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MUSTANG - Episode 4: Into the Desert

“Rob, why are you buying the car?” asked Cecil Junior with a serious focus on his face.“Is there some problem? The check cleared, didn’t it?” Rob asked anxiously. He thought this would be quick and easy.“Oh, sure, sure, no problem,” said Cecil Senior.“We just like to get to know our customers,” continued Cecil Junior.“See, Rob,” said Cecil Senior, “each car is unique. It has its own character. So do our customers. We just like to know how that match is going to work out when you drive away.”       Rob thought this was a little crazy, but, in some way, he understood.“It’s going to work out fine,” said Rob. “See, I had a car like this in college. I loved that car.”“What did you love about it?” asked Cecil Junior.“Gosh, I don’t know. It’s hard to say. Guess it was just the time in my life that it gave me what I needed. You know, I was just a kid, really. Thought that I was an adult, but I wasn’t. I know that now. That car gave me a sense of being a man and being on my own. It was just me and the car. It was a sense of being cool. It was a sense of power. It was a toy that responded with acceleration when I needed it.”The Cecil’s were nodding their heads indicating they understood.“I think that most of all, it was all that I needed. Kinda like it and me were one. Just us and the world. What more did I need?”“And now, Rob?” asked Cecil Senior.“Huh?”“That was back then, Rob,” continued Cecil Junior. “How about now? Why do you want the car now?”“I don’t know,” said Rob. “Maybe for all the same reasons. I want to be that kid again.”“The lost child inside?” said Cecil Senior.“Wow, Cecil,” said Rob. “Profound.”“Yes,” said both Cecils in unison, the first response coming from both of them at the same time somewhat shocked Rob. “We know.”“Want to see the car?” asked Cecil Junior.“Sure,” said Rob, remembering how odd it was that he was meeting them here rather than at the garage.“Let’s go,” said Cecil Senior.  He rose and laid money on the table for the coffee they were drinking.They left the Rock Bottom and Rob walked toward his rental car.“Just leave that car here,” said Cecil Junior. “Give me the keys and I will drop it off at the agency later today.”“OK,” said Rob. Guess that made sense he thought. Could not drive two cars and he expected to return from the garage with the Mustang.The Cecils motioned Rob over to a large black SUV with tinted glass. Rob thought the vehicle looked like the ones in DC tailing motorcades filled with secret service agents and an arsenal of weapons. It looked out of place here in the desert, especially with the black paint job. He could not understand anyone having anything black in this heat.The Cecils took the front seats and Rob slid into the back. The interior of the SUV was large and Rob felt isolated in back. The tinted glass did not help. In fact, it seemed more tinted than he usually experienced with the view outside almost completely obscured. If the Cecils had wanted to keep their location secret, this was the vehicle to use. All that was missing was a blindfold.Watch for new episodes in MUSTANG.Click Here to Start at the IntroductionSubscribe below to receive a weekly notice of postings.You can influence the direction of this story!Drop me a message inContactwith suggestions.

