It was too early to do much of anything but head over to Galloways, the place that was growing to become the one thing I might miss the most when we finally made our geographic move.
Despite my high regard for the man, my conversation with Herbert had been discomforting. The things he left me with invariably made me feel more exposed, less secure and many times befuddled. How could anyone have confidence in anything I might do with whatever was dumped into my hands or ‘area of operations’ as Herbert referred to it? Operations was a big word in the CIA because it referred to that small portion of the Agency with the mission to go out into the world using HUMINT. Those were the letters used to describe who and what I was taking up with, and it wasn’t a voluntary part of the CIA. You were picked, selected, ordered, or simply found yourself to be one of them. Humint was a word pronounced as a word and not using individual letters. I had to handle the artifact and get that ready to be moved, as well as confront Paul so he didn’t live the rest of his life wondering when I might be coming to extract a price I never intended to extract.
Mr. Strauss, Sir,
After reading your works since sometime in the second 10 Days, I’m having a problem getting your most recent posts. I have been getting them for a long time in my email inbox, but Volume 4, chapter XIII is the last one that I got in this manner. I have been using a search engine to find your page and then getting a chapter that way, but now even that doesn’t seem to be working. Am I doing something wrong? Or maybe I missed a new sign up program? In any case, I hope that I will be able to get back to having the weekly chapters delivered to my email inbox. You’ve got me hooked on your life story and would like to be able to continue.
Keith thanks for the comment. According to our email server you are still subscribed and have been since 2019.
We can’t control how Comcast handles those emails. Have you white listed the email address jim@jamesstrauss.com?
Also Please check you spam folder. The image below shows how you are listed.
If you are not getting them, please also contact, Chuck Bartok
chuck@jamesstrauss.com
I just got back to reading the series and I don’t know if you can help me or not, but I got two posts for Chapter VII, one on 3-27 and the other on 4-4. I never got Chapter VIII. On 4-10 Chapter IX arrived. If it is possible to forward VIII That would be great, and I wouldn’t have to imagine what I missed.
jamesstrauss.com is the website. On the top of the front page you click on The Cowardly Lion, Volume Four, and then when that link comes up you scroll down and all the chapters to Volume IV are there. You don’t have to wait for the email as Chuck usually gets the chapter up the day before or sometimes even earlier. Thanks and sorry for the confusion.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks. I guess getting older made me not think about that.
Nah, you are cool. We can’t think of everything all the time…that was Sherlock Holmes and we know how
old and real he was.
Semper fi,
Jim
I did receive both emails but am tardy in my response. I enjoy reading the comments & your responses as well. Gives me a better understanding of what’s going on.
You must have a 6th sense about people to trust. The latest being calling Matt out of the blue to help in your latest quandary, a person you barely knew.
Enjoying the ride. Keep them coming.
Being young is to experiment and we do that with relationships as well as other things, as I am portraying.
Yes, I trusted many who I had not time to really get to know or test, but then it’s all such a vast learning project.
I won more than lost, which I attribute more to the innate goodness of man than to my ability to be a judge of such things.
My wife is better, and she helped a lot that way.
Thanks for the great comment and the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
when I had by* extensive bowel resections, the surgeons had yet to discover (my*)
Next step dump off the artifact and move on to your new life of adventure without medals !!
Trying to keep up James great chapter !!
Semper Fi
Would that life was so easy as dumping off anything back then.
Thanks for the thought and paying attention to the developing story in such detail.
Semper fi,
Jim
When I was a kid I used to daydream about doing daring things…after reading 30 Days and reading this book I am glad i live a simple uncomplicated life…they bust em and I fix em…(mining machinery)…that stuff donT argue, bitch, piss and moan, whine, or make any strange demands of me. Just weld it all back together and get it running again.
All that being said I am glad there was and still is folks like you that do the stuff you have done. There aint much more I can say other than thank you.
Popeye
Jay, an uncommon and well written comment for certain.
I love it when readers like you bring the rest of us in about they do and have done in life as well as the depth of thoughts provoked by the writing.
Much appreciate the thanks and the compliment of your writing it on this site.
