Will Gets Duned in Florida

Haaaaaaahahahahah. We're talking to somebody today about replacing the AC unit. Who wants to let money just sit around in a bank account? We don't.* And we're writing a check with a number that has a comma in it. 

Good afternoon stalwart reader(s) of Stroock's Books. 

So we've been off Twitter for, what, three weeks? The only thing we miss are the Iran War posts. Regular media just doesn't give us the kind of detail we crave. We're not going back though. We can't. We won't.

Notes on a vacation...

Flying down to Florida we watched Dune Part I. Flying back to Florida we watched Dune Part II.  

We mention this because we don't feel like writing about Key West today, and also we've watched the trailer for Dune Part III a couple of times....and we're kind of meh about it. 

Anywho, we enjoyed viewing the films (again) in this manner. They're both comfort movies for us now. We did a Dune week, didn't we? Ah, we did a Dune 2000 week.  A really good Dune Part III would make Denis Villeneuve's Dune the equal of Lord of the Rings, no?

Anyway, we stayed at the Hyatt Beach House on Key West's northeastern shore, just over the bridge onto the island. We had a lovely, expansive two-bedroom suite which was nice after single hotel rooms for four nights. The suite had an enclosed porch overlooking the pool, where we took dinner and coffee. At all times we were quite comfortable. 

We enjoyed the pool thoroughly after each day's activities. On the west end of the pool lies a small, sandy beach with a tiny swimming area. The swimming area is really for getting one's feet wet. One soaks up the sun here and enjoys the sunset. The Hyatt has a dock into the bay from which we got some nice pictures. Here also lies a tiki hut style bar where we enjoyed sandwiches and beer during sunset. The beach and dock area are lovely at night. 

A thought we had on Key West while driving back last Friday. When one lives in Key West, one lives in Key West [Oh, profound-Ed]. By which we mean, Key west is a midsized American city in the middle of the ocean. The Florida mainland is two plus hours away. There's no popping over to Miami or the nearest town to pick something up. Key West is the nearest town. 

So,109 years ago yesterday the United States entered the Great War. We plugged Pershing in Command on our FB and Substack. Nothing. 

DOGE Report.

Kindle Select pages read of World War 1990: Ireland are climbing. This is good.  

We wrote a Juan Pablo Caridad scene in World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. We'll edit it today and write another. 

We worked on two nuke short stories. Ah, we finished our little boy home alone short story. 

*Good thing, actually, because we probably need a new car this year too. In case you couldn't tell, and some of our critics can't, the dolts, we're being ironic. 

Will Becomes Florida Man, III D

Happy Monday, Stroock's Books stalwarts. 

As we write this the temp is 39 degrees. Welcome to Yankee spring. 

So last night the IAF took out the IRGC intel chief. And during Passover too. Most excellent, but what's victory look like and how is victory achieved? 

Also, not one US Navy vessel should be patrolling the Strait of Hormuz. Why should the US Navy stick its neck into Hormuz? The United States doesn't get much oil out of the Persian Gulf. If the Euros won't do patrol Hormuz, fek 'em.

Notes on a Vacation, Key Largo...

We motored out into the Keys and overnighted in a pleasant cottage at Sunset Cove Beach Resort on the Gulf of America side of the Florida Keys. Seriously, we saw plenty of Gulf of America signs. People down there are taking the Gulf of America thing seriously. Sunset Cover had a pier, a few small beaches and plenty of Adirondack chairs from which one could enjoy the scenery and sun. Sunset Cove also has several cats. The cats are friendly and expect plenty of attention from the guests. They also chase the lizards up trees. 

In the late afternoon we kayaked in the warm, blue water, past many anchored boats and yachts and enjoyed the sunlight. The water was calm but the wind came from the south, making for a tough paddle back in shore. The next morning we kayaked again. Sadly we saw no fancy aquatic life on either expedition. 

That evening we had an excellent dinner next door at Snooks Bayside Restaurant, which we saw from the water while kayaking. We dined outside in the breeze and watched the sun approach the horizon. 

