I'll Soon Be Rolln' My "Bedroll" Out in a Fresh Camp...

I'm working on a "change of venue". That's one of those writes euphemisms for; I'm starting up a fresh blog. I came to thinking I needed something that was more fitting to how I'm going these days and what I'm about...

Onliest trouble is__As seldom as I set such things up, getting it done is a piece of work. There's a fancy bit of elektawnic dancing that has to be done... and nobody, especially the ones who created the system have a real working idea of how to go about it.

When you factor in all the eggheads sitting behind the keyboards for the big outfits running this show__(The internet) it gets danged messy. They repeatedly "Improve" things (That is - mostly fix what ain't broke just so they've something to do). The result is, it takes twice as much work and a week of blue smoke, bad names and dirty words to sort through the "Improvement"... and generally the beer brewers sales improve as a consequence... I needed an excuse... Right?

Been trying - and failing - to get a Fresh Blog linked to my RV Website... they've made it so hair pulling convoluted, and I've no hair left to pull... that I'm questioning the value of goin' through their exercise.

The hoops to jump through are way to disjointedly explained, with far too many "mights" and "sometimes" and "Ifs" used in relation to their directions. That gives them an 'Out' when it doesn't work and nobody knows why... (which is from my perusal of the forums where folks are struggling for help with the "new" and "improved" and "Easy" system...

The likelihood is I'll abandon that lil' enterprise and just go a different way with it.

Not a bad thing... it'd fit into the simplification I'm truly trailing just now. Much of the "Internet" has lost a lot of its shine for this old buster.

That said A Fine Horse in New Country will be taking over as my "Main" blog in the very near future... there's little to read there just now... only a paragraph or so and some page headers for pages I have yet to build... all just to give me something to post as an initial test and to lay the foundations for me to tinker with.

Soooo... I'd appreciate it, if you want to keep on trailing along, if you went there and "Followed" me again. The gadget to do that is right there on the right hand side... 'Course as always, you can just bookmark it too.

I've got all sorts of doodles and ideas I want to work on (and write about) in the future so might could be the 'Semi-sabbatical" I've been on for a while is winding down. We shall see.

This blog will remain... I'll write a "Link" post here when I make the final move (and this blog will remain (along with my very first blog) as an "Archive" and a way for people to find where I went!

Many Thanks
Brian

I May... But I Haven't Yet...

I've thought long and hard about starting yet another website.

Buuuuut... since I've not been doing a stellar job of mucking out the stalls of the two I have, I haven't yet found that to be a good idea! :)

The new site would be, of course, wrapped around the building and working of my yet to be truly started winter camp.

I've been running so hard lately I forget where I'm at sometimes...

So... don't think I've revealed, though my confused brain pan can't be tee total sure, that I locked down a few weeks back, a five acre spot of Arizona dirt before I rolled north.

Down in Cochise county, on the afternoon of the day Arlo joined my camp, I signed the paper to work a cheap deal on five "dirt cheap" acres in Sulphur Springs valley in Arizona.

A few dollars down and a few more each month for but 15 months or so... and I've got the Cochise county location where I can be who the hell I am with a minimum amount of the kings minions pokin' and jabbin.

Cochise county is one of the three or four Arizona counties that are still a place where a bit of the original thoughts of the founding fathers still exists.

The spot I found sits right between the two mountain ranges where Geronimo and Cochise made fools of the U.S. Army for years. The Army never did truly defeat them... it just exhausted them

With that kind of spirit living in the soil of that land... it seemed a pretty good place for an anachronism like me. I would have liked more dirt than the five acres I've got... and to tell the truth, the five acres adjacent is for sale... and I WANT it!  I just can't swing it, considering the commitments I've made already in the past six weeks!

If I could get past the craziness I'm wading through and get my next book done, maybe I could generate the dinero to do that. I can only hope the fella selling it will not succeed until I can line up my ducks to scoop it up too! :)

Any way... back to the original thought of this rambling post... I started a new section in the Main goin' RV Boondocking site to write about the development of my Cowboy Winter Camp. The section is titled, curiously enough,  Cowboy Winter Camp on the nav bar... the button under that is labeled "Home Base".

***Edit*** Yeah... those section/button names changed as I did more work and the "idea" clarified a mite more in my head... "Goin' back to cowboy" is the section header... and there's three buttons under that... *** 

Until I find the ambition to do the huge amount of work to build another whole site, I'll put all the developments of my winter camp there. I think it likely you'll be able to go to links on that Home base page as well as I'll probably add some more links under that Cowboy Winter Camp section header... There'll be plenty to write about.

In any event, that's where the lion's share of my webwork will be invested for a lot of my coming future.

Considering that this "site" has grown to nearly 25,000 visitors a month now, it seems reasonable to find a way to build that new work into this location and not split it up with another new address...

Pretty good excuse for being lazy huh? :-P

annnnnnd... lazy as I am, and seeing that it's now 11:54 in the p.m. ... this old buster is going to bed!

Still Keepin' On
- Brian

Pushing the Limits, Dodging Bulls, an Making Ends Meet as the Sun Sets...

Gonna have to move on along somewhere pretty soon... The "14 day stay" passed my time here... some time ago.

Some folks can sit in a spot without a care until the man moves 'em along. Truth be known, that ain't me. I don't like being in a place expecting to get hassled.... so though I stretch things a lot of the time, the longer I stretch it the more discomfortable I become.

I'd rather just pick up and get gone before I'm forced into having some sort of social intercourse with the kings men... where the hell is Robin Hood when you need him?

Had a neighbor drop by yesterday. He didn't seem too awful sociable either.

When I stepped out of the rig to say hello he stepped my way a lil' too quick and, well... he just didn't strike me, the way his head was flippin'...

... as bein' a gentle lil' puppy dog.

Fact is, I don't believe, poor as he is...

... that he's feelin' all that good.

I'm hopin' that whoever is runnin' this ol' boy isn't plannin' on too many calves this next season. Not out of this guy anyway.

In his shape... he ain't gonna be gettin' much work done! ;)

So, anyhoo...

If google does its thing this month the way it's been doin' it for the past several months... I'm hopin' to be "Back in business" for a few days anyway, sometime tomorrow.

My story whittling work is coming along slowly... though I need it to be coming along like wildfire! :) I'm kinda banking on my effort being invested in my ebooks as being the way around the recent shortages... and the reliable way into the future.

Another of those times when the best way is to put your trust and reliance on yourself... and not the promises of others.

