Library Notes
January 4, 2005
By Pansy Hundley, Librarian.
Last time I talked to you, Suzie and I had almost everything she owned loaded in that 24-ft. U-Haul truck. And, that stuff stayed in that truck and stayed in that truck and stayed some more.
We arrived in Farmersville at 3:30 AM in the morning. We had no problems, except a non-working gas gauge. No trouble, and, especially, no accidents.
I was glad to see that our Farmersville policemen are on the ball, awake and observant. As we came into town, at 3:30 AM, one of our officers was sitting at the Exxon station. As we drove up to my house, and started to figure out where to park that huge truck, we noted that the police car was sitting at the end of the street, watching. That U-Haul at 3:30 AM, was a mite suspicious. I was glad he was checking to make sure that U-Haul truck had not backed up to my house, to start loading all I owned, or the part he wanted, into an empty truck. It’s sure nice to know they are on watch for us.
With final papers due to be signed on the new house on Thursday, we thought that truck would only set there for a day or so. Well, honey, it just goes to show, one should still not count their chickens before they hatch, as Granny was prone to say.
In checking with her mortgage company to find out how much money she needed to bring when papers were signed, Suzanne picked herself up off the floor and closed her mouth, after the lady said $25,000.00. We had planned on just over $8,000.00. It was then discovered that the mortgage company gal had done all the paper-work, using figures when Suzie had tried to rent the house for a few weeks before closing was done. Those figures were not correct, since the sellers would not allow her to rent at all, for any period of time. SO, that meant all the paper-work was wrong and had to be changed. That was late Wednesday afternoon. The next day, Thursday, those mortgage company people being located in Ohio or New York City or some such place, they could not get to work because of the terrible snow, ice and cold they were having there. And the next day, Friday, was Christmas Day.
Finally, later in the day, Suzie was able to talk with the gal who goofed. That gal was so apologetic, and she had to face her boss and admit her mistake. Suzie related to her that she had a U-Haul truck setting in front of her mothers’ house that she had already paid for for two extra days, and now it had to set over the week-end, at double the cost, $40.00 per day. That gal said very quickly that they would cut her a check for $250.00, the maximum amount the company would pay for such "incidentals" (my word).
So, that U-haul sat there in front of my house through the snow, the sleet and the ice, and we worried about what might be freezing in there and could do absolutely nothing about it. The frozen? things from Suzie’s freezer were in three ice chests in that truck, as well. And, there we sat!
It just occurred to me that I have not told you about the house that Suzie and I found in McKinney that she bought, so you know what you will hear about next week. I seem to be getting the truck before the house here. But, you must bear in mind that she and I have been moving for about three years and our minds are not up to par, running around until all hours of the morning, and, as Suz said one day, moving the city of Norman, Oklahoma, it seems.
As we, and our truck, sit and set, let’s just leave it, since we have no choice, and read a book. We have to get our mind off of it somehow. And, we’ll do just that, with Marcia Muller’s new one, "The Dangerous Hour".
"Complacency can make a person careless, and Sharon McCone, who makes crime her business, should know that better than most. One minute she’s riding high with her detective agency expanding, her bank account growing, and her only "problem" a marriage proposal from her lover, Hy Ripinsky, that’s kicking up her longtime fears of commitment. The next minute, in the time it takes for a single phone call to bring bad news, she stands to lose everything.
McCone is stunned to learn that a favorite employee, streetwise and savvy Julia Rafael, has been charged with credit-card fraud. She thinks there must be a mistake – until she finds the goods charged to the stolen credit card in the firm’s mail-room. As she starts to dig into the facts of the case, McCone realizes that someone is out to ruin her business, blacken her reputation, and harm those close to her…
Reaching back into her past to look for answers, she must come to grips with the violent twists and turns of her career, the choices she’s faced, and the enemies she’s made. How does the formerly trustworthy Julia fit into the big picture? And how does this new crisis tie into the recent murder of a popular Mission District fund-raiser? But when someone breaks into her car, invades her home ,and upsets every aspect of her life, McCone knows one thing for sure: Now it’s her turn to prove how tough she really is, and how far she’ll go to get justice….and some payback of her own."