Rival Gates's Blog, page 71

Car Repairs

Cars are such a pain. They are a necessity in our lives. Your ability to work or shop or anything else depends on the reliability of your automobile. My Mother-in-law used to say, “You have a car payment or you have car repairs and sometimes you have both.” Ain’t it the truth! Every time I take my car in for one of those discount oil changes they always find something in dire need of repair. The brakes are worn down and they never seem to be able to turn rotors anymore. They always have to be replaced because they are too thin. Another time the shocks and struts were in bad shape which was making the car dangerous. (Making the car dangerous seems to be the selling point with every repair.) The tires look fine but they have small cracks in them and could blow at any time, like when you’re driving your family on the highway. Then there are the ambiguous problems. There’s a leek and we need to trace it back to its source. That never ends well. The check engine light is on and that means there’s a $20 sensor that needs to be replaced but it will cost $200 in labor to get it changed. Suddenly that oil change has become a very expensive, day long trip to the mechanic. Engines aren’t the only thing ridiculous about the cost of cars. My daughter’s car was backed into and the driver was responsible enough to exchange information. It took about two weeks to fix the car and thankfully neither we nor our insurance had to pay the bill. I say that because the bill was $3700 for a dent in the quarter-panel. When we looked at it in detail we saw that less than $400 went for parts. About another $250 went to tax. The rest was all labor! I am in the wrong field. That is a ton of money for labor. With most of these repairs, however, you have to have them done or else risk your family’s and your own safety. There is never a good time for a large auto expense but they do always seem to come when money is tightest. What alternative is there? Even if you checked five other places, they are all going to give you at least as grim a diagnosis. At first I was angry at the mechanics but then I started thinking about it from their point of view. Yes, it is in their best interest to find things wrong with your car. But consider this. What if they saw a potential problem like the cracks in the tires and told you it was something that could wait to be fixed. Then you go out and have an accident because of the faulty tires. They just opened themselves up for a lawsuit. So I guess they have more than just selfish reasons for bringing up these problems. They are protecting themselves. It doesn’t make me any happier but I can at least see both sides of the coin now.

My Guest Post/Interview!

I have the honor of being interviewed today on Kelsey’s Book Corner Blog. The guest blog/interview has a character interview, a piece about the book and a section about me. I want to take this time to thank the good folks at Kelsey’s Book Corner for their hospitality in giving me this publicity. They were very kind and helpful in making this appearance possible. Here is the link. Enjoy the read and the site! http://www.bloglovin.com/frame?post=2...

Old Fashioned Remedies

Today I have both daughters home with colds. They are so sad, locked up in their rooms wanting nothing but soup. I heard that a study was done on chicken soup and that there were deemed to be no medicinal qualities to the product. Nevertheless, as far back as I can remember, chicken soup has been the go-to remedy for every sniffle, sneeze and other cold symptom. There must be some medicinal quality to it or it wouldn’t keep being used. Once I had a cold when I was little and I could not sleep. My mother was out of town and my father was looking after me. He went into the kitchen and came out a little bit later with a cup steaming hot. He told me to drink it and I did. It tasted like lemon but was very strong. I finished it and went right to sleep. The next morning I woke up and went to school. What was the cure? He had made me what he called a “Hot Totty”. I was very impressed by my father’s healing ability and shared the story with my mother when she came home. To this day I have not heard what Dad put in there but I suspect there was a splash of Johnny Walker Scotch. Mom took Dad aside upstairs and I could hear her muffled voice yelling for one of the few times in my life. For good or ill, all I can say is I felt better in the morning. I probably had only the smallest bit of alcohol but it is no more than I would have had with cough syrup. Though I am not brave enough to try such remedies on my own children, I can’t help but wonder if some of the old cures were better or at least as good as what we have today. After all, for all the talk on television, they still haven’t cured the common cold. We used wet wash cloths and Tylenol to bring down fevers when I was young. Now they have dozens of medicines out there that claim to do the same thing. Who’s to say which is better? It is amazing with all our modern science that we still must often rely on the body to heal itself. I am not putting down modern medicine. As I have said many times, without today’s medicines I would not even be alive right now. Still, there seems to be some merit to the old ways. Many cultures around the world use very basic remedies that seem to be effective. Maybe it is time to try something old before something new.

