Pat DuVal was born and raised in the Colored Town section of Fort Pierce, Florida at a time when segregation was harsh, and it looked like blacks and whites would never live in harmony. Pat escaped the ugliness of the Deep South when went into the Army. When he finished his service at Ft. Ord in California, he became the first black deputy in Monterey County. There he found a much more diverse culture. It was quite startling at first but he was a true pioneer. It was also in California that Pat followed his dream of singing, everything from opera to country to rock-'n-roll, and where he earned the moniker of The Singing Sheriff. This book recounts his journey.

Although the author and his wife have been anchored to their last address for the past seventeen years, the theme of this book is to not sink roots. It starts with a day-to-day narrative of travel in Europe while the author enjoyed the thrillsand challengesof a years sabbatical. After a tour of England and Scotland, he explores the continent: France, the BDR (West Germany), the DDR (E. Germany), Czechoslovakia (current Czech Republic), and Poland before settling in for the winter in the town of Rastatt (located in the German state of Baden-Wrttemberg, not far from the E. bank of the Rhine River). Resuming travel in the spring, he explores Spain and undertakes a brief foray into the North African state of Morocco. France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, and Turkey follow. Returning via ferry, stops were made in the coastal towns of Croatia (Dubrovnik, Split-Zadar-Pag), finally covering Slovania with its capital Ljubljana. The next section of the book is another adventure of sorts: designing and building your own dream home. In Owner-Builder, the author recounts the problems he encountered while he acted as his own contractor. Coordinating the various subcontractors to work together to get the job done, he gained experience that convinced him that he would not want to do it again. In the last stories in the book, the author concentrates on moving experiences. Leaving Quail Ridge is about selling his dream home, and Finding Liquid Amber details the adventures of landing at his current domicile in Irvine, California. Stitched together, these stories weave tales of reality that grab your attention like few others.

Choose from more than 150 trips on over 500 miles of trails with this comprehensive guide to every park and preserve on the San Francisco Peninsula. From Fort Funston and San Bruno Mountain south to Saratoga Gap, and from the Bay west to the Pacific Ocean, the peninsula offers something for everyone. This edition includes 18 new trips covering newly acquired public lands. Also includes maps and a trips-by-theme appendix.

The book is a collection of stories: assignments from a long and enjoyable engineering career as well as anecdotes and experiences from summer jobs, vacations, and consulting. The focus is technical; each little story pivots on some scientific principle. The intent is three-fold: a) genealogical: to capture descriptions of a lifetime of fun times and accomplishments for descendents who might be curious about old great-grandpa Tom; b) to inspire a next generation of youngsters to consider pursuit of engineering, science, and critical thought, as a door to a fruitful life; and c) to try to bridge that pervasive "boring and/or over-my-head" gap by showing that "engineering" concepts are essentially common-sense and intuitive (you learned them in kindergarten playground), and the jargon should not be off-putting. The book's message: Engineering/science can be fun; it happens every day and everywhere; a degree is not a prerequisite.