PAIN
Pain? My wife says I am insensitive. I guess I am not as sensitive as most people. An indication of this is that I am continually doing inadvertent damage to myself: cutting fingers, or bumping into things. But I do heal fast. (more…)
Texting while driving is another of the long list of driver distractions that are dangerous. Why have a law against texting without covering all the other distracting activities? We should consider a law against Driving While Distracted: DWD. We drivers are all guilty on occasion. (more…)
A few years ago I was searching for a firm footing for my religious beliefs.
My 1953 Chevrolet pickup had died on me half way between Big Spring and Abilene, so I was standing in the hot sun beside the road with my thumb out. (more…)
All the politicians in Fort Worth (and in the country) are going to be agonizing over the promises made for pensions which are tough to fulfill when the city’s revenues are dropping.
One major change that FW should consider (more…)
Thinking about the present problems the United States has, I have come up with a list of actions I would take if I were God:
First: All political entities (school boards, states, and federal) will rehire all the teachers and give them a 10% raise. I will decide which new teachers will be hired and who will be replaced.
Second: There will be a 10 cents per gallon tax increase on all fuels beginning immediately. Then a 10 cents per gallon increase each year for five years. I may change my mind and increase it even more. All federal incentives for efficient auto purchases and for use of ethanol are hereby recinded. The market will decide what is the best purchase. Oil companies will lose all tax advantages. immediately.
Third: Pot smoking is hereby legalized. The tax on marijuana will be the same as on cigarettes. After one year I will legalize other drugs that are now illegal. This will continue for five years until all drugs are legal. (If people want to kill themselves, I will allow it. I will not pass a law against jumping off balconies more than two stories in height.)
Fourth: The taxes collected will be used first to hire and increase the salaries to teachers. I will be giving large cash bonuses to teachers who are ourstanding.
Fifth: A study to determine the long term health dangers in smoking pot will be funded by the tax.
Send me an email if you have other actions you would like to see taken: god@heaven.org
If you like stories about clandestine actions against the Nazis while they occupied Europe for four years, you should read “Agent For The Resistance.” This is a true story told by Herman Bodson, a Belgian resistance fighter, from 1941 thru 1945.
His exploits of sabotage against the Germans in Belgium with his band accomplished as much as any small group that I have read about. Also amazing is that he didn’t tell his story until fifty years later, and it was printed in English by Texas A & M University Press.
I have borrowed from his story in my novels about WW2.
Engineer’s Guide to Firefighting
(or how to burn down your house)
My neighbor must have laughed all the way home after he saw me in my chain saw outfit. Over my ears I had two consume cups stuffed with socks held in place under my knit cap with duct tape.
I should have called a tree expert, but we were on a tight budget. Times had been tough.
We had a remnant of a Hackberry tree in front of the new house, actually old, just purchased. This ugly stump had to be removed. No problem. I rented a chain saw and set to work cutting it off at ground level. (more…)
Self Publish
Promoting Your Book
It is known from some authors’ experiences that even with an agent and a publisher, if your book doesn’t take off in ninety days, they will go on to another new author, and drop you. Sales drop to nothing. So from any approach, an author has to take a very active part in selling a book. And this is especially true if it is your first book, or you are not a “known” name.
How to promote yourself and your book. You will have to learn all about social networking. This is in addition to all the old avenues: radio interviews, getting on Oprah’s show, etc. Blogging, Facebook, Tweeting, etc. is the latest way all products are “promoted.” Even a publicist that I hired hasn’t yet got it completely.
So you first have to have a good website. Christine Rose has helped me fix my website. Go to her website (Christine and Ethan Rose). A social media expert is the first place to start. It will take you weeks and weeks to learn how to navigate all these, but just be patient and your will slowly figure out how to use them.
ILE DE NOIRMONTIER
Gégé’s parents had a house on the resort island of Noirmontier off the French coast near St. Naziere. The Germans had a submarine base there which was frequently bombed by the Allies.
Gégé could identify airplanes by the sound of their engines. British bombers had a lower tone than the German fighters. But the British Spitfire had a distinctive whine/whistle that she knew.
Gégé and her sister swam the in surf in front of their house. Many boats had been hit in the area with sunken vessels and hulks floating all around. It was shocking for them to discover bodies floating up to the beaches. Some of the bodies appeared fresh but some were bloated. They would tell a soldier who would send people to gather up the latest corpse.
The Germans took over most of their house. It was a two story, stone structure with a balcony in front overlooking the beach and the Atlantic ocean.
GÉGÉ ON NOIRMONTIER
Gégé’s family owned a house on the Île de Noirmontier in the Atlantic just off the coast of France near St. Nazaire where the Nazi submarine base was located.
She spent one summer there during the German occupation with her sister. She and her sister would often take a small canoe into the surf and out into the ocean in front of their house. (more…)
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