Author: dickking44

This is an article that I wrote, quite a few years ago, for my local newspaper; about people who don’t turn their headlights on when they should.  I was recently reminded of the article when I was out at dusk and encountered one car after another who were driving in the near dark without any lights.  I’m quite sure that the idiots who seem to insist upon driving stupid are not all located here in Florida. For that reason, I thought it might be beneficial to post the article on our blog as well. 

HEADLIGHTS ON PLEASE

People, who don’t turn on their headlights at dawn, or dusk, or when it starts to rain, anger me.  Of course, that’s not the exact word that I wanted to use, but I’m trying to be nice here by keeping it clean.  

Seriously though, some people just don’t seem to grasp the concept that turning on their headlights makes them easier to be seen.  This is for their own safety as well as the safety of everyone else.  Likely they can see me, but that’s not the point, what if I can’t see them? 

I live in the sunny south and especially down here in Florida, there are lots of people in my age bracket (and well beyond) still driving.  BREAKING NEWS!  WE DON’T SEE AS WELL AS WE ONCE DID!  Not only that, but OUR REFLEXES AREN’T QUITE AS QUICK AS THEY ONCE WERE.  I (and most of them) am still a very capable driver, but given the obvious benefits of headlights, why would you not want to give yourself every possible opportunity to avoid getting smacked by me, or someone like me. 

I’d just like someone to explain to me what the benefit is for not turning on their headlights.  Do they think they’re saving on their battery?  Do they think they’ll be getting better gas mileage?  Just what possible benefit do they derive from not turning them on and is it anywhere near as valuable as the lives they put in danger?  When I see some idiot driving without their lights on when we all know it’s time that they should be, rather than flash my lights off and on, which is what I’ve done for years, I now hit them with my bright lights.  You’d be surprised how often their bright lights hit me back.  I see that as, Mission Accomplished.  

And what about the idiots who turn on only their parking lights?  Please!  Someone tell me just why would they do that?  Obviously, they realized it was time for lights, but why only their parking lights?  (And by the way, they are called “PARKING LIGHTS” for a reason.)   They aren’t parking, they aren’t saving on their battery, or getting better gas mileage and if they are, it’s certainly not enough to take the chance of some old fart like me hitting them, is it?   I’m begging for somebody to please explain that one to me.  Seriously, if there is a legitimate explanation, I’d really like to hear it.  I’m old, but I’m still open minded and I’m very willing to learn something new.

People!!!!  Listen to me!!!  When it rains, or when it starts to get dark, or early in the morning when all us old farts think we absolutely have to be out there on the road during your rush to get to, or from work, please turn on your damn headlights, so we don’t run your ass down. 

Oh, and while we’re on the subject,,,,, our hearing has gotten bad too, you might just as well lay off the damn horn.  Besides, all that horn blowing is wasting your battery life too.  Save all that energy and turn your damn lights on.  PLEASE!!! 

The life you save may be mine, or someone I love.

HEADLIGHTS ON PLEASE!!!

When driving at dusk, or at dawn,
when it’s foggy, or if there’s rain,
most people turn on their headlights,
at least those of us, who have a brain.

To be licensed and allowed to drive,
we should all be tested for common sense.
We all should know to turn on our lights,
it’s a simple matter of self-defense.

I sometimes get upset by people,
who just won’t use their brain,
but writing somehow helps me vent,
which in turn, helps keep me sane.

I’d like it if people who read my article
would tell me, if they agree.
Are those people being selfish,
or is all of this, just me?

If all of us would take the initiative,
I think it could possibly save some lives,
if everyone who reads this
passed it on as a “word to the wise.”

So if you’re so inclined
I hereby grant permission
for you to pass it on to others
and help me with my mission.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please consider visiting our pages on Amazon.com at the locations shown below. We have over 20 books available at these sites and the Kindle versions are available at only 99 cents each.

http://www.amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

Amazon.com: Donna Hale Chandler: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #500

About: Marriage

“It’s rare to hear any husband say,
‘I was wrong,’
but one thing you’ll never hear him say,
‘you were right.’ ”

For a number of years now, I have enjoyed doing a little writing. It’s nothing profound, but it entertains me.  Sometimes, I’ll end up publishing it, but a lot of it heads directly to the trash can.  Truth be known, unless Sweetie has something else on my schedule, writing now occupies a good portion of nearly every single day.  Especially, since the Corona virus hit us and we started living in our little cocoon.   From day one of the pandemic, I’ve spent even more of my time at my computer,,,, writing…. 