The Ice Cream Truth

There are certain universal truths known to mankind. Most of them you have heard before like, “A body in motion tends to stay in motion” or “You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs”. Other truths are lesser known but just as correct. For example, “When someone else yawns around you, it makes you very likely to also yawn.” I don’t know why that is true but it is. Before writing this I was talking to my youngest daughter about such things and she said, “Don’t forget the most important one. When people get angry, ice cream makes them feel better.” At first I ignored the notion but then reconsidered. She just might have something there. When my son was little and my wife would come home from work she was usually angry. She did not particularly like her job and it was a great source of stress in her life. As she changed clothes, my son would put “Dirty Dancing” in the VCR and scoop a big mound of ice cream for her. If it was an unusually bad day he would break out the fudge topping and scoop it on to hold his creation together. Other times he would cut a banana in half and then put on the ice cream and fudge (only in extreme emergencies!). Once my wife entered the living room the movie had started and my son would rush forward holding the dessert over his head and forward like he was making a sacred sacrifice to a pagan god. My wife was always pleased with the gift and would watch the movie in bliss so that she could see that “Nobody puts Baby in the corner!” It worked every time. My son taught his sisters and they carried on the tradition. There is something about ice cream that simply puts you in a better mood. Have you ever had a bad day and then stopped at Dairy Queen or another ice cream emporium and felt better by the time you left? It is a universal truth that works on all but those who are lactose intolerant. I have no scientific data to back this up, mind you, but my empirical observations tell me the theory is correct. Perhaps there is a chemical reaction that takes place with the ice cream? Maybe it brings back memories of younger days when stress was not so intense. Whatever the reason, I don’t argue with the results. So next time someone you love is in a bad mood, fetch them a bowl of their favorite ice cream. After all, it can’t hurt.

Vitamins, What do You Buy?

Have you bought vitamins or any kind of supplement lately? I was just doing so and could not believe the vast array of products on the market. I personally like to take my Vitamin C this time of year and my doctor has prescribed fish oil. The latter is apparently due to my need for Omega 3s which you get from fish. Since I seem to have an aversion to anything that has not walked on the ground or had warm blood in it, this is my sole source of these and apparently, I need them. So I went to the store and started looking at fish oil pills. There were too many kinds to count. First there were the ones with x number of milligrams of Omega 3s. That seemed simple enough except none of the bottles tell you how much you need in a day. Do I need 800? 1200? 1600? You would think the more the better but is it overkill? I don’t want to be buying something I don’t need. Then some were mixed with other “Fatty acids” Won’t a cheeseburger do the same thing? Apparently not all fatty acids are created equal. Do I need those products? The doctor just told me to take fish oil. Well, all of these products will accomplish that task. Why should I pay extra for these acids or Vitamin D3…or was it D2? I am sure there is a doctor out there, perhaps related to me who knows what all that means. To me is just means, an additional $5 a bottle and 50 fewer pills. The labels are of little help and I think they’re designed that way. These companies want you confused so you get scared and buy the higher doses. Sadly, their evil scheme worked. I bought the bottle that cost the most, with the fewest pills, and the most…stuff. What’s really sad is that I really have no way of knowing if it is helping me or if it is, could a cheaper supplement would do the same job? Vitamin C was little better. At least there they tell you what percentage of your daily amount each pill has. Then they have different types to throw confusion into the mix. Do I want Vitamin C rose tips (no clue what that means) or citrus or one of ten different types. Don’t they all just do the same thing? I bought the 500mg ones that were generic because I decided to go with the “Ignorance is Bliss” point of view. Though I was done I looked at the Multi-Vitamins. Now there is some confusing stuff. They have cool titles like “Silver” and “High performance” and “Heart Health”. Those all sound like things I want but those pills are expensive. How does a person without a medical degree figure all that out? Ladies and gentlemen, it’s all nothing but a good old fashioned fear appeal. They scare you into buying their products and purposely give you limited information so you have to assume the worst. Vitamins and supplements are a racket. Next time I’m at the doctor, I’m just going to have him write out what to get.

