My oldest daughter is of the age where she'll be getting her drivers licence soon. While I'm worried like every parent is about this rite of passage, I wish to impart some wisdom about driving a vehicle. Those of you who don't know, I did some stunt work back in my early days. What I learned then got me out of some serious scrapes. What should have been a fatal accident, turned into a close call.
Driving instructors are going to cover all the basics of defensive driving, and that's a good thing. Here are some rules to live and drive by.

• Let the other guy go first. The world is full of people who have to get across the road/lane/city now. They speed up, cut people off and try to beat the stop light. They're trying to get where they're going because it's important to them. These folks have a death wish. If you see one of these guys coming up behind you, let them by. Chances are you'll be passing them after the ambulance pulls their broken body from the wreckage... or at least when the cops pull them over.
• Where ever you go, pad the travel time by 10%. That way you're not one of those guys I mentioned previously.
• Trust your instincts. If something doesn't look right, don't do it. Many years ago, my new car and I found ourselves at an intersection behind a truck carrying some sheetrock. My girlfriend was suggesting I speed up and go around the truck. I couldn't put pin it down, but something looked out of place. Not really knowing why, I put the car in neutral and took my foot off the clutch, just as the light turned green. When the truck took off, the top layer of sheetrock slid off and landed exactly where I would have been if I had done what my girlfriend wanted me to do. The whole load wasn't secured or tied down. There is no doubt in my mind that sheetrock would have gone into my windshield and ruined my day.
• Make a decision. A lot of accidents occur because the driver changes his or her mind. Don't be that kind of driver. 'Oh, I want to get off... here.' and slide across three lanes of traffic. Yes, I've seen it done. No, I'd rather take the next exit and double back. If you are going to pull out into traffic, or anything, for that matter, commit to the action 100%. No wishy-washy erratic impulsive driving.
• Properly adjust your mirrors. A lot of blind spots can be eliminated or reduced simply by adjusting your rear view mirrors. Turn your mirrors so that none of your vehicle is in the mirror. I blame cop shows that feature the good guy on stakeout. We see him in his car, through his side view mirror. That's just Hollywood, folks. In reality, you should place the edge of your car slightly beyond the frame of the mirror. Trust me on this one. It won't eliminate blindspots all together, but 95% will be gone.
• Always look for the escape route. Make it a game. 'If the guy in front of me were to suddenly go berserk, where would I go? By the same option: adjust your driving so that there is an escape. Somebody's tire can blow and send the car in front of you turning, twisting and screeching. If you've spaced yourself far enough away, you can steer clear of the accident and be the one who got away.
• Drive with your thumbs next to your hand. What's the first bone in the body to break during a head on collision? Not the chest or ribs, although you might think it's those, but your thumbs will dislocate or shatter before you hit the airbag. (Speaking of which, don't count on an airbag to deploy.) You might end up with a few scrapes and bruises, but even from a small impact, your hands could be bandaged up for a few weeks. You'll lose weight because you will have trouble feeding yourself and forget trying to text someone.

I'll think of some more, but these are the major points I wanted to cover.

So we're in the closing hours of 2012. Yippee! I got off my 'waiting for my ship to come in' phase. Now I'm in the 'swim out to that bugger already.'
Two days before Christmas, I posted Travelers Road to the Kindle e-book site where it currently sells for 1.00. Eight to ten people have bought it so far. (Thanks Mom and Dad.) Seriously though. People who are not related to me bought the book. I'm humbled by their faith in me. Now if I could just figure out to market this damn thing, I'd be all set.
Let me make this clear: I'm not doing it for the money. It's the learning curve. Experience and exposure will make me better. No one is showing me what to do, so I'm just pushing buttons and pulling levers until something moves.The current chair I'm using is a folding chair you'd see at church functions. It's literally a pain in the ass. After sitting for awhile, the shooting pain in my back prevents me from sitting down to write for long periods of time. I don't care, next paycheck I'm getting a decent chair with back lumbar support so I can work.
Putting TR up as an e-book felt right. The book was done. The edits were to my satisfaction. Most of the loopholes closed...
The book needed to move forward. Time to test those network contacts. I know for certain a friend in Norway bought the book and convinced a friend to buy it as well. This is how it starts guys.
Do I know what I'm doing? That should be obvious: I don't have a clue.

Last night I'd had enough. I went to Amazon and the Kindle Direct Publishing. After a bit of wrangling, I managed to upload the book. So if you have an Ipod, Ipad, any flavor of Kindle or what not, you can download it as an e-book. So now what?
Give them a day or two to review it. Let's just call it after Christmas, I don't see anyone doing anything work related this week. Kids are off from school. The wife isn't teaching. My sister is busy cutting hair. I'm doing the hurry up and wait thing at work. Maybe I'll bring cookies with me on Monday.
So I got to get the word out about Travelers Road. Let's see... I'll tell my friends and family, of course. My network of contacts that extend from New Zealand to Norway. If truth be told, I've no idea what I'm doing. Like a game of golf: I look at the course and choose the what I think is the best putter, driver, or wood for the shot depending on wind conditions. In short, I'm guessing. At least it's an estimated guess and not doing anything with this thing I spent several years growing.

