.

Sometime in 2002 as my third marriage was winding into a bad condition I decided I wanted to get my RN.  Maybe my daughter being in college and my youngest son graduating from high school got me to thinking.  I am not sure what motivated me at that time to look into schools.

But that is a long story in itself and that part of the story will be told in Part Two.

A Pale Horse Cometh: An Apocalyptic Adventure (The Alternative Future Series Book 2) by J. E. Rohrer

A Pale Horse Cometh:

An Apocalyptic Adventure

(The Alternative Future Series Book 2)

by

J. E. Rohrer

Blogging and reading for fun has been on the back burner in my life the last month or two due to an up and coming three day test called the CPNE.  I have immersed myself in CPNE land in hopes that I might pass in December and obtain my ASN after a lifetime journey of thinking I would do so and a 7.5 year journey with this particular program.  Hence the priority.  But my brother sent me his latest novella in his series about an apocalypse and I always get a good chuckle when I read his fiction so it was a welcome reprieve from having my head in my 600 page study guide to curl up with his book:  A Pale Horse Cometh.   This short book is the second of a series.  The first book was reviewed by me recently HERE and involves a world wide black out and how it affected the inhabitants of a sleepy little Wisconsin town.  In this second book,  the people of Fort Atkinson Wisconsin are still recovering from the black out but things are returning to normal when an Ebola epidemic strikes.   In the midst of the sickness there are gangs taking over villages throughout North America  because the federal government has been voted out by the people who are unhappy with no electricity events  and viral epidemics.  No governmental control has given opportunists the chance to take control.   This is the back ground of the story.  How my brother manages to make me laugh under such circumstances is hard to explain.  But his books are always belly laughers for me.  I will mention that this series has more of a religious overtone than his prior writing did but this is normal for my relatives.  I asked him if there was symbolism to the series and he said not intentionally but to interpret things how ever I choose.   All in all,  my brother's books are fun and I recommend them as a quick read for all audiences.  Please follow the links provided above for more information and enjoy the video that follows about Ebola.  I thought seeing a world view of the situation might be interesting so I picked a piece from BBC.

A Letter From Ireland by Mike Collins

A Letter From Ireland

by

Mike Collins

This little book I got off the free list for kindle from Amazon in July and I savored it by reading only one chapter a day and then forgot to blog about it because I am still getting the weekly letter in my email from Mike and enjoying each and every one.  It is a delightful idea to tie my  family tree interest like this into the culture and history of one of the European countries that some of them immigrated from.   My Sullivan line is the only line in my genealogy that I can think of that is truly Irish.  I have other lines that immigrated from Ireland but I am pretty sure they were only in Ireland for about a hundred years having immigrated from Scotland prior to that.  So my "Irish"  lines are "Scots Irish"  sometimes called "Scotch Irish".   But even with just the Sullivan line being Irish I still enjoyed reading about the areas the clans evolved from and the way various surnames came up from the professions such as medicine and law.  I also enjoy the descriptions of the environment and culture of Ireland in the book and letters.  Please click on the title and the author's name above to learn more and enjoy the video that follows.  

The Crowning Of The Can King by J.E. Rohrer

The Crowning of The Can King

by

J.E. Rohrer

My brother has written a new book.  I enjoyed his last series and just finished up this first book of his new series tonight.   It is a short read at 54 pages and took me about an hour to zip through.   I could have read it quicker but had to keep stopping to laugh.  My brother's books always make me laugh.  This one,  like his others,  is about a mystery solving retired absent minded professor who lives in Fort Atkinson Wisconsin.  The Crowning of The Can King is about what would happen if the world lost electric power.   In the story the absent minded professor,  his wife,  and neighbors fend off foes who are out to steal their limited resources and at the same time find the axe murderer who killed the grocery store manager who was price gouging those in need.   I could just get a visual of them digging a hole in the field to dump their toilet bucket on a daily basis and could see the older professor always falling over the cat at least once.  Definitely a much needed fluff book after my last couple of reads and  I highly recommend it.  I understand my nephew illustrated the cover too!.  Please click on my brother's name above and the book title to learn more and enjoy the video that follows about the town the story takes place in.

