I Will Survive!

We Survived 2012

For many of us we survived Y2K, lived through 911, and have survived the end of the Mayan Calendar and the end of the world once again.

I am not a dooms day predictor, a Prepper (one who is Prepping for the end of the world), or am I even prepared for your normal variety day to day disaster.  I am an avid reader of many different kinds of books, extremely open minded with an off the charts imagination which I actively work the hell out of every night while writing action adventure and Science Fiction books.

One of the books I read quite some time ago was all about how the predictions about the end of the world being in 2012 were wrong and how it would actually come about in December of 2039.  I also heard or read somewhere that the United States government has already set the date for when it would release any and all information concerning project Blue Book which is supposed to be about the information collected about recovered aircraft from outer space and UFO (Unidentified Flying Objects) collected since the end of World War II.  I found it surprisingly interesting that the date given for releasing or declassifying this information was January of 2040, just after the more accurately given date for the end of the Mayan Long count calendar.

The difference in the dates was given that the Mayan’s didn’t take into account leap years the way our current Georgian Calendar’s do and that the initial estimates were using inaccurate mathematics to figure the date thus arriving at December of the year 2012.

I hope to keep surviving assorted crap for another 27 to 28 years so I can see how this all plays out.  I should be seventy-three or seventy four years old at that time and hopefully will still remember the fun we had this year at that time.

As a Science Fiction writer it dawned on me that even though the Earth is relatively safe as far as we are aware of, discounting Global Warming, Religious Extremists, and countries who like to wage war for the sake of whatever their current ideologies are at the time.  The Universe is run by the laws of physics of which mankind is still endeavoring to totally grasp and understand the nature of how it all works together.  One thing we do know is that it isn't perfect, exact, or neatly organized but does tend to operate within a range of balance.

Which got me thinking that something could always happen somewhere else in the Universe and upset the status quo thus tipping the balance and the Universe would naturally correct itself to find a new sustainable range of balance.  If this resettling resulted in the Earth’s moving closer or farther away from our sun it would lay waste to our puny efforts at civilization which have been going on longer than we have a written record of.

It boggles my mind to think that everything we know of from the past, all of man kind’s history, Art, Music, books, movies, everything has taken place within the narrow confines of our atmosphere down to a couple of miles under the surface of the planet.  I realize that doesn't count the varied space exploration efforts of the human race within the last 60 years.  We exist in such a narrow envelope of space, spread out over the surface of a ball that is hurling through space and time.  Our whole existence rests on such a small balance of timing and temperature and how just the slightest shivers from our planet can wipe us out like a dog scratching at fleas.

So as we prepare to switch our calendars to 2013 and make plans for next year, let’s try to work towards a happier more productive future for all of mankind.  Give a toast to the fleas as we are still here riding mother Earth.  I can’t wait to see what the next twenty-four years bring.  At two books a year if I am still doing this I shall have written and added to the worlds slush pile of crap but fun fiction to read and help waste our time by 48 more books.

If you’re looking for a good Science Fiction that has a different spin on UFO’s and the history of the world since 1945, you might check out Eric Birk and his book “The Gemini Divergence.”

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/258439

It is available in paperback and on-line for e-book purchasing at one of the finest E-book stores and Publishers of Independent Author’s Titles ever SMASHWORDS!

http://www.smashwords.com/

PLUG, PLUG, PLUG!

Have a Safe and Happy New Year, and we will see you all next year.

As those who follow my blog have probably deduced, due to Editing Hiccups, I haven’t published either of the two novels I wrote this year, the sequels to both my first two books.  As soon as I can get them edited and come up with completed cover art for both they are my main focus for 2013.  I am as excited about releasing them as many are about reading them.

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Posted in: Prepper Y2K 911 Mayan Calendar disaster blue book UFO Smashwords Gemini Divergence

Safe Haven’s Versus Gun Control

Within three days of the Horrible tragedy which happened last week at the school in Newtown, a Grade School that is two blocks from our business has contacted the company I work for (my day job) about being a potential Safe Haven for the children the of the school in case, God forbid, that school is ever threatened by anything which would require the evacuation the school.

This entire process is in its beginning stages but everyone where I work is extremely excited about the idea.  As we work in a giant tire warehouse with tons of space and we are always here when schools might happen to be in session.  We are an almost perfect fit for this insightful solution to a possible threat.  We have the space, a secure location that is fully manned at all times with hard working Americans who almost all of us are parents of children.  It is amazing how several of us got teary eyed just discussing the possibility of being entrusted with such a high and noble responsibility as helping to provide a Safe Haven and safe guard others children in case of an emergency.

It was inspiring to see these tough hard working guys step up to say they would do anything in order to help in a situation such as this was inspiring.  I feel too many times the bad guys get all the press.  The good guys in this country outnumber the bad guys by an extremely large margin.  Our country sees this happen whenever a tragedy strikes.  It’s time the good guys step forward and say we are not going to put up with this any longer.

In essence, if we get selected to provide this Safe Haven for this school, in case of an emergency our company would literally shut down its normal business functions and transform into a Safe Haven locked down fortress to protect and care for the entire population of a grade school within moments.  Even as it is just in the planning stages the protocols are being figured out, supplies purchased, Rally points created, even the planning of getting many buckets of chalk so the children can spend their time here drawing and coloring all over our immense concrete floors.

I thought that part was wildly creative.  What could 600 children do while waiting for things to calm down and a situation to be resolved?  It’s a giant warehouse.  They could collectively work on a giant mural on a canvas concrete canvas longer than a football field.  We even have a couple of artists in house who could draw some large pictures to be colored in and get them started.

I sincerely hope schools across the country are doing similar things to ensure the safety of our children.  Schools and Churches should be two places that are sacred and off limits to violence.  Unfortunately the forces of evil see them as places through which they can inflict the worst of their evil.  I for one am tired of it.

Within moments of last week’s tragedy people were screaming everywhere about how we need more gun control.  The weapons this monster used were the property of his mothers and obviously they were not secured properly so that anybody could get their hands on them.  The bad guys will get weapons, just as they get drugs and other stuff they are not supposed to.

Disarming honest hard working good people is not the answer to protecting ourselves.  Better screening of people who might have issues might be a good place to start.  Good people use guns where they are meant to be used at firing ranges, to hunt with, and for our protection.  The largest deterrent foreign or domestic to being taken over and our country turned into a dictatorship is the fact that our population is armed.  If you look at the countries of the world where dictatorships exist, people can’t come and go as they please, and the only ones with guns are the government, they are not free.  The countries are prisons to its populations.  You do what the government tells you to do.  Too many countries say you must own property, and have family as security that you will return or you cannot leave the country.

The most lasting and enduring insurance to our freedom that our founding fathers gave us was the right to bear arms.  The right to own our own weapons for hunting, recreation and to protect ourselves, and as an ex-servicemen I’ll take it a step further, to protect those who cannot protect themselves.  Nobody said Freedom was easy!  It probably has to be hardest form of government to for a population to endure and maintain over time.

I sincerely hope we get chosen for this privilege of helping secure the safety of the children near our work.  I would consider it as great of an honor as I did serving to protect my country when I was in the Army many years ago.  I hope citizens across the country stand up and volunteer to do whatever we can do to protect our children, elderly and our general good hard working people from the Evil of others.  Again we outnumber the bad guys by a large margin and enough is enough.  It’s time for us to take a stand and say no more.  That doesn't mean we should attempt to disarm the good guys!  I rue the day some idiot actually tries to forcefully disarm this country.

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Posted in: Safe Haven secure location children schools churches tragedy Right Arms

The Pursuit Of Happiness

The simple but brilliant concept provided by this snip it of a phrase that Thomas Jefferson wrote into the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence is the focus of my blog post today.

In declaring your Independence, your intentions to do what you want, to express your rights and freedom, declaring that you don’t need anybody to take care of you, that you will from here on out take care of yourself.  Whether it’s an individual, a state, a political party, or a group of people starting their own country, it is the declaration that we know what’s best for us.  That we strive to be independent from here on out, without relying on others.

In the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson added this little snip it which totally sums up his wisdom, knowledge and utter brilliance.

The Pursuit of Happiness.

It’s not a right of man!  It is a responsibility of the state or Federal Government!  It is to each individual something unique and unto itself, our pursuit of happiness.

Some aren't even pursuing their happiness.  They go through the motions of life avoiding problems, blaming others, companies, or the government for their lot in life.  They are not doing anything on their own to improve their situation or quality of life and yet expect happiness to be provided by some unknown benefactor and they are pissed off that it hasn't happened yet.  Many of these people point to successful people and say or think ‘They got theirs.’

Some are in pursuit but haven’t determined what in the entire scheme of the Universe would actually make them happy.  They are on a Journey but have no direction.  These poor souls hop from one thing to another pursuing their asses off, working hard, struggling every day yet can’t manage to get any closer to their goal, because they don’t know or haven’t decided yet what that destination or goal is.  Without determining a goal you wouldn't know if you were sitting right on top of it, or had surpassed it already.

Few know where they are headed, have goals written down, and have figured out what makes them truly happy.  This small group is in pursuit of happiness.

Now for the mind blowing awesome supernatural part of all of this.

Your Happiness is up to you!

The only person who can determine, decide or choose whether you are happy, mad, sad, upset, downright pissed off, is you!  It’s your attitude.  It’s your feelings.  It is how you decide to feel.

Your goals, your destination, the path you choose to walk, what you decide to do or not do is entirely up to you.  You are exactly where you put yourself through your work, education, and what you have or have not done.  When you face this truth honestly then you can realize to change your position you need to do things differently, try new things, quit doing things which are holding you back or may be harmful or counterproductive to where you want to move to.

You choose your mood, your destination, your path through life.  You are in control of whether you’re happy or not.  If you don’t like how you’re feeling, change it!  If you don’t like where you’re at change it!  It all starts and ends with YOU!

Unfortunately for many multitudes of people and even many who will read this post, the pursuit of happiness is the best that they can ever hope for is the pursuit of happiness, because they will not get the concept that it is up to them and it is a choice.

I conclude that even though the concept is simple in theory the execution of it can be daunting if not seemingly impossible at first.  It takes changing.  Sometimes it means changing our core beliefs about ourselves, and the world we live in.  This can seem impossible if you truly believe your conceptions and perceptions of the world are correct when in fact they may be flawed if not entirely wrong.  It is a pursuit of our goals and what we believe will make us happier than hopefully we currently are.  It may take going to school, reading books, trying for a new job, moving to another area, maybe even new friends.

It may mean breaking bad habits that currently you defend vehemently.  It may mean exercising your mind and body to get them into better shape to work harder.  It may mean pushing yourself past the limits you think you have and limits you can’t even imagine yet.  It may mean asking for help from others in the form of advice, direction, or moral support not handouts or support for keeping you stuck where you've been.

Too often when the direction is pointed out, the work needed to be done is identified, what needs to be left behind or habits that need to be changed, people will admit they aren't willing to do what is required to get what they say they want.  They give up on themselves which they can’t admit so they will make excuses in order to stay where they are at.  A lot of the time the people who really change their stars are the ones that grab the bull of life by the horns and hang on for dear life.  They will put themselves out there 100% everyday doing all that they need to for where they are and doing extra stuff in between to get where they want to go.

They motivate themselves.  They are happy and keep a positive attitude even when they are failing at something because they have their heart, mind and spirit focused on a higher goal.  Their destinations and goals are continually changing in front of them as they are getting closer to achieving their older goals.  They never reach their destinations because it’s always out in front of them.  Their success is their daily lives, the work and choices they make, and the path they choose to walk.  They are successful Now!

On that note – Have a Great Day and a better one tomorrow.

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Posted in: Thomas Jefferson Pursuit Happiness Change direction Journey goals destination

Editing Catch 22

Since I have become a self published author I have thoroughly learned and understand the value and the importance of a editor.  As I have explained numerous times through various posts on this blog how I have a severe handicap in regards to the proper usage of the English language and proper Grammar.  I need the best editor I can get because of the severity of my short comings with English and Grammar.

Here’s the Catch 22, I can’t afford what even inexpensive editors are charging on various sites on line.  My first book is barely over 50K words, barely a novel, and was edited three times before getting it to its current form.  My second novel was dropped halfway through its third edit by my last editor.  So now I am left needing to get my second novel reworked all over again just to get it right so I can download a corrected version and re-release it.

During the time this year I have been waiting for last years novels to get re-worked, I have written the sequels to each of them (rough drafts).  As I don’t currently have an editor neither one of the sequels have been worked on at all and in the interim I am half-way through writing my fifth novel.

So what is a new undiscovered author to do who can’t afford proper, much less good or great editing services?  If I can’t get my books edited I don’t feel right about releasing them online for sale.  If I can’t get my books released for sale I can’t increase my sales, build a following and eventually get discovered by the literary world as the great author that I know am capable of becoming.

To proof the books to the best of my ability and release them would be contributing to the disgrace and downfall of the English language with which many of the Independent Authors are being accused of and blamed for on a daily basis.

So the purpose of the blog post is a on-line begging for help, advice, or suggestions to my problem.

Option 1  I need low cost alternatives to good to great editing.

Option 2  An editor with insight and willing to take a chance on me and possibly help me get a couple of books edited for little or nothing until I can get this going and generating some cash flow in order to pay the editor what they are worth and let me make it up to them on the back side.

Option 3  I just proof them them to the best of my ability and contribute to all I feel is bad and unprofessional about the current trends of self-publishing.

So for anybody who reads this who might happen to be in the Writing, Publishing or Editing arenas and have any suggestions or comments, please comment on this post or E-mail me at StorytellerTDW@yahoo.com.

I have discovered I am a writer.  I have dedicated myself to writing every night and I am getting much better at it with every book I finish.  My stories are fresh, unique, and creative, taking my readers to new and exciting places or through experiences they couldn't imagine before reading my stories.  I will keep writing and find a way to succeed at writing one way or another.

The first step towards succeeding and over coming is admitting when you need help.  I know I need help.  I am reaching out to the readers of my blog for suggestions, ideas, or just comments of moral support.

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Posted in: Help begging Editing English Grammar suggestions comments Catch 22

“A Date which will Live in Infamy”

Our grandparents version of 911 which ushered the United States into World War II was the attack on Pearl Harbor.

On December 7, 1941, at 7:48AM (American time at Hawaii – The Attack happened very early in the morning of December 8^th in Japan.) an attack began on various different targets around the Naval Base at Pearl Harbor.  353 Japanese Planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers, made up of fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes attacked their respective targets for the next ninety minutes.

By the time they were finished of the eight U.S. battleships, four were sunk, 3 were damaged and one was grounded.  Three cruisers and three destroyers were damaged, and five other ships were sunk.

One hundred eighty-eight aircraft were destroyed and another 159 were damaged with most of the carnage happened to parked aircraft on the ground.

Of service military personal, 2,402 killed, 1,247 wounded.  Civilians, 57 killed, 35 wounded.

The Japanese lost 5 midget submarines, 29 aircraft, 64 killed, and 1 submariner captured being the first Japanese Prisoner of War for the U.S.

On December 8^th, 1941 American time, the U.S. declared war on Japan.

Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941 which was reciprocated by the United States of America the same day.

President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December 7^th as “A date which will live in Infamy.”

Let us not forget our past or to learn from our history so hopefully we will not be subjected to repeating the same tragedies and making the same mistakes.

As those of this generation will never forget the attacks of 911, let us pause a moment and remember our grandparents and great grandparents version of the same.

Great Britain our countries alley had been fighting against the German oppression which had already spread across Europe since 1938.  They rightfully rejoiced in our sorrow as they realized America’s newly found change in opinion about staying out of the war meant that help was on the way.  Churchill realized with America entering World War II that together we could beat the Axis Forces in time.  Many other countries joined the Allied Forces to eventually bring World War II to an end.  Notice I didn’t say ‘Win the War’ because as a veteran I fully realize nobody wins in an armed conflict.

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Posted in: Japanese United States War World II battleships carriers Roosevelt 911 Great Britain Allies

Why We Love The Joker!

Why everybody loves the Joker!

Of all the criminals that Batman has had to contend with over the various venues he has been portrayed in, The Joker, is probably the most well-known and beloved.

What is it about this psychotic, pathological killer that makes him so popular?

In my personal opinion I feel the most recent adaptation by the late Heath Ledger so nailed the essence and character of this legendary criminal that it will be years if ever before anyone will be able to equal his stellar performance of this role.

Yet the Joker was and has been extremely popular from the days when Caesar Ramero played the role on television, to Jack Nicholson’s wonderful portrayal years later in film.

The Joker is flashy with his purple suits, his green hair, the white make-up, and that unforgettable smile.  He is often funny even if it is in a very dark sort of humor.

He uses masks, costumes, make-up, and devices to disguise himself.

When he appears in the Hospital dressed as a nurse in Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the character, it was a sort of scary comic relief.

Even the masterful choice of when he hits the button to blow up the hospital and it doesn't quite go BOOM as much as he was expecting, so the Joker is messing with the device and repeatedly pushing the button until it obviously works to more of what he was expecting, made the whole thing seem so much more realistic.

The ironic humor of a fire truck burning in the street!  Come on that’s hilarious!

The tragic side of the Joker as evidence of either falling into a vat of chemicals or the many stories that he relayed concerning how he got the scars in Heath Ledger’s version, all lend to apathy for such a screwed up person.

The transformation in the last, and obviously my favorite portrayal, from wanting to Kill Batman to the realization that they are two sides of a similar thing.  Ones Yin to the others Yang!  Where he admits that it isn't about the money, he is the dark version of Evil to Batman’s dark version of Good.

Lastly, he is extremely creative yet given it is expressed in a psychotic manner.  He gives Batman a run for his money.  Literally, as Batman, The Dark Knight, most everybody’s favorite Super Hero, who actually doesn't have any super powers.

Batman is just an ordinary good guy, who is very intelligent, and a bank roll and IT department enough to make some really Killer Gadgets and Toys.  From the creation of the first Batmobile, he fell into a class of two with the coolest best cars on earth that money could build and buy.

It was pretty much James Bond 007, and Batman who always had the best rides with the coolest gadgets.

Mark my words, The Joker will be back because he is just as timeless as Batman and James Bond have been!

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Posted in: Joker Dark Knight criminal Purple suit Humor Smile Heath Ledger Batmobile Bat Mobile

New Interview of Thomas D. Wilson

Hock G. Tjoa has graciously Interviewed me on his Blog.

Please drop by his Blog and check it out!
 http://hockgtjoa.blogspot.com/p/current-author-interviews.html

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Posted in: Thomas D. Wilson Interview Hock Tjoa

Planning Your Journey

You know where you are.  You have a destination in mind of where you want to go.  A direction in which to travel towards.

This is difficult because everybody has different dreams.  I am sure some of your dreams are so limited and controlled because you haven’t gotten the true depth and breadth of this concept yet to understand how big and totally crazy you could get with your dreams.

What ever your dream is that is your destination you want to head towards!  Notice I didn't say that you want to get to, or achieve, or arrive at.

It’s the direction of travel for your life.  The path you will create and walk through your daily choices, taking at least a small step in that direction every day with your choices and decisions.  A course of direction for each week, to be compounded by months and years.

Success is the journey towards a Goal, not the destination.  By heading towards your goal you are being successful no matter where you are and what you are doing in your every day life.  The only way you will get lost or fail is when you lose sight of your destination, your dream, and quit taking baby steps in that every day.

There is an ancient proverb that says a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Once you start on your path, each day with with each step, your life will begin to be transformed.  People you need will come into your life.  Obstacles will arise that at first seem to block your progress only to be realized later they are just obstacles to be negotiated, stepped around, climbed over to continue on your journey.  These are actually the spice of your life, your growing experiences, the chances and signals you need to learn, expand, change in order to continue on the path.  They are not meant to crush your dreams in spite of how overwhelming they seem appear when they materialize in your path.

Opportunities will emerge.  Some like fresh fruit lying under a tree just needing picked up.  Others dangling begging to be picked from the trees.  In time your perspective about things will begin to change.  As you see progress towards your destination.  As you begin to believe as you see yourself near your goal, even in the slightest of ways.  Those perceptions and preconceived notions of the world will change.  That will cause your reality you live and work in to change.

From your thinking, ideas and dreams, to using those to direct your daily decisions while making your way along your path towards your goal.  Your life will transform as your reality changes.  You will have focus in your direction, control in the transformation of your reality by changing your perceptions and moving towards your dreams.

Once you determine your destination, by figuring out your dreams of choice, then it is a simple matter of filling in the blanks, figuring out the baby steps, from where you are to where you want to go.  You won’t know all the steps at first, or see all the set backs and obstacles which will arrive along the journey.  You may even have trouble coming up with the initial baby steps that will lead you in the right direction.  You may take some wrong turns along the way or be side tracked by people, circumstances, life in general, or the wrong preconceived notions your still clinging to which are baring your way because your traveling towards a destination from untrue beginning location.

Until your perceptions of reality line up more accurately with the true reality of the world your moving towards your destination from a false starting point.  The more honest you are about your perceptions of reality, until you expand your horizons, walk your path, adjust your perceptions of your reality the more directly you will move towards your destination.

Remember the movement, no matter how small, towards your destination is the act of being successful.  Success is not reaching your destination, it’s the journey towards it.  Your success is your journey through life every day getting closer to your dreams.  Hopefully, by the time you reach your destination, you have new and higher goals your walking towards.  This is important, because too many times people reach the goal they were working towards and their life doesn't miraculously change and they are left feeling let down.  They are left felling disillusioned and wanting.  The closer you get to your goals the more you should continually adjust your goals higher and further out of your reach.  Your success is the journey, not the destination!

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Posted in: Journey Dreams Destination Perceptions Reality Successful Path

Are You Lost?

Are You Lost?

Are you un-happy?

Do you ever feel trapped?  Ever feel like other people are controlling you?

Do you feel lonely?

Like most days it’s just you against the world?  Like you have nobody to talk to about your problems?  Nobody understands what you’re going through?
I have done a series of blog posts about, What is your Reality?  And most recently a short series about if you could do whatever you wanted.

If you haven’t read those posts you should really check them out.  Until you determine what your perception of reality is, and what you think you would enjoy doing with this wonderful thing known as life, you don’t know where you are at or where you want to go!

Let’s face it – You’re LOST!

If you were about to start an adventure and go somewhere that you have never been to before you would have to know where you are starting from in order to get directions to where you are headed.  Obviously we all know where we are right now.  But until you determine what your perception of the reality of the world right now, you really don’t know where you are at in that reality.  So effectively you don’t know where you are at all.  You’re all the things listed above and lost at the same time.

If we are lost we must focus on finding ourselves, finding out about ourselves, and what our perceptions of the world are.  Are the assumptions we make daily about the world correct?  Is the world really that way or is it just the way we feel it is?

Are you LOST?

Our perception of the world starts being created when we are children.  It grows as our knowledge increases, as we interact with other people, and interpret the environments we are exposed to.  If you grew up in a ghetto, or slum your perceptions of the world would be different than those of somebody who grew up in a suburb or out in the country.  Just as if you were raised in a country that experienced actual warfare going on in the streets or a revolution your perceptions of the world would be radically different from any of the previously mentioned environments.  Where we come from, our families back ground, our education and exposure with the world at large determines what we believe and don’t believe.

Many people carry senseless, useless, inherently incorrect assumptions about the world and the people in it.  Does that make their perception any less real for them?  Most people have no idea which perceptions are not accurate and which ones are.  So to believe that a given assumption is wrong or much less the idea that simply by changing your mind about the assumption can change your entire outlook and perception of the world you live in every day.

Let me re-state that last part as it is HUGE!  You can simply change your mind about your assumptions and it can transform the world you perceive you inhabit.  Your perceptions, your thoughts, your ideas, define you, the world you perceive, and define your life.  Simply by changing your mind, deciding to look at things differently you can change your situation.

Until we examine what we believe, why we believe, evaluate our very perceptions of the world that we live in, we don’t truly have a clue of where we are, what our true situation is, and what our potential to change things about ourselves, our beliefs, and our world.  It’s all up to you.  It’s all starts in your head with your beliefs and disbelief's.

My next post will assume we have taken time and evaluated what we believe about everything in the world.  It will assume you have evaluated your perceptions and have a true grasp of where you are, who you are, and explore the possibilities of what adventure do you choose for yourself.  Where would you like to be?  What would you like to do if you could do whatever you wanted?

In following posts we will explore how we map out where we are, where we want to go and decide on a path to take us in that direction.

Now might be a good time to read my other related posts if you haven’t read them already.  If you have read this post this far then your interest has been piqued by something.  Go ahead.  Take a leap.  Imagine the possibilities.  It’s free.  It could transform your life in ways you can’t begin to imagine.  So play along.  Click on the links, free your mind, question everything you believe about the world.  Oh, and come back later for my next posts, this only gets better the further down the rabbit hole you decide to go.  No we are not in a Matrix!

What is your perception of Reality?

http://thomaswilsonstoryteller.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-is-reality.html

If you could do whatever you want!  These are my ideas of whatever!

As you read these, free your mind and spirit and dream your dreams.  Maybe type them into the blog as a comment.  Write them down!

#1 What if you won the Lottery?

http://thomaswilsonstoryteller.blogspot.com/2012/11/what-if-i-won-lottery.html

#2 A manufacturing company.

http://thomaswilsonstoryteller.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-manufacturing-company.html

#3 Start and Build a Holding Company

http://thomaswilsonstoryteller.blogspot.com/2012/11/start-and-build-holding-company.html

#4 Design and Build Giant Airships

http://thomaswilsonstoryteller.blogspot.com/2012/11/design-build-giant-airships.html

#5 Buoyancy, Solar Arrays and Oil Pipelines

http://thomaswilsonstoryteller.blogspot.com/2012/11/buoyancy-solar-arrays-and-oil-pipelines.html

#6 Finding your Passion in Life

http://thomaswilsonstoryteller.blogspot.com/2012/11/finding-your-passion-in-life.html

STAY TUNED FOR THE FOLLOWING POSTS!!

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Posted in: Lost change perception lonely trapped un-happy whatever you want reality

Finding Your Passion in Life

For the past several days I have been doing posts about what would you do if you could do anything you wanted to do?  The purpose of this mental exercise is to explore yourself, your wants and desires to find out what you would LOVE to do, if you could do whatever you wanted.

Passion about something can come in many forms.  You can have more than one passion.  You can be passionate about all kinds of things.  I know many people who narrow mindedly would say that your religion should be your passion, and to have anything else as your passion is taking away from your religion.  I disagree with this because unless you’re an evangelist or have your own church, your religion doesn't provide a living, pay the bills, or help you achieve the things you want to achieve out of life.

I should state that because I have been calling it PASSION, it could be what do you LOVE to do?  I have even been hinting about what aspects of your personal nature, the things you do naturally every day without people watching you, and without getting paid for it.  These things could lead you to what your special gift, special talent, or passion might be.  In my case my true passion isn't any of the things that I have mentioned previously in the posts over the last few days.  If I had money and could do whatever I wanted, I could make money and have a wonderful time working at any of those endeavors.  As I am not wealthy or a business SHARK, I have no more of a chance of accomplishing any of those as I would becoming a pilot, or playing golf on a regular basis, because I can’t afford it.  Who knows maybe some super rich entrepreneur will read one of my previous posts and decide to hire me to do one of those things because I am passionate about the ideas?

My true passion in life is writing!

I remember way, way back when I was in school working on my Associates Degree, I dreaded taking English 101 and 102.  Successful completion of these two classes is required for the degree and English, Vocabulary, and Spelling had always been the hardest subjects for me in school.  The idea of becoming a writer for a living was the furthest thing from my mind.

The first paper I turned in for English 101, the College Professor came into class the next day and asked who Thomas Wilson was and then asked to see me in the hallway privately.  I thought for sure this is where my college career was over as I was about to get thrown out for having such horrible English skills.

She explained to me in the hallway that she wish she had met me thirty years ago when she started teaching English and that she had my paper.  She said she had never seen a paper where a student made almost every mistake possible all in the same paper.  She excitedly asked permission to use my paper to instruct the class as to what not to do in a paper!  I agreed as long as she wasn't kicking me out of school.  I was embarrassed but thankful just the same that I got to remain in her class and have a chance to attempt to make a grade.

Lastly before we went back into the class she told me something that at the time fell on deaf ears.  She said that in spite of my horrible English that my paper was very intriguing and that with a really good editor I had the makings of a great writer.  Like I said with my current thoughts about thinking I was about to get thrown out and hearing I just made every mistake in the book and how my paper was about to become class room exhibit number one, her statement fell on deaf ears.  I remember what she said but I never gave it another thought for years to come.  She was the second English teacher to make such a comment to me.  As much as I tried the rules and understanding of English and Grammar escaped my comprehension.

The reason I am going through all this, is IF you can find your passion.  Your special gift that comes about naturally, or as in writing for me that you have to work at daily to become better at it and continually hone your skills.  When you find this elusive magical thing it changes everything!  You will not have enough hours in the day to do all that you want to do.  You will work harder at the things you have to do in order to get back to that thing that you love doing.  Your enthusiasm and love for your new passion will permeate every aspect of your life making it a richer more meaningful life.  You will hop out of bed in the morning because you can’t wait to get started with your new day.  Each day knowing you’re doing some small thing and inching towards your goal and dreams.

A couple of points to remember along the way.

1.  Write your goals down somewhere.  This takes them from thoughts and ideas and puts them in the real world, concrete that you can see and touch.  Maybe hang them somewhere you can see them every day to inspire you.

2.  Success is the journey to our goals, not the completion of goals or reaching a destination.  If I hit the New York best sellers list it is a goal along the path, not the end of the journey.  If Christopher Nolan calls me and says he has to turn one of my books into the next best thing since the Dark Knight Series of movies, it is a step along the path.  (A HUGE STEP.)

3.  When you pray, pray prayers of thankfulness for the things you have.  I find praying a thankful prayer puts me in a thankful mood for what I do have instead of focusing on what I think I need and don’t have.  If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans!

If you have read any of these posts and still haven’t figured out what you want to do in life, or what makes you happy, then I ask you to go back to the first one. (insert link to first post of the series here.)

Read along with a pencil and paper and make notes of the ideas you get for yourself.  Things that come to mind you would like to do.  Think HUGE, be crazy, and be FREE.  Have fun with it as a mental exercise, an escape for a moment into your imagination.  Take notes.

Maybe share a comment or your thoughts, ask questions, reach out to others as you take a chance at thinking liberating thoughts about what you want out of life!  For many people they are afraid to actually think the thoughts, to think of what they really want, to imagine being free to do what they want to do!  It’s alright really.  It’s fun, exciting, and could very well change your life and lead to a path that makes your dreams come true.

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Posted in: Passion Love Endeavors Goals Writer Meaningful Life Prayer

Buoyancy, Solar Arrays, and Oil Pipelines.

If you could do whatever you wanted.  (Continued)

Yesterday’s post was about building enormous vacuum tank airships.  I first wanted to explain a little bit more about why I want to use tanks with all the air pumped out of them instead of balloon style cells which would contain Hydrogen or Helium.  The Germans put Hydrogen in the old Zeppelins during the era of the Great Airships, because they didn't have Helium.  Hydrogen is highly combustible as anyone who remembers the Hindenburg accident will tell you.

Using Helium has its draw backs also.  After you spend the money to build this massive ship you have to fill the cells with millions of cubic feet of helium (which is not free) before the ship becomes buoyant, our lighter than air.  What makes the ship lighter than air is replacing the millions of cubic feet of air (which has a weight) with something lighter than air.  When you have replaced enough of the weight to even overcome the weight of the ship which weighs tons itself, the ship becomes lighter than air or what we call buoyant.

What does nothing weigh?

You know the answer.  It’s all right, shout it out!  Nothing!

A vacuum is exactly that, nothing.  We can’t achieve an absolute vacuum but with today’s technology we can easily, with the right pumps, get it to better than 95% vacuum.  You surpass the buoyancy of Helium around 90-92% vacuum and you surpass Hydrogen around 93-94% vacuum.  This system saves the expense of purchasing, transporting and using a gas to make the ship float.

When you use a gas it would naturally expand the higher the ship goes as the outside pressure against the cells becomes less as the level of air outside the ship decreases.  This puts a limit to how high the ship could fly before the cells burst or you have to pump some of the gas into high pressure tanks to prevent them from exploding.  By using tanks with a vacuum in them they will be at maximum pressure on the tanks at sea level.  The higher they go the less the pressure trying to crush them.  Look at it as a really large submarine designed to sail through the air instead of water.

When you hold a ball full of air at the bottom of a swimming pool and then let it go what happens?

It shoots upward to the surface of the water, past the surface into the air until the buoyancy becomes zero and gravity grabs a hold of it and drags it back to the water where it will float.

What do you think would happen if you achieved a 96% to 97% vacuum in the tanks of the ships I have been describing while the ship was locked to the ground and suddenly released the clamps holding the ship?  It would shoot upward.

How far?

It would remain buoyant until the pressure outside equaled the pressure inside the tanks which wouldn't be until the ship was surrounded by a 96% to 97% vacuum.  With a little bit of help the ship could reach escape velocity and travel into outer space.

If you designed certain ships of this style to handle flying in space, by adding thrusters, pressurized cabins with oxygen for the crew to breathe and a means of re-entering the atmosphere without burning up you would have a space delivery vehicle.

There was an idea that was being worked on in the late 1970’s by some guys interested in solar power before they got dumped in together with the other energy groups in the newly created Department of Energy in 1980 by President Ronald Reagan.  The idea entailed building enormous solar cell arrays in space where weather and such would not affect them and they could collect sunlight and convert it into solar power almost continuously 24/7 and piggy back the power off of a radio signal to a collector that was stationary on the ground.  By putting an object such as this in what is known as a geosynchronous orbit the solar array would stay directly over the same spot all the time.

In late 1979 or 1980 before they were disbanded and fired for threatening the coal and natural gas industry this group was getting ready to go to Congress for funding for their space delivery system to start constructing these solar arrays across the heavens above the United States.  Their plan was tentatively scheduled to be completed by 2015 to provide totally green environmentally free power to the U.S. for pennies per kilowatt.  Their plan also threatened the upstart of the new space delivery system that was currently favored over theirs which was the Space Shuttle, but the Space Shuttle wouldn't have been a cheap and effective means to deliver the parts necessary to construct the Solar Arrays.  It’s now nearing the end of 2012 and Oil and Natural Gas industry are safe, the Space Shuttle has been retired and we are no closer to cheap environmentally clean electricity.

I also remember reading that one of the original plans for transporting oil from our Alaska oil refineries into the states was a fleet of airships which would be able to deliver the oil to almost anywhere it would be needed or could be handled.  It would have prevented the oil pipeline from temporarily being shut down because the pipe line route below and tanks the pipeline feeds into are full.  The cost of the fleet of blimps would have been cheaper to build than the pipeline was to construct.  The companies and jobs created by the massive undertaking of building large fleets of airships for various purposes could be as enormous as the airships would be themselves.

I hope to see mammoth airships sailing through the skies again during my lifetime.

If you could do anything you wanted to do what would it be?

What things do you enjoy doing?

What things do you do naturally even if nobody is watching or willing to pay you to do it?

What do you love to do?

What is the biggest craziest dream you can imagine and see yourself doing?

Please feel free to share your ideas, dreams, and thoughts.  There is no right or wrong answers to this game as we are only playing make believe and exercising our imaginations at this point.

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Posted in: Buoyancy vacuum airships Hydrogen Helium space delivery Solar power oil pipeline

Design & Build Giant Airships

If you could do whatever you wanted to do. (Continued)

I would find a large abandoned strip mine.  Essentially a strip mine is a giant hole in the ground where for years a company just removed the earth and harvested what they want from the dirt.

I would build a large structure over one end or a section of the mine for the purpose of covering it as well as installing large cranes that would be attached to rails to move in two directions, across the length of the structure as well as across the width of the clover.

We would use this structure to build giant hard shelled airships.  Initially I want to build giant airships with five really large tanks approximately 900 feet long with a diameter of 360 feet in the middle that tapers to a smaller oval shapes at the end of the tanks.  The entire structure would be covered with a hard aluminum shell shaped in a aerodynamic design.

The tanks within the airship structure will be built and reinforced from the inside out with outer shell parts of the tank designed so that as the external pressure builds on the outside of the tank it pushes pieces together tighter and helps to seal and strengthen the entire structure.  Lastly we would spray the entire tank structure with a rubberized pliable air tight coating.

Somewhere in the ships will be a series of vacuum pumps in order to pump out a smaller vacuum tank that will control the primary ballast of the overall craft.  The difference of this tank being full of air would mean the craft would weigh several hundred pounds and when the tank was empty and at 95% vacuum the ship would be lighter than air, or buoyant!  Each ship would have small jet engines which really would look quite silly for such a large craft but it is all that would be needed for a lighter-than-air craft that essentially would float upward and coast with the wind like a cloud unless powered to do something different.

I would build the first ones to be designed to haul freight containers and arrange to fly empty containers overseas until we can build the contacts and arrangements to fly container freight from overseas into the United States.  I envision creating a an enormous landing zone between Kansas City, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska alongside Interstate I-29 for the unloading of the these enormous airships for container freight.

We would build a school to train pilots and crews to fly and operate the aspects of the airships and hire the best of the students who graduate our classes.  After our initial fleet is created for hauling container freight we would sell surplus ships to companies like FED EX, UPS, USPS, and the military.  Later we would build passenger ship versions for flying general freight and passengers to various other countries of the world.  I envision seeing towers on top of parking garages where people could board a large airship for a two hour flight around a city to enjoy gambling, a five star seven course dinner, or drink and enjoy the view out of the bottom of the ship which will be designed as a observation lounge.

Where I went a few weeks ago on vacation in the Yucatan peninsula they could build a tower onto one of the resorts and load up a airship to fly people around to the different Mayan archaeological sites and other sites of interest in a slow moving air conditioned airship where you could provide lunch, entertainment, sightseeing with tour guides explaining the significance of what your viewing below.

Ultimately other uses of these these airships could be to provide communications centers tethered over major cities to take the place of cell towers.  These would have line of sight contact with each other and each one could provide cell coverage for a cone of area under the communication ships.

If the ships were made with seal able cabins, thrusters, and the means of safely coming back into the atmosphere you could easily use them to transport large quantities of stuff repeatedly into outer space.  The building of large space stations, capable of building large space ships, or even building the large airships in the vacuum of space would be very feasible.

Combined where one company is building airships, a school is training flight crews and associated workers for the ships.  A shipping company is buying the ships and growing the container freight company moving freight from door to door for the same price as today just within a week instead of weeks.  Selling ships to other companies.  Building restaurants, casinos, and other entertainment versions of the ships.  Finding unique opportunities for tourism like the Grand Canyon and the multitude of other places where slow viewing from above would be magnificent.  Lastly the holding company would have a airline to use for company services like nobody else would have to transport their people anywhere they needed or wanted to go on the planet for business or recreation.

Like I said yesterday, if you are going to dream – DREAM BIG!

Has this post spurred any creative ideas?

Of all these posts have you had any inklings of what you what to start, build, work at?

If you could do anything you want what would you do?

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Posted in: Airships Freight restaurants casinos containers tanks vacuum Dream Big