Get my Vol. 1 book for free THIS WEEK!

To everyone that reads this blog,

Congratulations, for this week only, my compilation is absolutely free! Just click on the link I have below and then download. Some of you are wondering why I have made my book this easy to get -- it comes down to just getting it out there. I want it to be out there and spark the curiosity and after all -- if you end up liking it and want it in paperback, you'd just have to order it.

This is my way of saying, "read before you buy". It is also because there will be a magazine version of it coming soon that has a vastly artistic rendition absolutely different from this one! This will also be the last version that will be under my real name before I officially change it under my pen name (and stage name) Ron Gunz.

So click on down and enjoy!

http://www.lulu.com/shop/ronnie-abimael-gonzalez/vol-1/ebook/product-20600698.html

Life after Brooklyn! Life starting in Tampa!

       So it has been just a bit over a week since the big move from Brooklyn, NY to Tampa, FL and I have to say, much has happened in my move. For one thing, the weather is certainly different. From experiencing four seasons to just one, there is certainly a grand departure in that dynamic. NY gives you a bit of every kind of weather except for an actual hurricane.

       In a two hour walk from one side of Hillsborough to another in Tampa, I experienced practically every form of weather I could be offered. I started with some hot and sunny weather to downright humidity, heavy dark rain to scattered showers to a conclusion by way of sunny and partly cloudy. I should be sick after that experience but I'm not. What should've been me walking into what is now my new work location all soaked and wet turned into me having my clothes instantly dried up by the sun, looking as though I didn't get drenched. Hurricane season is approaching as we speak so I'll fill you in first hand as to how I experience it.

    Another thing I experienced was the change in commute life. 90% of the people here drive and God forbid they even move a damn muscle to exercise, even if it's a fifteen minute walk! On the upside, there's the HART bus transit, of which to my surprise kicks the MTA's rear end when it comes to bus service. Seeing me on a bus in Brooklyn was like a death wish because what should be a 10 or 20 minute wait for a bus turns into a 45 minute wait. HART buses estimate to 30 minutes per bus but I find it to be 25 minutes at best.

       How about things available? Well, my friends, there's quite some variety. First of all, there is nature everywhere so you can throw out the concrete jungle environment. I also find that there's a food market with fresh fruits, veggies and meat 15 minutes away by foot, the DMV and the bus stop. Keep walking a little more, there's dollar stores, Burger Kings, Walgreens. On the very block where my job is located, there's a Babys R Us, a grocery store, a gym, Pizza Hut, Applebees, chinese, machu pichu restaurant and even a check cashing place. My reaction was, "Well, looks like I don't have much traveling to do!".

     As far as the people, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that people are genuinely nice. I'm used to kindness equating to fakeness or the setup for some scam or quid pro quo scenario but it isn't the case at all. When it comes to funny acting people, it's as simple as, "you leave me be, I'll leave you be", which I find to be very respectful and an unspoken ethic here.

       I've seen palm trees, ponds, families of ducks going out on a family outing together, dragonflies, fire ants and lizards (no snakes yet). The sunrise and sunset is a beautiful sight. There are areas that remind you that you're in the south by the gritty look but many other parts, especially in the townhouse manor area I live in, remind me of Puerto Rico back in the 90s in layout and feel.

       I am also still taken aback by pricing. I feel as though I died and woke up in paradise.

       As for my people back in NY, I haven't forgotten about you. Some have this perception that because I moved and that I am enjoying my brand new life that I'm gonna just go amscray and leave people with this impression that NYers mean nothing to me but the truth remains that I still carry a ton of NY in my blood as well as in attitude. I do miss my friends and family, I just don't miss the over-saturation of police and the whole concrete jungle life, totally void of God's creation and natural life.