Snooks had a 30-minute wait to be seated. The women folk went to the sandal store next door. We hit the bar and drank a very meh Forida Keys IPA. IPA is IPA wherever one goes. 

On to Key West.

DOGE Report.

We read through the nuke short story again. Fixed it up but didn't finish it. This is a story about a little boy left home alone (in the 70s, absolutely plausible). We just don't know how the story ends.

We read through the two post Battle of Los Banos chapters again and are thinking about how the invasion begins. This includes some minor actions in the south and east by Milpista Indians. We might have the New Jersey slam targets in the south on her way to the northern front. We'll see. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 4/5/26...

...and beyond!

Good morning, Stroock's Books reader(s), wherever you are. And Happy Easter to our Christian friends, except the C of E types. Reminder, my fellow Hebrews: Christ is King is a lot better than Allah Akbar. 

Yesterday we had our first real spring day here at home, which was nice. 

We got our downed pilot back. Halleluiah. Sounds like a remarkable rescue operation. On this morning it seems the US military is the most remarkable organization on the planet. 

DOGE Report. 

So...we made World War 1990: Ireland available on Kindle Select and now it's climbing back up the Amazon alternate history rankings, #74 as of this morning. Right now, we feel like an evil genius.

We did a lot of good work on the nuke short story we wanted to finish yesterday. Alas we didn't finish it. Tentative title for the 5th nuke novel: The Fourth Day. What do we think? The 5th nuke novel is 26,000 words. 

We looked at World War 1990: The Managua Campaign for the first time in six weeks. We read through two post-Battle of Los Banos chapters, the reaction and the what are we going to do chapters. They needed work and need work but are overall fine. World War 1990: The Managua Campaign is 31,000 words. 

Which brings us to Will's Good Idea for the Week of 4/5/26: Tactical...we're working on Managua this month, Thatcher's War be damned. We'll also be finishing the four unfinished nuke novel short stories. 

Moving on to Will's Good Idea for the Week of 4/5/26: Strategic....walking the Streets of Key West, we realized we're getting older, have a lot of good ideas, and want to get on with them. To that end, we're thinking we'd like to wrap up the World War 1990 series by the time we turn 55. That's two and a half years from now, two and a quarter, really. What's left? Esercito Italiano, Saddam's War, Election '92. The Grognard really wants us to write Battle of the GIUK Gap. But at the moment we've no desire to fall back into World War III. Memorial Day is seven weeks away. That's when we'll see where we stand for writing a Summer Sneak In novel....so maybe. 

Saturday Updates or Will Becomes Florida Man Part Deux

Good morning, Stroock's Books weekenders and Happy Saturday.  

So our new most trusted plumbing/heating/cooling company wants $723 to replace the motherboard in our AC unit. That's better than we thought. However, that unit is 12 years old. Time to replace it? That'll cost...considerably more. Lord, the money's been flying out the window lately and we just got back from an expensive vacation. The Stroock Northern Strategic Direction will need some work this summer.  And there's always the unforeseen. 

Notes on a vacation...South Beach. 

We stayed at The Breakwater on Ocean Drive in South Beach. Due click through as the website shows one the hotel and the street and night, really capturing the area's feel. The Breakwater is a neo-classic art-deco style hotel with lots of twists and turns and nooks. The Holiday Inn this ain't. What we're saying is The Breakwater has lots of character. The room was cool and comfortable. 

The streets of South Beach were filled with all kinds of people. Lots of tourists, lots of locals. One heard plenty of Spanish. The Breakwater, and South Beach in general work very hard to recreate Olde Miami. One see's a lot of black and white photos of fabulous people poolside or at the night club laughing and drinking mojitos. One also hears a lot of, heck we don't know what to call it, that Spanish language brass band music. It all sounds the same to our uninformed ear. But it's not unpleasant and ads to the vibe. There's also the steady thump of club and EDM music at night, which is not pleasant. 

At night South Beach is a cacophony of light and sound and people having a good time. A wonderful breeze comes off the water. Cops are everywhere, like South Beach is cracking down on a crime wave. And we don't mean one cop walking a beat. We mean four cops riding a souped-up golf cart, every couple of blocks. 