Google has become as unreliable as Microsoft. The days of small publishers producing a decent income by way of google advertising are pretty much gone. Too much work is required for a declining return.

Between google itself constantly shakin' things up so badly and creating a huge amount of work for its publishers who struggle to just keep up... and the heavy negative impact on advertising revenue that smartphones and tablets have had for the small publisher... Those glory days are slippin' away.

So... with google goin' the way of microsoft, with one blunder after another... and Smashwords and Amazon stepping up to offer me a better way... it'll be the electronic Story telling that will be the focus of my attentions for the foreseeable future.

If I can just STOP all that rattlin' and bangin' 'tween my ears that keeps distracting me from my story spinning labors!  ;)

Yup... it's time to move... the sunsets are starting to get too damn routine around here... and I need something fresh to photograph...

Not sure where I'm gonna move to. I'd been thinking of NOT going out to Bouse and that country... since I've gotta pick Heidi up at the Phx airport to transport to Tucson for the winter business trip at the gem and mineral show... for the store...

... but... life is easy out there. It's not so very far... and it is more than ten days 'tween the now and the plane landing... so I guess we'll see.

Continuing to Keep on Keepin' on
Brian

Just Sloggin' Along...

Bleh... sometimes the trail is rough and rocky...

When we left Montana it seemed like we'd worked to be set up pretty fine for the winter. With another week of work done at Phoenix International Raceway... Things were lookin' a lot less "up against it".

Well... that's what a guy gets for thinkin'...

This and that just came along quick and nasty and put us behind where we were when we pulled into Sydney for our month of hard labor. Drained that pot as fast as we'd filled it.

Sure, without that month we'd a been sitting with our feet nailed to the ground holding a bucket full of hamburger with a big ugly Grizz licking it's chops three feet away... and some damned tree lovin' monkey hollering that we'd best not hurt him!

Just 'cuz that's a true enough thing... doesn't make getting sucker punched any more comfortable.

So...

Here in the desert by myself for the past couple of weeks I've been trying to catch up on work that I, to be honest, have been finding excuses to not get done for too long.

The past few days, with good signal and the reality that frugality isn't the only thing you need... I've been hard at work rebuilding more of my main site. Knocked out 20 pages or so in that time. It's just amazing how much work and how long that rebuild is taking though.

With something well over 300 pages... and every one having to be rebuilt because of SBI's program upgrade, as well as google's never ending dance with it's system... it's a hellacious piece of work to get whittled out.

... and that doesn't even count the necessary rebuild for the same reasons on the Bike site... that I have to get after as well.

You'd think google's business plan is to make it as difficult as possible... for the webmasters that in the end, produce just about every nickle that it makes. Makes me grumpy.

Buuuuut... what with Obama's fine hangin' over my head, declining income from google (largely 'cause of my jacked up pages I'm hoping) It got to jabbin' me hard enough to get off the dime and dive into the work required.

I'll be caching the fiver in Wickenburg in a couple days and bobtailing the worn out ol' truck to Colorado for the coming Holiday... assuming that the lil bit in my pocket doesn't get me only part way to the front range. ;) It's likely to be a slow trip trying to squeeze all the mileage out of a gallon of diesel that's possible.

Along with the holiday we'll be trying to work out some ideas for the future... simple truth is... changes have to be made...

I just can't keep up with the work I need to do for subsistence as well as the wear and tear on the rig... the way things are... with income down a LOT, and everything in the world seeming to be climbing a pretty steep slope... the next year is gonna see some remodeling of "ways". Requirement of reality.

The trick is in finding the balance between the necessities of subsistence and the absolute requirements of the Spirit.

Simply it is what it is.

So... it's back to the keyboard for me
Brian

Uh Oh... He's At It Again!

Yup... things are changing all over again! :)

I'd become dissatisfied with how all my online work "Looked". It just hit me that it was cluttered and... sloppy... and a bit confusing maybe. (just goes to show, even old dodgers like me can still learn!).

I am well aware of my scattered focus ;) since I'm constantly burning my fingers on the multiplying irons I've been loading into the fire!

Soooooo... the consequence is, while I'm in the process of that full site rebuild I've been slowly working on, to fit into the "new" system my internet provider has created... I've also set about cleaning up the mess I've gathered...

I'm sure you can see the New Look on this blog... it's part of a complete housecleaning and renovation of all my online work.

You can get the details on My NEW Home page BK Gore (it's also on that new navigation widget in the upper left hand corner of this blog)

It'll take me a lil' bit... like a few days or more ;) to get everything moved around and rearranged... but I think it'll be a lot easier to understand and navigate through for all my readers.

One last Heads Up... While your bookmark for this blog should still work... the url won't change, I've decided that the Title/Name doesn't separate it from the Main RV Boondocking website... so...

... As soon as I conjure up its own name and create a new header for it... You'll be seeing that change here...

Ouch! ... Damn! Burnt my fingers... Again! ;)

Many Thanks for all your patience
Brian

*Ed Note (5/17/2013) I executed the majority of a complete site rebuild of my main RV Boondocking site this morning. You can check it out by clicking through either of the new navigation links in the upper left corner of this blog; or You can go through these links to my new "central" home page at BK Gore Home  and on to the GRVB site with the link there, or straight to the site via this link; Goin' RV Boondocking . Let me know what you think of the NEW site look!

Adding Another Iron to the Fire...

Over on the left bar, you'll find the lists of All my websites... and... the three "Blogs" I've been working, all connected one way or the other to here.

In our ongoing effort to keep the cupboard from being the last resort visited by any visiting starving rats... and my puss gut from evaporating and leaving just a windbag connected to chicken legs under the glare of a shiny bald head...

... We've stepped off on the initial steps of assembling a way to present our various Arts to the general public.

So... you'll notice the newest in the List... Gypsies in The Wind.

It's reeeeeeealy early in the work to put all of it together... and we've still not totally calculated the system for folks to order pieces, us to be paid so that we can ship the work... along with the time frame for all that to happen... but we're working on it...

... all the time tapping out words on my next book, writing the blogs, hiking, eating, tapping out more words, continuing with the website reconstruction work... taking more pictures on more hikes/rides... and  building the blogs from those and then... tapping out more words...

Well, you get the picture... a cranky puss gut biker cowboy with a bad case of wanderlust, aggravated by an exceptional case of old timers syndrome... looking out the window at the horizon... while working out how to add four more hours to a 33 hour day. ;)

Ah well... at least I'm not selling plumbing parts to women in fancy dresses whose husbands made 'em stop at the hardware on their way home from the salon... with a left handed description of what they think they thought he needed...

... only those husbands are book keepers with masters degrees in Renaissance Canine Orthopedics who THINK they should know more than a hardware clerk... NOT... handymen... hell, not handy at all!

So, the fancy lady in the silk dress stands there in growing frustration when the hardware store clerk looks at her... cross-eyed... after her confused and disjointed description of what her husband told her she wants gets passed on without her having the slightest clue what it is... and hears him say; "Huh????"

Anyhoo... it's gonna take me a bit to get all that built in the smoke coming off all those other Irons in the fire... but one way or t'other... it'll get done.

Bookmark the new page for your wearable (jewelry) and functional (journals) art needs! :)

Burning My Fingers on Hot Irons
Brian

What Does a The Tomb Raider, Dumb and Dumber, and The Cost of RV Boondocking All Have in Common?

ME! :))

Ha ha. Ok... it goes like this... Let's see if I can keep this in some vuh-rye-uh-tee of crony-law-jiggle order...

So... yesterday, knowin' a blow was comin'... we went in to town, did our laundry, did some grocery stockin' for a couple days of bad weather. I was already knowin', from past marks left in the dirt that this place was Arizona gumbo when it gets wet.

That means if you're a wheeled veehickle... ya'll ain't goin' NoWhere... 'thout tearin' things up.

So... With that in mind we go to town... and what does my forgetful mind leave behind? The empty fuel can for the generator. As good as our Solar system works... it can't make much juice on cloudy, stormin' days. We'd be needful of running Ol' Squeal N' Belch to keep the batteries hummin' during two days of bad weather.

Leavin' the gas can behind = DUMB. and all probably 'cause I'm gettin' so squeaky cheap that my procrastinatin' sub-conscious was likely payin' attention and tripped my memory that was tryin' to take the can along, in a self-flagillatin' effort to cut my paradoxical spendthrift ways!

Yup... bein' me is a full time job!

... and that = involving the Cost of RV Boondocking! Which is pretty comical on the face of it since the rent right where we're living today is ZERO! ;)

The whole deal got stirred up 'cause this was what was on the way...

The weather man predicted a 1/2 inch where we're at... we got according to the same fellers... about an 1 1/2" of liquid sunshine... it's what we in Arizona call WET!

Now, down here they got this clay that when it's the right consistency, drivin' on it is kinda like an epileptic tryin' to roller skate on greased marbles.

But... since we WERE in town anyway... and it had got down to past three in the O'clock... we ran by the Town Cemetery to pilfer a few six gallon jugs of water! ;) and that = Tomb Raider! :))

I have no recollection of ever sneakin' our water out of a cemetery ever before! :)

Well... the storm blew in right on schedule and of course the batteries; with the heater runnin' and the computer burnin' up eel-ek-trawns with all my button tappin, I found it necessary to take the truck to town for some genset gas...

Well, enter that Arizona Gumbo...

If ya'll been 'round here for any time at all you know how I feel 'bout bozos tearin' things up with their 4 by's! and there I go... boxin' myself into a corner where I have to lock'er in 4by to get out... and I'm out there in that ol' dodge... uh huh... cuttin' some pretty good tracks through the muck just barely finding enough traction to move... when I SHOULD be sittin' inside warm and dry and NOT makin' ruts!

I'll have some shovelin' to do as soon as things dry off enough to move the dirt and before it sets up like concrete and repair the damage I done... an THAT = DUMBER!

The only thing that matched my mental lapse is a guy near by drivin' a big rig outfit... he's got a big class eight tractor pullin' a GI-Normous fiver...

He tried to move THAT tractor around to hook up in this slip N' slide stuff. The front end mired in when he pulled around to back in... He was out tryin' to dig the front out when I left. I figured to see him still strugglin' when I got back.

I was surprised when I turned off the pavement and came up the lil' two track to see the tractor had in deed got in under the trailer...

He actually managed to get the parts of his rig together without tearin' things up worse than I did. I'm guessin' he must have some of the same feelings 'bout things I do... cuz if ya'll look close at the photo above... he's over there on the left... trying to fill in the ruts with a board where he'd mired the front axle. This would be DUMB #2 :)

At this point whoever his friends with the lil' car were loaded 'em up and hauled 'em away for a while. That's a good thing. If he'd tried to haul that monster out of there in this weather he'd be stuck deep... somewhere between where he's parked now... and that lil' bush on the far left! :))

So... properly self chastised for senile foolishness and careless dispopulation of my fuel can... We broke out the schnaps... heated up some of that Cemetery water! mixed 'em all up with a special, magical brown powder... and warmed up the cold afternoon!

Something in the process must have tickled my writing parts. On top of a couple of blog posts I banged out in the morning I assembled a couple of thousand words on the next Ben Jensen Novel... and then had this post done prior to 9pm last night!

I sure hope bad weather isn't what's required to keep my literary gears crankin'!

Juuuuuust 'bout Done for the day!
Brian

Mining Towns, Ancient Ruins... and Dragon's Breath

Me and the Raider went for a short ride yesterday morning. It was good to be out in the sun on the open road climbing up into the mountains... Though I didn't go all the way up. There's still snow atop Mingus Mtn! ;)

That's a fun ride. Just a few miles up hwy 260 through Cottonwood from our camp east of town and then turn off on 89A for the climb up into the Black Hills of North Central Arizona to the town of Jerome.

What can I say 'bout Jerome, Arizona that's not been repeated a thousand times already? Jerome is one of those interesting spots that isn't especially photogenic. It's the remains of an old time copper mining town that was reborn from a ghost town into an artists colony.

The place is perched on the dry slopes of the Black Hills west of Cottonwood straddling Arizona 89A. Just a worn old place fighting to preserve it's personality.

Miners, gamblers, a soiled dove or two all called this place home for a while. Another of the towns too tough to die. This one nearly did... Now it's found new life as a tourist magnet.

They make their money three ways... first, selling their mainly artist type wares to the public... Second, feeding you in a small selection of cafe's and such in between your shopping circles.

Then, mixed in with all that touristing, the town's black and white lays hidden amongst the parked cars, waiting to catch you bending the rules so it can mine some more revenue from your pockets! ;)

Take your time. The streets are snug, drives and roads coming in from odd angles... and you never know when one of them snowbirds is gonna throw a door open in their haste to get that trinket before some other tourista beats 'em to it!

This morning I just played biker and rolled through the town  and on up to near the top of Mingus Mtn.