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

The Glass Castle

by

Jeanette Walls

This novel is the September book for the Columbia City Library Book Club that I used to attend before I moved from NE Indiana to SW Ohio.  I will miss being with the group when they discuss it later this month.  I chose to listen to this book on audio and I finished it up on the way to work yesterday afternoon.  It is a well written book that held my attention.  It is also very sad at times.  There are parts of the book that made me angry also.  It is autobiographical of Jeanette Wall's childhood growing up with an alcoholic and drunken father and what seemed to me like a schizophrenic mother in the 1960s and 1970s.  They live in Arizona,  California, West Virginia, and New York during the book.  The most upsetting time was while they lived in West Virginia.   In spite of the very poor elementary formal schooling they had their parents were able to school them on the road and the children were all very bright.  Their education in junior high and high school was more formal but marginal due to social ostracizing brought on by poor clothing and being cold and hungry at home.  What I kept searching for throughout the book was how the kids all turned out so successful.   What was the key that they were able to pull themselves out of the poverty, neglectful and abusive background and live as productive citizens?  I think the fact that Jeanette was badly burned as a three year old and spent a long time in the  hospital helped her lay a foundation of knowing what it was like to be warm, clean and well fed.  There was also a high school teacher in West Virginia who had tried to help her father when he was young and had made enough of an impression that Jeanette was named after her.  When the family moved back to her father's old home town the teacher was still there and encouraged Jeanette.  This teacher was in charge of the school newspaper and Jeanette spent a lot of time during her high school years working on the school paper under this teachers guidance.  Also all the Walls kids were big readers.  One book that Jeanette loved was A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith.    I think this story inspired her and gave her direction.   This book is hard to take in during parts of it due to the extremely poor conditions the children had to live under.  But at other parts any one who grew up during the 1960s and 1970s could relate to.  Much of the toys and games were the same as the ones I was acquainted with.  And the anti-authority opinions of Mr and Mrs Walls were familiar lines.  Please click on the title and the authors names above for more information and enjoy the video that follows.  

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman.

The Light Between Oceans

by

M.L. Stedman

I read this book on my Kindle Fire and finished it up last night.  It is the September selection for the Wilmington Library Reading group.  My work schedule has changed so I can't attend their meetings any more but will try to read along with them when I can.  They are a good group and I enjoyed them.  This novel The Light Between Oceans is one that is very thought provoking and I am sure brought out a lively discussion in the group night before last.  The novel held my attention and I finished it fairly quickly.  I won't go into too much detail on the story line because the video I am posting will do that.  But I do want to warn possible readers that this is a very sad book.  The ending made me tearful.  Please click on the title and the author's name above to follow the links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.  

Movie Night

 A couple of weeks ago Bruce and I watched a movie we had been meaning to watch for awhile.   I found "The Butler"  to be very well done and an important work about important events in our history.  But I also found it to be depressing.  It is a good movie but I can't say that I liked it.  I would encourage all to watch it and decide for themselves.

Dinner And A Movie With Company

Early last month my father and stepmother visited us in our home.  My dad had not seen where I live since my move last December.  We had scheduled two separate times for them to come visit last winter but we all know what the weather and road conditions kept doing to every one's plans last winter.  So it was a long awaited visit.  We went out to eat at Montgomery Inn which is always yummy and a great place to bring company.  Then we came back to the house and watched an old movie.  I thought a comedy romance would be a fun choice and I had seen this movie but the others hadn't.  I liked it so thought they would too.

Written In My Hearts Own Blood by Diana Gabaldon

Written In My Hearts Own Blood

by

Diana Gabaldon

I have been an "Outlander Addict" since 2011 so I was thrilled when the eighth novel of this series was finally out in June of this year and when it was released in audio in July I snatched it up.  By the way, starting this month I have been enjoying revisiting the original Outlander story on Starz TV also.  But this blog is about Written In My Hearts Own Blood in which the wonderful story of Claire and Jamie and all the people we "Outlander Addicts" have grown to love continues.  The novel has us in the 1980s,  in the 1740s and in 1778 with lively adventures in all three time zones.   I really enjoy Davina Porter's narration of these books but eventually intend to read each and every one the old fashioned way.  If anyone has not enjoyed this series they are missing out.  If you are not a reader then catch the TV series.  It has been approved for a second season I hear.  Please click on the title and authors name above to follow the links to more information and enjoy the two videos that follow.

