Five things that you should do when asking advice

As some of you may know from reading through this, and other posts that I've had over time, I have a good pal who is in the magazine publishing industry. Stacy (yes, her real name) is now based out in San Francisco, after handling things in New York for at least 8 years. Stacy is also one of the brightest people on the face of the Earth. And not because she knew me, but in spite of that fact. She is always a good ear to me and usually up to hearing what my next great idea is all about. She is encouraging, even at my most lame moments. Her perpetual Pollyanna attitude is really warming to the heart. But Stacy is going to get me in trouble one day.

You see, Stacy has long encouraged me to write. Not just for magazines, or for a book, or for newspapers for that matter. Stacy has always encouraged me to write for any medium and she really doesn't care if it's one, several or all of them. I made the effort to ask for her advice again recently, when throwing around the idea for making this trip into a writing adventure as well as a riding adventure (she'll love that play on words). And although she was actually midway through her move across the country, she took time to think of all the things that she would advise me to do, if she were in my shoes/saddle.

Oh, if only I had prepared myself to hear it.

So here goes...
1. Be specific. I gave Stacy the 30,000 foot view of this trip - the highlights, the generalities, the 'big picture' if you will. She then began asking a few thousand questions about what I had planned to do about this or that; was I really thinking of doing x or y?'; and generally trying to get me to focus on a few very specific things. This was, I'm sure, designed to get me thinking about all the opportunities that exist and deciding which was right for me. I'm not comfortable making a video journal each day, but she threw that out as an idea. Keep in mind that Stacy has seen me in person. She knows I have the perfect face for radio. Yet, she still thought that creating a video journal of each day's ride would be a good idea. I think she couched the idea in a 'regular guy, gritty, plain truth' setting. Yeah, that's her nice way of saying, 'hey, nobody expects the bikers to be pretty, right? You won't disappoint them!' In any case, her advice is highly prized and I am glad to have it. I just wish I had started by being more specific with her, because the ideas she had on the general trip premise look like an awful lot of work. Wasn't this supposed to be something like a working vacation?

2. Be prepared to take what you ask for. Stacy didn't really even give me options, as much as she threw up ideas all over my email. She knows that every one of the ideas isn't going to work, nor will all of them be implemented, but I'm certain that she thinks some (many?) of them have merit and should be included. And she's correct. I guess I just wasn't prepared for the advice I was asking for. I wanted her advice, I asked for her advice and I really wasn't prepared to get it. I guess the old adage of being careful what you ask for applies here. I got it. (and even though I'm bitching about it, I'm very grateful for it!)

3. Edit carefully. Some of the ideas that Stacy put forth were very good. Some struck me as just plain stupid. But then again, she knows what people are interested in - at least from a magazine perspective - and I should listen more carefully to her. Some ideas she had "Tell people what top 5 clothing items should be at the top of any biker's list" struck me as odd. I didn't realize that (and I'm being nice here) USA Today had taken over the magazine publishing business as well. We've dumbed down every written conversation into bite sized chunks, lest our ADHD-addled brains are being asked to actually process more than a few bullet point lists to get the point. Well I haven't done that yet, and I'm resisting her advice here. But in the end, I realize that she is quite knowledgeable and it's worth listening to her. Thus, the name of this blog entry and the fact I have 2 more bullet points to go. Hey, she may be wrong on this, but I'm not willing to suggest that I know more about it than her. So, I'm going to edit less and let her edit more.

4. Use advice from others as a springboard. Remember, I didn't think all of Stacy's ideas were good ones, but they did make me think about other things that were somewhat related but not on the same point. This has given me a chance to really look at what I'm trying to say, but to package it in a way that is not only entertaining to a reader, but very similar in style to what folks are probably reading either online or in print. She told me to 'use my voice' which I'm sure is magazine-speak for something clever about staying true to one's style. She's probably also come up with the new phrase for balance sheets that show a deficit. It's NOT a loss, it's a 'negative overage'.

5. Be thankful for any and all advice you get. Stacy has no stake in anything I do. I haven't even seen the woman in at least 8 years or longer. We've stayed in contact through all my life struggles and through many of hers. (You should ask her about the Vet she dated once in Atlanta. Was it truly just an attempt to get free medical care for her pet? If so, it didn't work out so well.) I am VERY thankful to have a friend like Stacy who will pull no punches, who will tell me *exactly* what she thinks or feels about an idea one of us had. I love her for her integrity, honesty and positive attitude, even when things had been their very worst for her from time to time. Stacy: Thank you! I may not take every item to heart, but please know that I hear all of them and will try to incorporate as many ideas as I can determine are useful and/or interesting.