Twists and turns and light traffic on a sunny day make for a good ride.

I got back to camp in time to take a quick lunch then we loaded in the truck to roll it over to the Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well country.

The ruins in this area were built by who the fellas that have studied such doins call the Sinagua People.

***A lil' sidebar here; In the visitor center at Montezuma Castle there was a LONG list of the research projects going on in the area.

I'm not one for inhibiting the pursuit of knowledge. That's a risky position to take up... but... considering the general situation of soh-sigh-uh-tee... would it be possible that studying the sexual responsibilities and parenting abilities of leeches in Arizona is juuuuuuuuuust a small mis-allocation of  assets in short supply? ... Just sayin'... ;) ***

*The critical study of parenting ability of Leeches*

...hmmmmm... on second thought... might could be the results of such a study might could provide us with a bit of insight for dealing with the politicians we're afflicted with! ;) ZING!!!

Ok... back to the Castle Touring...

This area, the Verde Valley, is one of my favorite parts of Arizona. There's a bundle of creeks and rivers. The Cottonwoods and Sycamores provide precious shade to lay up and sip a cool beer on a hot summer afternoon...

*Sycamore Trees waiting on Summer leaves*

 A lot of this country and that just over east, just under and above the Mogollon Rim is the country Zane Grey wrote about in a lot of his westerns.

*Montezuma Castle*

The "Castle" was actually not the largest of the ruins along this river, only the best preserved. Just around the corner of the canyon are the remains of a much larger dwelling.

8 or 10 miles or so and a bit north is the place called Montezuma well. It's a sink created from some sort of collapse of what amounted to a big cave. The odd thing about this place is, no fish. The water is heavily laced with Sulfur Dioxide.

Too much for fish... but thousands of leeches call it home! Hence the "Study". ;)

 

I'm looking at this hole and reading on one of the sign boards that a steady unending daily flow of 1.6 million gallons runs into this sink from vents on its floor.

The thought immediately occurred to this old desert rat; "That water level looks pretty stable... if that much is flowin' in... where the hell is it going. It looks like a bowl?"

*Ruins above Montezuma Well*

Well! ;) A lil' farther on was another sign that pointed the way to the outflow! You have to go down a set of rock steps through a notch in the rocks...

... to a small channel of water flowin' along the base of the canyon wall...

 

Follow along the narrow path for a few yards in the shade of the rocks and trees and the stream disappears around a corner of the wall...

1.6 million gallons a day flows out, mainly through this lil' stream coming almost silently out of a hole in the wall... No cascading waterfall, but it's an awful pretty and peaceful spot. I can only imagine how sweet a retreat it would be on a hot summer afternoon... shaded up in this spot with the water gurgling...

*Montezuma Well outflow*

... and Beaver Creek just a few steps away... on it's way to the Verde River... Some sweet Arizona Homeland country...

*Beaver Creek flowing past Montezuma Well*

Arizona ain't nearly as dry as some would lead you to believe. There's not the water for all those lawns and golf courses down in the valley... but it's a fine place for a lot fewer people to live! ;)

Made a wide circle around by way of Oak Creek and Sedona pulling back into camp just before sunset... of which there was none. But, in the morning we woke to the sound a Dragon Breathing...

A Hot air balloon sank out of sight below the rim of the hill. A couple minutes later, with the roaring of a Dragons lungs it rose back into view...

*Hot Air Balloon Rising over Cottonwood Arizona*

 

We'll need to run some chores today to be ready to hunker down again for a couple of days. Another western storm is slotted to blow through this weekend... with a promise of the possibility of more snow! grrrrrr... ;) ... this camp is on soft ground so we'll be pretty much held to camp till the ground firms back up... if the precipitation actually materializes...

On the Arizona High Desert
Brian

P.S. Dealing with the Spam; Changing the blog to "registered users" (your google account or Open I.D.) seems to have curtailed the spam assault. Hopefully signing into your account to leave a comment will be less hassle than having to sort out that "Word Verification" puzzle.

The Digital Sawdust and Eraser Shavings are Piling Up Deep in this RV!

I've juuuuus 'bout wound that lil' rubberband that energizes my brain pan to the poppin' point! Some fellas just don't pay no attention atall to how much they is bitin' off at one time. Yes sir. the kaleidoscope in my head is in Hiiigh Gear!

I don't choose to just fire up a new laptop. Nah... I gotta go complicatin' that with the new and genuinely awkward windows 8 I was warned off of... and rightly so. Then throw in a new whole dang system I build the websites with, while trying to learn two parts of Adobe, elements and premier elements... at the same time!

All while sittin' in a frigid Arizona desert schemin' a restart of a couple of our old cottage industry enterprises...

While high twenties and low thirties ain't cold by northern standards... it's become cold enough for me to be feelin' frigid! Tween the cold and the brain strain... I'm 'bout done for the day!

Progress is happening though! While NOT burning gunpowder on ee-lek-trawniks, kickin' any dogs or chuckin' rocks at the neighbors. Maybe I'm finally maturing! ... riiiight... I'd not go bettin' on that scenario just yet. ;)

Yesterday I rebuilt the homepage to Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road. Today I fought my way a lil' further up the learning curve and converted the goin' RV Boondocking home page to the new system. Tonight... I'm crosseyed!

While takin' a break from tryin' to pull the knots out of all that technology... I looked out the window, boondocked out here in the desert. Plain and simple, there's a lot fewer rigs here than in past years... buuuut... there's still a few folks that flat entertain a personality like myself.

So... I look off across the desert and I see these two fellas steppin' around a short ways from their rigs, like they're in pursuit of some real enterprise. They walk a lil' bit and bend over... Walk a lil' bit and bend over... go back a ways... do it again... and the whole time they're maybe, 30 or 40 feet from each other...

Finally, I pulled out the camera and zoomed in close enough to see what they were up to... Aw lordy...

We're parked out here in a few thousand acres of sand and rocks... stop your rig and roll out the awning kind of set up... and they are... MEASURING OFF PARKING PLACES... for the few rigs of their buddies who are comin' to join 'em!

Like... Truly? You can't just pull up and say WHOA! This is good right here? Out in all this desert, eyeball good enough, ain't good enough? You need a Tape Measure? Seriously? :) These guys have GOT to be Engineers! :) Tickled my funny bone.

So, gigglin' along, I've also been scratchin' on paper, workin', out of necessity, at lining out how we can make do, as we have for the past few years, with the rig we have.