I’ve now written or partnered in writing over 20 books, but I don’t call myself an author.  I’m guessing that those first few books may have contained close to 500 original poems that I had written, but I don’t call myself a poet either.  Fact is, most of those poems are very amateurish, but writing is something that I do to pass the time.  I find it more enjoyable than playing solitaire or some of those other stupid computer games. (Even though I probably spend a half hour or more of each day playing those games.)

Even though I consider my stuff to be amateurish, I find writing to be very therapeutic. In its own way, I find it to be very rewarding, though not financially, it seems.  I must say, I got a tremendous feeling of accomplishment when I held that first published book in my hand for the very first time, let alone the twentieth one.

As mentioned, now days, most of my writing is a collaborative project.  One of the first projects that Sweetie and I collaborated on was the book that we eventually named, THE HINTS BOOK ALMANAC.  At the time, we hadn’t been together all that long and we were still learning about each other.  One of us said something about a helpful hint we had read recently, which eventually led to us realizing that, for years, we had both been saving all these little scraps of paper with little tips and suggestions on them.  As we talked, we convinced ourselves that these little items would be so much more useful, if only they were organized so that you’d be able to find the one you wanted, when you wanted it.  That led to us spending the next year or so doing just that, organizing, categorizing and alphabetizing them.  Before we finished that, we began to seek out additional hints from multiple sources.  We wound up with around 1700 hints which eventually led to the book we titled THE HINTS BOOK ALMANAC.  Before long, we realized that we had only scratched the surface, there were still more hints to be found.  Soon there was a second book with the same title, book II, containing an additional 1000 hints. 

Now our collaboration juices were flowing and, well before the pandemic, we had written our first fictional book about imaginary characters. That first fictional book was a children’s book, titled Adventures of Gizzy. It was about our cat.  We felt that it worked out so well that we wrote another fictional book titled, The Crow’s Nest.  As we assume is the case with most writers, we just made it up as we went along, but by the time that project was over with, we had come to know the characters quite well.  That being the case, we decided that they had more to say, which resulted in book two of the series, (which has now reached 7 books and counting.)

One day I was sitting there at my computer trying to figure out just what I wanted to write about next when I got to wondering about what life would have been like in the early life of one of those characters.  I imagined him as an 18-year-old, out on his first solo adventure, seeking to make his way in the world.  The timing would have put him in the mid to late 1890’s so I tried to imagine the world in which he would have lived.  And I began to write.

That resulted in book three of what Sweetie and I now call THE CROW’S LAKE SERIES.  Before that book was ready to go to the printer, book four was nearing completion.  Then book five, book six, book seven and now we’re better than half way through book eight.  I attribute all, but the first two books, to the pandemic.  If we hadn’t confined ourselves to our home in our efforts to stay safe from the virus, it’s very unlikely that those books would have ever been written.  

That said, however, although the Corona Virus is still a concern, life has gotten back to some semblance of normal and we once again are able to get out into the world.  Even so, on a lesser scale, we’ve continued to write and delve into the lives of the characters from Crow’s Lake.  The book we are now working on, tentatively titled LAST RIDE,  is likely to be the last in that series, although that’s not cast in stone.  There is always the possibility that we’ll find that some of those characters still have more to say. 

However, we also have written a couple of books titled CLOSED CASES.  They are about a private investigator by the name of Stony Johnson and we’re anxious to see what’s been happening in his life.  My current expectations are that we’ll be hearing more from Stony in the future.

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #503

About: Character

“You often get more information
from a man’s reaction,
than you do from his response.”

