WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.139
So, Bob, tell me about your vision. My vision.

00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:10.779
Well, I just hope everybody enjoys life and they

00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:14.660
have their dreams come true. And it's, you know,

00:00:14.699 --> 00:00:17.699
hard work usually pays off when you're pursuing

00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:20.399
your goals in life. And I wish everybody well

00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:24.660
in that pursuit. So what is your pursuit in that

00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:30.039
case? My pursuit right now? Pursuing becoming

00:00:30.039 --> 00:00:33.159
a successful author, successful writer, I had

00:00:33.159 --> 00:00:35.960
my book, A Flicker in the Water, about something

00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:38.560
I love to do, which is I love the outdoors. I

00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:41.799
love to fish, especially ocean fishing. And I

00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:44.659
wrote a book, which I also love to do in writing.

00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:49.200
And, you know, I hope to turn it into a success.

00:00:49.780 --> 00:00:55.579
Yeah, that's awesome. What would you say, how

00:00:55.579 --> 00:00:59.590
did you get into? writing and being an author

00:00:59.590 --> 00:01:02.969
uh it's it's it's getting common and commoner

00:01:02.969 --> 00:01:05.909
now people like with with self -publishing and

00:01:05.909 --> 00:01:07.590
a lot of tools out there but how did you get

00:01:07.590 --> 00:01:10.030
into publishing and why did you choose that route

00:01:10.030 --> 00:01:14.530
well when i was in school um some of the the

00:01:14.530 --> 00:01:16.730
teachers told me that i was a good writer um

00:01:16.730 --> 00:01:19.129
i really never took them that seriously and i

00:01:19.129 --> 00:01:21.310
never even thought about writing a book until

00:01:21.310 --> 00:01:25.930
i was in my mid -50s and uh i had some time on

00:01:25.930 --> 00:01:28.319
my hands and i thought you know what Let me give

00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:31.420
this a try. I have some stories there I think

00:01:31.420 --> 00:01:33.519
people will be interested in. They're fun. They're

00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:37.400
educational. It's good for kids. And I enjoyed

00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:39.599
doing it. I started writing and I turned it into

00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:42.560
a book and I'm so glad that I did. People have

00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:44.700
really, really enjoyed it. I've gotten some terrific

00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:48.519
comments about it. So what is your book about?

00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:53.239
My book is a collection of sea stories. what

00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:56.819
our oceans mean to us throughout history, not

00:01:56.819 --> 00:01:59.939
just in my time, but what the oceans mean to

00:01:59.939 --> 00:02:03.540
mankind, the fish in the sea. I talk about Christopher

00:02:03.540 --> 00:02:06.780
Columbus. I talk about... Hemingway's Adventures

00:02:06.780 --> 00:02:10.759
at Sea. I talk about some of my own, too. I talk

00:02:10.759 --> 00:02:13.599
about the Keys and the Gulf of Mexico and how

00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:16.199
the currents flow and how everything interconnects

00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:19.080
in the oceans. And I talk about some of the fish

00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:21.300
that we caught and some of the ones that we missed

00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:26.439
out on. That's awesome. So there's no right or

00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:31.180
wrong answer to this, right? One is, do you have

00:02:31.180 --> 00:02:33.560
a purpose behind the book? If not, that's okay,

00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:37.530
too. And the second question is, this author,

00:02:37.849 --> 00:02:41.889
you being an author and writing books, is this

00:02:41.889 --> 00:02:44.430
something you're going towards as a legacy builder,

00:02:44.590 --> 00:02:48.870
or is this something you do on the side with

00:02:48.870 --> 00:02:52.590
life? And there's no right or wrong answer to

00:02:52.590 --> 00:02:55.189
this. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Well, I

00:02:55.189 --> 00:02:57.370
started it out on the side. I used to be a small

00:02:57.370 --> 00:03:00.689
business owner for many years. For like 30 years,

00:03:00.750 --> 00:03:02.590
I had a little small retail shop in the mall.

00:03:03.659 --> 00:03:06.300
But right now I'm kind of pursuing it full time.

00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:09.300
It's something I really love to do. I enjoy doing.

00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:15.659
And we'll see where it takes me. It's just I

00:03:15.659 --> 00:03:20.379
want to put out the best work that I can do.

00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:23.240
I don't know if it will leave a legacy or what.