I've come up with a "plan" for movin' things around again, and building/rebuilding a few parts to allow us a decent space to work so we can diversify and hopefully supplement our income a lil' bit.

And... do it in a lot more short term time than a total rig replacement would take... (if that could even happen)

The things I'm workin' at designing up and figuring the arrangement of are;

1. A complete new Bed rebuild for the truck; Needed to allow the generator and compressor to be moved to the truck(from their current locations on the 5er), as well as adding function with built in Fuel, Fresh Water and Waste water tanks to make things a lil' more convenient. (This'll be the Biggest and toughest nut to crack of the whole deal)

But once it's done I could fairly quickly build the rest of the job right in camp with the tools I have on hand.

2. A "Tailbox" Outdoor kitchen on the fiver. I'll mount it back on the cargo deck I built last year. This'll clear one of the bed boxes on the truck of the grill and coleman stove for our camp cooking. And provide hardside enclosure of 'em for those "Bear Areas". Not exactly Bear Proof... but hell, the Fiver itself ain't that! and neither are the cars the rangers make folks lock their coolers in. Then Grizz yank the doors off of Subarus with regularity! ;)

3. One of those fiberglass roof pods to mount on the roof of the fiver to hold my "Bike Camp" gear between trips.This will clear the second truck bed box allowing that space to be occupied by...

4. ...Two "Camp Desks". One a Camp Writing Desk and the other a Camp Leather Working "desk". I figure to make some sort of a version drawing from these two setups I've found online.

 5. Very likely another "Roof Pod", this time to go on the cab of the truck to stow and transport our camp tables in an aerodynamic box that will also help kick the wind up over the fiver when we're on the road.

6. A hardware bin chest built into the forward compartment in the space now occupied by the compressor. This will be mostly the hardware, rivets, buckles and bits I use for building my pieces.

7. The new "Camp furniture" still require some sort of "Auxilliary" living space where we can work.
The only options we have there are to add either an Add-a-Room awning room, or a totally separate canvas workspace (which strikes me as the most flexible)

... something like one of these OUTWELL tents...

... or some variety of Elk Camp type wall tent like this'un from Montana Canvas that I've used in the past...

Put a propane heater in there, a power line from the battery bank for LED lights, and either'll provide lots of warm, dry workspace for a leather carvin' gypsy biker cowboy; as well as a nice spot to set up that Camp Desk to write on...
    

Oh Momma... Listen to the Hummin'! :)
Brian

Dinero and Weightloss

Don't it just make your sittin' parts itchy to always have worthless paper circlin' around to fool with the trail you mapped out?

Same old same old... We rail against allowing material things to get in the way of livin'... and then get ambushed and beat right back into that place where our trail choosing options are dictated by... uh huh... Dinero and THINGS.

Well boys and girls... that's life in the west! and the crew of goin' RV Boodocking is facing up to that ree-al-i-Tee one more time.

The whole point of this day's tirade is... Don't Ever quit. Never give up. Keep on Keepin' on. Like Ol' Dumbledore said; "Do or Do not... there is no Try!" :) If you want it, there's a way. You only need to keep searching till you find it.

I've got all sorts of ideas and schemes bangin' around the ol' brain pan. No fewer than ever was in my life. If I had the cash I could work 24/7 for a decade and not get 'em all done. I think they call it hyper active schizophrenic cowboy itis with a piggy backing complicatory infection of arbitrary authority aversion.

Anyhoo... here's the deal. Income is down the past year especially... and as ever'body knows, cost of living is up a good deal. That budget string is pulled so tight she's singin' like a banjo; and that's if you don't even take into account the series of repairs we've had to do.

So... one project I really wanted to pursue in the short term is pushed to a back burner... that being the layin' out of some sort of a long term/base camp.

Then there's my writing. It's a funny deal. Some word whittlers can write, and write well, sitting on a street corner under an umbrella in the rain, with their laptop on their knees and cabs honkin' and folks hollerin... I'm impressed with their ability to tune all that stuff out. Me? Not so much. I require an almost hermit like solitude where I can inject myself into the story without interruption or distraction.

Let somebody crumple paper, cough... slam a cabinet door... and... well... let's just say; Writing is not what happens! ;) Needless to say, of late my "Production" has been slow... but I'm workin' on it!

So... we're needful of lining out some supplementary contributions to the pantry. The first off and short term is hunting up another job or two like our Nascar weeks. Not going back to full time regular jobs, but something rather short term with a scheduled termination date! ;) We both fear the Trap that "Jobs" can be. A day becomes a week, becomes a year... and too soon you're looking back at a life that got derailed... So... Temporary is the key for us.

... and secondly, Herself and I, in the interest of shoring up our subsistence a bit are laying out a trail to fall back on some mostly dormant and portable skills that have paid us in the past. Well... at least that's the longer term plan. ;) (Longer term being 'tween now and next winter)

Heidi is one of the better Artisan Level, Jewelry Artists around and I do a fair job of leather carvng... so... we're working the bugs out of how to harness up those arts and skills, in our current sitchy-ashun to keep from losing an excessive amount of weight!

As I do the reconstruction of my websites that I've mentioned a couple times... I believe I'll finally get around to building the online Gallery I've also mentioned a time or two.

We're thinking of calling it... ~Artistic Provisions~; Your source for Journals, Albums, Jewelry and Canine Accessories. Basically all that our Imaginations can conjure up.

The pieces will all be hand stitched and carved Journals and Albums, Collars and leashes and Heidi's jewelry of Improvisational Bead Embroidery of Semi-Precious Stones and fine glass beads; Pendants, Bracelets, Earrings.

To provide the work space to fill that gallery, one of the issues we've got to find a way around is the rig itself. Plainly put, this rig just don't lend itself to providing the work space we're gonna require to do a true and proper job... So of course that dinero thing comes back around again since the only value to change out the rig to a more workable situation... lies in the rig itself.

But, a feller can't sell the house he's livin' in... to swap out to a better fit... without having the "other" house ready to move in to... and that takes dollars... and I've not found a single one layin' out there in the desert! ;)

The sort of rig that's gonna suit our needs is going to be an Oldie but Goodie Motorhome pulling about a 23' cargo box type trailer (That will give us the studio space)... others have found what they need and I by God will too!

'course a MH will require acquiring another oldie but goodie sidekick/tracker to put in the trailer for our runabout transport. all of which still requires that scarce commodity... the Dinero I rail against allowing a commanding place in life.

Yeah? Well... life is full of compromises ain't it?

