I’m a paperback pack rat. I buy used paperbacks at library sales, flea markets, used book stores, and antique shops, trying not to pay more than $1 per paperback. Whenever I go anywhere, I take along a paperback to read while waiting in lines, during lunches or just during breaks in the day.

I usually like to take a book from one of my favorite authors such as Mark Twain, Garrison Keillor, and - if I am in a more serious reading mood - C.S. Lewis.

I am also a bit of a mystery fan, although I limit myself pretty much to Agatha Christie and Sue Grafton, since both have pretty diabolical plots with little graphic violence.

I am also a re-reader, meaning I will finish a book, set it aside for a couple years and come back to it. In the case of mysteries, I will have forgotten ‘who did it’ by then.

Right now I am currently reworking my way through one of the Sue Grafton mysteries featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone. Here’s what caught my attention in the story.

In the driveway was a blue panel truck emblazoned with a large cartoon replica of a faucet. A big teardrop of water hung from the spout. ‘Mace Kepler’s Plumbing – Heating – Air’ was lettered in white across the truck body. A small oblong emblem indicated that Kepler was a member of PHCC, the National Association of Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling Contractors. His state license number was listed along with the twenty-four-hour emergency repairs he provided (water leaks, sewer drains, gas leaks, and water heaters) and the credit cards he took. These days doctors don’t offer services that comprehensive.

How nice. Grafton gets the information correct and says nice things about our industry.

Good for her.