00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:27.300
My goal is as far as that goes. But I'm glad

00:03:27.300 --> 00:03:29.199
for the people that have enjoyed the book. And

00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:31.900
that's really, as long as one person enjoys the

00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:34.080
book, that's all that matters to me. And I've

00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:36.819
had some great comments about it. That's awesome.

00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:43.439
So how did you get started? What was the first

00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:45.340
time you were like, hey, I think it's time to

00:03:45.340 --> 00:03:46.780
write a book. And you're like, you know what,

00:03:46.860 --> 00:03:48.639
let me go start writing. What are those experiences

00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:52.240
like? What did you learn? Tell me about all that.

00:03:53.509 --> 00:03:56.550
Well, like I said, writing is something that

00:03:56.550 --> 00:03:59.330
I always enjoy doing. And I wrote these stories

00:03:59.330 --> 00:04:01.449
because I thought I had something new and unique

00:04:01.449 --> 00:04:04.430
to share. And in fact, some of the reviewers,

00:04:04.550 --> 00:04:06.590
if you go on Amazon and look at some of the reviews,

00:04:06.750 --> 00:04:08.550
some of the reviewers said they were fascinated

00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:12.210
by some of the things that I said in the book.

00:04:12.830 --> 00:04:15.310
He said that he loved sharing those things with

00:04:15.310 --> 00:04:19.480
his kids. He said that the unique and original

00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:22.579
stories made it really fun for him. It was entertaining

00:04:22.579 --> 00:04:26.759
and educational. That was my goal. As long as

00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:30.860
I can entertain people and maybe share a few

00:04:30.860 --> 00:04:32.339
things that I've learned along the way, that

00:04:32.339 --> 00:04:36.240
means a lot to me. That's awesome. What would

00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:38.660
you say that you learned? What was the most significant

00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:42.649
thing you learned when you were doing that? I

00:04:42.649 --> 00:04:46.970
learned about the currents in the Gulf of Mexico,

00:04:47.089 --> 00:04:49.149
I guess the Gulf of America now, what they want

00:04:49.149 --> 00:04:55.149
to call it. Yeah. The currents enter south from

00:04:55.149 --> 00:04:57.490
the Caribbean and they form a giant loop current

00:04:57.490 --> 00:05:01.060
in the Gulf. And it wraps around the Gulf in

00:05:01.060 --> 00:05:03.920
a circle, like a loop. And then it always flows

00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.259
between Cuba and Key West. And then it connects

00:05:06.259 --> 00:05:08.040
with the Gulf Stream and goes up the east coast

00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:11.540
of the Atlantic. And it's a big, huge current.

00:05:11.660 --> 00:05:15.040
It's about 150 miles wide. It's like 3 ,000 feet

00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:19.329
deep. It's one of the fastest moving currents

00:05:19.329 --> 00:05:21.029
in the whole world. It moves at like six and

00:05:21.029 --> 00:05:23.550
a half miles an hour. So it's continually one

00:05:23.550 --> 00:05:25.290
of the things I talked about the book. People

00:05:25.290 --> 00:05:27.990
might remember that horizon oil spill from many

00:05:27.990 --> 00:05:31.189
years ago there in the northern Gulf. What that

00:05:31.189 --> 00:05:33.329
current did was it helped push a lot of that

00:05:33.329 --> 00:05:36.290
oil out of the Gulf. It kind of like it cleaned

00:05:36.290 --> 00:05:39.009
it. It refreshes itself with constantly new water.

00:05:39.310 --> 00:05:42.529
So that was one of the purposes of of that loop

00:05:42.529 --> 00:05:45.750
current. I think that's nature's way of of keeping

00:05:45.750 --> 00:05:48.519
things refreshed. That was one thing. I also

00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:50.779
learned one thing that I didn't know was that

00:05:50.779 --> 00:05:55.620
the Sea of Galilee is actually freshwater. It's

00:05:55.620 --> 00:05:57.879
not a sea of saltwater. It's freshwater. It's

00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:01.699
a lake. I had always thought that it was part

00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:05.519
of the Mediterranean Sea, but no, it's a landlocked

00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:07.959
freshwater lake, which I learned in the book,

00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.480
and a couple of other things like the channels

00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:13.689
in the Straits of Gibraltar. are only nine miles

00:06:13.689 --> 00:06:19.709
wide. And the Mediterranean Sea is actually bigger

00:06:19.709 --> 00:06:21.509
than the Gulf, a lot bigger, but there's only

00:06:21.509 --> 00:06:23.910
nine miles to get in and out of there. So I thought

00:06:23.910 --> 00:06:26.350
all that stuff was really fascinating. Yeah,

00:06:26.370 --> 00:06:29.529
that's awesome. Wow. I can hear it in your voice

00:06:29.529 --> 00:06:33.089
how excited you are to talk about it. Yeah, it's

00:06:33.089 --> 00:06:36.569
something I really love. Yeah, that's awesome.