Pepper is back to wearing a cone of shame. I took him to the vets to get him neutered. That's the right word, but I feel funny saying that. What would be an appropriate description? Snipped? Fixed? Balls removed? When I got him back, the poor pup was stumbling around like he was stoned. (probably was with the surgery.) I'm giving him the pain killers and antibiotic so he stays healthy. Today was the first day I witnessed him jump up properly. Before, he would do his morning stretch and proceed to jump on everything, maybe hump one of my kids legs or something. Now he goes to stretch, the sutures and cut parts of his body are telling him, 'Hey, not a good idea.' Pepper attempted to jump on to his rear legs and I could see him wince. He's trying, but it just isn't happening.

So while I'm waiting for the pork loin to finish, I figured I'd dash this off right quick. Since stepping down from management, I'm finding life less stressful. I now drive a forklift and for the most part stay out of the public eye. The impression I'm getting is that's where store management wants me. (The rat bastards.) They want to keep their reputation for hiring the disabled, just keep me out of sight. I get to stay employed, but I'm looking for an alternative on the weekends. If Harper decides to pass on my book, I'm going to look at going the self publishing route. Let's face it, based on the synopsis, they might not look any further. Squeezing 100K down to one page while containing all the spoilers is hard.
I'll be honest, I wrote Travelers Road because I suffer from an over active imagination. When five people come up to me and ask to read what I've written, I hop on over to Kinkos and print up a copy.
My wife and kids like the story. They're family, so while the opinion is nice, I have to take it with a tiny grain of salt. Gradually I let close friends and co-workers read my tale. Here's what they said, (and I'm quoting from the written letters.)
"I consider myself a fan. When's it coming out on Amazon? I want to buy it.", "You weave a good yarn and kept me turning the pages." and my favorite: "It's like Gunsmoke on Mescaline."
Those are wonderful comments and I truly enjoy hearing from fans, but back up a second.
Roughly seventy-five to one hundred people have read it. I've gotten e-mails, post cards and a full fledged letter. I'm getting fan mail from total strangers.
Holy crap on a cracker!
Fan mail. Me. People really want to know what is going on inside my head? Really?
It's considered bad form to plug your book with quotes like that in the submission process, so I didn't. At the same time, no one is going to blow your horn other than you.
Wait, that came out sounding worse than I meant.
My point is: Harper Publishing, it's not too late to get on the band wagon. I'm going to write. People are going to read. Are you going to play catch up or what?

So Carol didn't get the job. Reading the paper I see school administrators are worried about meeting the state mandated test scores while funding for teachers is being cut. The rumor going around is more teachers will get pink slips by the end of the semester.
Hmm... Students are failing the academic standards set by the state, so we will continue to lay off teachers until grades improve. That's the logic here in Texas folks. My family is ready to pack it in and head to where the jobs are. I explained it to my beloved this way: I have a job in a big box store with a side of writing. She has a career. If some one were to call up and say they need a teacher in Alaska, I'd pack everything up and go. Write this house off as a loss and start over. Seriously, if the health department saw this place they'd condemn it. the wiring is bad. No electricity in the garage or kitchen, the heating unit isn't made any more. I've replaced or rebuilt some things, but there's only so much one can do on my limited budget.
This is why getting a book deal would be a good thing. I don't believe we are pre-destined for the ordinary things in our lives. It's the ordinary things in life we have to rise above in order to be great. So I've written this great book that a lot of strangers like. Writing is a second job to me. Treating it as professionally as I can, the hope is I can be successful at it.
I do believe in karma. Let's hope what comes around, goes around.

Some times it's not our fault.
Monday morning the truck that delivers our store supplies took a turn a little too wide and sheared off the headlight of another truck. In all fairness, there was a lot of chaos going on. A technician was on the roof changing our AC filters. I was changing the propane tank on our forklift. An electrician was testing our alarm system. There were two other deliveries going on and the trash compactor was being changed out. So yeah, a lot happening. I heard the crunch tinkle of metal and glass. The electricians truck got gouged by the trailer. I have never wanted a camera phone so badly.
Seriously, I must be the last guy in the state who doesn't own a cell phone. My wife has a Blackberry. Not a week goes by when my kids drop not-so-subtle hints they want a cell phone. The only thing I would use a cell phone for is text messaging... and pictures of acts of stupidity.
Maybe Christmas. My wife may have just gotten a job that will triple our household income. If that happens, then maybe we'll get phones for the girls.
Seriously, why would a deaf guy need a cell phone? Unlimited text messages? Hah! let's test that theory.
I really need my wife to get this job. We didn't make it through last year with her only substituting. Now our expenses are increasing what with one daughter who is of driving age and another not that far behind.
This is life. Am I complaining? Perhaps. I'm trying to make the most out of things.
I submitted my manuscript to Harper Collins publishing. If they like it, great! If they don't, I'm going to stick with my original plan and publish it on Amazon. People who've read it, like it. Total strangers have told me they enjoyed the book. I've gotten e-mails and written letters from people who've read it. Fan mail! I'm flabbergasted. The difference of going with self-publishing and publishing through Harper, is that I'd have to do my own marketing. I've got an idea on where to start. It may not be a good idea, we'll just have to see.