Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 1/23 - Secrets

While channeling surfing last night, I caught an interesting program on PBS: Secrets of Scotland Yard. A 50-minute history of the renowned institution, it was both fun and informative. I'd previously been unaware that the first crime scene photographs in forensic history were taken at the site of Jack the Ripper’s last murder. The gang that pulled off The Great Train Robbery in 1963 was nailed largely due to fingerprints on a game of Monopoly. One of The Yard's early detectives, Dick Tanner, was said to be the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. He solved The Railway Murder in 1864, which occurred in a compartment. He took a faster boat across the ocean and was waiting for the perpetrator at the dock in New York. The show’s best segment profiled master criminal Adam Worth, 1844-1902, a Yank, a Civil War vet wounded at the second battle of Bull Run, who perfected his larceny in London. Early in his career, he was in the first year of a three-year stint at Sing Sing when he escaped. He is believed to be the inspiration for Doyle’s Professor Moriarty. Only five-four, he organized gangs of thieves, and was not averse to getting his own hands dirty. He and two accomplices stole Thomas Gainsborough’s painting, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, from a museum. He kept it under his mattress for 20 years. Late in his life, while serving a seven-year sentence in the states, he befriended William Pinkerton, of the famous agency. His son became one of their detectives. He was paroled for good behavior. (Facts also culled from Wiki).
Here’s the painting in question:

Yahoo Sports reports the stunning feats of an amateur golfer. In a span of four days, Bob Hullender, 76, made two holes-in-one and a double eagle. The aces were from 158 and 138 yards, and the albatross was from 215 yards, made with a hybrid. Granted, the guy was a four-time amateur champion in Texas, but this is unbelievable even for one so accomplished. The odds on the trifecta have to be at least a billion to one. He has had more than 20 aces through the years. My buddy Cuz had one, at our home course in Queens, Forest Park. I made an eagle from about 140 yards at Milham Park in Kalamazoo my first full year of golf way back in 1973, I believe. Dumb luck, it was.

My thanks to Zoom Panel Surveys, which sent me an Amazon gift certificate for $25, which boosted my total to just under $100, with which I ordered five copies of Close to the Edge -- just in case the weather ever gets better and I can sell books on the streets again.
I finished the cleaning of my wood floor. Its now in acceptable condition. The only real drawback to having taken up the rug is that it is not nearly as comfortable lying in front of the TV. I've put down an old comforter and will try it for the first time tonight. I'll clean the bathroom and kitchen, and redeem recyclables to fill time tomorrow. I'm booked Saturday, and the forecast for Sunday has turned negative, so I now hope to get back to work Monday. 
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx