Pulling a train (NO! Not what you think!)

[vanillafluffy]

This evening, the timing of my commute was excellent. As I sat at the light at Aurora Rd., a train came along and the gates went down. US1 parallels the FEC (Florida East Coast) rail tracks, and at a fairly steady fifty MPH, I had the train to my left the whole way up to Poinsett Dr. (Er, sorry, Rosa L. Jones Blvd.)---which meant the lights on US1 all stayed green, because the train overrode the signals. It was great!

In work-related news, Butch Boots has a contest going for the next three weeks---if we meet certain sales goals, we can win gift cards. We need to average $200 a day in sales for them, which means I've got to start keeping track; today I had one order for them, but it was $315...go, me! Yesterday, I had at least one order, but didn't think to track the total. And they've got some great spring stuff coming in, so I figure I ought to be able to keep up. So far, since the beginning of the year, I've consistantly been in the top 4 sellers (out of the 20 or so on our team) every week, so I must be doing something right.

Next Thursday, we get visited by the product reps from Posh Brits, which I'm really looking forward to! To the point that I'm considering going in early and sitting through one or more of the earlier sessions as well. Sucking up? Well, maybe, but they are ultra-high-end and anything I can do to up my numbers there is a Very Good Thing. (Their stuff makes me drool, but I can't afford any of it....)

One of my sister operators was reading a Janet Evanovich (Hard Eight) this evening, and we had a stimulating chat about authors we like. We were in agreement on JE, also Diane Mott Davidson and Stuart Woods' Orchid books. She's not familiar with Elizabeth Peters or Dick Francis, and she doesn't care for sci-fi at all, alas. Still, we both fervently agreed that Ranger is teh secks.

Yes, I love my job. (At least until the rainy season sets in.)

Comments

[jdsgirlbev.livejournal.com]

Yay you! for Elizabeth Peters and Dick Francis...

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

It's a shame that Mr. Francis stopped writing after his wife died...there was some talk that he was going to release another book last year, but it never happened. And of course, neither of them is exactly a spring chicken, so I worry that one day they'll go to that great library in the sky....

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

He did come out of retirement to write "Under Orders," which I have not yet read due to a crappy public library and a lack of spending money. He collaborated on it with his son, Felix, taking over Mary's role as his researcher, and it's gotten pretty good reviews.

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

*squees and makes note to cruise Barnes and Noble* Wonderful, thanks for the heads up!

[jdsgirlbev.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that Dick Francis had stopped writing! That's too bad...but he certainly has been a prolific writer! So has Elizabeth Peters....have you read her non fiction books about Egypt??

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

Apparently I was wrong---he has a new one out. (Details in subsequent posts. You're not the only Francis fan on my f'list, it seems!)

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

She doesn't know Dick Francis? I read "Nerve" when I was 12 -- which was back when the earth was still cooling -- and the course of my reading was forever changed. This situation must be rectified! :)

Yah! on the work. Go boots!

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

One of the women's 'zines my mom read had a condensed version of "Enquiry" (which is one of his more risque ones, with the SM angle), and because I was a horse-mad child, she gave it to me. I was in the 6th grade at the time. I thought it was pretty cool, but didn't find out he'd witten more until ages later, when I got my hands on "Reflex", which I still think is one of his better ones. Then I was hooked! You're right, I must subvert seduce introduce her to Mr. Francis!

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

I'm also fond of "Proof" and "Shattered" for the side stories about wine-making and glass blowing. "Reflex" was one I read over and over again in college, as I was taking a lot of photography courses and loved seeing how well the photographic puzzles worked.

"Forfeit" is one of his early ones that's hard to find, and it's the only time, I think, when he deals with infidelity by the lead character. (I had to order it from the U.K. as I could never find it here.) But it's a great read for the insider look at newspapers and the parallel story with the character's polio-stricken wife.

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

"Forfeit" is one of the few that I've only read once. I saw the parallels, but the wife was a whiny bitch, as I recall, and the story didn't hook me that much. I really liked "For Kicks", "The Edge" and "High Stakes", and I loved all the Sid Halley series (per eBay, the new one, "Under Orders" is another Sid story---I hope we're going to see more of him and India Cathcart and find out what happened to Leukemia Girl!)

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

Eeeh! "Under Orders" is a Sid story? Somehow I missed that.

There is a fab used bookseller in Florida -- Seashell Books, which I think is in Tampa -- that sells through Barnes and Noble's website. Must go see if they have a used copy.

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

I blush to admit my impulse-buying kicked in and I snagged a copy from eBay this afternoon. Under $10, including shipping...the way I see it, a new paperback is running around $8 these days, so it's not such a bad deal. If it gets reread as often as the other Sids, hardcover is a better choice not to fall apart, too....

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

So did mine, hon. I rummaged through the B&N gift cards from Christmas and found one with most of the $9.84 I needed on it. Still, as you say, it's a hardback for almost the cost of a paperback and (I blush to admit my book collector tendencies) it does complete my collection of his fiction.

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

I don't have the last one (Second Wind), although I've read it. That one just didn't do it for me. I probably ought to give it another chance if I run across it, although I'm in no hurry.