The Publishers Weekly review here is very perceptive. This book is a series of anecdotes about military police life at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, small narratives that might be overheard at a tavern, in a casual, aloof, bemused, and emotionally distant voice. There is a Charles Bukowski air here. Thus the style of these poems is very much like those in Casey's other two books, Obscenities and Millrat. This emotional distance, in my opinion, helps keep Obscenities among the most illuminating books of poetry by Viet Nam veterans. The average soldier's sentiment and experience is probably better represented by Obscenities than by the more introspective and intense poems by some better known veteran poets. Although I am in general bored by Casey's style of poetry, Michael Casey writes wonderfully. In The Million Dollar Hole, the puzzle of figuring out where the quotation marks and punctuation marks might belong is pleasant, not annoying. To assay two college creative classes' tastes, I asked which of four unlike poems (whose authors I did not reveal) they liked best. A poem from this collection was the favorite in both classes.

What a disappointment! This is a well laid out book with great illustrations. However, despite its "1999" publishing date, it does not cover changes in the 1996 or 1999 National Electric Code. The book makes no claim that it is up to date but it certainly is implied. As a loose leaf publication, it seems all the publisher would have to do is supplement pages with current data.

I took SBCCI's Residential Electrical Inspector exam, which is based on International Resesidential Code (IRC) and National Electric Code (NEC). I passed the test quickly & efficiently.

This checklist showed the difference between the 1999 and 2002 NEC. Unlike the other Code Check books, there was no cross reference to the IRC. This made things difficult for the test because I couldn't get to my references directly.

The beauty of this checklist is that I was able to quickly discern differences between the old and new NEC code. This allowed me to review these areas in the IRC for differences.

I'd recommend this checklist to any residential inspector because after the test, the IRC is not likely to apply in the USA for the electrical code--the NEC does.

I love the format of this book, simple, easy and I love the playful nature of the illustrations. Never have codes been more easy to understand.

When it was difficult to get to the library to view the Uniform Plumbing Code, I used this at home to study for an exam. I was rudely surprised when I got to the libary, compared the references to the code, and found that this guide was riddled with errors. It serves a purpose as it alerts the user to possible code issues, but you must check all references. The codes are expensive but not as expensive as counting on this guide might be.

This has good diagrams, good descriptions, but is very basic. For the money you can find a better source.

Code check has helped me immensely. I teach residential plumbing for a 150+ employee 1500+ homes a year Northern California company and have found that the info in C.C. is formatted in such a way that my apprentice plumbers can easily find info they need. They seldom need clarification. All codes cited are referenced with the UPC and IRC section numbers for easy look up.(IRC not used here in NorCal but nice for those who need it) Diagrams are simple and clear. C.C. is laminated and tough. Built for in the field use. I love this book. Holding back the fifth star due to spanish version unavailability.

I'd disagree with the description. This is not what most would call a book nor does it explain principles.
Rather, this is a collection of field ready waterproof code-compliance checklists, bound together pages with pictures and minimal dialog. It doesn't explain principles, it describes commonly checked items. It's useful to remind you what you need to focus on. Would be an excellent field guide for someone reviewing code compliance, not very useful for a designer. FYI, I've got over 20 years in construction. It would also be useful to let a home-builder see what they need to learn!