********

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please consider checking out the Amazon pages of the authors of this site, by going to the addresses’ shown below.   Kindle versions of their books are available at only 99 cents.

http://www.amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

Amazon.com: Donna Hale Chandler: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

The following poem is one I wrote a few years ago. After having lived alone for a good many years, and having dated a number of different ladies, I felt that I had finally met a keeper. Oh, I’d dated some real nice ladies, but it always seemed that the match wasn’t a perfect fit. Then she came into my life. She wasn’t insisting that we have a child, she wasn’t insisting that we get married. She was secure in her being, she was close to my age, and we had a lot in common and a lot of common interests. It just seemed to fit. Nearly fourteen years later, we’re still together, and like I said, she’s a keeper.

TWILIGHT YEARS
©By: R.L.King – From the book Memories & Time ©2017

My life is in the latter stages, closer to dusk than dawn,
but I’ve found a special lady,,,, willing to tag along.

She’s the first I didn’t measure, never comparing her to you,
but she’s the first to really complete me,,, in all we say or do.

We know our days are numbered; time is moving really fast.
We’ve not much left to accomplish, careers are in our past.

Seldom do we party; our life is more sedate,
but we’ve handled all the things, life has heaped upon our plate.

Oh, we haven’t given up on life, we still have goals in place, 
they’re just not so pressing, and we’ve kinda slowed the pace.

We’re so glad we found each other, having lost our lifelong mates.
I’d say we’re both content…. our twilight years are going great.

Life is now in the latter stages, closer to dusk than dawn,
years ago I found a special lady,,,, willing to tag along.

*********

Gramps use’ta say
R.L.King2012 #279

About: Aging

“We all reach a point
when we know our way around……

but more ’an likely by then,
…we ain’t goin anywhere.”

********

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please consider checking out the Amazon pages of the authors of this site, by going to the addresses’ shown below.   Kindle versions of their books are available at only 99 cents.

http://www.amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

Amazon.com: Donna Hale Chandler: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

This is a poem that I wrote back in 2008.  At that time, I had been “quitting” smoking cigarettes for over 25 years, probably closer to 30.  At times, I had moderate success, one time lasting 3 years, but I had never completely “kicked” the habit.  I’d sometimes cheat with cigars or chew, but it seemed that I’d always wind up coming back to those damn cigarettes.  However, at the current time, it’s coming up on 14 years without once cheating and this time I’m committed to staying the course.  Wish me luck.

TO SMOKE, OR NOT TO SMOKE

For many years that was the question for which I had no answer.
Course, that was back before they confirmed it causes cancer.
My son is now 40,  and a smoker he’s become,
but from the time he was 3 or 4, he nagged til my ears were numb.

Daddy, why do you smoke.  Dad, why don’t you quit?
Sometimes, I thought he nagged, just for the hell of it.
Years later, my wife was sick, quitting became more important.
Eventually, they even passed laws, banning smoking in restaurants.

But, once you’ve got the habit, quitting isn’t all that easy.
Some often get the shakes, while others get feeling queasy.
It took me many years, must have quit a hundred times.
I’m sure I’d have been put in jail, if lying about it was a crime.

For a time, I switched to cigars, the little ones, five to a pack.
Put myself on a one pack limit, but eventually, cigarettes were back.
As one of my many crutches, I stopped cigarettes for chew.
I used those little pouches, so people seldom knew.

As a habit it’s disgusting, especially when you have to spit,
but spitting, I just wouldn’t do, a real man simply swallows it.
It was better for my lungs,  and I was still getting my fix,
but a different kind of cancer, still was in the mix.

Back and forth it went, cigars, cigarettes, and chew.
I knew that I should quit, but it’s awfully hard to do.
I had to make a move, for several years I cut way back.
Daily I’d bum just two from my son, but I refused to buy a pack.

I’d save one for bed time, cause I couldn’t sleep if I was craving.
As long as I stopped at two, it felt like I was behaving.
Sometimes I’d go to the bar,  for a dollar I could buy a couple.
If I didn’t exceed my two a day, it wasn’t causing any trouble.

