That Was A Close One

Things are not always as they seem. For instance, I once knew a man who’d been convicted of murder. Multiple murders, they claimed. He was quite an interesting guy actually, artistic and intelligent, with a unique sense of humor. I wasn’t sure if he was guilty of the crimes or not, but everyone else seemed to think so. By the time I met him, he’d served his time, been released, and landed a job - same place I worked. We worked together, sometimes just the two of us, usually late into the night.

Everybody told me I was crazy for working alone with him, but I didn’t really see a problem. He seemed to be a nice enough guy. Although... He did have a habit, when giving other workers a directive, of saying, “Do it, or I’ll kill you!”

I think he said it just to see the look on their face. Everyone knew his story and his words served to intimidate them. They did what they were told without arguing or complaining. But me, I don’t respond well to intimidation. And, one night when he used the line, I said, “No, you won’t.”

He looked surprised at first and then asked, “What makes you so sure? There’s nobody else here. There’d be no witnesses.”

I said, “Everybody knows I’m here and that you’re here. If anything happened to me, you’d be the first and only suspect. You just got out of prison; I don’t think you want to go back. Besides, I haven’t done anything to make killing me necessary. There would be no point.”

He laughed. “You’re right.”

We continued working together for another year or so and got along great. He was nice as could be and never “threatened” to kill me again. Still, people thought I was a little nuts for staying at my job. But hey, you can’t really choose your co-workers. And the fact that I’m still here proves that I really had nothing to worry about.

Oh! I almost forgot. Things really aren’t always what they seem. A few years later, I heard the guy had gone back to prison - and for quite a long time. The reason? Killing someone.

Whew!

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter, has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. Now also available in print at many online retailers or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. The popular Wynn Garrett Series Books are now available on Barnes And Noble® at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?series_id=867526 See Bruce’s Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders

To Do List

I make lists. To do lists. Partly because I can’t ever seem to remember everything that needs done and partly just to experience the satisfaction of crossing things off when I complete them.

Every week, I have twenty or more pressing things to do, and I put them on the list as I think of them – usually at night when I’m driving and have nothing better to do than think. The next day, I get done what I can, cross those items off the list and then go to work. And add more things to the list, quite often more than I crossed off. It’s a continuous cycle that has been ongoing for the last twenty plus years. On weekends, at the expense of sleep, I try to get everything caught up; cross everything off the list. Try, but it never works. I haven’t had an empty list (if there is such a thing) since - well, ever. The more I do, the more there is to be done.

I’ve been told my problem is I have too many aspirations, that I really should just relax, not make a list, and not try to do anything. My question is, what exactly would that accomplish? Nothing. I have only so many days until I die. I sincerely hope I have my list done before that happens. But, if the last twenty years are any indication, I probably won’t. And that presents quite a problem – how will I ever be able to rest in peace, knowing my list isn’t done?

Until recently, it seemed the only way around the dilemma was just not to die. I’m pretty sure that’s not a viable option. Obviously, I’m not going to live forever - although so far, it’s working quite well. But, back to my conundrum, I think I have found a solution. It’s simple really. If I can manage for my body to outlive my brain, I’ll never be able to think of anything to add to my list. No list – voilà, problem solved. After reading this blog, some will no doubt insist that my brain is already going so I should have nothing to worry about. I would love to argue the point but I don’t have time. The weekend is here and I have a long list of things to do.

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter, has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. For more information, visit www.bruceaborders.com. See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders

Pick Up The Tools

“Put the tools away when you’re done using them,” – one of my dad’s favorite sayings when I was younger. Apparently, my brother and I had a little difficulty with that concept. We’d use his tools to fix our bikes, to work on toys, or to build things, and then we’d forget to finish the job, leaving screwdrivers, sockets, wrenches, hammers (and anything else we dug out of his toolbox) laying wherever we’d been working – usually in the yard. He’d find them the next day, or the next week, or later. Sometimes, they were still usable!

Bigger tools like rakes, shovels, and picks were not immune from our absent-minded approach to tool placement. We’d drop them, and then leave them, moving on to other things.

One day, we decided to use my dad’s tools to dig a tunnel under the street, from one side to the other. The street went up a fairly steep hill and the place we set up our operation, the top of the road measured about fifteen or twenty feet off the ground level. We worked more than a single day on our project, weeks in fact. Eventually, we had a sizeable tunnel, big enough for both of us to fit inside and work, standing up. Digging the dirt loose with a pick and then loading it with shovels into a wheelbarrow, we hauled it out.

To help keep our work hidden, the entrance to our tunnel was obscured by some bushes and a large pile of dirt from the excavation of a building site for a new church. The pile of dirt outside grew daily, but apparently, no one seems to notice the exact size of a pile of dirt.

We managed to dig the tunnel, maybe a quarter of the way across the street – and then we moved, leaving everything as it was under the street. Everything included my dad’s pick and maybe a shovel or two. A driveway for the new church building is now where the opening of our tunnel was, and after more than thirty years, I think it’s safe to assume the street is not going to collapse – at least I hope not. On the other hand, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. I might find my dad’s pick! Or, not.

