Passing it on, paying it forward

Sorry for the delay, I've been discussing several things in online forums this past week. One person, I do not know if they were male of female, put forth the idea that deaf people felt a sense of entitlement. I spent the better part of my Sunday morning blasting their argument out of the blogosphere. Part of me wanted to show what I wrote. I still might, but the person who owns the blog might be offended if I simply posted all of that thread here. The writer in me is saying; 'plagiarism=bad'.
Yes, I can't plagiarize myself, but it was for a different audience.
 Instead, I'll give you snippets of a different post I wrote. What's surprising is how much of it can be universally applied.

When I had a job interview, they fell into one of two categories. The first one is where my hearing came up, If I had to ask them to repeat the question, or I misinterpreted a word, the game was up. (and yes, it was a game.) The second category is where I lip read the interviewer successfully. Guess which one I got called back on? Every potential employer will say the same thing: Discrimination is against the law. Speeding is also against the law, but people do it anyway. Unfortunately, proving they discriminated is almost impossible. It boils down to their word against yours. It's no surprise the unemployed deaf are bitter. Another observation is that it is very easy to fall into the trap of blaming your disability. 'Oh man, they didn't hire me because I was deaf!'
No, the reason they didn't hire you was because of your poor performance in the interview. First impressions are critical!
Yes, I'm the smartest man for the job, and here's why:
Yes, I am the hardest working employee you will ever have. (and here's why!)
Keep in mind: employers are always looking at the bottom line. Does it cost a few dollars more? They won't go for it.
I've said it elsewhere, being deaf doesn't define me. There is so much more to me than this little hiccup of a thing. That's the way I had to play it.
Yes: I had to trick the interviewer by passing myself off as a hearing person. It took a lot of practice. In hindsight, they may have said; 'There's something about him... I can't place it.' But I showed them that I was more than capable of doing the job.
Never late, worked harder than my hearing co-workers. Made the extra effort (especially when the boss was looking.) I had to go the distance just to prove I was as good as everyone else.
Those first nine points that were covered in the original post are worth printing out and taping it to your mirror before the interview.
Are they going to hire you because you're deaf? No.
They will hire you because you are friendly, positive, smart and an interesting person.
I know it's tough. I've been in your situation. If you want the situation to change, be the person who can bring about that change.

These are the nine points I mentioned in my rant. They apply to everyone.
 
1. Dress professionally & behave appropriately in front of the hiring managers.
2. Be positive & energetic.
3. Try to put your problems aside & show them what you can do for a job.
4. Never, ever demand anything from them like asking for an ASL interpreter.
5. Always be kind & smile...a lot!
6. Believe in yourself. If you don't, no one else will.
7. Always be prepared to answer why they should hire you or why you're a better candidate.
8. Use your common sense & think about what they look for in an applicant.
9. Be strong & aggressive but not in a mean way!

Tony Robbins couldn't have said it better.
 

Short post

This won't make the news, but it did cross my computer screen. They spotted another asteroid. 2003 DZ15 whizzed by Monday night. The closest approach was about 8:30 eastern standard time. Here read the whole article, I'll wait...
Yes, we're getting better at spotting these near earth objects. The 2003 in the name was when we first noticed it. Like the article says, we're safe... this time. More than likely we will be safe the next time it passes us in 2057. Odds are something will hit us sooner or later. The question is what are we going to do about it? Face it, we're living in a cosmic pinball machine. Eventually we're gonna get smacked.
The Chelyabinsk meteor was chump change by comparison. If a meteor the size of DZ15 hit us, it wouldn't be an extinction level event, but it would sure as hell make life tough for us. The herd would definitely be culled. I'm not going all gloom and doom here, but we need to get off our collective butts and do something. And if we're talking about putting our money where our mouth is, then yes, our tax money would be well spent if we came up with a plan to turn an asteroid away from Earth. Better now than before it's too late. Oh, and whatever it is, leave Bruce Willis out of the plan. I just want to say it now:
Called it.