SO there, one 5 bullet point article down and many more to go!
Thanks Stacy! And thanks to you for reading it.

Remember, I LOVE comments and guestbook entries. At least do me the pleasure of noting that you were here!
Gordo

Is there really any such thing as 'down time'?

Just a quick note to do a couple of things:
1. Beg you for feedback/response
2. Wonder aloud about whether or not there is such a thing as 'down time' (time when I'm in-between tasks)?

So to address the first issue. I haven't done much to promote the fact that http://www.gordongiven.com is out there, so I'm not too terribly surprised that there's been very little (none?) reader feedback. But I sure do wish the lurkers would leave a bit of feedback and tell me what they think so far. Clearly, I'm just getting started, but since this whole collection of posts is designed to (at some point) be an interactive discourse between me and those who are tuning in about this trip, I'd like to hear from folks on what they would really enjoy reading about as the trip date nears. Perhaps instead you can tell me what kinds of things you would be interested in knowing more about once the trip is underway? If I don't hear otherwise, you'll likely be stuck reading about how difficult it is to do laundry in a hotel room sink.
Anyway, I'm begging for feedback, so hook a brother up, eh? (gotta throw in that Canadien speak a little since I'm heading to Vancouver).

Second issue, and somewhat unrelated...Down time. I'm finding that even though there's a lot that cannot be done right now, with the actual trip so far off, I'm still struggling to find time to even create checklists of things I need to do as the date draws nearer. Spring time is riding time, and I'm sure that will begin to occupy my weekends, as well as activities with the kids. Only a few more short weeks really before they are gone for another full summer, and I want to savor every moment of time with them. Won't be too many more years before they are too old to spend a bunch of time with that ancient old man, Dad.

Not sure where all the time goes. I spend an inordinate amount of time at work, for the Man, struggling to try and do the right thing by my conscience, and by the mandate of the company. Most of the time those things run in tandem, but there are those 'other' times... 'nuff said?

I know, I know...how can this guy be bitching about not having enough time when he's a full 15 months BEFORE his big adventure begins? Believe me, it's not easy finding relevant stuff to gripe about! (Okay, so it's not that hard, but I don't really like to gripe so...)

More news as things develop!

Website update

Just a note to let everyone know that I've all but finished up the main portion of http://gordongiven.com/. I'm sure I won't be able to keep my hands off of it, but for now, the basics are all there. Like I've said before, the main portion people will want to read about (the Vancouver Adventure) will be posted here.

Although, my good friend Dorsey suggests I look at wordpress for a better blog. I'll see. I'd hate to change things right after getting started, but if it is truly better/easier/faster, I'll make the switch. I know, I know, riveting stuff here!

Anyway, now I'm on to getting the bikes ready for THIS summer's riding season, so I'm sure my work on the VA will get a little sidetracked. Nothing like living in the present!

And so it begins...

What the heck is this all about? To put it simply, it's the blog that will be my very public secret journal of my cross country motorcycle trip from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Vancouver, British Columbia and back. Why? Because I've always wanted to do this. Why else? Because I think the opportunity to share with people on the road and people back home what this experience is like will help us all understand each other a little better. Education never hurt anyone.

Clearly, this is a long term blog. This big adventure is slated for July 2010. Given that this is just March of 2009, you'll be able to see my preparations (and there will be a lot of them) up to the departure date and then join me for the ride. So, here's your "Shot across the bow" to warn you of what will be coming. You can ALWAYS (and I encourage you to) go to http://www.gordongiven.com for updates.

So what's been done already? That's easy.

• The route has been planned, poured over, struggled with, fine-tuned, re-fine-tuned and never NEVER finalized. Heck, it won't be finally tuned til the miles have rolled past.
• The overall scheme has been done for a couple years now: Fort Wayne to Vancouver, British Columbia and back. 13 or 14 states and one 'foreign' country.
• The traveling gang: Me and Matt (my buddy from St. Paris, Ohio) are the main characters on this little journey. There's always the chance that things will change, but right now Matt has indicated that he will be making this trek with me. Others have been invited and haven't yet committed: Travis, for one, is a good friend who loves to ride Ester (his bike is named Ester, get your mind outta the gutter), but can't seem to be sure that he - or his butt- could handle 5,200 miles. Another good friend and blast from the past is Myles. He lives in Eureka, Montana (you don't smell so good yourself). I knew Myles in my Army days. I haven't seen him since 1986, so what's a little 24 gap between visits? Myles and his wife Debbie are planning to join us from East Glacier Park, Montana through Idaho, Washington state, British Columbia, back through Washington, and then they will split off for other destinations in Oregon while Matt and I ride through Oregon, headed back to the Midwest. There may be others who decide at the last minute to join us, and so there may be more.
  