Semper fi,
Jim
Having been a part of this from the beginning or at least the through the episodic version of Cowardly Lion, I am wondering this has corrupted my understanding of the whole… Reading the completed books; if that ever occurs will be an epiphany! But now I am encapsulated as a follower and can not wait for next week….
Colonel, you are just as great a man as you were flying double harness back in that A6 over the valley.
I don’t miss those days and so glad that I don’t have to miss you either.
Much appreciate having the friendship, trust and honor of your great friendship.
Thanks for the supporting and creatively fortification of a comment.
Semper fi, my great friend,
Jim
Jim,
Things are just blurringly racing by, requiring a supreme bit of simultaneous ‘multi-tasking’. For most folks, their idea of ‘multi-tasking’ is: sitting on the porch; drinking their morning, afternoon or evening coffee, or some other favorite beverage; noting the welcomed call of a bird, or owl; watching as an opossum has his/her head stuck in a plastic McD’s cup you’d left partially full of coke on your steps, happily slurping up the remainder, completely ignoring your presence or the light being shined on its face, as if saying “bug off” or some other adequate phrase; noticing the grass needs to be cut while thinking – “First thing tomorrow!” – Yes – “multi-tasking”.
While you, on the other hand, deal with: getting a medal; dealing with the “turd” syndrome; saying goodbye to folks who have meant something to you; changing to a new job, a new job just chocked full of unknowns; having to fool your wife about the new home in NM; moving to NM; turning over the alien object with little to no guidance; dealing with a guy who’s afraid you might want to make him ‘disappear’ after hitting on his wife, firmly believing you could indeed make him disappear; and on and on. Well, at least no opossum, though I think you’d enjoy the experience. Like I said earlier – ‘a supreme bit of simultaneous ‘multi-tasking’. Most folks would have just said “bug off” or end up institutionally confined. Just sayin’.
He_l, I had to have another cup of coffee just reading this. Oh, more comments to come.
Sincere regards my friend,
Doug
I read you comments in great depth, taking my time and then rereading a few more times.
You have an ability to reach inside and really hit points right on the head, time after time.
Thanks for taking your ‘coffee time’ to read, reflect and then pick up your own pen and
write straight from the shoulder and heart…
My day starts with a Danko smile…
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Jim, Thank you for your kind words. One of the minor multi-tasking events (There may be more —- OK, there’s more.) I forgot to mention, deals with you becoming the father of a new addition to the family. Oh – how has The Cat responded?
And to be completely honest, my day starts with some words of thanks, a pee, some gas and making some coffee. Then taking out the puppy for a pee, some gas (Hopefully more than just gas.), some sniffing and seeing if there’s anything in the grass to eat or any four legged animal to eat, then back inside to drink some coffee and some more words of praise and thanks. Just sayin’.
Have a great day and regards to Mary on her Nationally recognized day, for the many things she does every day. I forgot – Does the NM home have a pool? If not, mmmm. Just a thought, as I reach my limit for TftD (Thoughts for the Day).
Regards my friend,
Doug
Thanks my friend, my last comment kind of said it but I missed the ‘reply’ button.
Your comment needed to be published though.
Semper fi,
My friend,
Jim
Lt, you have had a very complicated life and it comes out in your writing. I took a look at the poem that you sent out. I’m not the person you should ask to evaluate poetry. It appears to be sound, but don’t take my opinion to heart.
Sound poetry. You have a rather droll sense of humor and I love it.
Thanks for that and the evaluation of my life.
Semper fi,
Jim
Hello sir, yes I received the chapter, sorry for the long wait for my thoughts. Reading the comments was as enjoyable as the chapter! The “move seems ready to occur and with it a whole new story, keep it a going and Semper fi Lt!!
The comments on this site are extraordinary and unexpected.
When I started publishing my work this way, I never thought about the fact that the readers might be my equal in laying down their most
heartfelt and personal thoughts…
and then taking the risk of putting them up here for others
to read and possibly disagree with.
Thanks for that and what you wrote…
Semper fi,
Jim
You keep writing critiques like this Danko and I’m going to have to start paying you!