Try not to have a headache

It is my deepest belief that we can consciously control our bodies at the cellular level. Hear me out, please.
Subconsciously our body knows what nutrients it needs. A long time ago, I heard a story concerning a woman with a new born baby. The baby was crying very hard and no amount of holding, feeding, or rocking would satisfy the child. One of the nurses asked the mother if she had any cravings during pregnancy. The mother replied without hesitation. "I had to have Avocados," she said.
The nurse obtained some guacamole from the hospital cafeteria and dabbed a fingerful of the mashed vegetable into the baby's mouth.
The child immediately stopped crying.

I believe we need mental nourishment as well as physical sustenance.
We've all heard about monks practising meditation who can slow their heartbeat down. Doctors have told us about high blood pressure correlating to stressful lifestyles and situations. When someone says, 'It's all in your head.' They're not that far off from the truth. Stress and pressure are self imposed. A person can be under a lot of pressure, be it from a stressful job or or demanding too much of themselves. We've all done this, myself included. Wigging out from a situation that we have little control over. Sorry, the world does not revolve around you.

One of the biggest things we can do to alleviate stress is to simply decide to let it go. We tell ourselves different things, but it amounts to the same thing. 'Give it up to God.' is one of my wife's favorite sayings. I prefer letting things be. Karma. 
It's not the same as not caring. There are things I can and can't control. Just by keeping an open mind and a positive outlook, one can eliminate 90% of your personal problems.
A lot of my friends and family attend church. Many times in the past, I've confessed to the fact I'm not religious. However, I do feel spiritual. We are not the highest rung on the evolutionary ladder. You can make the argument about humans being in the top five. I'll go along with that.
The concept of pre-defined roles: 'You are who you are, and will never be more than that.' My mind rejected that idea back when I was a kid.
I don't need religion to tell me right from wrong. My moral compass is stronger than it's ever been. Deep down, we all can tell right from wrong. We can grow and mature as a sentient beings. To be more than what people perceive. That's why we need morality plays and stories. We can see the human drama unfold on a stage and make the decision to be better than that in our lives.
Some where deep inside of us, resides a spark... A god particle... A soul... We need to listen to that which is inside of us. Daily, weekly, How ever often we feel the need to do so. Turn your attention to what matters in your heart. Be the best person you can be. To thine own self be true.

The code

How we behave is a good indicator of what kind of person you are. Do you act outgoing and friendly? How is your handshake? Where are your eyes looking when you talk to someone. What does your body language say to others? I want to tell you about a man I just read about. James Owens is a public speaker and he's published a few books on the cowboy way and how it applies to modern life. How many of the following guidelines do we follow in our day to day life?

• Live each day with courage
• Take pride in your work
• Always finish what you start
• Do what has to be done
• Be tough, but fair
• When you make a promise, keep it.
• Ride for the brand
• Talk less and say more
• Remember some things are not for sale.
• Know where to draw the line.

A lot of us live our lives by these rules and don't think twice about it. Some of those rules are harder than others, it's all situational.
Even getting out of bed and facing the day can take all kinds of courage. Always face your fears. You may face them on your own terms, but face them nonetheless.
People can say you have a strong work ethic because you take pride in your work, even if that job is bagging groceries. Do it and do it well. Don't leave a job half-assed.
You may not enjoy it, but there are unpleasant things that will always have to be done. Those grease traps aren't going to clean themselves.
If you are a parent, you know all about being tough, but fair. I said something to my oldest child before she left this morning. My wife thought it was uncalled for, perhaps it was. I'll stand by what I said though and try not to look like a hypocrite. That means I'll be doing some chores around the house this weekend.
When I say I'm going to do something, I make an honest attempt to accomplish it. If for some reason I'm unsuccessful, I usually find my way back to the person I spoke with and explain what happened. You'd be surprised at what happens when you do that.
The first time I read the sentence about 'riding for the brand', I had to think about that one. My take on that one is about being loyal. Part of my speech to new people I work with goes something like, 'If you are going to work here, then work.'
We could all do with talking less and saying more. I've touched base on that other times, but it is worth repeating.
I could fill a whole blog post on things I can't put a price on, and so could you if you think about it.
Knowing where to draw the line depends on the situation. When I find myself saying, 'Enough!' that is where the line gets drawn. No more of this wishy-washy stuff. Tell yourself: Here, Now. That is when things get done.
  