Comic Relief is Necessary

In a recent interview I was asked if I thought comedy had a place in books such as “Quest for the Red Sapphire”. I whole-heartedly answered “Yes”. While it is true that the meat of the book is action and adventure, it is also very important to find places for humor. Even the most suspenseful novels need that tension relief that comedy provides. That comedy might be a simple line or two every so often or it might be an entire scene. It really depends on the story and how much tension the reader has been exposed to so far. In my book there is a segment where distressing situation after situation keep happening. The reader is wound up from all the stress and is ready to burst. We, as humans, cannot handle too much stress for a long period of time. So we seek outlets for it and in this situation I introduce the character of Newminor. This sarcastic gnome is the kind of person who says all the things you wish you could say but are prevented by good manners. He cares for no one other than himself and lives life to the fullest without regard for others’ approval. Newminor takes his shots at the characters and pretty well puts them in their respective places. He is funny and enjoyable both to write and read. Such a scene is necessary to relieve that tension. The reader needs that relief in order to continue on in the book. If the suspense never let up, the book would be exhausting to read. As a writer you know that you can’t keep your audience on the edge of their seat for too long or else you lose them. I have read many books that did not insert any comic relief into the storyline. I found myself straining to finish the stories as they drained my desire to read. Each time I picked up the book I read for shorter and shorter periods. I had to break the cycle of stressful situations by myself. It was like reading an instruction manual after a while. I became tuned out to the story because the tension never relented. A good story breaks itself up for you and gives the reader that reprieve they often need so desperately. Comedy, even in a mild form, is a wonderful way to accomplish this and is a valuable tool in the hands of a writer.

It Keeps Watching Me

I’m not sure if it was a late Christmas present or an early birthday present but my father bought me a camera for my computer. I set it up yesterday and I must say it looks quite intimidating. There is this rectangular bar with an “eye” staring back at me every time I look at the computer monitor. I keep expecting a flash to go off and blind me. So I continue my work on the computer, writing away. Then I look up to be sure what I wrote is correct and there it is again…watching me. Have you ever seen the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”? I kind of feel like HAL is watching every move I make. It’s a little creepy. Then I used it to call my father on Skype. He sits a lot closer to the screen than I do and his face was huge! You could hardly see anything around him. Then I looked at the bottom of the screen and it showed me. Is that really what I look like? This must be a wide angle lens or some other camera trick. It’s a lot like the feeling you have when you hear your voice on tape. Then I noticed how messy the room was behind me. You never think about these things on phone calls. Science fiction movies always show phone calls in the future being two-way picture calls. I hope that doesn’t become the case. I would hate to have to clean the house before I make a call. “I don’t want to order pizza. It will take an hour just to make the room look good enough to make the call.” Now I will have to straighten the room more before I Skype with anyone. I also had to throw a hat on. My hair was a mess. Think of all the things you do when you’re on the phone that you can’t do when you Skype. No more walking around or eating your lunch. No more wearing your holey clothes and paying your bills while you chat. I just looked up again and HAL is still watching me. I swear he is judging me as I sit. From now on I think I will cover the camera with something while I am not using it. Before I Skype again I will be sure to have the room clean. Losing weight can be postponed. It’s a lot easier to clean the room. Maybe Dad had the right idea by sitting so close?