Still, it felt like I was cheating, “I can do better, I know I can.”
how could such a little thing, defeat a full-grown man?
For years, I’d been cut back to my limit of only two,
and sometimes, for several months, I’d quit that and only chew.

Friends had tried the patch; others had chewed the gum,
But no matter what the method, quitting wasn’t any fun.
And when it came right down to it, they nearly all went back.
First, they’d bum a few, then break down and buy a pack.

Most gained a little weight, some gained quite a lot,
then went back to smoking, and the weight they’ve all still got.
My sister had herself hypnotized. “Did it help?”  I asked, curious.
She said, “You can’t beat this habit, unless you’re really serious.”

Finally, I’d had enough, I needed to take a stand.
If I can’t beat this habit, I’m really not much of a man.
I put my last two cigars in a drawer, so they’d always be there to see,
to remind myself each day, how that habit had control of me.

I didn’t attend meetings; I didn’t wear a patch.
I reminded myself each day, that I was saving lots of scratch.
You have to fight the cravings, for several weeks at least,
but eventually if you’re serious, you can gain control of the beast.

Oh, I gained a little weight, but not what you might think.
I tried hard not to substitute cigarettes, for food, and drink.
It’s now been 13 years, and I haven’t cheated once.
I have no clue how much I’ve saved, but I know that it’s a bunch.

I no longer have the cravings, but now and then I’ll have a moment.
It was a filthy nasty habit, but at last, I finally feel I own it.
I feel better about myself, just knowing that I prevailed,
and I know it’s in my past, that ship has finally sailed!!!!

I’m proud and happy to report that the forty-year-old son that I mentioned above, now well into his 50’s,  has now been off from cigarettes for over ten years.  He quit “cold turkey” also

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #220

About: Quitting Smoking

“Nothing challenges the parameters
of life’s expiration date
….quite like smoking.”

********

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please consider visiting our pages on Amazon.com at the locations shown below. We have over 20 books available at these sites and the Kindle versions are available at only 99 cents each.

http://www.amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

Amazon.com: Donna Hale Chandler: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

This excerpt is from book 5 in our Crow’s Lake series, titled THE CROWS FINALE.

PROLOGUE

The Winchell twins, Pat (Butch) and Mike had worked for Vern Johnson on the Circle J ranch for nearly eight years.  Now the two of them were contemplating a change.

It came as no surprise.  Since their childhood days they had dreamed of one day owning a cattle ranch as partners and, in fact, they had made those wishes known to Vern from day one of their employment. 

That day had finally arrived.

Chapter One

Booming thunder was rolling over the distant mountains and they could see the veils of rain hanging down from the gloomy black clouds.  The wind was bringing it this way and although it hadn’t yet reached them, they knew it wouldn’t be long.  In unison they took their ponchos from their bedrolls and slipped them on in preparation for the impending downpour.  They were a good three hours ride from the house and unless they found some sort of cover, they were about to be drenched.

As they continued to study the approaching storm and considered their options, they decided to head for the Double D. ranch.  They were a mere half hour ride from it and they figured they could reach it before they were hit by the full force of the storm.  Heading off in the direction of the ranch, they came to a big rock formation and as they rounded it, they could see the out buildings of the Double D in the distance.  Pat noticed an overhang protruding out from the formation that was large enough to allow them and their horses to get under cover.  They quickly guided their horses under it and dismounted.   Figuring that they’d be at least several hours waiting out the storm, they removed the saddles from their horses.  One of them built a quick fire in a circle of rocks that had seen numerous fires in the past while the other filled the coffee pot from his canteen and placed it on a flat rock near the fire to heat.

Today was twins, Mike and Pat Winchell’s 25^th birthday.  Since they were seventeen-year-old high school seniors they had worked for Vern Johnson on his ranch.  Vern, with his partner Pappy, had taught them everything they knew about ranching.

Editor’s note: Please check out our Amazon author’s pages at the addresses below:

http://www.amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

Amazon.com: Donna Hale Chandler: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

Gramps use’ta say
R.L.King2012 #519

About: Integrity

Quoting Unknown: “If you’re too big for the small things,
…you’re too small for the big things.”