Those establishments that aren't hotels are restaurants. Hosts and hostesses wait by menu boards, greet the tourist and try coax them inside to dine. Our first night we ate outside at a pleasant Cuban restaurant. The Cuban pasta dishes are excellent, the host was friendly and attentive. We ate wonderful breakfasts at one of the Breakwater's three restaurants. 

We've long lamented that we don't seem to enjoy drinking the way we used to. But at South Beach we had a beer or two even every night. Usually something lite like a Modelo or Moretti which we discovered at sidewalk Italian restaurant. 

During the day those people go to the beach in far to revealing bathing suits. Those bathing suits also reveal horrible looking tattoos. Many of the men wear speedos. It's sometimes a Latin thing, it's sometimes a Euro thing, it's sometimes a well you know, thing. Which is fine.

The actual beach is wide with white sand. The water is a beautiful turquoise, punctuated by seaweed. For the record there is virtually no seaweed on the Jersey shore. One sees three or four great ships at anchor off the beach or steaming into or out of port. Which is kind of neat.

One smells a lot of weed at the beach and on the street. 

Overall, the South Beach vibe is Latin and fabulous. We enjoyed South Beach very much. 

On to Key Largo...

The Things.

Yesterday we finished the nuke novel story we wanted to finish yesterday. We'll try to finish another story today. 

We'll have some thoughts about other Things tomorrow.

Will Becomes Florida Man: Part I

Hahahahah! We tested the AC yesterday and the compressor unit wouldn't switch on. 

Good day Stroock's Books reader(s) and Chag Pessach Sameach. So, since the Stroock family was in Florida when Passover began and Mrs. Stroock's relatives are on vacay themselves we won't be doing a Passover seder this year. The Stroock family has faithfully held seders for a quarter of a century. Missing one just isn't that big a deal.

Oh, and Happy Good Friday to our Christian reader(s) across Christendom.

Today we begin our report on the glorious Stroock family sojourn to the great state of Florida.*  

Notes on a vacation: travel.

Flying out of Newark last week the TSA line was about 40 minutes. As the agents were then unpaid and quite harrowed at the 6 PM hour, we scrupulously followed their directions and thanked them for sticking things out. Somehow the politicians have made the TSA sympathetic. Flying out of Miami yesterday the TSA line was about 30 minutes. 

We rented a Chrysler Pacifica hybrid, and it grew on us over the week. We did the driving. Mrs. Stroock was the navigator [Don't you mean Mrs. Stroock was the captain?-Ed]. We hang our head in shame and yes. 

Miami sure is somethin'. We drove into town from the airport and saw a wall of shiny skyscrapers, turquoise bay, cruise ships, all accented by palm trees and shimmering in the warm sun. We're not even doing the sight justice. The drive into Miami was phenomenal, fabulous. We see the Manhattan skyline a couple of times a month and used to drive past the Washington Monument every day. Our point is that it takes a lot to impress us. We were impressed. 

On South Beach's Ocean Drive, one see's more turquoise water on one side, and art deco hotels on the other. The streets are lined with tall palms and filled with people of all stripes. When one thinks about 'vibrant' diversity, this is what one is thinking of. We'll have more to say on the Miami vibe in another post. 

After three nights in Miami we took US-1 out of Miami south for the Florida Keys. For a few dozen miles we drove along a two-lane highway surrounded by swamp. We found this mildly disconcerting. We're a Yankee after all and had a vague but persistent sense that air-boat riding rednecks would burst out of the tree line and take us hostage - or we'd be eaten by giant mutant alligators. 

Through the Florida Keys the drive is stunning. Very often one gets the sense of driving out into the ocean. The water is a patch work of blues and....turquoise again. Very often one is just on a patch of landfill. It's not all scenic though. One passes endless strip malls, gas stations (gas prices increase the further out one goes), marinas, tourist attractions and on and on. There's also urgent care centers, schools, auto parts stores, etc etc. People do live in the Keys.  

DOGE Report.