MUSTANG - Episode 3 - Meeting the Cecils

So, here he was, in a rented car on the way to the Cecils’ car, or at least to the meeting spot. Cecil Junior told Rob that their place was hard to find. He would meet them in another spot and he and Cecil Senior would take him to the car.“But I always get a Neverlost in my rentals. I’ll just plug in your address and it will take me there,” said Rob when he phoned to set up the sale.“Nope,” said Cecil Junior. “Won’t work.”“Won’t work?” thought Rob. Why not?But rather than push the point, he agreed to meet him at the Rock Bottom Brewery. Simple enough, Rob thought. He would just plug in the Rock Bottom from the list of restaurants on Neverlost and would be guided there. So he paid little attention to the directions Cecil Junior offered.After reaching the Rock Bottom, he went in, and askied for Cecil Smith, and got only blank stares from the staff. He wondered what was up.“Uh,” said the hostess. “I don’t think we have anyone here by that name.”Since Rob knew what the Cecils looked like from the magazine photos, he could see they were not there.“They are named Cecil Smith,” Rob said to the hostess.“Who is?” replied the Hostess.“They are.” said Rob.“They all are?”“They both are, father and son, junior and senior.”“Let me call,” said Rob reaching for his cell phone.Rob called the number Cecil Junior gave him. There were two rings, then a “pronto.” Odd response, thought Rob.“Uh, Cecil Smith?”“Speaking. Is this you, Robert?”“Uh, Rob, Rob. Yes, it is.”“Where are you?”“At the Rock Bottom Brewery. Where are you?”“Robert,” said Cecil Smith, as to a child. “Did you follow my directions or use that Neverlost thing?”“Uh,” said Rob, a bit the scolded child. “The Neverlost thing. I mean Neverlost, but it took me here. I am standing in the Rock Bottom.”“Which one?” asked Cecil Junior.“What do you mean? There was only one listed.”“Robert, there are two; and, it appears that you are not in the right one.”“Oh,” said Rob.“At this moment, are you standing near a cute little hostess girl?” asked Cecil Junior.“Yes.”“Just ask that young lady where the other Rock Bottom is. She will tell you. See you in half an hour.”The phone clicked off.This is getting off to a great start, Rob thought.Rob did as he was told and asked the young lady where the other Rock Bottom was located. She smiled and gave directions as though this had been done before. At least Rob read into her response that it had been done before. He did not want to be the only idiot who had ever made this mistake.After a half-hour of driving, Rob arrived at the other Rock Bottom. He walked in and spotted the Cecils. He could not mistake them. They looked just like their picture in the magazine. The men were obviously father and son with Cecil Junior a genetic, younger copy of his father. Both were rotund squat men. As Rob walked toward them, each Cecil stood.“Finally made it,” said Rob as he shook each man’s hand. The hands were wide and hard, just as Rob expected from men who welded car parts all day.“So you did,” said the older man, obviously Cecil Senior. “How do you like Phoenix?”“I ’ve been here before and I like it,” answered Rob. “But being from the east coast, it’s hard to get used to the lack of trees and water. Guess I would like to think that I could get by living off the land with shelter and something to drink nearby.”“Ever live off the land?” asked Cecil Senior.“Uh, no,” said Rob. “Guess I would just like to think that.”“You know,” said Cecil Junior, “the first settlers to these parts were Indians from a tribe in what is now the Juneau, Alaska, area.”“Is that right?” asked Rob.“Yep,” Cecil Senior said completing Cecil Junior’s thought. “Guess you could say they were like someone from the east coast. They had fish, trees, water. Moved here.”“What was it, an early Del Web development,” joked Rob.“Guess you could say so,” smiled Cecil Junior, snickering slightly at Rob’s humor. “Best we can tell nowadays, it was for trade. This was the middle of a major trade route between Indian nations up north and the Aztecs down south. Sort of the west’s version of the silk route.”Rob was impressed by Cecil Junior’s grasp of history.“Best of all was their use of air conditioning,” said Cecil Senior.“Excuse me?” said Rob. Now he knew they were putting him on.“Yep,” returned Cecil Junior. “You see, they built their village near a blow hole.”“A blow hole?” asked Rob. “You mean like from a whale?”“Like from a large cavern,” answered Cecil Senior.“Well,” continued Cecil Junior, “under their village was a huge cavern. Air in underground places tends to hover around sixty-five degrees. During the day, the cool air expanded into the hot air outside through a crack in the surface about the size of a manhole. It did so with a good deal of force. A lot of cool air escaped each and every day through this hole. The Indians cooled their village with it.”“And then,” tag teamed Cecil Senior, “at night, the desert air cools way down. The process is reversed and the cavern sucks the cool night air back down into the cavern where it releases again the next day.”“Amazing,” said Rob.“You can still see it to this day,” said Cecil Junior. “Plan to do a little touring?”“Well, yes, I do.”“Where to?” asked Cecil Senior. Rob was beginning to get use to the Cecils taking turns in the conversation.“Well, I thought that I would go up to Sedona.”“Good choice. Real pretty up there.”“So, how about the car?” asked Rob.“Ah, yes, the car, said Cecil Senior.“Uh yes, the car,” said Rob, trying to get the conversation back to the order of business that brought them all here. “The Mustang.”Watch for new episodes in MUSTANG.Click Here to Start at the beginningSubscribe below to receive a weekly notice of postings.You can influence the direction of this story!Drop me a message inwith suggestions.