 

Second wind kicking in

Got a vaccination today. It seems I run a higher than average chance of getting pneumonia than the next guy due to my implant. Something else I wasn't aware of. At least it's not an oil change or transmission leak...
Minion #1 is heading to Nebraska to visit her best friend. Seems like my kids are doing all the travelling this summer and dear ol' Dad gets to stay and guard the secret base. When did that start happening? Whenever I start talking like Dr. Evil, my wife rolls her eyes and says, 'Get that pinky away from your mouth.'
Ah, the dog days of summer are upon us. I've got those passes to the movies around here somewhere. Perhaps it's time for the wife and I to have a date.
I can't imagine it being any other way.
Did you know last week was the 44th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon?
Earlier in the year they found something on the ocean floor. Part of an engine from a Saturn V rocket. Guess what mission? 
I'm not upset that we are discovering history here. All of our astronauts are heroes in my book. My question is: Why did we stop?
I'm not alone in asking that question. There are people who are doing there own thing about exploring and colonizing the solar system.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO at Amazon is doing something.
Let's not forget to mention the folks over at Virgin Galactic and their spaceport.
The people behind SpaceX have been busy as well.
My point here is we need to be focusing on these private enterprises. Share their victories and celebrate the triumphs... and yes, console them in the setbacks that are part and parcel of this monumental undertaking.
Gentlemen, I salute you.
Being a pilot or astronaut may not be in the cards for me, but I will do my part to encourage others to join in your reach for the stars.

In a completely unrelated event. One part of my job is I have to take used appliances out to be recycled. Today I had to run over a fiberglass ladder with the forklift. Maybe it's just me, but hasn't anybody wondered what running over something on purpose would be like?

Answer: It was cool.

 

Cure for the summer time blues

I wrote a post last night. Before I hit the publish button, I gave it a last read. It was a little long winded, especially for me. For the most part the rant was about all the negative and bad stuff I was dealing with. While it seems therapeutic to get it out of my system, I didn't need to burden you guys with it.
We all have trouble paying our bills. We all have to stretch the money to the breaking point. Every last one of us has an evil pointy haired boss to deal with. In some cases, several clueless managers.
I'm not wasting my energy on those people, they are not worth the stress. So I hit delete and decided to focus on the good stuff.
I got a rejection letter from Strange Horizons. While some people may see that as a bad thing, I don't. Someone read my story. It's one person's opinion. There are roughly 7 billion other opinions out there. People have used their rejection letters as wall paper. There are rumors of letters having been used as toilet paper. I'm not that desperate or spiteful, but I do appreciate the irony.
One thing my Clark Kent job is useful for: The job is fairly monotonous and I use the spare brain cells to come up with new stories. The trick is to write them down before the idea gets lost in the mental paperwork bureaucracy.
Somewhere in my budget I'm going to get a t-shirt with the following printed on it.
I'm filling in until Bradbury gets back.
Will that upset people when I show up at the con wearing that? Are folks going to accuse me of having an ego? More than they already are? No one is going to toot your horn for you. If it hasn't already been proven, I don't listen to critical naysayers. They're trying to bring me down to their level. Excuse me while I go out and make my own luck.
 