So... as we continue this journey... watchin' close for some sort of opportunity and workin' hard to get ourselves into the position to take advantage of an opportunity... 

...The Bottom line is... It's a horse race. Re-outfit, on the cheap and get our shops/studios restarted... before we lose so much weight we're too weak to work! :)

Like Fall Leaves in a Swirling Wind...
I'm goin' fourteen directions! ;)
Brian

After Most of a Month in Town Finally Returned...

...To the Far Country where I belong. We landed, out of that force of habit that threatens to become a rut ;) ... in our favored spot along the edge of the RV boondocking area on the south side of Plomosa road.

What can I say? It makes a real convenient spot for a couple of weeks for herself to use the rock shop... and the signal's good for me to get quite a bit of work done on this new laptop... more on THAT in a bit.

That's pretty much the view out my window in the morning here in Freedom Camp ;) Kinda cool huh? 'course, I took it just as sunset was starting from the roof where I was tilting the solar panels up for the morning sunrise! ... hmmmm... I wonder what nut job coulda spent so much time pilin' rocks? ;)

Got here a day later than expected. A few lil' fumbles as we were preparing to haul out set us back a day... one of which was trying to track down some bolts for the bike... it somehow lost one out of a fairly critical spot... and the Biggest Dealership I've Ever been in... didn't have the bolt! ... so... They is ordered! ... "for lack of a bolt the truck was lost... for lack of the truck a battle was lost... for loss of the battle the war was lost...".... DA DA DA DUM!    :) HA HA!

Soooo, about the new Laptop... I've been sortin' my way through this New Toshiba laptop for the past couple of days. As far as the computer is concerned, with it I am plenty happy. It does what it is supposed to and newegg.com did what they promised to, getting it to me...

... Microsoft on the other hand... continues its apparently deliberate effort to be unseated from its position as the supplier of the dominant and premier operating system.What a bunch of bozos.

Windows 8 is a discombobulated, mish mash of two different worlds all shoved together in a dis-harmonious, awkward setup of pretty tiles and confusion.

Here's the deal; Microsoft, apparently, has a psychotic obsession with getting a grip on the tablet/smartphone market that has avoided it... and continues to. Sooooo Micro crap sent out this Thing into the world. I expect, if you've got it on a tablet or phone, using your fingers and flippin' tiles around... for those minimal lil' things that you do on a tablet or phone... it works just fine.

Buuuuuuut... embedded in it is... for all intents and purposes, the old Windows 7. Only, they've taken out quite a bit of the Navigation... and made what's left kind of awkward to access... For those of us actually trying to work... and NOT playing games and fiddling with fooferaw... it's a troublesome, NON inutuitive flub.

Yeah... the guys that told me to steer clear of Windows 8 were right... I took a chance and KERWHAP! :) learnt my lesson one more time.

I'm sortin' things out and can/will over time, make Windows 8 functional/usable for what I do... but a puss gut, biker cowboy fella who just bought the New and Improved Windows 8... shouldn't have to FIX WHAT THE ENGINEERS DESIGNED one more time... should he?

I wonder, do they ever have regular people do a test run on their junk before they shove it off on folks? They might save themselves some lil' bit of difficulty, embarrassment and wraps on their knuckles for playin' the fool if they did! ;)

Soooo... IF... you get a new computer do one of two things. Order it with Windows 7... or ... seek out one of the up and coming Alternative Operating Systems that are Finally, from what I hear, threatening to give Microsoft a run for their money and a lil' competition. Microsoft fired another Dud with Windows 8.

It's cool here on the desert by Quartzsite. The crowds, if they're comin' have not yet arrived. The country layin' about our camp might not be empty, but it sure ain't filled up!

On to my chores... and a good bit of hikin' and walkin'... a month of lethargy, cooped up in town has my busted parts achin' and hollerin'. Time to beat 'em back into some sort of reasonable shape.

Puttin' One foot in front of the other... I'm RV Boondocking for LIFE!
Brian

Getting Ready to Break Our Urban boondock camp...

 ... in my sisters back yard... and run back to the desert... I wonder how many camps this makes now?... I shoulda kept track!

But, the pranks are done ;) most of the packing is done... the new laptop is here... and it's time to roll, get outa town... and get myself back to work before I starve to death! :)

Just fill with water, make a supply stop for bagels and beer and we'll head for Quartzsite... juuuuust in time for a stormy weekend/week. ;)

The packing took most of yesterday to be honest. Figured it was a good time to really sort things a bit while the sun was shining & I was waiting on UPS to show up with my new Toshiba  WORK laptop from newegg.com.

They gave me plenty of time too! According to their tracking it was loaded on the truck for delivery yesterday morning at 5:20 and wasn't delivered till well after 6PM last night. That ol' boy is workin' some hours!

 Last night a few hours were spent beginning the setup of this new laptop. Had to run up to Walmart and grab a fresh flash drive to build a recovery media... considering my relationship with Murphy!

I can already say... wow! after working on that lil' 10" Acer since... October or so... being back on a 15.6" screen... ShazAAAAMMM! It's like being in an IMAX theater! :) and nice to have a full size keyboard again too!

It'll take another few days I'm sure to get all the ee-lek-trawnik furniture arranged and remembered in my new digs. But so far, I'm liking this machine quite a bit... and it's a Windows 8 outfit!!

Yeah... I know... I resist "Change" and some folks warned me off of going with the new microsoft system... but I figured... That's where it's all gonna go eventually... so might as well get it over with now, since I gotta go through the ordeal of learning a new computer anyway.

What with having to rebuild those 400 or so website pages over the next few months, I guess I'll get a crash course on gettin' up close and personal with this thing! ;)

anyhoo... back to that packing. It took some time for a couple of reasons; The first is that over time, "things" seem to migrate around a rig into a discombobulated jumble. As that happens a variety of junk collects adding to the confusion. Then, I try... and I emphasize TRY, to live by the mantra; add something thing new... remove something old.

It's about the only way to keep a rig from bloating up into an axle busting outfit.

So... by yesterday afternoon I'd culled a few bits and pieces of plain old junk as well as one of our folding tables. The new Work Bench (The one thing new) will do the job of the old table holding the grill/stove in camp... until one of the planned projects gets completed... and then it'll just be a work bench.

Once day breaks and we get moving... unless the schedule gets changed... I should be turning off the light back in camp in the desert around Bouse/Quartzsite tonight.

Goin' in Circles but Still Moving
Brian

Fiddlin' With the Old and Fitting in Some New and Waiting in Chilly Phoenix

Been gettin'  back into the swing of things in the chilly Arizona desert while I wait on the arrival of my new Toshiba work laptop.

