This is a re-issue of Blue Nights and Long Nights ISBN 9780552158527. Card-playing corpses, unfaithful husbands and 'flying' ladies - life as an ambulance driver in the 1970s was certainly varied ... At the age of twenty-three, Les Pringle decided to escape from office life, broaden his horizons and become an ambulance driver. Little did he realize how broad those horizons would turn out to be. Filled with warmth and humour, Dial 999! takes us back to a time when lonely old ladies could call 999 and have a cup of tea waiting when the drivers turned up for a chat; when learning to drive the ambulance meant going out for one test drive and managing not to hit a pedestrian; and every day brought a glimpse into other people's lives. Gripping, poignant and darkly funny, Dial 999!is an affectionate, warm-hearted look at a world gone by.
Exploding pressure cookers, a thwarted wife's deadly revenge and transvestites in distress - manning an ambulance in the seventies kept you on your toes. Having survived the rites of passage as a probationer, Les Pringle now has to face up to the reality of life as an ambulance man in Thatcher's Britain. He does this with humour and fortitude - two qualities which are essential if he is to cope with cases ranging from the absurd to the heart rending. From attending murder scenes to delivering babies ... it's quite a life for Les, and one that he and his shift mates tread with warmth and humour in equal measure.
Whitt ducked under the lintel and stepped down onto a brick floor. The door was a good six inches lower than the doors thresholdbut he had known it would be soand that realization stopped him dead in his tracks, just as the sense of dj-vu struck. He had ducked under the lintel, and his step down had been fluid, almost practiced. He recalled a warning: Watch your step. The floor is a goodly step down inside. Or did he imagine that? The story of the Focsle Door begins in present day Canada with a very unusual crime scene but quickly takes you to the 1700s and the little fishing village of Ryeport on the coast of England. Here the tale unfolds around Roddy McDowd, who has been unwillingly relegated to what he sees as a God forsaken place, as a punishment for his transgressions and a mysterious, striking figure from Haiti Paul Latour, whose fate becomes entwined with that of the villagers as he tries to save his child from a violent sea captain. This compelling tale transports the reader over hundreds of years, and interesting vibrant characters, who through adventures with smuggling, murder and the supernatural, play a part in one mans attempt to fix a deal made with the devil. The outcome will keep you guessing right until the end.
From the crest of the High Cascades eastward to the High Desert, the Deschutes National Forest is one of America's great national treasures. Timber, water, and forage were plentiful in Central Oregon and provided the building blocks for the region. Today, the national forest's scenery and year-round outdoor recreational resources play major roles in sustaining a vibrant and diverse modern economy and a unique way of life. Since 1905, these resources have been administered by the US Forest Service, fulfilling its mission to pursue "the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run," as decreed by forester Gifford Pinchot when he led the fledgling agency.
A dedicated diarist, White compiled a detailed account of colonial life in the Hunter Valley away from its hub in Sydney. In the privacy of his diary, where ‘an opinion could be given without incurring censure’, commentaries on other colonials could be harsh, while casting himself as imposed upon by family and friends. A nervous public speaker he could, when aroused, write an abrasive letter or stir public controversy. He was fond of reading the classics, filled notebooks with quotations and quoted them in his diaries. Feeling isolated in the antipodes he followed closely news of world events. Perhaps he can best be thought of as a thwarted intellectual living in a colonial backwater. Elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1858, he chaired an inquiry with significant outcomes for land settlement. He was, said a contemporary, not only a historian, and an eyewitness, but “a prominent actor in the parts he recorded”.
A fascinating mix of local legends who could be characterized as "the right people, in the right place, at the right time" arrived in Central Oregon during the past century and a half to make Bend the fascinating city it has become. Some of these people--explorer John Charles Fremont, publisher George Palmer Putnam, economist William A. Niskanen, and "World's Greatest Athlete" Ashton Eaton among them--gained national prominence and even global stature. Others were and are more ordinary people who have done and continue to do extraordinary things in an extraordinary place, a small but singular city of some 80,000 souls astride the Deschutes River at the eastern foot of the Cascade Range.
