I found a new road!

One of the joys of my job is discovering new ways to get from point A to point B. The days I do the Central Valley are especially good for this, since there are so many State Routes and county roads criss-crossing the area. Today, I had to go from Modesto to Oakdale. The obvious way was to go up Hwy 99 to 120 East and follow it all the way out. However, I remembered my boss telling me that I could take McHenry (SR 108) up to Escalon when I needed to get to a particular client in Manteca. I stopped and bought a map and found that 108 actually veers off to the east and takes me right to SR 120 in downtown Oakdale, about a mile or so from my stop!

Nice enough drive.

I figured I saved about 25 minutes doing that.

Recent Reading

Despite my crazy work schedule, and the need to get things done all month, I've managed to sneak in some book time (commuting by bus/light rail makes this much easier.)

The big read was The Tale of Krispos by Harry Turtledove. This collects the three Krispos novels (Krispos Rising, Krispos of Videssos, Krispos the Emperor) novels in one place.

The setting is a magic-light fantasy world. Magic works, but is almost useless in battle (the strong emotions of combat distorts it) and spellcraft is best employed using long rituals. The Gods are real, and influence how magic is performed in their domains. This setting was used for the earlier Videssos Cycle, where a Roman Legion was magically transplanted and proceeded to make itself at home. This trilogy follow the rise of Krispos, a peasant farmer, to the throne and crown of Avtokrator of the Empire of Videssos, the through barbarian incursions, Byzantine politics, and jihad. Since Dr, Turtledove has a PhD in Byzantine history, it's not surprising that so much of this book has the ring of authenticity to it. Krispos' rise isn't the Robert E. Howard "hack your way to success!" exhibition, instead wit, guile, and a good sense of timing do the trick. In fact, I think you can count on one hand how many actual fights Krispos gets in! Very enjoyable.

I just finished Three Days To Never by Tim Powers. It's impossible to summarize a Powers' book, so here are some keywords: Harmonic Convergence, Mossad, Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplain, Time Travel, and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. Yeah, he makes it work. Not his best work, it doesn't flow like Last Call or Declare, but still well worth reading.

Currently I'm reading Ben Bova's The Precipice, the first book of The Asteroid Wars. After the muddled mess that was Powersat I was a bit hesitant to trust yet another paean to orbital industry by Bova. So far, the story is interesting enough, but his characters are all pretty cardboard stereotypes with no motivation beyond what the story requires. I really can't enjoy a book unless I care about one or more characters. I'm also smelling recycled plot. *sigh* I'll stick with it, but unless this book gets much better, I doubt I'll buy Book 2.