rlfj: Blog

One of my readers pointed out several problems with the scenario I wrote in the bank, pointing out all sorts of problems with what the sheriff did, the deputies’ actions, lawyers, etc. Did I go a bit over the top? Sure! Most of what has happened to the Grim Reaper has been over the top. As one of my editors noted to me, the man’s a shit magnet! However, does crap like this happen? Yes! I found it a strange coincidence that when I was reading my emails after first publishing this story I was watching four Minneapolis cops get fired when one of them knelt on a suspect’s neck until he died and the other three watched and did nothing. I know it’s not the same thing, but it was eerie!

Chapter 19 is a bit shorter than most and basically wraps up the M&M storyline. Come on - did you really expect the Grim Reaper to become a corporate shill?

Lots of people were happy to see Grim turn down the job at M&M. Most thought it wouldn’t be a good fit. I think that’s right. Several thought that M&M would try harder to get him on board, but one thing to consider is that M&M runs a system. If a candidate isn’t going to fit the system, they won’t let him create his own system. It will be the employee being changed, not the system.

Several years ago, we sold our housing company to a national chain. They were (and are) a very successful company, but they had a system. We were wined and dined and treated wonderfully, and paid a fair price, but when the dust settled and the papers were signed, we needed to fit into their system, or else. It was a family company, but a bunch of us were let go, another bunch got a pay cut, and the rest found themselves under a corporate microscope. Like I said, the employee changes, not the system. There was a reason I retired at 63.

Anyway, Grim doesn’t seem destined for a sales position, but will stay a consultant and expert. Probably for the best.

Now we get to see a totally different sort of police consulting. Do companies like this exist? You bet! Other than Miles & Madigan, the other companies are real. While researching this I went through their websites. Fascinating stuff.

The expensive dinner in Atlanta reminds me of a dinner I ‘hosted’ a dozen-and-a-half years ago or so. My son was stationed in Norfolk at the time, and we all went down to visit. It was my wife and eldest daughter and me, my youngest girl and her fiancé (now husband), and my son, his wife, and their baby daughter. Anyway, we decided to go to dinner in Virginia Beach, where I had never been before, and we parked near a place called Ruth’s Chris Steak House. I’d never really heard of it, just the name, and since Dumb Grandpa was paying, we went inside. I gulped when I saw the menu, but by then we were committed. At least we didn’t have to pay for the baby. For the seven adults the price was well over $500. At least we didn’t get the expensive stuff!

‘Be there with bells on’ has several possible sources. One is that medieval court jesters wore bells on their costumes. Most included the idea that it comes from the practice of putting bells on horse harnesses and straps, sometimes for parades and circuses, sometimes to pay off rescuers if your carriage or wagon went off the road. The expression itself dates back to at least the early 18th Century.

What I described in the M&M approach to Grim is pretty standard. I’ve worked with consultants and sold a business to another outfit, and this pretty much describes what happens. The same is true in chapter 18. I’ve been to corporate meetings and sales banquets like I wrote, and I’ve seen mouthy drunks at those meetings, too! Welcome to big business!

One of my police editors described a situation where his department in the Galveston area hired a consulting company. As he described it: “In the end, they gave us several really stupid recommendations that didn't fit what we did, and left us with a book of rules and regulations…it was printed front and back of each page and was about 2 inches thick…I managed not to run afoul of the injunction against wearing a sword on my uniform…and that is the story about how the Board of Trustees blew almost $100,000” There was a LOT more silly stuff he described. It’s like I’ve told my wife more than once about writing this story, I can’t make this shit up!

I’ve heard from numerous readers about wives and significant others having symptoms like what I wrote about and the results. I heard from people who had family members with ovarian cysts, torsions, fallopian tube problems, ectopic pregnancies, and all sorts of other things. These things are real and dangerous and require serious medical care. Many thanks to my medical editors. I think they gave me the info to get it right. The women’s clinic I mention is modelled after the Bellevue Women’s Center in Schenectady, where my youngest daughter had her daughters. Very good quality medical care but considering my daughter and my granddaughters, the results are questionable at best.

I got a lot of emails at the time on coronavirus. Even though the disease seemed to kill both Republicans and Democrats alike, not everybody believes that. I have been informed by conservatives that the death tolls were inflated because the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered doctors to report all deaths as Covid deaths. I found that curious, because the liberals informed me that the CDC ordered doctors to stop reporting Covid deaths in order to keep the death count low. I hope the guy at the CDC who gave the orders was keeping it straight! This gave me a headache. Oh, no! That’s a symptom!

Congratulations go out to Ursus32, who noted that Joe Scarborough talked about Grim ‘winning a chest full of medals including the Congressional Medal of Honor’ and how this was an error. Nobody wins medals, they are awarded, and it is actually the Medal of Honor and is simply presented in the name of Congress. They have nothing to do with it. I wrote this specifically that way. Does anybody out there think that an ex-politician reporter will understand his errors, or care? Or that Grim will correct him on Scarborough’s show when he is trying to get him to push his book and invite him back in the future?

Anyway, Grim is back to consulting. Let’s see where that goes. Enjoy!

FYI, Chapter 12 was the last chapter that could be considered political. Just remember, because a character says something, it doesn’t mean I am saying it. It’s fiction! That being said, I just can’t believe that some people think coronavirus is political! For all of you who think it’s faked, please feel free to take some hydroxychloroquine, wash it down with some disinfectant, and get in your tanning bed. Me, I’m going to listen to my doctor. Please don’t complain. I’ll just hit the Delete key.

Another complaint, of sorts, has been about the lack of action in this story. Where’s the ‘trigger time’? Sorry about that. Grim’s no longer in Iraq at the height of the war or serving on a SWAT team. He’s a civilian. As a general rule, civilians are discouraged from running around shooting people. Then again, his name is the Grim Reaper. We’ll just have to see how that works out.

We have seen PTSD rising among the doctors, nurses, EMTs, and paramedics who responded to coronavirus victims. Several have committed suicide and many others stopped working in the health field. I hate to say this, but I wasn’t surprised. We’ve seen it happen before.