After this incident, (and several others) you’d think I would have learned to put tools away when I was finished with them. But no, I still haven’t. I don’t generally leave them in the yard though.

This past weekend, I stopped at my parents’ house. My dad is building a retaining wall behind his house and while I was there, I went around to take a look at his progress. The wall is coming along nicely, but that’s not what captured my attention. There, with a couple of shovels, was a pick. I guess at some point in the last thirty-some years, he replaced it. Although, he might not have it long. Now, I know he wasn’t actually done using it when I was there, however, when I saw it, the pick was laying in the yard!

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. For more information, visit www.bruceaborders.com. See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders

Electrical Education

I had a strong fascination with electricity when I was a kid – still do; only now, I also have a healthy respect for it. After I learned the hard way its not really something to play with.

I was six years old. My parents had gone away on a trip, leaving my brother and I with some of their friends to watch us at our house. As anyone knows, it’s much easier to get away with things you normally wouldn’t be able to do when your parents aren’t around. I should have been content with that but no; I chose to take the opportunity to attempt to electrocute myself. That wasn’t my intention - that’s just the way it turned out.

In my dad’s toolbox, I found a short piece of bare wire, about eight inches long, with an alligator clip attached to one end. I took the wire to my room, not really knowing what for at that point. But, I figured there had to be something exciting I could do with it. There was.

In my room, I had a small metal wall heater located about four inches from a plugin. For some reason, I thought it’d be a good idea to attach the alligator clip to the heater and then insert the other end into the plug. I guess I wanted to see what would happen. What happened was, the instant the wire made contact, I got a severe jolt, as blue and orange sparks flew. But that wasn’t the worst of it. My little miniature arc welder welded the alligator clip to the heater and the other end to the plug. And then it melted the skin on my forefinger and thumb together around the wire.

Of course, the burning feeling and continuous surging of electricity caused me to jerk my hand back. The only result of that was my fingers slid smoothly down the wire; I couldn’t let go. At some point, I started yelling – probably the very second I felt the first volt enter my fingers. Everyone in the house rushed into my room where my plight was quite obvious. The guy who rescued me said later, he knew that if he’d touched me or the wire he’d have wound up in the same predicament as I. Lucky for me, he also knew what to do.

He quickly removed his thick leather belt, and I thought I was getting a spanking. Instead, he looped the belt around the wire and gave it a quick pull. The relief was instant! No more shocking and burning feeling! Still, one small problem remained; my fingers were still melded together. A little persuasion from a pocketknife and I again had the use of all five digits on that hand.

I still have the scars on my finger and thumb but I don’t think I need them to remember the experience. The incident left a rather searing impression on my brain as well and I never attempted a repeat performance. But, I have a son who a lot of people say is a lot like me – right down to his early and unhealthy interest in electricity.

He was three at the time. We were at my parent’s house and like his father; he decided plugins were meant to have things, other than a plug, inserted into them – keys in this instance. Unlike his father, he was able to let go but not before creating his own artistic display of fireworks and making a unique set of black marks on the wall. He suffered no long-term ill effects (we think) but never seemed to want to discuss the incident much. However, his interest in electricity wasn’t totally dispelled. In fact, this past week, he started Lineman College. Apparently, he too, decided electricity isn’t something to play with – he’s going to make a career of it.

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. For more information, visit www.bruceaborders.com. See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders

Sink Or Swim

Seven years old and I couldn’t swim. Pitiful, I know. My dad must have felt the same way because one hot summer day, a Saturday as I recall, he took me and my brother down to the river. It was time I learned to swim, he said.

I don’t know if he could tell it or not but, I was sort of scared. I wasn’t afraid of water in general, just that particular water. I’d heard all kinds of stories about the river with its raging and churning white water rapids and the deep, powerful undercurrents. The fact that these stories pre-dated the building of the dam, not more than a mile from our swimming hole, was lost on me. Sure, the river looked calm enough but all those horrible stories of people jumping or falling in and then being swept away in the current, never to be seen again were still in my head.

Then, my desire to swim overcame my fear and I waded out into the water. I was ready. My dad held a finger through my belt loop, so I could practice without sinking – or so he claimed. After a few minutes of kicking and splashing, I actually started moving forward. And then – my belt loop broke! At that point, it was literally, sink or swim. Usually, faced with such a situation, most people swim. Not me, I sank.

Of course, my dad fished me out of the water, even before I had time to cough or splutter. But, that was the end of my swimming lesson that day. And I refused to go back to that river.

Later, I did learn to swim but not before a few more episodes of sinking. My brother rescued me – probably against his better judgment considering how annoying I could be.

I’m not quite sure why swimming was such an important thing to learn though; it’s been several years now since I’ve gone. Still, knowing how to swim and not going is much better than going and not knowing how. Not being able to swim is kind of a sinking feeling!

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter has over 500 songs and 9 books. Over My Dead Body, and The Journey, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. For more information, visit www.bruceaborders.com. See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders

Waiting

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