The natural progression...

Progress is often thought of as a circle, as we seem to pass the same landmarks in our journeys toward our goals...We begin new directions in our lives, clearly seeing in our minds' eyes that point where our future joy waits gleefully for us...Knowing what we want, we make a beeline toward it, knowing that our headlong rush will soon culminate in the answer to all our dreams, big or small...

Then as we madly plunge in what we know instinctively is the right direction, we also know of the small details that must be attended before journey's end...We realize the goal may be an optical illusion, only seeming to be so close, and so clear...Life must be sustained in the meantime, as this may take a bit longer than we first anticipated...And look! There's a shiny penny we may as well pick up along the way...When did it get dark?...Where was that path I was on before that darned penny caught my eye?...

And so it seems that same scene has played out in this project...The faithful follower(s) of my poor attempts at keeping my audience entertained may have noticed a falling off in the production of new articles...Long time seekers of Truckman's wisdom have already noted how his thoughts seem to spring forth prodigiously in one form, only to slacken somewhat as a new method takes root in his mind...

Readers of past years have become accustomed to seeing Truckman's thoughts appear in an internet forum, then inexorably begin to spread to other forums across the web until he suddenly vanishes from view...The burden of providing food for thought to the inhabitants of 34 different discussion boards having taken the joy of participation from Truckman's efforts, he reduced his production of posts to one forum, where now over 35,000 nuggets of information await new discoverers...His video channel on YouTube, brought forth in the beginning as an entertainment device for his forum friends, but found to be an outlet for many more cleverly hidden comments on life, began to lose its charm, and then sat dormant, only to be re-activated on the occasional whim...

Blogging  became a new challenge, first with a comedic flair as Truckman presented satirical slices of life featuring the mostly fictional characters who populate a vague and hazy neighborhood where world events are re-interpreted in a mix of absurd surrealism against a background of harsh reality...Wishing for a more serious outlet for a few of his ideas and concepts, Truckman then created this blog, where he attempts to scatter a few kernels of his inner being for the digestion by a few hardy souls who think they might benefit from some alternative views...He even created a photographic blog to accompany it, and to leave a visual record of a few of the events of his life...

Life's path being what it is, even Truckman takes the occasional glance over his shoulder in wonderment at the convoluted trail he has left when all those goals seemed so clear at the beginning...It seems one shiny penny after another has revealed itself to him, diverting him from that original path...What did that goal look like again?...Oh well, I'll find it again as soon as the latest penny starts to get a little dull from too much handling...

For those who haven't been paying attention, that newest penny appears under the "Print Media" button on all Truckman's blogs and his video channel, as he has proven again the validity of a timeless adage: "All things old are new again"...This of course is paraphrased from the word of God as presented in 2 Corinthians 5:17, passed down to us from Paul the Apostle...

Even Truckman must recognize his missteps on occasion, and correct his course...His attempts at bringing the wonders of the internet world to his Mom all failed as he butted his head against the stone wall of her resistance...Not wishing to bring any further harm to an innocent stone wall, he set about fulfilling one of her oldest dreams, to see her baby boy's name in print as an author...Therefore he took it upon himself to reprint as many of his articles as might interest her between the covers of an old-fashioned, hardbound paper book...

Having become far too accustomed to interspersing his writing with convenient weblinks for the further enlightenment of his readers, Truckman was challenged to re-write many articles to accommodate a reader without the benefit of an internet connection...This resulted in the expansion and re-wording of many articles, taking valuable time, but in the end seeming a worthwhile effort...Along the way, this first volume grew from its size as a 240 page first edition to what now looks to be a 430-plus page effort in what will become its fourth, and final edition...The original intent was to present the book in time for Mother's Day, but health issues being what they are, the decision was made to give it to her early...Therefore Truckman Publishing went into high gear and cranked out the first edition...

That choice turned out to be the correct one, as the second edition which she now has (and seems to be committing to memory after innumerable readings) has brought much joy to her since she received it more than a month ago...The plan now is to give her a copy of the revised, corrected and much expanded fourth edition in time for the original target date of Mother's Day...In the meantime many of the articles may not even be recognizable to faithful readers of their original forms, as Truckman has expended considerable effort toward new clarity and focus for the printed page...

The reader(s) here may be tempted to view the changes in person, but it is advised to wait until the printing of the fourth edition is announced here...At that time a new printing of less expensive paperback editions will also be revealed (thanks to the urging of Truckman's agent, Dan) as certain articles are being categorized for those readers who prefer Truckman's wisdom in smaller, more concentrated doses...In the meantime, Truckman's original, more satirical blog has been published in a final second-edition volume totaling more than 600 pages...It is available for a limited time in the Truckman Bookstore (a branch of Truckman Publishing) located conveniently in the "Print Media" button at the top of any page here...

As time permits, the original articles here may be updated to the expanded versions available in book form, but don't look for such an event any time soon...Even Truckman's time has its limits, and the demands on it are many...But regular readers may rejoice as no plans are being made to end this blog, or any of the others, or even the video channel...New additions are in the works for each project, and will appear as time and waning energy permit...

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