Saturday, March 20, 2021

The next murder


    
As you can see from my week-long absence, life is as enervating as ever.

I did manage to crank out the first chapter of my next mystery. This was due less to my superior work ethic and more to an online class I’ve signed up for. Unlike me, it looks as though a number of my classmates have something they’ve had tucked in a drawer for years, if not decades. The tell-tale sign was that within an hour of being assigned the first chapter, several had submitted it.  

    Anyway, while I don't enjoy revisiting that middle school feeling of unwelcome homework hanging over my head, it helps to have a deadline, a concept I'd pretty much forgotten about this deep into retirement.

     So once again I’m building a search history that would likely have local authorities circling the house; tidbits like the fact that thallium was a common ingredient in rat poison, is odorless and tasteless, and an effective antidote is Prussian blue, a popular pigment for artists.

 

Currently, I’m home waiting for the other shoe to fall. Or if not a shoe, for my arm to begin tingling, or my joints to ache, or a headache to arrive.

     My Guy and I again joined a line of cars on an unused strip of the airport in order to stick our arms out the window. We now have our second shot! But don’t expect us to elbow our way into a local bar, or look for a ball game to attend. We plan to continue masking and living sensibly. It’s practically second nature after over a year.

 

9 comments:

  1. I am very happy that you have had your second shot. Our vaccination program is in its baby stages.'
    I suspect that many writers search history is 'interesting' to say the least. I wonder whether the authorities would accept 'I am an author' as a valid excuse?

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    1. I can see it now, as I'm dragged away in handcuffs.

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  2. The stuff you mystery writers study! Agatha christie used to be most pleased when people admired her knowledge of poisons! Didn't care if they admired her plots. What cracked me up was that she learned it in pharmacy training. Funny sort of pharmacist!
    Good luck with your ongoing novel.

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    1. I've read so much of Christie, but never thought about what proportion of the deaths were caused by poisoning. That would be interesting research.

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  3. Woo-Hoo on the writing! I should kickstart myself too, but maybe next year.
    I think you are very wise to keep on masking and staying safe, at the very least until all your country is vaccinated and even a few months after that.

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  4. I've wondered how permanent some of the social changes will be. for some of us anyway. it looks like a good portion of us just throw caution to the wind. glad you got your second shot.

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    1. It'll be really interesting to see the behavior in say, the summer or fall.

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  5. Glad you got that second shot! And good for you on signing up for a writing class and cranking out that chapter. That seems impossibly ambitious to me!

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    1. Yeah, I'm already beginning to feel the pressure of knowing I should be working on the second chapter right now. Meanwhile, I think I'll go see if any old movies are on right now.

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