The Captive Queen by Jean Plaidy

The Captive Queen

by

Jean Plaidy

This novel is the sequel to a novel I read and reviewed earlier this year called The Royal Road To Fotheringhay.   The first book was about Mary Queen Of Scot's early life and this one is about her time as an adult when she is imprisoned in England by Queen Elizabeth who is the daughter of Henry the VIII.  The Captive Queen is a sad book as all attempts to rescue Mary Queen of Scots are failed attempts and every one who tries to help her seems to lose their head.  In fact in the end so does she.  Mary Queen of Scots is Catholic and Queen Elizabeth is protestant and this seems to be one of the main problems as this was before the idea of separation of church of state.  I enjoy the historical novels about the Queens of medieval times in Europe and Jean Plaidy does a nice job with them.  Be sure and click on the links above to more information and enjoy the video that follows.

Movie Night

Last week Bruce and I had a quiet evening in front of the new TV and watched a movie that he had checked out at the library.  I enjoyed the movie  very much and think it is a worthwhile watch.

Disposable People by Kevin Bales

Disposable People

by 

Kevin Bales

After wanting to read this book for the last three or four years,  I finally finished it last night.  It is not available in Kindle format and I really struggle when I can't adjust the font size or have the light that the reader provides.  Also,  although I enjoy non fiction articles,  as I mentioned before,  non fiction books are not my first choice to read.  But this book is one that is an important one to read, and I am glad that I took the effort to get it read.  It is about the slavery that is still going on today.  Although illegal internationally,  slavery still happens in every country of the world.  And as with most illegal activity to shine a light on it makes it shrink.  On page 247 the author,  Kevin Bales,  refers to this as "name and shame".  Just making ourselves aware of the situation is a threat to those who are working with slave labor today.  If we know that slaves in Brazil are making charcoal (to use one example in the book)  and that the charcoal is used in the steel mills of Brazil, and the same steel is used in the automotive parts plants in Mexico and then ends up in our cars,  and we know which car companies are using this steel,  and  we make these car companies aware we know and are looking at other cars as a result,  then the  the car companies become concerned with looking for a better supply chain.   The same is true with any company that uses sugar,  or cocoa,  or many other commodities.  The trick is to educate ourselves to where the problems are and not to associate ourselves with this illegal and inhumane activity.  Kevin Bales writes in his preface that when doing the research for this book he found he developed PTSD as a result and I experienced nightmares after reading some of the sections.  As a result of reading this book I have added the blogs from Free The Slaves and Not For Sale to my home page so that I am aware as new information is made available and I am determined to continue to educate myself on this topic.  I encourage others to educate themselves also.  Please click on the title and author's name to follow the links to more information and watch the video below.  Also read this book.  All proceeds from the sale of the book goes to the Free The Slaves foundation.  So after you read it and pass the book on,  buy a few more books for other people you know.  There has been progress in this problem of slavery since the book was written and CNN ran their series on slavery a few  years ago.   Never the less,  it is important to keep this information in the forefront.  

Winter Of The World by Ken Follett

Winter Of The World

by

Ken Follett

Ken Follett never disappoints!  I finished listening to the second book in his Century Trilogy, The Winter Of The World,  this afternoon on audio as I worked on a sewing project.  I had listened to the first one in the series,  Fall Of Giants,  last November and waited a bit before tackling the second one because the third one is not due out till September.   I will now anxiously await its release!  While the first book covered WWI,  the second book covers WWII.  The characters are of the same five families that started the series in the last novel.   One of the things I learned from this book was that Hitler had quite a bit of world wide support in the beginning.  In fact Texaco supplied oil to support the spread of fascism to Spain and there was a large group of "brown shirt" youth demonstrations in Great Britain.  Henry Ford also supported Hitler's ideals.  The author makes the differences in Communism,  Fascism, Capitalism,  and Social Democrats/Labor Party clear.   While I felt Ken Follett was not showing any preferences in Fall of Giants I think his personal politics come through a bit more in Winter Of The World.   This is a wonderful series.  It is definitely adult level and adult content but I highly recommend it as a must read for all adults.  Please click on the five links provided above   and enjoy the videos that follow.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