Uh huh. I said chilly! Been a LOT cooler this year than the last few. It ain't the -10 we saw coming across I-40 comin' home... but in the desert, when you're used to 70+... fifties and low 60's is cool! ;)

Anyhoo. Gettin' chores done. Finally got all the bits and pieces to complete the belly re-installation that I tore out in Zion to repair the cracked tank. Also, the water heater I put in last June or so... started having ignition "difficulties" just before I left for Denver. Somehow, that miraculously healed itself while we were gone... Works for me! ;)

Repacked a couple of compartments that have gotten discombobulated in our travels; discarding a few more bits in the process.

Tightening up a few things here and there as we wait on the delivery of goin' RV Boondocking's new super computer! Then, we'll load up and head back out to the Quartzsite area for a couple of weeks.

Come the first week of February we've got to be in Tucson for the annual gem and mineral show to try and find some shiny goods for our little store, that's managing to survive, back in Colorado... then it's only two weeks till we have to be back up to PIR in Avondale to work the Spring NASCAR race.

In amongst all that I've got to get that new computer set up; set to work on the reconstruction of something over 400 website pages, keep on punching buttons on my fourth Novel... and all the other lil' projects I got rattlin' around my brain pan that keep the dust stirred up.

A couple of the gizmos we added to the rig this christmas I think should help here and there...

Ol' Lily has been having increasing difficulty hoppin' up into the truck. at 15 or so she's not as spry as she used to be... so we got this dog ramp to make that less of a problem...

This plastic dog ramp sits on the sill of the truck and she can walk right up or down it with no problem.

When you're done it's a tri-fold setup that can squeeze in behind the seat so it's convenient for its next use.

Didn't take long to figure out when we returned to the rig that it could be used here as well. Our rig with its flipped axles sits a lot higher than most.

When the rig is on uneven ground and that first step is really high, getting into the rig is a problem for her as well... Now? Not so much. She can walk up that pet ramp and not have to jump on her achy old hips.

So then, Heidi and Keriann had got Josh one of these work tables. They asked me; "did I think he'd like it?"

I said; "I expect so... That'd be a pretty nice folding work bench to have in camp!"

So... Guess what was under the tree? ;) uh huh. My copy of this plastic and aluminum fold up work bench...

The thing is pretty slick. I'll do a complete story on it from camp... as I'm doing one of the projects I've got planned.

I want to do some hand tool "construction" of some "Camp Furniture"... right there in camp.

This work bench drops down, the legs automatically fold up into the bottom and you've got a nice compact package to pack away.

Though the thing is light it is rock solid set up... and includes two squeeze clamps that mount into those two yellow tracks on the top to hold bits you're working on.

I figure it's solid enough I can even set my tooling slab on it to do some fresh leather carving.

Well... I better get to finishing up the mid winter  "Spring Cleaning" so we're ready to roll when my Toshiba Lap top shows up!

Cleaning up the old... Packing in the new
Brian

A Bit of Mercenary Hopefully Enlightened Self-Interest Cogitating...

Like it or not ~ The Net is changing. Many will curse and blame it on Amazon, Google, Apple, Al Gore ;) and an unending litany of players...

But the simple truth is... the power and the motivation behind the changes is YOU... the readers that give all us "Writers/Bloggers" OUR motivation.

Plain and simple, over the coming months and maybe years, many of the sites and blogs you've come to visit and value are going to disappear. It's a commercial reality.

I'm hoping that I'm not one of those dinosaurs that fades into the dust of history... at least not for a lil' while.

The current "Cause" for alarm? Smartphones and tablets. Sure, Google, Apple, Microsoft, HP... and a bundle of other movers and shakers have danced around the issue a bit. They're trying to keep the thing that has their guts squirming and turning their corporate insides upside down... kinda low key. They can't be silent about it, but at the same time, they fear creating a firestorm on the issue.

Here's the deal. The Net, like it or not, is not FREE. It takes expensive hardware and much, much time to operate. Entertaining, informing, educating, debating, communicating websites and blogs take much time and effort. For the people expending that effort there HAS to be a compensation, or the motivation to continue evaporates.

For some, that compensation comes in the form of the back and forth communication alone. For many, as this writer, economics dictates that beyond that spiritual/emotional compensation that is highly valued, and a requisite piece of this puzzle, exists the NEED to make a living as well.

Social Intercourse alone will not feed us... It's a balancing act. We either find a way to feed ourselves with our writings... or that time is going to have to be invested in something that Will feed us.  I'm not being greedy or mercenary here... just expressing one of the realities of life.

The problem has arisen with the advent of and the rapid transition of people to the small and convenient smartphone and tablet devices.

What's the problem? It's simple. It's one word... Advertising. While the feedback and loyalty of our readers is the Breath in our "Writing Lungs"... The lifeblood of many websites and blogs is advertising.

A couple of years back when we stepped off my websites and blogs were a smaller piece of our economic puzzle. As our situation has evolved and gotten ever tighter, they are now a critical piece. Without that income, or if that income degenerates further... We is in Deep Kim Chee!

As the Reader Traffic to my sites has grown significantly over the last two years, initially income grew with it. But for the past year and a bit... as the sale of smartphones and tablets exploded... and computer/laptop sales declined... so has my (and other publishers) site income.

The problems presented to "publishers" (the web writers like me) by the new compact/cellular devices from my perspective are these;

1. The advertising "systems" have as yet been unsuccessful in figuring out how to present advertising in a usable, workable fashion on Smartphones and tablets.

and #2, the built in part of that, which I believe is THE 900 lb. gorilla in the cornier that no one seems to be talking about is...

 DATA PLANS.

People who are paying high dollar to send and receive "Data" over their devices are Reticent (and rightly so) to access Ads on their devices... and use up expensive and precious minutes and data plans no matter HOW interested they might be in the product presented.

I'm not even sure they realize it... it's kind of an automatic, unspoken, built in thing. "I only have so much time I can afford to buy so I must be careful with my use..."  It is an unspoken thought floating around in the back of their minds.

It's not like sitting at their computer or laptop with broadband...

The Consequence? Though it is NOT the readers fault... the failure of the "Old" advertising system is putting heavy pressure on publishers. Many are, sadly, by force of economics, going to be forced to pursue other endeavors.

Though my traffic is at newly "High" levels... the highest ever, considering the time of year... income is down significantly. I can only attribute that to the move to the portable and convenient devices, and my perception of the "problems" inherent in that move.