00:06:37.170 --> 00:06:40.879
What would you say, Bob, that... If you see the

00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:42.600
future, where are you going with your vision

00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:46.199
now? Well, I got another couple of books coming

00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:48.160
out. Like I said, I had the one here that I showed

00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:50.980
you about the Miami Dolphins perfect season of

00:06:50.980 --> 00:06:54.079
1972. And I have another couple of books. One

00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:56.800
is a children's book, one of experience that

00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:01.759
I had when I was a kid about a dump truck. And

00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:05.540
then I have another one on some poetry that I

00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:14.290
write about sports. That's awesome. Why did you

00:07:14.290 --> 00:07:19.569
choose the Miami title? The Dolphins one? Yeah,

00:07:19.589 --> 00:07:21.069
I know you like the Dolphins now. You shared

00:07:21.069 --> 00:07:25.129
that with me. But why that story from the back?

00:07:26.089 --> 00:07:30.430
Well, it came in my book, in this book, the Flickr

00:07:30.430 --> 00:07:33.389
and the Water book. There's a line in there that

00:07:33.389 --> 00:07:36.209
just came into my head one day. I said, you know,

00:07:36.329 --> 00:07:39.209
neither fishermen or fish go through a full season

00:07:39.209 --> 00:07:43.040
undefeated. unless you're the 1972 Miami Dolphins,

00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:47.399
which came right. And that line came from a line

00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:50.560
from the old man in the sea. When Hemingway was

00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:52.620
talking about the old man, you know, everything

00:07:52.620 --> 00:07:55.800
about him was old except his eyes and they were

00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:58.959
cheerful and undefeated. So I got that line from

00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:03.519
that line. And then it led to the one about the

00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:05.259
Miami Dolphins. I don't know where these ideas

00:08:05.259 --> 00:08:07.000
come from. It's just sometimes when you're thinking

00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.000
about stuff, the coolest things pop into your

00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:11.939
mind. They're right down. That's awesome. That's

00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:14.720
amazing. That's very exciting for me to hear.

00:08:15.899 --> 00:08:19.800
One more question for you before we enter a segment,

00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:24.600
Bob. Over the years that now you're an author,

00:08:24.779 --> 00:08:28.620
what held you back all these years to do this?

00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:31.500
Well, you know, you get busy doing the things

00:08:31.500 --> 00:08:34.220
that you're doing. I had to experience the stories

00:08:34.220 --> 00:08:36.019
about the fishing and all that before I could

00:08:36.019 --> 00:08:39.519
get them down into a book. So then, you know,

00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:41.200
after I wasn't fishing for a while, I had time

00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.600
to reflect and think about it. And then I said,

00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:45.720
you know what, people can really enjoy this.

00:08:45.899 --> 00:08:48.960
So I had the time and I wanted to share that

00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:52.240
with people. But just being busy is probably

00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:55.379
what held me back the most. That and you always

00:08:55.379 --> 00:08:57.340
have a little bit of thinking, well, who's going

00:08:57.340 --> 00:09:00.059
to want to read this? You know, you kind of take

00:09:00.059 --> 00:09:02.899
your own stories for granted. But I got over

00:09:02.899 --> 00:09:04.980
that. Thank you for being here today. I'm really

00:09:04.980 --> 00:09:06.960
happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.

00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:09.559
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions

00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:12.240
as these episodes continue to move forward. This

00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:14.100
is going to get more and more fun. We'll have

00:09:14.100 --> 00:09:15.919
more and more engagement as well. We'll invite

00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:18.320
people to participate in the show. And thank

00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:20.279
you for giving us your time and attention. Have

00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:23.000
an excellent time building out your vision and

00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:24.029
becoming a visionary. Pro yourself.