Pulse 66-90-93

Not sure of exact lyrics without doing a search; moved to where the weather suited my clothes and the sun is always shinning. Yeah, right. 66 degrees here, 90 and 93 degrees there on the east coast, towns where I used to reside. That has nothing to do with Pulse which is another Edna Buchanan novel. Her novels are often set in the Miami, Florida area, meaning extreme hot is often mentioned in her tales.

My Orlando, Florida cousin often posts about the unreasonable or unseasonable weather there. Unlike me, she can not abide the heat, begs for cooling rain, then is irritated by too many downpours for days at a time. Reading Pulse, I got a yen to visit Florida. I want to see the man-made Venetian Islands. Have not found a good image yet.  A cousin from other side of my family also lives in Florida as well as a nephew's family. And my last remaining Mariano Aunt and her daughter. Good reasons to visit. If only...

Several homeless mentions in Pulse. A derelict is watching a man in an alley who is not so patiently waiting for an answer at the door.When the derelict approaches, likely to panhandle, the man shakes him off. Later the homeless guy calls the cops reporting the man for breaking and entering. Someone suspects that same derelict or homeless man may be involved in a murder.

The main character, Frank, and his family volunteered at a soup kitchen one year. He feels being involved is more rewarding then writing a charitable check. I feel the same way. When I still had a job and almost decent income, I preferred to give panhandlers share change, then donate to an organization. How much of those donations actually trickle down to those in need once administrative costs, salaries and such are deducted?

A police crime scenes technician sprained an ankle "when rotted floorboards collapsed as she photographed and processed a homicide scent, the case of a homeless derelict slain in a crumbling, condemned building."

You will have to read Pulse to know why this is funny: "...wrote the man a bad check committing a felony. Under the circumstances, he thought, he could always plead insanity."

Advice I wish I knew way back when and not so way back: "...not to get involved with anybody who has less money or more problems than you do?"

Interesting: "Was there a city left, he wondered, in which the most-used public building was still a library or concert hall?" That continues, "Not in Miami, perhaps not in this country, not in this lifetime." Not sure about visitors to Long Beach's police station; do know there are long lines daily at the court house and city hall is usually way busy. I was surprised at the low percentage rate of citizens who use Long Beach's public libraries.

Knowing that I grudgingly had to agree the city that cutting library funding to help balance the budget was warranted. Yet, I miss accessibility due to reduced hours, especially on Sunday and Monday. Plus did not like to see the job loss.

Something bothered me about the story. A business man had a life insurance policy on his partner. Called a key-man policy; that if one partner dies the other would not lose the business or something like that. Yet in the story the business partnership was dissolved, so how could the policy remain in effect and pay out after the death of the sold out partner?