Movie: Zero Hour!

My husband is a movie addict. He loves TCM. Every once in a while he finds a gem he knows I’ll like. Such was the case with Zero Hour!

It turns out that Zero Hour! (1957, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell and Sterling Hayden) is the original version of Airplane! While it is commonly assumed that Airplane! spoofs the disaster film genre, particularly the Airport series, parts of the script are verbatim from Zero Hour!  (Paramount owned Zero Hour! so it was  all perfectly legal.)

“Our survival hinges on one thing – finding someone who not only can fly this plane, but didn’t have fish for dinner.”

“Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.”

Yet Zero Hour! is not a comedy. It was a completely serious film.

If you get a chance to see it, you should.

 

Release Day! (And A Free Book!)

At long last, release day for Besieged by the Moon is almost here.  There’s still time to preorder to get your copy first thing Wednesday, April 21.

This was a challenging book to write, but I’m proud of the finished product. I’m grateful my publisher and editor allowed me to reset deadlines on multiple occasions.  Thank you Debby and Char for helping me make Besieged the best story it could be.

To my reader: thanks for your patience. Enjoy!

P.S. Betrayed by the Moon the first book in the trilogy, continues to be FREE  through the 20th.

Thursday Thought-The Ultimate Custodian

People rarely think about facility managers, or as we used to call them, custodians. I had the privilège to meet and work with a man who set the standard for the best of the best when it came to caring for the building that housed the TV station for which I worked.

Tom was a retired air traffic controller who played ice hockey. His brother worked at the station, so I think that’s how Tom got the custodian position. Now, Tom didn’t mop the floors or clean the bathrooms–we hired a cleaning service to perform those functions at night. But he took care of the building.

Tom arrived at work before anyone else (pre- 24-hour TV era). He went into every single office and checked the lights. Every single morning. A burned-out bulb was a personal affront to him. Once a week he flushed out the drains in the restroom floors to make sure they were clear.  We never ran out of toilet paper, paper towels, or soap. In the winter, he tooled around on his little tractor keep the driveways and parking clear of snow. In the summer, his little tractor converted to a lawn mower, and he kept the grounds immaculate.

His wife Bea was a sweetheart and always made the best ham loaf for our potlucks.

He eventually retired from the job, and although we had some great guys in the position afterward, no one ever reached Tom’s level.

I thought about him the other day when I was getting ready for my daughter’s wedding and pulled out the table cloth his wife made as a wedding gift for me.

The Winter Side of No Make Up

If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you know I stopped wearing make-up several years ago. It happened one hot July day, when I realized how much money I was wasting wearing makeup that would be melted off an hour later. The time, effort, and money weren’t worth the outcome. I figured I’d start again after Labor Day. But Labor Day became Halloween, became Thanksgiving, and so on. After a year (or maybe two) passed, I ended up chucking most of the cosmetics taking up space in my house.

Recently, I’ve discovered a winter upside of no longer coating my skin with color: my winter coats and scarves stay cleaner. I can pull the fabric up against my face for warmth and nothing happens except warmth. In past years, makeup on the collar was always a winter-coat issue. Never again.

 

MJ’s Musing: Book Bingo-Aye! Scotland!

I think the Book Bingo square I filled in first was AYE! SCOTLAND! I do love me a good Scottish historical romance. Julie Garwood, IMHO, is the best (The BrideThe Wedding), but I’ve already read those (dozens of times), so I couldn’t cheat and use them again. My friend and critique partner Gayle Callen has written Scottish historical romances, which I also love. Again: been there, can’t repeat for bingo.

There was one I hadn’t read on my Kindle. I could kill two birds with one stone: clear a title off my reader and fill in a square. The McKinnon’s Bride was just the title.

It wasn’t a bad book, but having read the best the subgenre has to offer leaves me particular in my expectations. Because I have read scores of Scottish historicals, I am jaded. I am thrilled when I find something fresh. I did not find anything new in this story.