   

Damned if you do, damned if you don't

Two years ago, the water pipe in our front yard sprang a leak. Like any DIY homeowner, I dug up the faulty pipe and connected the appropriate length of PVC to it. I'm up to my elbows in water and mud when a car approaches. It was the friendly city ordinance people. She wrote me a ticket for my vehicle parked in my driveway. Having my car block the side walk was against the rules of the ever-so-helpful neighbourhood ass-ociation. Try to imagine that scene. I've got an unwanted fountain in my front yard surrounded by a water filled hole. A decent layer of mud coating me, including my arms. And there is the meter maid fairy writing me a ticket.
Now if I started to cuss her out she'd tune me out while she put the ticket on my truck. My temper is something I have to keep in check constantly, and although this would be a perfectly acceptable time to vent my anger, I instead attacked her psyche with sarcasm and mental warfare. Starting with 'You have got to be kidding me.' and working my way up to 'Why are you here? Are the real crooks too hard to catch? I work for a living, you ought to try it sometime.'
Not nice things to say, but I was pissed at someone who's nit picking when I'm on my knees getting filthy.
Bottom line: If I'm paying the fine, I should get to chew the lady out. Getting singled out and punished like that, I'm gonna get my ten dollars worth. 
To avoid incidents in the future, I now park in the street. This morning I noticed broken plastic near my truck. My front light was smashed in. No apparent damage to the body, just the light. Now I'll have to get that fixed before the month is out, I'd never pass inspection now. No matter where I park, eventually something bad happens. I need to talk to my neighbours. I'll be nice, but the bigger chunks of my headlight are spread out near their driveway.

Headlight works...

Turn signal doesn't

Well now that I look at it, that dent above the light is new. Seems I need to talk to someone. One more thing I have to deal with. Once, just once, I'd like somebody to own up to the hit and run accidents.
My mailbox gets hit on average once a year. I wake up one morning to bricks scattered across my front yard. I've called the police and filed reports.
Currently I'm on mailbox 4.0. 
The first time, they dragged my trash can that had been left out the night before. Never did find it. The next time the police found a hubcab belonging to a Toyota.
The next rebuild I did involved a metal pole in cement, lots of dirt and gravel. My logic being they take my mailbox, I'm taking their axle. I figured they forfeited their breathing privileges when they jumped the curve. That sounds callous, but the cops couldn't do anything. My neighbourhood ass-ociation is only good for shaking their heads and saying, 'you got hit again?'
As always, Carol got me around to her way of thinking. I took out the pipe and gravel and rebuilt it so it was hollow. Good thing too, because a few months later some dude smashes into it with his Harley. A friend was staying with us and saw the whole thing out the kitchen window. So stunned was this fellow he came up and rang our doorbell to apologize. (I'll give him points for that.) His mistake was trying to leave when my friend called the cops. My friend happened to be a black belt and prevented him from taking off before the cops got here. I so bought him lunch for that.
Last neighbourhood ass-ociation meeting I went to I told them point blank: Let me turn my mail box into an asshole trap. It will only have to work once.
I've said it before: It's time to thin the herd. Let stupidity be lethal.

Worldcon, Lonestar3... 71st annual sci-fi convention

I'm starting to get excited about next month. Lonestar3, the 71st annual sci-fi convention is going to be held in my city, San Antonio. 
In previous years the convention has been held in Chicago, Melbourne, Montreal, Yokohama and Glasgow, just to name a few.
For a writer, the chance to meet the people who inspired me should be motivation enough. The chance to talk Star Trek with Norman Spinrad would have to be pretty high on my bucket list. I'll try to act like an adult, but I gotta admit, I'm going to feel like a kid in a candy store. Here is the link to the con.

Long ago my father took my best friend and I down to DC. We were all of 13 years old at the time and drove by the Air and Space Museum. To this day I don't know if my dad planned this or not, but a crowd was gathered at the steps leading into the museum.  Call it karma, or exceptionally good timing, because Neil Armstrong approached the podium and gave a speech. I knew him from pictures, but this was the first time I remember coming face to face with one of my heroes. We took some fuzzy polaroids of Mr. Armstrong and I held on to them for many years. One day I'm going to find those pictures again. Hindsight being what it is, I'd like to say I behaved in a rational manner. Truth is I think I sort of geeked out and went into hyper fanboy mode. I remember being too scared to approach him. Sort of like when a toddler meets Santa Claus for the first time. Giddy excitement followed by high pitched squeals of delight. Hey, some people get excited over meeting rock stars. I went ga-ga for the first man on the moon. There are priorities. I hope when I meet the guests gathered at the convention I don't squeal... or lose control of my bodily fluids.
 