Sarah's Key

by

Tatiana De Rosnay

It has been awhile since I sailed through 320 pages in two evenings but Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay pulled me in and I could not stop reading it.   It is the July selection for the Columbia City library reading group that I have continued to read along with after my move from NE Indiana to SW Ohio.   The Sarah's Key story line moves between the life a modern day journalist and Occupied France during WWII.   Sarah is a young  Jewish girl whose family was arrested during the Vel' d' Hiv.   Sarah was age ten at the time her family was taken.  In order to save her brother she quickly locked him into a cupboard in her bedroom and kept the key with her thinking she would return later that day and let him out.  Her part of the novel is spent trying to escape to get back to release her brother from the cupboard.  The modern day journalist discovers Sarah's story and becomes obsessed with finding her.  It is a page turner that will definitely be a contender for my top ten list this year.    I highly recommend this book.  Follow the links for more information by clicking on the links at the title and the author's name above and also the one found in the text.  In addition,  enjoy the two videos that follow.  

Movie Night

Last week we had a laid back evening where we watched a fun movie.  It is a kids movie but I enjoy children's films.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

The Unlikely Pilgrimage

Of Harold Fry

by

Rachel Joyce

The July selection for the library reading group at Wilmington Public Library is The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.   It is the story of a retired man who is walking a long way to see a friend who is dying.  As he walks day in and day out,  he reflects over his life and relationships.  He also reconnects with nature.   It is like his journey is not just spanning the UK but is more like it is a journey of his life.  It is a well written novel with a touching story line.  It is not my genre and will not make my top ten list for this year.  But this is not because it is not a good book.  It is just not my kind of book.  The story flows well and could well be someone else's favorite.  This book has won awards and is well thought of.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow the links for more information and enjoy the video that follows.

Something Fishy

 National Geographic is running a series right now on how we are going to feed the world as populations swell.  The June edition highlights fish farms and the article can be found HERE.    While it does mention that there have been disease issues with farming fish,  the article focuses on solutions and not problems.  When I mentioned the article on another social media site,  my niece spoke up about a documentary she has seen about the problems with Salmon farms in Canada.  The entire documentary can be viewed on YouTube and is excellent.  Since it is long I am going to post only the trailer here but please after watching the trailer go to YouTube and watch the entire hour of information available.



After watching the entire hour long documentary I came away with the same opinion that I have of the beef, pork and chicken sources in this country.  That is -  if you are going to eat meat - cook it thoroughly.  To be fair,  National Geographic does mention the Salmon farms as an example of problems with the industry and offers a solution in the quote that follows.



  "Figuring out what to feed farmed fish may ultimately be more important for the planet than the question of where to farm them. “The whole concept of moving into offshore waters and on land isn’t because we’ve run out of space in the coastal zone,” says Stephen Cross of the University of Victoria in British Columbia, who was an environmental consultant to the aquaculture industry for decades. Though pollution from coastal salmon farms gave the whole industry a black eye, he says, these days even salmon farms are producing 10 to 15 times the fish they did in the 1980s and 1990s with a fraction of the pollution. In a remote corner of Vancouver Island he’s trying something new and even less damaging.

His inspiration comes from ancient China. More than a thousand years ago, during the Tang dynasty, Chinese farmers developed an intricate polyculture of carp, pigs, ducks, and vegetables on their small family farms, using the manure from ducks and pigs to fertilize the pond algae grazed by the carp. Carp were later added to flooded paddies, where the omnivorous fish gobbled up insect pests and weeds and fertilized the rice before becoming food themselves. Such carp-paddy polyculture became a mainstay of China’s traditional fish-and-rice diet, sustaining millions of Chinese for centuries. It’s still used on more than seven million acres of paddies in the country.