On Writing

Yes, this is yet another piece by an author performing self-examination as to ‘Why do I write?’ So, indulge me.For me, there are stories inside that need to get out. They are partially formed, just dreamlike themes, but they take shape as I write. I find the story tells itself to me as I write, characters take form when I begin to describe them. I’m not alone in loving to invent characters I know I’m only one among tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands.Yet, it appears to be a somewhat rare affliction. When I go to book signings, I encounter a fellow traveler or two; but generally people are in awe of the writing skill.It reminds me of the story I heard from Robert James Waller, author of The Bridges of Madison County. He held a lecture on a cruise ship about writing. (I’m still waiting for my invitation for a free cruise in exchange for a writing lecture.) He told his audience to just write what was inside. His wife later scolded him, “Honey, everyone is not like you.” Tom Clancy also told people, “Just write.” That advice is fine, but most people admit that they don’t know what to write.So, to those of you who write, you know what I’m talking about, right? For others, just buy my books!(Comments? Drop me a line atwww.JacksonCoppley.com/contact)

MUSTANG - Episode 2: Getting the Car

Rob was entering Red Rock headed to Sedona. These are the parts he saw in all those cowboy movies in his Robbie days. Tall, red monuments rose out of the sandy desert floor. The cowboy connection was not lost on Rob. This was his cowboy adventure.No, that was minimizing it too much. Not a cowboy, he was on a not-so-frivolous quest. Although, he was not sure what it was. Was he running from or going to? Not sure yet of the term on which to settle. “Running from” was too cowardly. It did not take much effort to leave. “Going to” was not right. Going to what?The Mustang was new to Rob. He picked it up soon after he landed in Phoenix. It was April. Not yet hot, but definitely warmer than DC when he left. Rob liked the air: clean and dry. He liked the space: wide and open. It was a clean slate.The area around Phoenix is country pristine. Too sterile, in fact, for a city, people, grass, golf, and all the other things that can live off the land back east. Yet, here they all were. Phoenix sits in clean-slate country, nothing but a blank canvas. Even the city itself started twice from a clean slate, first from nothing and then from its own ashes, hence its name. What place better for fresh starts?Rob talked to the Mustang owner a month ago. Cecil Smith was a second-generation used-car mechanic in Phoenix. In a town where, in past generations, used cars were valuable, Cecil Smith and Cecil Smith Junior made a good living.Used cars out here, removed from eastern snow, salt, and potholes, stayed new longer. It hardly even rained. Cecil Senior and Junior were masters of preservation in a land of the well preserved. Or, at least that is what it said in the car magazine Rob read.Car magazine Rob read? Even Rob considered the significance. Rob had not touched a copy of Road and Track or the like since college. US News and World Report and the Economist filled his more recent reading.Why did he buy that copy on the way to work? Why did page 24 contain that article on the Cecils? Why did that photo appear of the fire engine red Mustang?Maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe the underlying desire to change sparks the one, small change that may have cascading effects. Maybe, in each man’s life, he seeks it. Maybe.Rob’s life had plenty of reasons for change. A small linchpin, pulled, was all that was needed.Watch for new episodes in MUSTANG.Subscribe below to receive a weekly notice of postings.You can influence the direction of this story!Drop me a message inContactwith suggestions.

20 Bytes from Stardom

There I was, all alone in a nondescript Holiday Inn in Atlanta. Then I received an early copy of a review Byte Magazine would release in a few days. It was about the software product I invented. It was called Thinx, a program that tied graphic icons to data about the real-life item it represented. You dropped an item into a drawing and formulas you designed would tally data about the whole drawing.The article stated that even if only part of what was promised was delivered Thinx would be one of the most revolutionary products of the year. I remember the euphoria that washed over me. It's a high like no other and, like an addict, one you want to have again, and again. Needless to say, my product sales did not lead to riches.I recently Googled Thinx and came up with the following kudos for it:-- Jerry Pournelle's "1991 User's Choice Award" for "Best DOS and Windows Applications" in Byte Magazine-- "The Ones to Watch" for the 1990 PC/Computing Magazine's "Most Valuable Product Awards"-- Nomination for DISCOVER Magazine's "1990 DISCOVER Awards for Technological Innovation"-- Nomination for "Best Business Application: Graphic or Display Orientation”Jerry Pournelle (see the first award above) remembered me years later when I started writing and gave my Tales From Our Near Future a nod when I published it.And what about Thinx? Google it now. The name that some smart guys at a PR firm long ago created for smart graphic software (the X was partly made from an artist’s brushstroke in the logo), is now assigned to a line of women’s underwear with a special, embarrassing feature. Ah, what an ignominious ending for something once so dear to me.How did Thinx go from there to here? Ah, that’s for another time. I’ve got to keep you tuned in, haven’t I?(Comments? Drop me a line atwww.JacksonCoppley.com/contact)Subs... to receive notices of new posts.

