“The automobile engine will come, and then I will consider my life's wo...” — Rudolf Diesel Quote

The automobile engine will come, and then I will consider my life's work complete.

We had moved cross-country from upstate New York to Kansas in the heat wave of 1980, with two cars, no air-conditioning, and a black dog. I can still see the infernal temperature of a hundred and nineteen degrees on a bank sign somewhere near Ohio.

To serve in the modern military - or to be the uncle, parent or sibling of one who does - is to treat the necessary service and sacrifice of war with a sacred honor. In my community, we pile into cars and drive hundreds of miles to watch our children's graduation from basic training.

I got my first real job, one that didn't involve wearing a hairnet or bending over the hood of a wet car with a towel in my hand, in the early '90s working for CBS Records. While there, I started my first of several rock bands and eventually wrote my first book, the semi-autobiographical novel, 'Don't Sleep With Your Drummer.'

The prenup needs to be drawn up months before the wedding, not days - it's not something you slap together and sign in the car on the way to the ceremony. A shotgun prenup might not hold up in court.