Agencies looking to sign the next undiscovered writing talent will also be in attendance. I found my new reason for going. So with high hopes I'm spending the next month coming up with a plan of attack: Print up my portfolio of stories and try and get my card to specific people. Perhaps I should have it all on a thumb drive. In PDF format. My wife wants to meet George R.R. Martin. I wouldn't mind getting my picture taken with Phil Foglio.
I want to put my book into the hands of Joshua Bilmes and say; here you go!
I would thank Norman Spinrad for inspiring me all those years ago. The list goes on... like I said, a kid in a candy store. So come to San Antonio, I will cook for you barbecue like you never had before.
 

Understanding comprehension

If I fire off a quick post, it shows. The writing is hurried, there is a lack of depth or wisdom, at least it seems that way to me. So here I am writing a paragraph or two early in the morning. With more time devoted to it perhaps I can cultivate some serious thought and discussion.

I noticed Malala Yousafzai gave a speech at the UN two days ago. This 16 year old girl from Pakistan was shot last year for going to school. Here's her story.

This girl is braver and stronger than anyone can imagine. She is currently schooling many people older than her in what is right. I admire her for standing up to the bullies, because when you get right down to it, that's what the Taliban is, a bunch of cowardly bullies.

There are things in this world that make no sense to me. Whether that is a failing on my part, I don't know. Women are people. How can you not understand that? I can not comprehend someone being uneducated. Too many double negatives in that last sentence? Tough. A person is smart. Men... Women... individuals. If you think otherwise, consider how history shows us examples of oppressors and oppressed. Owners and slaves. Have and have nots. Bullies try and keep the masses uneducated for their own good. Haul a girl off her school bus and shoot her in the head, make an example of her.
Only it didn't work.
Many of us take education for granted, until it is taken away. There was a point in my life where I stopped living for myself and started living for my daughters. Every parent wants to make the world a better place for their kids. When I see politicians trying to restrict or take away rights, I get angry. Maybe angry is the wrong word.
I get inspired to stand up to the bullies. That's why some of my posts are about the American Taliban who try and take away things like the right to proper health care, the right to an education and the right to vote.
I will never know what it's like to be female. I'll never know what it's like to bear a child. What I will do is fight for my daughters to live in a world where they have a choice and a say over their own bodies. My daughters are the most amazing, intelligent people I know. Often times my kids have said how they look up to me. It's almost as much as I admire them.

So when you're feeling down about yourself, think about the little girl who wanted to read and had to hide her books from the bullies who wanted her kept in darkness.
Malala, I salute you.

Find out what it means to me

Several things came up this week. There's a lot of ground to cover.

• Governor Perry and his cronies are up to their old tricks again. A few weeks back they tried to pass this bill that would have set women's rights back 50 years. It's no secret these Grumpy Old Politicians want to overturn Rove v. Wade. They're not going to let a little thing like the law or the will of the people get in the way of their agenda. They're putting so many restrictions on women's health care that they are in effect hamstringing the Supreme Court. Doctor Leah Torres put in much better words than I could. We can't un-make the technology, we can only hope to use it responsibly. Simply put, we can't climb back into the trees and pretend this whole walking upright thing was a bad idea. Take it from me: Putting a Texan in the White House is a bad idea.
• There are people whom I call family. My Aunt married a man who I refer to as 'uncle'. There's no blood tie or legal necessity to it. People have asked me, 'Why do you call him that when he has no tie to you?' That's simple, it's respect. I'm a pretty good judge of character. He's a good person.

