jeremy kroeker’s blog

interesting article. from interesting site. i linked from silobreaker.com

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/08/inside-job-in-s.html

Just in case anyone out there still reads this blog (which I keep forgetting I have) I will post a little news. I am updating Motorcycle Therapy with photos, a memorial for a friend, and the following excerpt from my current book project.  

Watch for Kroeker’s second book (as yet untitled) chronicling a motorcycle journey through Europe and the Middle East, coming eventually! Here’s a sneak peek from the introduction:

I had a bad feeling. I could see the haze of dust in the sky as I left Al-Raqqa and turned to ride east in the direction of Iraq. The day’s second call to prayer sounded vaguely ominous as it drifted through the air, reaching my ears above the sound of the wind and my engine before finally fading as I rode out of range. For the moment, the cool green of the Euphrates River Valley in northeastern Syria provided shelter from the hot southerly wind that swept across the desert, but all around me it looked as if God had chosen this space and time to dump out His vacuum cleaner bag. I looked up and noticed a small patch of dull blue sky directly above me. That, too, would soon disappear.

Plastic bags littered the landscape between ghostly towns, desperately clinging to whatever vegetation they could find to avoid getting carried off into Turkey, and sand drifted across the road like snow in a Canadian blizzard. The grit that ricocheted off my visor and silver helmet sounded like the static on an AM radio station during an electrical storm. Despite the fact that I had covered every inch of my body with protective motorcycle apparel, a thick layer of dust coated my skin. I struggled to breathe. My eyes watered, the tears creating streaks of mud that ran down my cheeks and into my tangled red beard.

I could see the handle bars and instrument panel on my motorcycle – the speedometer indicating a mere 40 kilometres per hour. Beyond that, I could just make out two white dotted lines on the grey road before me. That was my world.

To receive an e-mail upon release of Kroeker’s next book, visit JeremyKroeker.com and fill out a contact form with “New Book” in the message box

Hmm. I sort of forgot I had this blog. My bad. My last post suggested that I was completing preparations for a motorcycle trip to Iran. Well, I went. I'm back. If you would like further details, like pictures and the occasional story, you may want to visit my website: JeremyKroeker.com

Oh. And since I've neglected this blog, I've also recorded some additional sales of Motorcycle Therapy I'm right around the 2,500 mark in sales... which is good, I think.

And, speaking of books (though I always regret telling people this) I'm working on another one about my trip to Iran and the Middle East. (I regret posting that.)

After weeks of waiting (including a lovely week of “waiting” while vacationing in beautiful Prince Edward Island) I’m finally getting serious with the Iranian embassy regarding my visa and passport issue. (They’ve had my passport for nearly two months and they won’t return my phone calls or e-mails.) I had a friend in Ottawa physically visit the embassy to verify that it exists. She said it did. I asked if it consisted of a dark room up a rickety flight of stairs in an abandoned building down by the docks. She said Ottawa is more of a white collar town than a shipping hub… it doesn’t really have docks. In fact, she said, the Iranian embassy is quite nice and, yes, people do work there. Fine. So I contacted Foreign Affairs. They told me to contact my MP. I called him, filled out some forms and now he’s making inquiries on my behalf. I’m told that my passport should be back in my hands shortly, though, probably, sans Iranian visa… which puts me back at square one.

I just spent $250 on maps and guidebooks for Iran and surrounding area. I felt all giddy in the store. Then, just as I was preparing to leave, the cashier said, “Hey, I have a huge wall map of Iran that I was going to throw out today. You can have it if you want.” Apparently, the map had just been collecting dust in the back because no one would buy it (it’s a fairly specialized item, I suppose. Could that be some sort of sign? No. I don’t think my journey bears enough cosmic significance to warrant omens. But what do I know?) Anyway, I’m really moving towards my goal of riding from Germany to Iran and possibly beyond, though I still don’t have quite enough cash… or the right motorcycle. At least I have the maps!

When a miserable, wet snow storm settles on a city of over one million people, there’s a certain sick satisfaction knowing that you and your buddy are probably the only two men suffering the weather while riding motorcycles. By the end of a long, cold day of teaching and riding, my hands hurt so badly that I nearly threw up on the way home (before stopping at Home Depot to buy a dry pair of winter work gloves). Now, as much as I love to suffer, I hope the weather improves for my ride to Edmonton next Monday. I’m traveling to the former “City of Champions” for a national TV interview in support of Mat’s Ride and to promote Motorcycle Therapy. I’m told the segment should run about 3.5 minutes. So, that’s two hours of riding for every minute of airtime. Sigh.

Once again, I can't say enough about the staff of Thunder City Power and Leisure in Regina. Ken and Al always offer me such enthusiastic support whenever I visit that, if I lived in Saskatchewan, I'd buy a motorcycle from them for sure. (Unless I was in the market for a Suzuki or Yamaha, then I'd go to Mercury Service in Moose Jaw.) Anyway, I've been invited to do a fund-raising slide show at Thunder City the next time I'm in town, and I might go for it. Besides these two bike dealers, the Book and Brier Patch and the Briercrest Bookstore have been my biggest supporters in Saskatchewan (specifically regarding sales of Motorcycle Therapy I should add - really my biggest supporters in Saskatchewan have been my parents!) And, speaking of support, I appreciate all the e-mails I've been getting from people (I hesitate to say "fan mail"... it makes my Mennonite blood curdle a little bit), but I'd appreciate it even more if you logged on to Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, or some similar website and left your positive comments there for all to see. I found the first negative review of "Motorcycle Therapy" on Amazon.com and it sort of sticks out like a sore thumb (I'll make fun of the guy who left the review in a future post. Here's a hint, when you're slagging a book online, use proper spelling and grammar. OK, I'll say one more thing. This guy suggests that "Motorcycle Therapy" didn't live up to the "media hype," yet he lists his location as New Zealand. Seriously, what kind of media storm kicked up in New Zealand?)

And then it occurred to me, during a prolonged lull between interested customers at a signing at the Macleod Chapters, it costs me 33 cents for every business card I hand out, but I only net around $1.30 for every book sold online… which means, unless every fourth person that gets a card buys a book, I’m losing money. Clearly, not every fourth person that gets a card buys a book. This is why I don’t do my own taxes. (Not that it matters. Even when other people do my taxes I get slapped with thousands of dollars in fines for being stupid.) Of course, you can’t look at it that way. Once, by fluke, I handed a card to the organizer of the Edmonton and Calgary motorcycle shows. She invited me to attend and I netted hundreds of dollars. That’s how it works. That’s how my retirement strategy works, too. It all hinges on a successful run of lucrative “roll up the rim to win” cups from Tim Horton’s.   

Though I don’t understand why, exactly, sales of Motorcycle Therapy have spiked in Europe. Yes, Europe (specifically the UK). I’ve even sold a copy in New Zealand (though, I admit, I know the person who bought that one!) And so, while my records are sketchy at best, it is with cautious optimism that I make the following proclamation: Motorcycle Therapy has surpassed the 1,000 copy mark in sales! Not too shabby, considering I’m solely responsible for promotion and most aspects of distribution, and that I’ve basically targeted 100% of my efforts on Calgary alone. Sweet! (Being Mennonite, I’m getting a little nauseous from tooting my own horn, but somebody has to do it.) I’m hopeful that the positive review in the latest edition of Motorcycle Mojo might help sales in Ontario and Eastern Canada. The magazine claims to reach 40,000 readers (all of whom are obviously motorcycle aficionados) so it certainly can’t hurt!