So... as Google, Microsoft, Apple, HP and all the other "Big Guys" struggle to adjust to the new world that is evolving... lil' guys like me have to scramble and adjust too.

Life in the West...

I think that fellas like me are going to have to find new ways to present Value to our Readers if we are to survive. We are going to need to redouble our labors and test our ingenuity if we are to survive. Only if we can conceive of something useful and valuable to present to our readers can we justify our compensation...

Our readers are not here for our convenience. We publishers, are here for the benefit of the reader. It is that enlightened self-interest that provides our purpose and value.

... and we must find the way to present that value... through the medium of Smartphones and Tablets...

Which... for a Cowboy Biker... stumbling in confusion through a techy world... is a genuine, un-adulterated, double-rectified, box full up straight up Bust Head! ;)

With My Nose to the Grindstone...
Hunting Up Ways to Stay Useful
Brian

Obsessions ~ Good and Bad

 *oops... now I'm sure of it... my editorial parts is sprained from finishing that last book! I just found the "S" that was missing from the title layin' here on the table! A reader sent me a mail that let me know something weren't right!... thanks Jody! ;) *

Obsessing on Wild Country is Good. It strengthens your legs, fills your lungs with pure air and your eyes with visions to carry you over the "speedbumps" you encounter. Obsessing on "numbers" is Bad. It narrows your focus, distorts your perceptions and buries the BIG picture.

Years ago now, when I started construction of my first website, the very first thing I did every morning was jump up and hit the button on the laptop to fire up the computer. While it was booting up I'd put the coffee on. Then I'd sit drinking coffee and searching the reports for the latest traffic numbers.

I kept a book where I logged those in every day... for too many years... until one day (Not so very long ago) I said; "you A.R. bozo! What are you cluttering up your day with numbers for?"

I put the book away and now-a-days I go to that section maybe once or twice a month to see what traffic is doing. (a guy still needs to pay attention to measure what he's doing... at least a lil' bit.)

I figure I either do my job or I don't. I whittle my words and post 'em... folks either return to see if I've sown any more worthwhile seeds or they don't. Obsessing on the numbers isn't gonna do my whittling a whole lot of good.

When it comes to my book publishing... I've had a bit of a relapse. ;) especially with the ease that you can say; "I'll just check real quick to see what's happening."

And so... you end up being one of the pathetic varmints stumbling through parking lots with your eyes glued to the screen of a smartphone... scanning your digits... grinning... or wailing "The End is Near!" while you wobble your carcass out in front of a texting cheerleader driving through the same parking lot in her momma's buick... texting things she shouldn't... to some boy she hardly knows! :)

Not a particularly inspiring vision is it? ;) 

So, since I was trying my hand yesterday at some marketing magic (I've still got a lot to learn!) I decided to shut off the laptop, park the phone on the table, and take a nice long walk. What was to be... was gonna do that whether I was playing the fool or not!

We followed a FS road/trail that turns off the road we're camped along. It cuts off a couple of miles above us, and closer to the top of Buffalo Pass.

*Following a Track on the Routt National Forest*

 It turned out to be rather electrifying!

We're up here in wild country and still the hand of man has touched the land. Have you ever walked under a high power line? Whooooeeeee! It's kinda... un-nerving. The lines crackle and sizzle. It's a lil' spooky.

The lines crossed the trail we were following and disappeared into the distance in both directions.

They got me to thinking a lil'.

*What is "Natural" ?*

Beavers fell Aspens to build their damns... and that's Natural. Woodpeckers tear the hell out of trees... and that's Natural...

But a man puts up a cabin...it's a "Scar" on the land. HE... builds an irrigation dam on his land... and it's a travesty...

Wolves and Cougar hunt elk herds into extinction and it's the wild beauty of Nature...

A man defends himself against a charging Grizzly, in the middle of the night, in his home corral...and he's fined $5000+ because he's violating nature.

Is the world out of balance? or am I?

 Walking a quiet high country trail is one of only two places where the noise of the world fades away to let me clearly hear my own thoughts and wonderments of this life.

The other being pushing a rumbling motorcycle through the wind! ;)

Either place lets the cares of the world slide away so a guy can just wonder.

The biggest thing I think I've found is that there just may be no answers. There's only the questions... and maybe that's the real deal. It's not finding the answers that is the reward... but staying awake long enough to ask the questions... and do the seeking.

As in gypsy yondering... it's not arriving at the destination but the adventure of the journey that is the shining times of it.

Wondering about such things I think likely tempers and helps balance your judgements; when you're confronted by the unending "questions" and decisions when you get back to The World.

There was a high rocky slope we took our noon time break on. The sun up high is pretty warm, even on a cool day. Good Aussie's are one of the few dogs I've seen that have a strong, natural instinct to find shade at every opportunity...

They'll trot from shade to shade along the trail we hike. They'll be waiting up ahead in the shade... until we catch up.

There wasn't much around where we took lunch. Buck found it though... about 25 yards down slope... under a spindly lil' fir...

The views in this Steamboat country are "Different" than up in Glacier or Down in the San Juans. Not lesser I think... just different.

Somehow they're softer. Fewer jagged, treeless peaks. More timbered meadows and rocky slopes.

There's something about a skyline like that... an open timbered slope... with the hazy blue mountains behind that stirs my wanderlust and unquenchable, restless, yondering.

Got back to camp... and... of course... Checked My Numbers. :)

So... about the results of the Jeb Taylor day. Barn burning breakout that made me pass out with surprise? nah...

Successful? Definitely. And so I say to all those who pushed the 'buy now' button. Many, Many Thanks!

While it had been tallying up to be a weaker month in my publishing enterprise than past months... The impact you made yesterday raised it back into a solid Gainer! :) Thank You!

This is something I've gotten pretty comfortable with. A guy can fantasize about being one of the Breakout Best Selling authors... and that's fine. The likelihood of it happening is pretty thin. Those breakouts, in the big picture, are pretty rare.

Compared to the thousands of good writers out there working to present their stories, the Breakouts are a miniscule fraction.

The heavy majority, sell nothing. So... the fact that I enjoy very modest... but daily... sales is something I'm very grateful for.

Better to work toward a solid, steady, enduring readership that just carries along through the years. That is something that can be relied on.

That is what I'm working toward. Simply doing a workmanlike job and producing a "Body of Work" that simmers along at a rate that keeps my backbone from rubbing a hole in the front of my T-shirt!

Another Good Day Yondering
Brian