• The basics have been covered: timeline established, vacation time (as available) has been requested.
  
• Charity chosen. I've decided if I'm gonna make such a big deal about this trip, somebody oughta benefit besides me. So, I've chosen CCFA, the Chron's and Colitis Foundation of America. No, neither Matt nor I suffer from Crohn's or Colitis, but we know folks who do. One of my co-workers is Sarah and she let me know about this organization and their need for media attention and -of course - monetary help for research and cures. So, I'm doing what I can to help them. And just to be super duper clear for my good friend Stacy, any money raised by this trip for charity will go directly to the charity. Not to my wallet. I've already budgeted for this trip so I don't need handouts to get me through. But I'll address that in another bullet point or two.
  
• A plan for promotion. I work for a newspaper company. We have some newspapers in our 'chain' that are out west. We'll drive within a 5 miles of at least one of them. If I can't get a blurb in that paper, or others from the towns we'll go through, I'm not much of a PT Barnum. I think I've got more fight in me than that. Again, it's not to make me famous, but to bring light to our charity and to let the people whose towns we'll roll through see what an outsider sees and experiences. I will likely contact the mayor's offices of many of these towns and give them a heads up that I'll be posting about their town. Since my hometown newspapers will very likely at least cover my journey through posts on their own websites, we can expect a pretty significant audience to know whether or not Spokane people are friendly to weird biker outsiders with cameras and laptops asking a bunch of questions. They might just be backwater bozos too. Either way, you'll find out with me.
  
• A rough plan of sponsors has been started. Wouldn't it be great if Holiday Inn & Holiday Inn Express could 'volunteer' to donate our hotel room costs for the majority of this journey? Yeah, I thought so too. I haven't done anything official to ask them for such a deal yet, but it's still way early in the process. What about other 'sponsors' who could help lighten the load and help bring some light to our official charity? Well, I'm addicted to Rockstar energy drink, especially in the summer when I'm riding. Nothing like a little Rockstar to really open your eyes to the road and the world around you. Now, I've overdone it from time to time, and peed bright yellow due to an overindulgence of Rockstar in a day. I can tell you, I've had no ill effects in it, but having 5 of them in a day does make me a bit anxious and jumpy, but no more than overdoing it with coffee. Other sponsor ideas are gasoline (I'm thinking that's a pretty slim opportunity though, and we'd have to really go out of our way to make sure we visit only that brand of gasoline station. Not easy to do when the tank is almost empty and you simply need to put some petrol in the tank. Maybe we can still get that one ironed out. There's the ever-popular fast food sponsor route, but let's be honest: I don't think I (nor my stomach) could handle eating at the golden arches twice a day for 12 days straight. Not saying I wouldn't enjoy it, but I need a little more diversity than that. Kinda brings us back full circle to the whole colitis issue, doesn't it?
• The machines themselves: I'll be on my trusty 2002 Honda Sabre 1100. Matt on his 2004 Honda VTX 1800N. Yeah, we expect some trouble, but hey, these are hondas. They don't typically give anyone too much trouble and 5,200 miles -in quick succession- won't be easy, but it wouldn't be unheard of to have it happen without incident. It's not like we're packing up a Yugo for a 5,200 mile trip. (Which would likely be the entire lifespan of that particular car. Sorry Yugo fans, but that car sucked.)
• Most importanly, our spouses and families. We realize that this trip puts them out of the picture for nearly 2 weeks. While we're off 'having a blast' they'll be taking care of business at home, dealing with children, pets and household issues. It is with their grace and unselfishness that we can make this journey. There. I've said it and I don't think anyone will read it as sucking up. IF they do, well they'd at least be partially correct. But it's honest sucking up, if that helps.
• The 'post-ride' plans. My very good friend Stacy (mentioned above) promised to help me publish something at the end of this journey. She seems to think my writing has enough wit and interest to keep people from killing themselves or dying of boredom. Maybe not a lot, but enough to keep them from going over the edge. It sounds so noble to say, "if my work saves just ONE person from throwing themselves in front of a train..." but honestly, I think it's just the spark that may get me off my butt and trying to satisfy a life long dream of writing for money, and not just for interest (or worse yet, writing simply to satisy some corporate need for a month-end report. Uck.) So if this ever becomes a book, magazine series of articles or a tv show, I'll autograph your copy personally. Just buy it. I have two kids who need college educations. And I'm sure I'll need some more chrome for the bike!

So that's it for blog post #1. Others won't be this long, but hopefully they'll be more interesting!