Stranger Danger

I heard a mother teaching her child about “Stranger Danger” the other day. It didn’t seem like such a concern when I was growing up. These days, though, it is just good parenting. I was reminded of when my youngest daughter started school and we taught her about it. We had already had this talk with her older siblings so it seemed like it would be an easy conversation. We sat down with her before she started school and told her to stay away from strangers and not to go with people besides Mom, Dad or her older brother. Everything was going just fine. Then we tested her at the end. “What do you do if someone comes to pick you up from school and they say Mom or Dad sent them?” “I don’t go”, she replied. “What if they say one of us was injured and they have been sent to get you and bring you to us?” “I don’t go”, she repeated. “What if they say they are with the police and it is important that they bring you to us?” “I get the teacher and don’t go” she said. Then it happened. I asked, “What if the stranger has candy?” “What kind of candy?” my daughter asked. I was at a loss for words. When I composed myself, I asked, “What do you mean when you say ‘What type of candy’?” “Well”, she said, “I’m not going with someone just because they have a sucker. I can get one of those at the bank any time. Now if they have a candy bar, I might go.” I was furious. “Wrong! That is the wrong answer. You do not go with them ever!” “But what if they have Skittles, Dad? Those are really good and we don’t buy them very much.” I could not believe she was arguing with me over this. “I don’t care what they have. You absolutely never go with a stranger. At the time I was livid but in hindsight I can look back and laugh. Though she was young, I can’t help but wonder if she was just pulling my leg just to get a rise out of me. If that was the case, it worked great! I was worked up for days. Still, you have to be careful these days. You hear more and more about children being abducted. They are so precious that you have to be on guard all the time. Even my 17 year old daughter worries me when she goes out. I tell her that I trust her. I just don’t trust all the other people.

Why Can't I Decide?

It wasn’t so long ago. At least I don’t think it was so long ago. It doesn’t seem like so long ago. But maybe it really was long ago. I used to be able to make decisions. That’s right. I used to be able to decide between choice A or choice B. Now, I have to ask my wife before I make any choice. It didn’t strike me until the other day when we were grocery shopping and the clerk asked me if I wanted paper or plastic bags. I looked frantically to my wife standing behind the cart and she replied, “Paper”. A few minutes later the clerk asked me if I wanted my laundry detergent in a bag or left out. I paused. ‘Shouldn’t it go in a bag?’ ‘Everything else is going in a bag. Why not add this?’ ‘But it does have that handle which makes the bag unnecessary and a waste of paper.’ ‘Let me look at the other registers. Are other people having their detergent put into bags?’ ‘Rats! How can no one in any of these lines be buying laundry detergent at this moment except me?’ ‘Do they never wash their clothes?’ ‘Maybe there was a big laundry detergent sale and I missed it?’ ‘That would be my luck!’ But the guy is still staring at me waiting for an answer. ‘What will it hurt to have it in a bag?’ ‘Wait a minute. It could break open and ruin whatever food is in there’ ‘Surely the person bagging the groceries wouldn’t put soap in the same bag as food.’ ‘Then again this kid isn’t even old enough to shave. He might not know any better.’ Panic-struck I look at my wife and she says to the patient clerk, “Just leave it out. It will be fine.” Then it struck me. I can’t make decisions for myself anymore. How could such a thing happen? I used to be assertive and self-assured. Now I can’t decide if laundry soap should go in a bag or not. How did I get this way? The obvious theory is what we will call “The Wife Theory”. I am so used to my wife making these kinds of choices that I have lost the ability to do so out of lack of use. That leads to the chicken and egg question. Can I not make up my own mind because my wife dominates my choices? Or does my wife dominate my choices because I cannot make up my own mind. Well, one could argue that I have been told my opinion was wrong so many times that I gave up trying to decide for myself and save the argument. That would certainly explain my indecision. On the other hand, these are not the kind of choices I make often, whereas my wife makes them all the time. Perhaps I am bowing to her experience. That makes sense too. After all, I wouldn’t go to her and ask how to write a novel. That is a field where I have experience. I do make some decisions. It just seems when we are together I look to her for guidance more than I used to. On the plus side, her choice is nearly always the right one. Maybe the truth lies somewhere in the middle of the two viewpoints. Whatever the case, it seems to be working so maybe this isn’t the hill on which I want to die. I’ll decide something else.

Time's Almost Up!

The .99 download sale of “Quest for the Red Sapphire” is nearly over. It will end at 10:00 AM CST on Sunday January 11, 2014. This is your last chance to download it for the promotional price. Don’t miss out. I want to thank all those who have purchased the book. I hope you enjoy this first volume of the Sapphire Chronicles. Writing is one of my favorite pastimes and sharing it only makes me want to write more. Read what you love and love what you read. Rival