Page 36 | MediocreMan

The End of an Era · 2 September 2023

I never thought I would do it, but I sold my truck. It is the end of the red Toyota pickup era.

I loved my truck. At least as much as you can love any inanimate object. It was the first vehicle that I bought for myself. I used it to go on my first date with my wife. It was my commuter for over twenty years. I never did teach my boys how to drive a stick shift in it, but it was a great truck.

Actually, it still is a great truck. It is just living in somebody else’s driveway now.

I was loathe to sell my truck, after all, it only had just over 250,000 miles on it. Barely broken in for a Toyota. It probably has that much more life left in it. Barely middle aged. But alas. It was time to go. Much better to have somebody else use it daily than for it to languish in the garage only to be used in the summer a couple times.

I was never going to get rid of my truck. Not only do I have a lot of great memories of driving in the truck, I have great memories of working on the truck too. Not that I had to do much. Just change the timing belt and oil pump, and replace the front rotors on the disk brakes. Which means taking apart and putting together the four-wheel drive hubs. But memories do not really fade away. At least not if you have pictures. And I have pictures of me working on the truck. After all, getting my hands dirty by working on vehicles is fun stuff.

I did not completely get rid of the truck though. I sold it to my brother-in-law (technically, to my sister). I sold it with the understanding that if he ever decides to get rid of it that I get right of first refusal. In other words, if he decides to sell it, I want the chance to get it back. (One of his friends tried to get in line in front of me before the deal was even done. I do not blame him, but sheesh.)

People told me not to sell that old truck. “You’ll regret it. I know I do.” That was what one of my co-workers said after he sold his old Toyota. And maybe I will. But it has gone to a new home. A home where somebody will love it and drive it every day. So I am happy that it is being put to good use.

My old pickup is no longer going to be parked in my parking spot at work, nor will it be parked in my garage. It is the end of an era. At least for me. Now begins the Toyota pickup era for my brother-in-law. I think he likes his brand new 1989 Toyota pickup truck. Like he said, “It’s cherry brah.”

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I Love Blogging But… · 26 August 2023

I love blogging, but lately I have been consumed with other projects that need to be done.

If you are a writer, you know that you need to write all the time. Every day. Or at least you need to have a habit of writing that you stick to. I tend to write in the mornings before I go to work and on Saturday mornings too. It is a good habit. One I have kept for many years. One that I am loathe to miss even when I am on vacation. Or sick. Although I will skip a day or two if I am too sick.

My main writing used to be my blog posts. And when I was not writing my blog post, I would often write in a journal to just jot down my thoughts. And of course, to keep up my habit of writing six days a week. But lately I have been blogging at the last minute. Like I used to do. Or I force myself to make sure that I take one day a week to write my blog. It is not that I do not still like blogging. I do. I love to blog. I love to keep in touch with all of my readers (both real and imaginary).

So no. Blogging has not become a chore that I must do each week. It is just that I have other projects that are demanding my attention. Other projects that are consuming me. Other projects that are gaining momentum.

The interesting thing about writing projects is that they seem to gain momentum the more you work on them. Ideas come and the words flow. And it is difficult to stop the flow even when you are not writing. Which is where I am now. The story is just flowing. As if I am merely a recorder of the story, not the creator. (Which is an interesting thought that I may explore in a future blog post.)

The thing with momentum is that you do not need to work very hard to keep it up. In the physical world, it takes a while to get the momentum of a large object going, but once it is going, you just need a little energy to keep it going. The same is true in writing. Once the project is up and running, you just need to work on it a little bit each day and the story keeps flowing. It is how I finished my last book (which is sitting patiently waiting for editing) and how I am going with my newest book. I just work on it a little bit each day and the story keeps moving along.

This story writing momentum is a fairly new thing for me. I do not know that I have ever experienced it before. Maybe I had it with my D.B. Cooper story. I remember I had a couple places where the story bogged down because I had to do more research, but I finished it rather quickly once I started it. Of course I had been writing that story in my mind for many years before it ever got into my computer. In fact, D.B. Cooper and Me may be the oldest story that I have ever written. Or at least it took the longest to get from idea to finished product. Which is my point about momentum. D.B. Cooper took a while to get going. Yet even with that story, once the momentum was going, I just had to feed the engine a little bit of fuel. I just had to write a little bit each day to keep the story going.

Which brings me back to my original thought. I really do love to blog. Even after all these years of putting stuff out there for my few faithful readers. But as much as I hate to say it, sometimes my blog post duties take a little momentum from my other projects. And that is something that I do not want to do.

Like I said. I love blogging, but right now I need to keep the momentum going on my current project. So heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to write I go.

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Beware QR Codes! · 19 August 2023

Beware QR codes! Rather beware QR code readers.

I am not much of a phone guy. At least not much of a smart phone guy. Which means that I do not have my whole life on my phone. Oh sure. I search the internet on my phone. I email and text people. I even use the phone to call people. But I do not have my whole life on my phone. At least I do not think so.

Since I am not that much of a phone guy, I had a problem with a QR code recently. Rather, I had a problem with my QR code reader. In fact, I just figured out the problem as I was preparing to write this blog post. The problem is that I clicked an ad that was on my QR code reader.

Like I said, I am not that much of a smart phone guy. Not very savvy as it were. I was at a track and field meet signing up for my event. There was a QR code for me to scan to do so electronically. I had done it one time before, but apparently I clicked the wrong thing this time. If I used my QR code reader all the time, I would have noticed that there is a huge space below the reader that is an ad. This particular ad (fanjestic[dot]com) takes what is ostensibly the QR code you just read and uses it as part of the ad. But when you click on what you think is the picture of the QR code (and it may actually be the picture), you go to their sign up site. Believe me, it is a place you do not want to go.

Now, you can go to the site without the sign up, but it is just an empty site. It has two buttons, one for Canada and one for the U.S. And when you click on either, you get what is essentially a blank screen. How do I know all this? I am glad you asked.

I was at the track and field meet where I used the QR code reader to read the QR code. It was supposed to take me to a Google document that I could use to digitally sign up for my event. I clicked on the picture of what I thought was the QR code picture (as I already described). But whether it was the actual QR code picture or not, it took me to the ad’s site. Which had me sign up for some service that I did not want. But I did not look at it closely. I just signed up because I thought I was at the right place. And after I had given my information, I had not signed up for my event, but instead had signed up for a headache and possible loss of money.

Well, I eventually went to the correct site and signed up for the javelin. Which by the way, I did get a Personal Record (PR). And it will be my forever record in the 700g javelin since next year I will be in the 600g javelin category.

At any rate.

I did not know that I was the victim of a scam website until I got home. Apparently, the site had already tried to charge a dollar to our credit card. Our bank was all over it and had sent us a text. And after a little work, we figured out that we would cancel our credit card and issue a new one. (And by we, I mean my wonderful, diligent wife and the bank.)

I suppose that I should say that all’s well that ends well. But I need to add another comment.

Beware the QR code! Rather, beware the QR code reader. Rather, beware the ads in the QR code reader. Or just be smarter than your phone. Or at least smarter than me. (Which should not be that difficult.)

[One last note. The QR codes on this page point to my website and my Amazon author page. I suppose you could consider the Amazon link an ad.]