• Finally, a person that I admire said in an interview that he didn't have much use for heroes. That may be true for him and his readers, but I have to disagree. Heroes are plain ordinary people thrust into situations that are far from  normal. They may not be brave, but they are cold, tired and miserable enough that they have to do something.

Sorry for the late update. Things have gotten busy around the household. I'm going to use the weekend to catch up on some things.

Sneak peek

Something I've been working on and I wanted to give you guys a peek, but first, I want to let you know what's happening on the writing front. I submitted a short story to Strange Horizons. The story about the woman who starts aging backwards. They've got it, they'll review it, and we'll see what happens in about 30 to 40 days.
A while back I submitted my full novel to Library Journal Review. I'm doing some follow up with my contact. Originally, I wanted to ask them what their submission guidelines were. I've been rejected before for not having all my ducks in a row, or in this case, the proper format. Barring that, I'm thinking I should just put on the best font I have and send it in. Worse they can say is no, right?

Today I'm sharing a scene where Daniel Wolfstalker gets himself into some deep doo-doo in Dallas. Is the honeymoon over before it has a chance to get started? We'll see...
 

Like lucky Buck had promised. Doc Harrison's office was down the street.

As I stepped onto the side walk, a hand snaked through the curtains to turn the open sign around to read 'closed.' I knocked anyway.

“Doctor Harrison,”' I said. “I'm Mr. Wolfstalker, Texas Ranger, and I'd like to have a look at the body.”

A narrow female face briefly poked through the curtains before disappearing again. The slide of a metal bolt sounded the opening of the door. “Please come inside quickly.”

No need to tell me twice.

The plain brown haired woman quickly closed the door behind me. The office was ordinary enough, but for some reason the room felt humid.

“As you surmised, the doctor is taking care of the patient. If I may have your name and badge to show the doctor you are waiting for him.”

Asking for ID may be a good idea where I came from, but this was the first time I'd been asked to prove it. Holding the badge between my thumb and forefinger, I paused before giving it to her completely. “This badge doesn't leave my sight. If you're going to the doc with my credentials, I'm going to hang back out of the way. If he can't spare a minute, I'll be on my way.”

After a moments hesitation, the woman silently nodded. “Follow me please.”

The next set of doors led to a metal spiral staircase. Condensation formed on the railings, leaving no doubt we were heading toward some place with higher humidity. The woman noticed me running a finger along the metal, tracing through the water droplets.

“This building sits over a mineshaft. The doctor finds the temperature ideal for cold storage.”

“And for surgery,” I added.

Turning to face me, the woman stared blankly. “That too.”

Not all the walls were cut out. Stalactites and rock formations suggested this was originally a cave system that had been adapted to suit the miners needs. Several walls with steel doors were bolted to the rocks. Coming to a small room, my guide lit a torch with a little help from the hot coal sitting inside a Franklin stove.

“The doctor and the patient are in the next room. If you would be so kind as to wait here...” She turned away from me before I could answer her. The feeling I got was it wouldn't matter what I said.

Shadows crossed in front of the light beaming through the doorway curtain. Listening intently as I could, soft whispers floated toward me as I waited for someone to come back.

Doctor Harrison burst from behind the curtain. His disheveled brown and gray streaked hair sat matted to his skull. “Mr. Wolfstalker,” Harrison began. “You work for the Rangers?” He said as he handed my badge.

“Doctor,” I said.”Forgive the intrusion, but I would like to know if the man is contagious.”

Regarding me suspiciously for a moment, Doc Harrison then said, “Damned if I know.” Then he added, “I've never seen this before. Our best bet is to contain it. Beverly and I will quarantine ourselves here.”

Two choices stood before me: Go back to my honeymoon suite and try to wait out the infection, or see that body and determine if stronger measures were needed.

“I don't want to get too close Doc,” I began. “But I need to see the body. If someone else comes down with it, I want to know what it looks like.”

Thinking over what I said, Doc Harrison finally nodded. “Cover your mouth, it's right past the curtain.”

