Wheel Man

Robert M. Keating's story is America's story. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1862 to poor Irish immigrants, he was just 13 when his father died suddenly. A precocious boy with a knack for mechanics, Keating filed his first patent at 22, started his own bicycle company at 28, and at 32 was producing one of the most innovative bicycle lines in the world in a state-of-the-art factory. Along the way he flirted with baseball, briefly playing in the major leagues and patenting the game's rubberized home plate. In early 1901 Keating developed and marketed a ground-breaking motorcycle before either Indian or Harley-Davidson, and later successfully sued both companies for patent infringement. His company also manufactured automobiles beginning in 1898, producing both electric and gasoline powered vehicles. At the time of his death at 59, Keating held 49 patents--everything from bicycle and motorcycle designs to lunch-chairs to a modern flushing device for toilets. This book tells the story of Keating and his Keating Wheel Company, a Gilded Age story of unbridled inventiveness that encapsulates America's transformation into a society that would forever move on wheels.

Robert M. Keating's story is America's story. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1862 to poor Irish immigrants, he was just 13 when his father died suddenly. A precocious boy with a knack for mechanics, Keating filed his first patent at 22, started his own bicycle company at 28, and at 32 was producing one of the most innovative bicycle lines in the world in a state-of-the-art factory. Along the way he flirted with baseball, briefly playing in the major leagues and patenting the game's rubberized home plate. In early 1901 Keating developed and marketed a ground-breaking motorcycle before either Indian or Harley-Davidson, and later successfully sued both companies for patent infringement. His company also manufactured automobiles beginning in 1898, producing both electric and gasoline powered vehicles. At the time of his death at 59, Keating held 49 patents--everything from bicycle and motorcycle designs to lunch-chairs to a modern flushing device for toilets. This book tells the story of Keating and his Keating Wheel Company, a Gilded Age story of unbridled inventiveness that encapsulates America's transformation into a society that would forever move on wheels.

In the winter of 1990, Oklahoma’s economy is still recovering from the crash of the state’s oil boom and the failure of many a family farm. Despite the burst bubble, illicit drug trafficking is thriving, and cocaine is king. Amidst the rubble is Ringer—a down-and-out racecar star who’s desperate for a comeback after a four-year stretch in prison for transporting marijuana. When Ringer’s old drug-dealing friend, Darryl-Jack Chaney, offers him an iffy second chance in the form of a small town bank job, Ringer accepts the risk as getaway driver, figuring why not? He’s got nowhere to go but up. Instead of making a payday, though, Ringer ends up double-crossed by his pal, who leaves him for dead and absconds not only with the cash but Ringer’s wife Julie, too. Ringer survives the murderous betrayal and sets out on a different kind of comeback. No longer does he seek the glamour of racecar driving. Instead, he’s out for bloody revenge. Ringer embarks on a rampage of guns, deadly car chases, and a showdown only one man will survive, proving it’s never good to cross a man with nothing left to lose.

Dark Future is a science fiction sourcebook that gives players a chance to step into a possible future where America has fallen and immoral corporations have divided up a once great nation. The cities of the new "corporate-nations" are divided further into large gated communities that shelter the wealthy and powerful behind high tech and heavily armed security. Meanwhile the poor are cast out into "other-cities", lawless ghettos where gangs, crime and violence are a way of life. It contains 276 pages with 9 classes, 27 prestige classes, as well as new skills and skill uses, feats, original psychic powers, unique equipment, firearms and complete new rules for cybernetic augmentation and cybernetic systems. The book also contains a world description of the powers that be: international corporations, merciless gangs, military research facilities, fanatical religious sects and tyrannical government bodies.

Supplement to 3d ed. called Selected characteristics of occupations (physical demands, working conditions, training time) issued by Bureau of Employment Security.