19 Years
Writing a report no one cares about.
I meant to write sooner. It seems like I am always writing that here or on Substack. The truth is that as long as I have a day job, and I like having a day job, I have to prioritize when and what I write. I spent the last ten or so days attending to the copy edits of The Driftwood Bones, the next Tommy Kelly book. Thomas and Mercer is good enough to pay me to write so they get the bulk of my attention. Take the King’s shilling and all that.
Last Sunday was marked by two occasions, the first of which was that the boiler was leaking. This is apparently a serious enough thing that the Plumbing/Heating/Oil company who we use sent a guy out at midnight. That is kind of a sign that something is important. In what I thought of as record time, like 90 minutes he replaced the expansion tank. All was well in boiler-land. Fortunately it was all covered by our service contract/warranty. I was out some sleep and was definitely dragging ass on Monday. More so than usual.
The other important thing is that the members of the Providence Police Department 64th recruit class celebrated our 19th year on the job. That’s kind of a big deal. We’ve managed to stay employed, mostly healthy and mostly sane for 19 years as city cops. There are a few who left for greener pastures for one reason or another, one way or another, but the bulk of us are still here. 19 Years is kind of big deal because at twenty years we qualify for retirement. While most of us aren’t going anywhere it is still an achievement. It must seem odd to twenty-somethings in the gig economy to stay some place for twenty years or to have a pension instead of a 401K.
I have been very in lucky in life. I was able to serve my country and have some very unique adventures in the Army. I’ve been able to write novels and luckier still that people seem to like them enough to buy them. I’ve been a cop for almost twenty-years and can say that on balance the experience has been more positive than not. I have been extremely fortunate for my family, my Long Suffering Wife and two wonderful sons. It’s been a pretty good 19 years.
Don’t worry. I am not going anywhere anytime soon.