Parting the curtain and keeping my handkerchief over my mouth, I cautiously walked into the dimly lit room. The corpse on the table appeared out of focus to me. The table, a nearby stool and even a small medicinal cabinet seemed sharp in contrast. When I gazed on the body itself, I thought my eyes were going out of focus.

“Fooled us all too, at first,” Harrison said. “Don't look at the whole body, look at the hands.”

Following doctor's orders, I focused on the nearest hand. Veins stood out in sharp dark contrast to the pale skin. The bony fingers extending from the skeletal wrist. Slowly working my way up the forearm, I noticed fine dark hairs covering the limb all the way up to the shoulder. Still on the verge of being fuzzy, I could still see this was once a person, but the skin disappeared under the layer of burgundy follicles. The torso and head were fully covered in fur, the face, blank and featureless. No depressions to suggest eye sockets. No protruding nose... I could only guess where the mouth and jaw would be.

“This building is sitting over a cave system that goes deeper than anyone thinks. Even the miners who first explored it fifty years ago never got as far as I did.”

“Exploring caves can be pretty risky, doc.”

“Not without the proper equipment. Look at the hands again.”

Glancing down at the fingers, I immediately noticed they were longer, growing more talon-like by the second.

“I started out as a camp cook for the miners. One day I went off exploring the cave. Unfortunately, my candles ran out. Stumbling in the dark, I fell off a cliff into an underground river.”

Damn me and my curious nature, the doc was doing a villain monologue. Putting two and two together wasn't hard. One thing for sure, I wasn't in the place I needed to be.

“Well, thanks for letting me see doc, if anyone has these symptoms, I'll be sure to send them to you,” I said as I turned away.

Blocking my path, Beverley shot me a sinister grimace. They weren't going to let me walk out of here.

“Oh, jeez,” I said. “You too?” Drawing my gun didn't impress her. “I'm leaving.”

“Who said anything about leaving?” Beverley said.

Not wanting to shoot her, I gave her a shove with my left arm. Beverley didn't move. Putting my hips and shoulder into it, I pushed her again. This time it felt as though I were pushing against a brick wall.

I was in deep shit and didn't really want to test the depth. Firing into her belly from point blank range, I tried to escape. My first mistake was thinking a bullet would hurt the woman. Second mistake was trying to get past her.

Beverley didn't double over like one would expect from a gunshot wound to the stomach. In fact, the bullet ricocheted off the cave wall behind her, shattering the glass in the nearby case. Arm lashing out faster than anyone would expect, she clotheslined me, knocking me to the floor and preventing my escape.

“I'll take that,” she said while relieving me of my gun. “Not that it will do you any good.”

“As I said,” Harrison said from behind me. “You might be infected with the spores. We're taking you to make sure you are.”

Now it's up to Charlotte to rescue him.

 

Deaf friendly business

This evening my family went out to Dough, located at 6989 Blanco rd. in San Antonio. If you have ever been to the CSD on Blanco, then you're about 1 mile from the restaurant, just inside loop 410.
Dough serves Napoletana style pizza. Here is the link to their place.
The restaurant is small, with a lot of tables outside on the sidewalk. It's a good thing they have fans all over the place!
The food is fantastic and they make their own cheese. Like the menu says: open from 11 A.M. until the cheese runs out.
There is an impressive wine list. Even their water tastes so much better than what you would expect.
This is not your typical pizza place. Serving small pizzas (6 slices) starting in price from 17.00 and up. 5 pizzas, two appetizers, a bottle of wine, 2 beers and three desserts fed 8 people.
It is on the expensive side, but the quality of the food and service is worth it.
Would a deaf person enjoy themselves here? Yes. Every time I have gone, they have been very friendly and helpful. The music is loud (I thought my phone was going off all the time when in fact, it was the bass.)
There were no T.V.'s so captioning wasn't a problem. I was surprised a lot of the waiters could lip read so well. So if you go with friends, there will be a lot of lip reading going on.
Our waiter told us business is going so good, they are going to expand and put in another brick oven! The waiter told us it was going to handle 'to go' orders only, so they can serve customers better. This place Rocks. Your deaf writer says check it out.