In a fjord on the British Columbia coast, Cross has devised a polyculture of his own. He feeds only one species—a sleek, hardy native of the North Pacific known as sablefish or black cod. Slightly down current from their pens he has placed hanging baskets full of native cockles, oysters, and scallops as well as mussels that feed on the fine organic excretions of the fish. Next to the baskets he grows long lines of sugar kelp, used in soups and sushi and also to produce bioethanol; these aquatic plants filter the water even further, converting nearly all the remaining nitrates and phosphorus to plant tissue. On the seafloor, 80 feet below the fish pens, sea cucumbers—considered delicacies in China and Japan—vacuum up heavier organic waste that the other species miss. Minus the sablefish, Cross says, his system could be fitted onto existing fish farms to serve as a giant water filter that would produce extra food and profit."

While there are issues with disease and fish farms, to strive to solve the issues seems to be a worthy goal. But what of fishermen and the way we have always done it?  Unfortunately,  that process also is riddled with problems.  There have been many reports,  like the one that follows,  of slave labor being used on fishing boats.  

The entire system around fish seems to be so complicated that it is tempting to close our eyes to the issues.   While as individuals we can't solve all the problems,  it is important to educate ourselves and be aware of where they are.   We may not be the whole solution but we may be able to not be part of the problem.

The Original Boston Cooking-School Cook Book 1896 by Fannie Merritt Farmer

The Original Boston Cooking-School Cook Book

by

Fannie Merritt Farmer

Since relocating to SW Ohio and getting married I have been cooking a lot more than I had the prior decade.   Having exhausted the couple of cook books I had unpacked and the couple of cook books Bruce had around here I was in the market for some new ideas.  I subscribe to several emailings of recipes but none were grabbing me and I have downloaded several ebooks to my kindle from the free list but none of those were really interesting me either.  Although I am sure I will I guess I have not graduated to e-recipes yet.  But then I have never been one to find good ones in magazines either so maybe not.  Then one day last week a contact on a social media web site had mentioned that she had found a steal from a vintage second hand store of the type of recipe boxes that people had in the 1970's where the cards came in the mail.  They looked like the image below.

She was having a ball looking through what she considered the old time type recipes.   That put in me in the notion to find my boxes of cook books although  I had not looked through any of them for quite some time.  I managed to unearth one plastic bin of cook books and have been finding lots of recipes to keep me busy for awhile.  Among the cook books was The Original Boston Cooking-School Cook Book 1896 by Fannie Merritt Farmer.   I was not able to find anything in it I wanted to make but very much enjoyed looking through the old time ways of doing things.  The book begins with a quote:   "But for life the universe were nothing; and all that has life requires nourishment."   It is full of interesting historical ways of cooking.  For example on page 18 it describes how fire is used and tells where one removes the ashes from the cook stove.  I had to google some of the terms used, for example "forced meat"  seems to be sausage stuffing type meat,  and overall it was just interesting to look through.  If you click on the book title above you will be directed to an online 1910 edition.  I could not find the 1896 edition available for free online.  If you click on the authors name above you will be directed to more information about her.  Please enjoy the video that follows in which one of the recipes is demonstrated.

Wednesday Night At The Movies

On Wednesday Night,  while my daughter was visiting,  we watched Saving Mr Banks.  It is a delightful movie.  It is about the problems Walt Disney had getting rights to the book in order to make the movie Mary Poppins.  The author of the original Mary Poppins book was Pamela Travers.   This is a movie I would highly recommend but have the Kleenex ready at the end.  Please click on the links above in the text to more information and enjoy the movie trailer that follows.

Tuesday Night At The Movies

While my daughter was visiting this week we watched a couple of movies.  On Tuesday night we watched August: Osage County.   It had a couple of funny lines in it but mostly was drama.  The movie is about a very dysfunctional family.  I would not recommend it unless one was using it to teach a class on unhealthy family dynamics or addiction issues.  The actors and actresses in the film did do an outstanding job.