Thanks a million for the truly great interaction and your work on pouring through the pages.
Much appreciate that and your friendship.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Jim,
Thanks for another episode to whet our whistles.
A little confused about wo “Matt” was. But then I looked back on previous chapters and saw it was the guy on the military plane on your return trip form NM.
Maybe Lorraine is spending the money on something her husband knows nothing about?
Looking forward to the next chapter.
Wishing you well, James.
THE WALTER DUKE. Thanks for the apropos comment and the compliments.
Always neat to read what you glean out of the story and then comment on.
Semper fi,
My friend,
Jim
LT, as always another interesting chapter. I need to go back and catch up on some of the characters in this novel. I airways wondered about Paul being something other than portrayed. He has to be shitting bricks as he learned about power among people around him. Thanks for keeping us rolling along.
Unless you spell it out or actively display it in some other way, people generally don’t know or recognize the
power that may be in their presence…something I usually treasured, as the power I held, if unleashed might
not be fully under my control. That’s my wisdom of today, which was in the future back then and I had a lot
to learn about all of those things.
Thanks for the great comment,
Semper fi,
Jim
Not surprised at your reaction to the medal you received. You’re quite humble at heart, like many who have received awards for heroism. Lord knows you are deserving, and those of us who have been in the military usually recognize that. Personally, I would see a medal or ribbon and be a bit in awe of what you had been through. Many of us would have done the same in that given situation, many of us would not.
I do not envy your move to New Mexico. Being a Navy brat, as you were a Coast Guard one, I had my 55th birthday on the same day I moved into my 55th house. I’ve added only 8 more in the past 23 years. Filling out the forms for different clearances was always a pain – but retired fossils no longer have that chore.
Truly enjoying your autobiography. And wondering about that sphere if the train has to make a sudden stop…
Just as a primer toward future writing and the direction of my life back then; they don’t call New Mexico the land of enchantment for no reason at all.
Thanks for the usual meaningful and heartfelt response to my writing and since you didn’t mention it I’m going to continue feeling positive about your health and having you in my life, such as it is, for some time to come.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
the tale of shipping the artifact is dull but need in the story
Funny for Richard to ask if you were strapped.
the medal you and awards/ medals
the readons?
1. **Humility**: They may feel uncomfortable with the attention or recognition that comes with receiving an award and prefer to stay humble.
2. **Personal Values**: The award might conflict with their personal values or beliefs, making them reluctant to accept it.
3. **Imposter Syndrome**: They might feel like they don’t deserve the award or that their achievements are not significant enough to warrant such recognition.
4. **Pressure**: Accepting the award might come with additional responsibilities or expectations that they are not ready for or interested in.
5. **Privacy**: Some individuals value their privacy and prefer to stay out of the public eye, which can extend to declining awards or recognition.
6. **Political or Social Reasons**: They might decline the award due to political or social reasons, such as disagreement with the organization presenting the award or the values it represents.
Understanding the specific reason behind someone’s reluctance to receive an award often requires knowing more about their personal beliefs, values, and circumstances.
Do you remember the day i presented you the Order of the Cowardly Lion?
you cried
How about, simply, that other men who don’t have such decorations are not nice to the people who have
them in any private or substantive way? They say they are nice and they act that out under social
circumstance but down deep, they feel like they lost the competition or something and that the need
to bring the decorated person back to ‘reality.’ A reality that is deep down and dark. I don’t want to
go there and never did. I accommodate what I received but I sure as hell am not proud of how it all
really works through life. Decorations belong first in a shadow box, then in a suitcase and finally
in a trunk to be discovered by living people after the decorated guy or gal is safely dead. I support the
USA, the military, the United States Marine Corps and the people who went to the trouble of awarding the
decorations they did, but the rest of it? Trunk in the basement.
Semper fi, your friend,
Jim
I keep thinking about the Marine rat in the maze that chews his way diagonally to the cheese! You seem to be an artifact on your own.
Then we have apposing nerves is your large colon!
