Unusual (But Practical) Gifts...

Most girls get flowers or other gifts from their dad. My dad, the cop, always put safety and preparedness first. I received flowers too, but these are some of the more unusual gifts he's given me over the years.

Car Emergency Device - When I moved to Richmond, VA (River City), he gave me a multifunctional tool for my car. It has a metal head that can break a car window if you drive off a bridge and can't get out of a submerged car. It also has a blade on the handle for cutting through a seat belt. We have one now in each car.

Emergency Fire Escape - When we moved into a two-story house, he gave me a portable fire escape that you can throw out a window and climb down to safety. It lives under my bed.

Window and Sliding Glass Door Locks - When I moved into my first apartment. He did a safety check and brought additional window locks and a device for the sliding glass door.

DNA Kit - Once, he gave me a DNA kit in case I went missing. The idea was to swab your mouth and put the sample in a container for storage in case it was needed.

Whistles, Pepper Gas, and Flashlights - He's given me several whistles, econo-sized pepper gas canisters, and a Maglight flashlight that doubles as a small bat.

And often when I leave their house, my southern mom sends food home, and my dad sends bullets that can be used on the practice range. The gifts are unusual, but I know he loves me and is looking out for me. I had an unusual childhood, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Mustangs and Rearview Mirrors

My husband asked me to help him bleed the brake lines in his '69 Mustang convertible this weekend. Pumping and releasing the brakes several hundred times gave me a moment to observe and ponder. I had a '74 Mustang as my first real car in the 80s, and the technology of his convertible was close to my yuck yellow one with the avocado-colored top. (I saved my money from my part-time job to have it painted red.)

I drive a 2015 Mustang now, so looking at the gears and switches was a trip down memory lane. The '69 has slides for the defroster and heat (no air conditioning), a cylinder on the floor for the high beams, a cassette player, metal slide seatbelts, windows that wind down, a hard plastic steering wheel with a mental arc for the horn, and a square key for the ignition and a round one for the trunk. It also has an ashtray and cigarette lighter.

Juxtaposed to my '15, I don't have to take the key out to open the doors or start the engine as long as it's in my purse. I can even start the engine remotely if I want to warm the car up. And the kickin' sound system, phone, and climate controls are changed on the touchscreen in the dash, or I can use voice commands. I can get music through AM, FM, satellite, my phone, or a host of other devices.  And I can enjoy my tunes from space in my heated or cooled seats.

This week is all about memories. My high school reunion is coming up soon, and I'm looking forward to seeing friends who've known me since kindergarten and the old high school. We're going to the homecoming game on Friday. At some point, we're the same people from back then, but in other ways, we're not. We've changed (on all levels), and had a lot of experiences outside of those school walls we shared for twelve years.

We've come a long way. I love the nostalgia of the reunion and the classic cars. It's fun for a summer cruise with the top down, but for every day life, I like my airbags, computer-controlled engine, anti-lock brakes, power steering, and padded steering wheel. 

I love visiting the past. The nostalgia and memories are great. But like with the cars, I've adapted to the technology and ways of today. And, there's a reason that the rearview mirror was designed to be a lot smaller than the windshield.

Enjoy the memories and where we've come from, but celebrate the present and where you're going. Every decade has its own surprises.

The '69 Mustang's dashboard

This is where roll down the window comes from...

My 2015 Mustang

9 Cool Sites for Writers

These days you have to be writer, publicist, and marketer. I am always looking for interesting tools and sites for marketing my writing. Here are nine sites every writer needs to know about...

Canva lets you create graphics and memes for your social media posts. It's an easy-to-use online design tool.

Spoken.ly helps you create and share memes and quotes.

TweetDeck helps you organize and schedule your tweets. I use the free version as my Twitter scheduler.

Fiverr is a site where you can commission work or projects for five dollars or a nominal fee. You can get inexpensive artwork, cartoons, voiceovers, and videos here.

Ping-o-matic allows you to enter your blog's URL, and it will ping a variety of search engines to make sure they're aware of your site. This helps with search engine optimization.

GotPrint is a great site for ordering all kinds of print materials.

Next Day Flyers is another site for all kinds of print materials. They have a quick turnaround on orders.

Etsy is a great site for unique gifts. I order book and mystery-related items for gift baskets and reader give aways.

Bitly allows you to create shortened or customized links for social media posts. You can also use it to track clicks on your links.

What other sites would you recommend for writers?

What's Your Super Power?

I love Batman. I always wanted to be Bat Girl like Yvonne Craig. My new fun TV watch is Fox's "Gotham." I really enjoy seeing the stories and characters from Detective Jim Gordon's perspective. And I think Robin Lord Taylor is brilliant as Penguin.

It's fun to live in their world for a while where the characters have super powers or can access cool tools that the rest of us don't have.

It made me think about my own utility belt of gifts and skills. What's my super power? It's a toss up. I can write, and I'm super-organized. I can order any mess. And I can type about 80 wpm.

Now, I just need a cool name, cape, and a pair of sparkly boots to go with my new super hero persona.

A Cool Tool - Text Generator

This site will generate dummy text for you. I use it to create sample flyers or website mockups. I have also used it when I'm testing software, and I need a block of text to check the size of a field.

You can specify how many words and your style preference. One option will create text with letters, numbers, and symbols. It helps if you're looking to design a layout before content matters.

Check out Dummy Text.