Quickie

This is Slick Willie reporting from an undisclosed location. The reason it's undisclosed is I have no flipping idea where I am!
Geographically, I'm in the Texas Hill Country. Here's where we get vague.
I'm out past Wimberley, which is southwest of Austin.
When the directions state: 'count the gates', I knew I was in the sticks. The directions also stated, "Look for the green fence."
I kid you not. Considering the sun set about 20 minutes before I got here, I think I did pretty damn good job of finding a fence in the dark, period!
A lot of people worry, but I actually have a pretty good sense of direction. Comes from growing up in the desert.
A long time ago, we had a bonfire kegger out in the middle of nowhere. (We had lots of parties as it turned out.) As teens, we were smart enough to get our hands on a keg of beer whenever we wanted with little difficulty. It was also easy to elude law enforcement. Just go past the city limits and down some dirt roads known only to a few locals.
Here's where the sense of direction comes in. You can be drunk with your  buddies. As long as that mountain range you see in the distance is on your left, you're in good shape. That's west Texas for you.
Now for being out in the middle of nowhere, I have to admit the wi-fi is pretty decent. We're the first people to use this house... ever. One of the showers doesn't have hot water. That's okay, we can work around that.
I don't have to know my way around a town personally, I look for geographical landmarks and signs. A year or two ago, one of my beloved family members gave me directions up to Marble Falls. I had to take 'this' route. So humoring them to the best of my ability, I drive up the way they recommended. Don't get me wrong, it was the correct way, just not the quickest route. The whole drive up I was thinking; 'If only I took 35 to Austin and then swung over, I could have done this in half the time.'
Another story from long ago:
I was staying at a friends house, when we heard screams coming from the girl who lived in the house behind us.
'Run this way!' a few of the guys told me. Indeed, I ran in the direction indicated, focusing on the streetlights not too far away. They neglected to mention the chain link fence between the properties. I ran full speed into the top metal bar, flipped over the top by sheer inertia and collapsed flat on my back on the other side. All thoughts of rescuing the girl vanished as my lungs tried not to collapse. The next day I had quite the bruise to show for my night excursion.
Some times I think my friends are dicks.
But I can't wait till morning to see what this place looks like.
 

Peaceful belief

Sorry for the late post, we had dinner at my sister's house. A semi-big family gathering of five grandkids and six adults. It could be argued that four of the granddaughters are young adults... but I digress.
Besides, my sister makes a mango salsa that rocks.

The title of the post may be a little misleading. There are all sorts of beliefs, but the ones I'm thinking of is more on a personal level. Some people will disagree with that last sentence, but that's not why I'm writing.
A lot of people don't believe in themselves. Oh, they exist all right, but they don't have the confidence in themselves to live up to their potential. Sadly, we've all done this at one point or another. Sometimes all it takes is one person to say, 'I believe in you.'
Every mother I know has told or shown that to their children, and that's as it should be. Fathers do it too. More often a loved one such as a spouse or friend gives us this support.
Families love one another, that's a given. Unconditional love and support. Comfort and solace.
Having a peer voice this can make it mean more. They are not required to say nice things, so when they are said, perhaps it's just that much sweeter. 
A friend of mine was down in the dumps. He felt life had been treating him unfairly and needed to hear some good news.
So I told him I believed in him. I meant it and I backed up what I said with examples of how I believed in him. The following week, I saw my friend again. He was on top of the world. Things were going his way, he was dating someone new. The old friend was back to feeling like his normal self.
Now I'm not saying it was me that turned him around, but maybe enough people told him they believed in him. Perhaps his self confidence got a jump start from friends and family.
So if you come across a person who is looking a little low in the belief department, let them know, give them a boost. Words can heal. All it takes is one person to turn another around. Give a loved one a vote of confidence and tell them you trust them.