MUSTANG - Episode 1: Introducing Rob

A red 1967 Mustang convertible, black interior, a boss 302 V8, top down, headed into Arizona Red Rock country. Feels good. Anyone who thinks a car is just transportation should ask a sixteen-year-old boy or a forty-two-year-old man. Rob, or Rob-Bob-Bobby-Robert, each name he was called by a variety of people, was thinking about what it was all meant, in that place, at that moment.Rob-Bob-Bobby-Robert took off about an hour earlier, with his ‘67 version of pop culture at a speed of a hundred on the open, flat, straight Arizona highway. How could he not? It was a thrill, but not like the first time. Rob-Bob-Bobby-Robert wondered if there were any first time thrills left.Ford came out with a 1994 version of this car that Rob-Bob-Bobby-Robert thought came close. Yet, it was the version for 40-50-somethings who wanted the sixties experience with air bags.Rob-Bob-Bobby-Robert wanted the real deal, just like the one he had in college. Sure, it had the loose, rattle build of US cars of the time when dominance meant not trying harder. Muscle was all that mattered. Taking a Mach 1 Mustang above a hundred miles per hour, with the loose feel of cheap construction, was the supreme high for American youth.Rob, as he was called at this point in his life, wondered if his mother realized that such a simple name for her son would mean a life of confusion and identity mistakes.“Robert,” someone would say when they first met, “Do they call you Robert or Bob?”“Do they call you Bob or Rob?”“Do they call you Bobby?”It was strange that, through the years, they never hit what name he was currently using. In the Robert-Bob days, he was Bobby, as in Kennedy. In the Bob-Rob days, he was Robert, what his wife called him. As a little kid, he was Robbie, but he put that name behind him as quickly as possible.Now he was Rob. Simple, just as he had made his life. It was just him, his car, a few things in back, and the highway.Watch for new episodes in MUSTANG.Subscribe below to receive an email noticewhen each episode is posted.You can influence the direction of this story!Drop me a message inContactwith suggestions.

MUSTANG - Introduction

Mustangis a serial novel, in which you can affect the plot.I will post segments of the story and invite subscribers to comment on the plot and suggest the next twists and turns. Here is the basic story outline:Rob is a middle-aged guy seeking to reinvent his life. He travels to Arizona to take possession of a classic Mustang convertible. He doesn’t notice at first, but the car seems to be controlling what he wishes to do and where he wants to go.Carol is a woman in her late thirties who lives with her older sister. Carol seems lively and will-o-the-wisp, but she is sharing a dark secret with her sister. Rob and Carol connect.That’s it. Read, enjoy, and let’s hear from you.Click here for Episode 1

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Steve Jobs and Me

That’s a bold heading isn’t it: “Steve Jobs and Me.” Who do I think I am? Well I considered “Bill Gates and me,” but Steve, bless his departed soul, is more topical and, although I’ve met both men on several occasions, Steve does win in the department of personal magnetism. I’ve described Bill as the most average guy you’ll ever meet. That is not a dig in any way. He’s the kind of guy you want as your doctor or your lawyer (no mystery in the later since both his parents were attorneys). He’s solid and dependable. Steve is the guy you want as your rock star.In the late eighties and early nineties, the golden age of personal computers, I was touring the world hawking a software product I invented (that’s a story for another post, another day). I attended conferences with the Software Publishers Association, of which I was a member, and a nominee for special achievement (again, another day’s post). Steve was at our conference in Montreal, hawking the Next computer. If you follow the life and times of Steve Jobs, this was the time after he was fired from Apple and when he started a new computer company, Next.I’d already read all about Steve. He was supposedly egotistic and tended toward odd regimens such as ‘not eating anything with eyes.’ But the thing that I felt unforgivable was his paternity denial. Here I was, a responsible father, married, raising two kids, and Steve denied being the father of his daughter Lisa, forcing the mother of his child to depend on welfare while he raked in millions. Grrr. So, here I was, walking into a small room, ready to meet this cad, this scoundrel, this man of ill repute, with my head held high and my view of him squarely down my nose. After a few minutes with this bad boy of Silicon Valley, what was my reaction? I was totally captivated.Steve talked with passion, totally focused on what he was selling. What was it? I cannot remember. But what I’ll never forget was how he said it. There was a fire in the belly that bubbled up through those dark eyes of his. My impression: “I want to do whatever this guy is doing.”My next encounter with Steve was some time after that, in Cannes, at another software conference, in another hotel suite. The charm was still burning bright. If he said, ‘Let’s take this hill,’ you wanted to follow, even if you didn’t know exactly what that meant.Now we have a number of Steve Jobs portrayals out there in film. I watched each wondering if they would be like the Steve Jobs I met. Fassbender did a reasonable performance, but it would be hard to nail the man himself. You just had to be there.(Comments? Drop me a line atwww.JacksonCoppley.com/contact)