susanjf, you are so nice to have checked that info for me! As I mentioned before, I am not so fearless anymore, I'd probably have a stress attack driving thru Chicago. I do have a cousin who lives there, she's a jazz singer. Her name is Alison Ruble (has a website also). I bet Jeff Smith's signing was memorable. lol. I purchased "Falco: The Official Companion" from Amazon just a few minutes ago - in hardcover so less. Usually I only buy paperbacks. In case anyone is interested, here is the list, in order of publication, of the titles in the series. I said I had read "all 21", well I should have said "all 20". The companion novel is number 21. The Silver Pigs (1989) Shadows in Bronze (1990) Venus in Copper( 1991) The Iron Hand of Mars (1992) Poseidon's Gold (1993) Last Act in Palmyra (1994) - my favorite of all Time to Depart (1995) A Dying Light in Corduba (1996) Three Hands in the Fountain (1997) Two for the Lions (1998) - my second favorite One Virgin Too Many (1999) Ode to a Banker (2000) A Body in the Bath House (2001) The Jupiter Myth (2002) The Accusers (2003) Scandal Takes a Holiday (2004) See Delphi and Die(2005) Saturnalia(2007) Alexandria(2009) Nemesis(2010)

I tend to have runs on authors. I'll enjoy one of their books, and then try to get hold of lots more hoping that they'll be as good. Unfortunatly they seldom are. A good example is Iain Banks. I read "The Crow road", and enjoyed it - I then got "Whit", which is wonderful. After that, "Complicity" - which is pretty gory, but compulsive reading. I then worked through the rest of his canon in search of anything as good - but the only other one that came close for me was "Espedair Street". The rest fail, for me, for various reasons - "Song of Stone" is vile. (McCarthy's "The Road" reminded me of this), "The Business" seemed rather pointless, "Canal Dreams" belongs in a airport deparure lounge and nowhere else. His celebrated first book "The Wasp Factory" I found OK, but none of his other books have the same charm I found in the first three that I read. But I still buy them when they come out, in the hope.... I've not read any of his science fiction (Iain M Banks), perhaps that's one for the "irrational avoid despite" thread. Wodehouse never fails to disappont. I've read just about all of them (that I can find - I'm still missing a handful of rarities), and most at least twice. As Wodehouse only really wrote about three basic plots, and tirelessly repackaged them with his wonderful use of language, it doesn't really matter if you've read them before. I use them to punctuate more serious reading - or get me back into the habit of reading when I have a "dry spell".

Hi Carolyn - yes, I'd like to read the Stand, but as you say, it's been revised (as in - made much longer than it was). It's the old problem - the more popular an author, the less likely the editors will be prepared to say "Look, this is really a bit verbose - it needs to be cut down a bit...." Stephen King wanted to revise The Stand, and that's his prerogative - but I'd like to read the original version, not the new one. It's like DVD's and "director's cut" or "extended edition" versions. I want to see a DVD of the film as shown in cinemas - not some other longer version with scenes which, when you see them, you realize why they were edited out !

If it's running and cooling the HW is more likely to tell you it's working. What could be the problem? Don't know, has to be diagnosed in person. Now you know the con of the home warranty versus reality when it comes to your home HVAC system. The other side of this: the company that came out and gave you free Freon wanted to appear nice (they're fishing for replacements). But there are reasons why they did that. The company has the right to charge you for Freon now thru the home warranty. If they give it to you for free I suspect they aren't on the hook in the event you call back for a reservice or recall whatever the HW calls it. They still get paid the collection fee that you paid them, plus the service fee paid by the HW. They likely told the HW company that everything was working. This way if you call back, they aren't on the hook for nada. I suspect this is what is going on, but not sure. You have to realize it's a numbers game with HW. The numbers are stacked against you and the company that comes out to service the equipment. If the company that does the servicing has too many replacements authorized it counts against them and their numbers. Remember it's a numbers game solely to benefit the HW company and no one else. You know the saying "If it sounds too good to be true..." well there you go. While the HW do authorize replacements from time to time it's so low a number that you would stand a better chance that your house gets struck by lightning and burn completely to the ground. Then you don't need a HW, your home owners insurance will fix that mess.