Is this the dumbest thief ever?

The Son left the garage door open one night. In crept a thief – a hungry thief, who ate a Fibre One Bar from a shelf where the Family kept extra food. He took four longbows, several arrows, some tools, and two boxes of Fibre Ones. The thing that annoyed the Son most of all was that he discovered a pair of brand new work boots in a box on a high shelf, took off his shabby runners and had the cheek to leave them instead. Then he discovered the keys. In front of the garage door, on the driveway, was a pickup truck on blocks, behind it a newer model Subaru. Inside the car, he found the Son’s wallet (with all they usually contain – i.e. credit cards) and three unopened envelopes containing paychecks. All these things, wallet, envelopes, and a set of keys, he took the trouble to put in separate baggies and laid them in the back of the pickup, which he then attempted to start. I repeat, it was up on blocks as if it was being worked on, which it was! And there was a car behind it, blocking it in! The Family knew he had attempted to start it because he left the keys in the ignition.

What happened next? All the Family knew was what was captured on a neighbour’s camera. He took one of the Son’s bicycles, grappling with the four bows, arrows and tools, leaving the wallet, paychecks and keys in the back of the pickup, fell off the bike when the chain came off a short way down the street, walked back past the house he had just robbed, found another bike from somewhere and made off with his ill-gotten gains.

It has to be admitted that apart from the Son, the rest of the Family had a good laugh about it all. Even the cop had a chuckle about the stolen work boots.

(Names have not been included to protect the innocent.)

Isn’t research a joy?

Most writers would agree that diving down the rabbit hole can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience, almost, I might say, irresistible. Sometimes it’s difficult to climb out. Who knows what nuggets of gold you might find along the next path (or with the next click if you want to be literal.)

But researching a different time can be challenging, and more so when dealing with a different country. Aside from discovering such subjects as fauna and flora, weather, food and clothing, cities and buildings and more, I found myself looking up some weird and difficult subjects. Here are just a few examples of what I have dug deep for while writing my latest book set mostly in Austria in the mid to late 19^th century.

Gonorrhea – symptoms and remedies.

Cigarette lighters and matches – surprisingly, lighters were invented before matches.

A bakery in Prague.

A bakery in Bad Ischl

Suicide in Vienna – which had the reputation of being the suicide capital of Europe at the time.

Viennese newspapers and their political leanings.

Types of carriages and bicycles

Don’t rush out and buy the book because I have put it on hold for the time being as I have no discipline and an idea for another book popped into my head and I just had to start it, didn’t I?

On another note, Digging into the Past is on the top 45 list at Feedspot. Check it out.

https://blog.feedspot.com/historical_book_blogs/