Ahh....we see that less that 24 hours after making World War 1990: Ireland available on Kindle Select, nearly a thousand pages have been read, with Australia leading the pack. Thanks, mates. 

We did some work on a nuke novel short story yesterday. We plan to finish it today [You dare plan on Passover? Do you really mean to be such a tempting target for the lord Hashem? We plan, god laughs. For as it is written, we plan, god laughs-Ed].

We also realized we got four other unfinished nuke stories. But they're in good places. 

*A quick note We deleted our twitter account and cut our blog reading in half. Sorry Ace, Powerline, and Small Dead Animals. While we are less informed (we miss getting hourly updates on what the IAF and USAF just hit) we are at least 50 percent less worried and 25% happier. Not running to see INSERT TWITTER GUY HERE hot take on INSERT HEADLINE HERE is definitely improving out mental health. 

Welcome Back Stroock

We're back!

What a trip. A whirlwind really, almost. 

Two nights in Miami, a night in Key Largo, then three nights in Key West. 

Along the way we visited the University of Miami (almost as low down and dirty as the SEC), drove Route-1 out into the keys, pulled off and got some fantastic pics, saw several Gulf of America signs, went snorkeling, went to the Theatre of the Sea, visited a gator farm, walked the battlements at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, kayaked, saw sunset at Marlow Square in Key West, met some very friendly cats, ate some excellent food, and much more. 

Oh, we have details, and thoughts and what not. And we'll be sharing them over the next week or so. 

Sadly we were unable to bring the sun and breeze back with us. Today it's 45 and cloudy here in New Jersey. 

For the moment we're home and back in our regular spot, and getting back to work. Seriously, we walked in the door 30 minutes ago and away we go. Mrs. Stroock is already back at work. Why not us? 

We did some good thinkin' down there in Florida, as is our wont when walking around or sitting in the sun. 

Most of that thinkin' was 'bout nuclear war stories. 

We did not unravel World War 1990: Thatcher's War and are sorely tempted to move on to The Managua Campaign and finish that with a few references to the ongoing 'Irish situation'. We are aware of the danger of Ludendorfing, in which the writer moves from project to project without finishing. But Maggie ain't got no snap, no crackle, no ju-ju.

World War 1990: Ireland has been available for a month and a day now. That month and a day has been a great success. On this day we made Ireland available on Kindle Select. Ireland has 16 ratings for a 4.2 star average. Those early three star ratings rattled us, and Ireland is a different book from others in the World War 1990 series. But with what's what, that's what. Ireland is a good novel. How 'bout that. We took a risk and it paid off. 

The Post Before We Leave for Florida

Good morning, Stroock's Books people. 

Ahhh...Florida tonight. Miami, followed by South Beach and then the Keys. We won't be doing any work whatsoever. We could use the break. 

We've plenty of ju-ju though for the 5th nuke novel. We shall allow that ju-ju to percolate (jujinate?).

But we are offline beginning tonight. 

Trump's peace proposal seems generous or trusting, anyway. We're of two minds. Either the war is going badly and Trump is trying to cut a deal to get out. Or this proposal is Trump's final offer before escalating further (paras, marines, etc etc). Which is more likely? Seem's like the war will go on, no?

Iran talks tough, acts like it's dragging America into some kind of quagmire and makes unreasonable demands. Iran must needs do so. Any other stance would be a sign of weakness. Meanwhile the US and Israel destroy Iranian infrastructure. The 'Iranian street' remains quiet, probably for a reason, no? 

Everyone's talking about the marines seizing Kharq Island. But what if the real target is Kish Island which could cover a large swath of the Iranian coast and is much closer to the Strait of Hormuz? Nobody knows nuthin'.

Trump's political situation at home...worsens. 

World War 1990: Ireland has 9 ratings and two reviews on Amazon for a 4.4 rating. We usually wait for ten ratings before making an assessment and a couple of early ratings were two and three stars. We 'll reserve judgement. Sales are declining but still accumulating. Because Ireland is dragging up other books, we've made its production costs back, but Ireland is not profitable on its own...yet.

Off to Florida!