Paul could only exist in the SoCal 70s & the M1 tanks move…..
Beautiful
An artifact on my own…now that takes some thinking about. Little question that
I am a stranger in not only a strange land but an alien one as well.
Thanks for the usual penetrating and deep comment.
Semper fi, my great friend,
Jim
James, Interesting that Matt joined the team and came up with a solution. Good man to remember.
VW red may be konigsrot aka royal red. Loved mine.
Lorraine for the victory!
I’m waiting to see if you resign from the police force or if Chief Brown finds some excuse to dismiss you.
Some minor editing suggestions follow:
The things he left with invariably made me feel
Maybe add “me” after “left”
The things he left me with invariably made me feel
I got to Galloways’
Possessive apostrophe here. Just be consistent in whatever you choose.
another prospect soon and you’re credit is good
“your” possessive instead of “you’re”
another prospect soon and your credit is good
none of them did I lead
Maybe rephrase
I lead none of them.
sound generated by your phone
/sorta true/ actually a sound generated by your local telephone office
Matt’s phone nor Gallows was bugged by anybody
“Galloways” instead of “Gallows”
Matt’s phone nor Galloways was bugged by anybody
Truck for transfer and then chained down a truck to flatbed on the train
Maybe reword
Truck for transfer and then truck chained down to flatbed car on a train
the six-by, being the main military truck was called that because it had six wheels that all drove the vehicle and could carry six tons, although in reality it carried five
/basic design came in several sizes: 2-1/2 ton and 5 ton carrying capacity. Slang for 2-1/2 ton is deuce and a half (most common).
Six-by-six refers to the ability to engage all axles and have all wheels powered. Note also the rear wheels have dual tires – so ten tires total./ Maybe rewrite some:
the six-by, being the main military truck was called that because it had six wheels where all six could be powered to drive the vehicle. Its load capacity was five tons.
since my next client is sitting right here.
Close quotes
since my next client is sitting right here.”
getting up and down the too-hot coffee one medium gulp at a time
Maybe “downing” instead of “down”
getting up and downing the too-hot coffee one medium gulp at a time
clients into buying, is that it?
Close quotes
clients into buying, is that it?”
“
You have no hope, you poor bastard,”
Backspace to close gap
“You have no hope, you poor bastard,”
piece of white stationary fe-el out of the folder
“fell” rather than “fe-el”
piece of white stationary fell out of the folder
working frantically -to get the stuff for the shoot
Extra hyphen before “to” Drop
working frantically to get the stuff for the shoot
This is great, this is the article I was supposed to read
Two sentences.
Period after “great.”
Capitalize “This”
This is great. This is the article I was supposed to read.
when I had by extensive bowel resections
“my” instead of “by”
when I had my extensive bowel resections
FM didn’t do so well on most days and with the hilly environment
Drop “and”
FM didn’t do so well on most days with the hilly environment
The slightly damage box was secure
“damaged” instead of “damage”
The slightly damaged box was secure
simply taking the whole thing is that was what they wanted
“if”instead of “is”
simply taking the whole thing if that was what they wanted
trying to adjust not to being in a Ferrari anymore
Move “to” after “adjust”
trying to adjust to not being in a Ferrari anymore
doing a hundred and twenty in when I did take it
Drop “in”
doing a hundred and twenty when I did take it
trusting him like had so quickly come to trust Matt
Add “I” after “like”
trusting him like I had so quickly come to trust Matt
into the cockpit and now on his expensive teak door
“knock” instead of “now”
into the cockpit and knock on his expensive teak door
coxswain at the helm yells out to anyone around, “the skipper is on the deck.”
Maybe single quotes around coxswain at the helm yells out to anyone around, “the skipper is on the deck.”
And leave full quotes around Richard’s statement.
coxswain at the helm yells out to anyone around, ‘the skipper is on the deck.’”
Blessings & Be Well
As usual, my friend, tremendous help with editing the chapter and great comment too.
The 69 was called Poppy Red and the paint touch up was L64, I think. I’m sure its on the Internet
for real though. Maybe it was L65. Thanks ever so much for the help on this one.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim