I am at the house...and I am making plans and contacts... and I'm thinking.... again....

Good Afternoon all!

I've got lots of rat killin' to do on and off throughout the day... my "To do" list is about 2 pages and 4 days long ... but here's some stuff I'm working on:

• make contact with the local newspaper, the Facts, to try to set up a story about my bicycle adventure and blog.... talked to Katelyn, a Sports Report... and she seemed receptive... she will talk to the Editor, Yvonne and get back with me.
  
• placed a "check it out" ad for my adventure and blog in the Facts, the Source (local weekly "sell it buy it" bargains paper and the Houston Chronicle.


• plan on doing the same for several other major papers in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington.


• Will also run an ad in the Santa Fe paper and in select cities along Leg 3.... wherever that ends up being... I'll have more on that developing plan later.


• have already sent e-mails with the blog Intro letter to many more businesses, websites, publications, etc. and plan to follow up with them by phone. These include Texas Parks & Wildlife, Texas Monthly, Genoveva Chavez Community Center in Santa Fe, many bicycle shops along my 1250 mile route, the local fitness center - Family Fitness, adventure and endurance activity related sites and many more....


• already made contact with one potential sponsor and have got contact people for 2 more.... won't name anything until I make some progress.


• made contacts with several banks and mortgage lending places in Santa Fe and had several conversations regarding "real estate owned" - REOs - in the possession of these institutions... when I go back to SF, I'll be planning on looking at a purchase of a modest home for my wife and I from one of these "foreclosures".... there's no shortcuts on this.... it takes time .... you gotta do your homework.... become an "expert" on real estate in a given area and then be patient and wait for the right property at the right price... I'll talk more about this process in a future "financial management" post....

Let me interrupt this boring list for a minute and share something....

In case you haven't figured it out yet.... I'm planning some pretty significant life changes here - New Career.... New Location.

I'm working to turn this great adventure of Discovering America on 2 Wheels into a sustainable vocation... yep that's right... this is what I want to do with the rest of my life...

I feel like Chris Berman is commentating on some full back breaking a trap play up the middle from the other team's 47 yard line... (note the significance of the number 47)

" and he's broke free at the line of scrimmage.... and what a collision with the free safety at the 35.... he was almost flattened but somehow managed to right himself and he's angling toward the right side of the end zone with the wide receiver Joe Blow providing a screen... and a stiff arm to the cornerback that was being blocked at the 15.... he's spinning and falling and catches the ground with his left hand.... being caught from behind by a pursuing linebacker who dives at his ankles and trips him... he's rumbling, bumbling, tumbling and stumbling for the goal line.....

..... and he's in for the SCORE!"

You know... this whole thing wasn't actually planned to turn out like this.... and I don't even know how it's gonna turn out...

I mean I named this whole effort "Discovering America on 2 Wheels".... thought it was catchy and cool and captured a bicycle adventure across America and all....

but Geez...

I wasn't prepared for what has happened....to me....

I wasn't prepared to lose 23 lbs in 6 weeks....

I wasn't prepared to be so alone and yet be in contact and conversation with so many people....

I wasn't prepared to experience the beauty of the land that I've rode through and walked on....

I wasn't prepared for people to be so nice to me.... to open their minds and lives up to me and to help me and to extend their hospitality and hearts to me....

I wasn't prepared to be in Constant Communion with God....

I wasn't prepared to come home.....

It's changed me .... a lot.... but I still have some of my same old failings.... like my temper....

Man - if I could change one thing about myself that would be it.... I've tamed the beast somewhat.... probably partly cause I just don't have the energy I used to.... kinda hard to jump up and down and do back flips with a red face when you're older....

But that bastard still reaches up and bites me in the ass every once in a while.... like last night....

Got into an e-mail discussion... well she called it a "pissing match" .... probably a better description.... with my ex-wife.... my daughter's mother... I've made one or 2 references to her in my posts....

Here's the revelation about ex-wives especially if they're also the mother of your children.... in other words, divorced with kids....

First of all, if you do it right.... I mean raising the kid.... you got to talk to 'em (the ex-wife) all the time.... I mean I've talked to my ex-wife and communicated with her WAY MORE since we've been divorced that when we were married.... let me think about that for a minute.... maybe that was the problem.... anyway.... that's another story....

Second of all.... you know what really makes me mad about the whole "gotta talk to 'em all the time, gotta communicate this and coordinate that" thing.... and I only get mad when there's a disagreement.... I mean it don't take a $200 / hr session with a shrink to figure out it's hard to get mad at someone who's agreeing with ya....

... anyways, the thing that makes me mad about dealing with my ex-wife.... mother of my child...

....is that 99% of the time when we have a disagreement and I end up getting pissed off.....

SHE'S RIGHT!

Yup... if I'd just shut the heck up and listen and grunt a couple of times and nod my head and say "Sounds good" I'd be a lot better off and all parties would be better off for it....

But NOOOOO! the freakin' testosterone's gotta kick in and I gotta jump up on the table and arch my back and throw my head back and beat my chest and howl at the moon....

Typical dumb ass male!

Oh and it gets worse.... geez can it get any worse....

My ex-wife and my wife are like ..... buds ..... so you know what that means!

Yep .... they team up against me ..... Oops there I go again.... making myself the victim.... see how easy it is?

No - what they're really doing is using their combined knowledge of me and their own unique characteristics (they're opposite in a lot of ways and alike in a lot of ways) to try to help me make a good decision and come to reasonable solutions that are in the best interest of our daughter (yeah you heard me right.... step parents have ownership in this little kid raising thing too).

You know.... when you think about it.... I'm one lucky son of a gun .....

I've been or am married to 2 of the smartest women I've ever met..... smart in totally different ways.... but smart nonetheless.

Now if I could just shut up and listen.....

Sorry... I kinda got off track there for a little bit.

Okay, back to the list of what I'm doing...

• gotta go get new tires on my truck at Brazosport Tire in Clute Tx.


• plan to set up separate account at the Credit Union where I bank for "Discovering America on 2 Wheels".
  
• set up appointment with a lawyer to talk about this little venture and find out how many different ways I can screw it up and get screwed up by it .... oh just a little observation here.... anytime you're getting ready to do something .... dive off into something.... anything.... new business... buy a new house.... sell a house.... buy rental property .... marriage .... divorce.... whatever.... find you a decent lawyer (hint: there's a direct correlation in competency and cost..... the more competent, the higher the $ / hour), make you a list of questions about what you want to ask 'em about and schedule an hour and go pay your $200 (yep that's about how much a good lawyer will cost / hour) and just go sit down and ask your questions and then listen and take notes.... it'll be the best investment you'll ever make!


• investigate setting up a YouTube account for my blog videos.


• investigate how I can get my posts or an abbreviated version of them to Twitter.
  
• research a lower cost health care provider .... oh my goodness.... don't even get me started on this one.... I could fill up a chapter in a book about health care costs and do's and don'ts... it'll have to wait.... but I got a lot to say about this subject.


• go return and exchange some items at Walmart and Academy.


• take some clothes to the cleaners.


• replace the bathroom showerhead and clean the tub.


• collate all expenses for both legs of my adventure into an Excel worksheet.


• eat lunch with my sister, Vicki.
  

Whatcha doing?

Nut n Honey!

Tired already....

you 'member I talked about "hard work".....

Hard work is a given.... but you gotta have a plan.... lotsa plans....

No shortage of that here!