Kelson Reviews Stuff - Page 8

A delightful parody of every English countryside murder mystery trope, presented as a guidebook to a village that has them all. Written wonderfully tongue-in-cheek, illustrated like something out of Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies. A short, quick read. Funny if you’re slightly familiar with the genre, moreso if you’ve seen every trope in the book.

Basic, privacy-respecting contacts app for Android that works with all contacts accounts on your phone. Connects with whatever dialer and email apps you’re using. Will merge your view of contacts that appear in more than one account. Doesn’t send data anywhere else, which is more than I can be sure of with Google’s default Contacts app.

I use it with my Nextcloud contacts (synced through DAVx⁵) in addition to the handful I still have on my Google account.

The only problem I have with it is that when creating a new contact from another app “Add to existing” option doesn’t always work.

I’ve stayed here several times. It’s nothing fancy, but there’s nothing wrong with it either. Staff is friendly, and the rooms are clean and in good condition. The complementary breakfast is decent, and has better coffee than the coffee pods provided in the rooms. (The coffee and breakfast at Rival Coffee Co., which shares the same parking lot, are better, but of course they’re not free!)

It’s a bit out of the way despite being right next to the freeway (it’s between two exits), but that mostly means if you’re on the side aimed away from the freeway, it’s not particularly noisy unless there’s a football game at the high school across the street. And those don’t run into the middle of the night, unlike the freeway traffic, but at least the nighttime freeway traffic is mostly just the collective “whoosh” of cars actually moving, so it’s easier to tune out than it would be on a busy street with starting and stopping and honking and so forth.

WiFi is free and the room TVs are compatible with Chromecast. There are several car chargers available for EVs, all run by ChargePoint: six type 1 and two each type 1 combo and CHAdeMO (as of early 2024).

One caveat: If you want to sleep, I would recommend against the room on the first floor across from the conference rooms, next to the laundry room and fitness room, with the pool outside. You’ll be kept awake by the “thump, thump, thump” of people using the fitness equipment* late at night, the washers and driers, and any parties that might be going on across the hall or out by the pool.

Great spot for takeout Mexican food on the line between Torrance and Redondo Beach*. They opened during the Covid-19 lockdown and they’re still here, four years later. And these days there are always people dining in when I go to pick up food. There’s a main room and an enclosed patio. I like their chile relleno, but their enchiladas and tacos are really good too. And their chile verde. And their salsa.

As you might imagine from the name, there are two other locations, El Amigo in Lawndale and El Otro Amigo in Torrance.

Parking is limited: There are maybe 5 spaces in the back, and it’s very tight. Otherwise you have to park on the street. (Don’t park at the dialysis clinic lot next door. There are warning signs all over it.)

Nightmare fuel, but a compelling read.

This isn’t the kind of book I’d usually read: I’m not big on thrillers or horror, and it’s sort of (but not really) a sequel to another book I haven’t read, but it stands on its own, and the characters are intriguing.

I always appreciate characters who suffer from chronic general anxiety but manage to function anyway, and Dr. Hannah Stander does both in spades.

The private Hawaiian island research facility where much of the book takes place is a perfect intersection of James Bond villain, Elon Musk, and Larry Ellison (who actually has bought most of Lānaʻi).

And I know just enough about ant biology and society that the swarms of killer ants are frighteningly plausible. The chapters where they inevitably get loose are…intense.