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Yeah, it gets kind of weak plot-wise as it goes along I thought. Wendell Pierce is the best thing about it. The opening bike ride drew some jokes though https://dcist.com/story/18/09/04/jack-ryans-commute-to-work-makes-ab/

Agree, I am about halfway through it and it is great.

Back to The Expanse series, I am on book #6, Babylon's Ashes. Again the depressing plot isn't really very uplifting but the storylines are back to the original crew for the most part and I like that part of it. I feel like I am having a tough time keeping track of the sprawling cast of characters and I am waiting for a Game of Thrones style killfest to thin the herd. I am not sure if I will read more though if my favorite characters are killed, the plot simply loses its way when stories go on this long I find.

Islands are often weird in that way. You have extreme levels of inequality that in other setting are expressed spatially, the poorest people live far away from amenities and wealthier neighborhoods. Islands don't typically have that kind of pattern, you might have pockets of extreme poverty interspersed with relative wealth. This creates a number of problems, since a lot of programs to address inequality are spatially distributed. But I also imagine it creates a bizzarro kind of feeling to live there. You can literally be starving in your one room rental over the Trader Joe's and to programs that are intended to address poverty you are invisible, since the median income of your neighborhood is still pretty high. Perversely, its even worse when much of the population is non-white, because it can further obscure real need. I am glad to hear that you are happy, and doing well.

Re-read Nemesis Games by S.A. Corey. I lost track of this series after this book before and then the TV series came out and I never really went back to it. At this point the series got so dark, with half of the Earth destroyed by radical belter terrorists, that I just didn't feel like delving further. I am going to give the next book a shot and see how it goes after this though. https://www.amazon.com/Nemesis-Games-Expanse-James-Corey/dp/0316334715/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/146-9129520-5741734?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0316334715&pd_rd_r=afae1211-3ea4-11e9-9741-2bc3fc200bcc&pd_rd_w=gZlx7&pd_rd_wg=N7yFP&pf_rd_p=6725dbd6-9917-451d-beba-16af7874e407&pf_rd_r=K74S6765XQF25YSMRYVG&psc=1&refRID=K74S6765XQF25YSMRYVG

When we were house shopping in Maryland we found houses where the basements had been subdivided to sizes like that. Although I didn't see any combined shower/toilets. That is either really unsanitary or a great way to clean your potty, I am not sure.

The Umbrella Academy Without spoiling anything I enjoyed everything until the last episode, and then it kind of fell apart on me.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/16/18227327/denis-villeneuve-dune-november-2020-release-date Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will hit theaters in November 2020

I have read several, and this is right up there with some of the best.

Razor Girl - Carl Hiaasen Despite the name it is NOT about a badass street samurai with razors under her fingernails. It is another fun Florida caper from Hiaasen, who has made a career out of writing on South Florida crime novels with a bizarre sense of humor. When Lane Coolman's car is bashed from behind on the road to the Florida Keys, what appears to be an ordinary accident is anything but (this is Hiaasen!). Behind the wheel of the other car is Merry Mansfield--the eponymous Razor Girl--and the crash scam is only the beginning of events that spiral crazily out of control while unleashing some of the wildest characters Hiaasen has ever set loose on the page. There's Trebeaux, the owner of Sedimental Journeys--a company that steals sand from one beach to restore erosion on another . . . Dominick "Big Noogie" Aeola, a NYC mafia capo with a taste for tropic-wear . . . Buck Nance, a Wisconsin accordionist who has rebranded himself as the star of a redneck reality show called Bayou Brethren . . . a street psycho known as Blister who's more Buck Nance than Buck could ever be . . . Brock Richardson, a Miami product-liability lawyer who's getting dangerously--and deformingly--hooked on the very E.D. product he's litigating against . . . and Andrew Yancy--formerly Detective Yancy, busted down to the Key West roach patrol after accosting his then-lover's husband with a Dust Buster. Yancy believes that if he can singlehandedly solve a high-profile murder, he'll get his detective badge back. That the Razor Girl may be the key to Yancy's future will be as surprising as anything else he encounters along the way--including the giant Gambian rats that are livening up his restaurant inspections.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/the-underground-worlds-of-haruki-murakami The Underground Worlds of Haruki Murakami

Still playing Eve online most days, focused heavily on mining and trade. We are dealing with some upstarts though, who mine and don't pay taxes. Of course, since a lot of us DO pay taxes we have enough cash to buy mercenaries to deal with these rebel scum.

Firefly - The series on Hulu. I own the DVDs but who watches physical media any more? (ok, really I find our blu-ray players break a lot and I have to figure out the input channels and its a whole thing). I think this is my 14th viewing of the series. Few things I have ever watched offer me the emotional connection I feel to this show. I don't really know why either. I did share an elevator with Mal and Wash one time, but that can't be it. I played it cool while they were in the elevator but went total schoolgirl the moment they left.

I want to check out Malka but my local library doesn't yet have it in digital format.

A synopsis of my interaction at work today; Me- lets get moving and make this thing that we have been talking about for months. Them- Well, sure, but I wasn't really listening at those meetings or on those calls and I just skimmed everything you sent me before so we are going to just do it this other way. Me- No. Them- well I think that your idea is valid but I just don't really care and I am going to do it my way even though I don't really understand anything you've created. Me- No. Them- well I don't understand why your being difficult, I just want you to make everything just like you want it, then I will flush it down the toilet and do what I want. What is the issue? Me- No.