The fact of being a citizen of the United States of America offers the opportunity--not the guarantee, but the opportunity--to live an extraordinary life," Les Joslin writes in the introduction to Life & Duty, an autobiography in which he proves his thesis as the relives the first seventy years of his American adventure. He shares these years in twenty chapters that comprise this three-part volume. Part I covers his family heritage and early years from 1943 to 1967, Part II his U.S. Navy career from 1967 to 1988, and Part III his life in Oregon from 1988. from Part I, Chapter 5, Summer 1965 on the Toiyabe National Forest... That wasn't the first time I'd dealt with an armed citizen, and it wouldn't be the last. Some of the challenges of my fire prevention job had nothing to do with wildfire prevention but everything to do with the fact I was sometimes the only public servant around to handle a situation. It had to do with that sometimes gray area between official duty and moral obligation. the previous summer, on my way to Twin Lakes, I detoured to check the dump I'd burned a few days before. Suddenly, I heard shots, just as the Lone Ranger and Tonto did in the opening scene of almost every episode, and what I saw as I neared the dump scared me. A big, beefy, fortyish man standing next to a late-model Cadillac sedan was firing a high-powerd rifle.... He'd heard me coming, and turned as I stopped the patrol truck. He didn't look particularly threatening. But there were serious unknowns. I didn't know him. I didn't know what he might shoot at. I didn't know he wouldn't shoot at me. from Part II, Chapter 10, November 1979 aboard USS Kitty Hawk... on November 28, I got up, showered and shaved, put on clean khakis as usual, and started toward the wardroom for breakfast. the usual scent of salt and jet fuel was in the air, and I had a lot on my mind. I descended two ladders to the hangar bay, only to be brought up short by bumping my head on a helicopter that wasn't supposed to be there. A quick look around revealed seven more RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters that their HM-16 markings told me belonged to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Sixteen, not part of the ship's air wing. So that's why the swing south to Diego Garcia! They'd been flown there, probably in C-5As, and had flown aboard last night. Had I actually slept through flight quarters? I forgot about breakfast, climbed the ladders back to the 02 level, and knocked on the door of the flag N-2's office. "This isn't going to work," I said as he opened the door. "We can't fly those helicopters into a city of five million hostiles and rescue fifty hostages." "They don't want to hear that," he replied, and closed the door. from Part III, Chapter 15, Summer 1992 on the Deschutes National Forest As I walked toward the fire, I began to think. Am I doing the right thing? After all, I'm just a contract wilderness information specialist, not part of the fire organization. I hadn't been to the Deschutes National Forest's fire school. I didn't have fire clothing. I didn't have a fire shelter. Except for a canteen, I didn't have any water. and I'd turned in my last red card--the fire qualification card that rated me as a crew boss--in 1966 when I'd left the Toiyabe National Forest to go on active duty in the Navy. That was twenty-six years ago! Should I be doing this? Sure, I answered my own question. I'd started out in the "old Forest Service" where everybody did everything. I'd done this many times before, in the days before fire shirts and Nomex britches and fire shelters. I'd had five fire seasons on the Toiyabe, been on a couple big fires. ... I knew this business. I knew how to keep out of trouble. About the time I resolved that little issue, I was at the fire....
Aquatic Dicotyledons of North America: Ecology, Life History, and Systematics brings together a wealth of information on the natural history, ecology, and systematics of North American aquatic plants. Most books on aquatic plants have a taxonomic focus and are intended primarily for identification. Instead, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the biology of major aquatic species by compiling information from numerous sources that lie scattered among the primary literature, herbarium databases, and other reference materials. Included dicotyledon species are those having an obligate (OBL) wetland status, a designation used in the USACE National Wetland Plant List. Recent phylogenetic analyses are incorporated and rationale is provided for interpreting this information with respect to species relationships. This diverse assemblage of information will be useful to a wide range of interests including academic researchers, wildlife managers, students, and virtually anyone interested in the natural history of aquatic and wetland plants. Although focusing specifically on North America, the cosmopolitan distribution of many aquatic plants should make this an attractive text to people working virtually anywhere outside of the region as well. This book is an essential resource for assisting with wetland delineation.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.