Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

If any readers are SNL fans, you should understand the title on this post.

I have been reading many John D. MacDonald books during our travels, specifically the Travis McGee series.  Never been much of a fiction reader, but definitely got hooked on these books and his writing style.  Cindy and her family have read them for many years, which got me interested.  Always notice some interesting quotes in each book, which I thought I’d start sharing on occasion.  The author had a real talent for connecting a fiction storyline with intellectual thoughts and commentary on society and the state of Florida.  While they were all written between the mid-60 and mid-80s, it has some amazing relevance even in this decade.

This one seems to have a real connection with our escapade and other people’s amazement about quitting work, traveling without a detailed plan and basically leaving it all.

From John D. MacDonald’s book titled “The Turquoise Lament”, the main character is thinking about life and death in the context of a gaming table:

“The house takes a cut of every wager.  So you can play a close tight game, work out little conservative systems, calculate the odds to several decimal places, and no matter what you do, sooner or later They will bust you, because the house busts everybody.  The house percentage does it, sooner or later.

Or, if you want, you can bet the long shots, go for the hunches.  You will give Them a chance to bust you sooner, but you will maybe live a little bigger and better while you still have a place at the table.  Only children of all ages think they will play forever.  The man who knows in advance that They are going to bust him should not start whining about it in advance.  They will bust you with Big C, or a truck driver on uppers, or pilot error, or an Irish bomb, or a coronary occlusion, or gas in the bilge.  Other creatures play on smaller tables, and they all get busted, from mayfly to possum to quick red fox.”

Hopefully my sister and brother-in-law, in Vegas currently, don’t take this too literally with a massive bet on a roulette table.. 🙂