Mine-protected and mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles are today standard in the US, most major western armed forces and many other armies as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The South African Army was already routinely using mine-protected armored personnel carriers and patrol vehicles forty years ago even if they looked primitive and ungainly. A few years later, the South African Army had reached the stage where it could deploy entire combat groups into battle zones equipped with only mine-protected vehicles, including their ambulances and supply trucks. By then the mine-protected vehicles had also become effective for use in combat, rather than just protected transport, the Casspir being the chief example. More to the point, they saved countless soldiers and policemen from death or serious injury, and the basic concepts now live on in the various MRAP types in service today. The valuable lessons learned by the South Africans with their early designs of these combat-proven vehicles has led the country to become one of the global leaders in the design of MRAPs which are locally manufactured and exported around the world. Surviving the Ride is a fascinating pictorial account featuring more than 120 of these unique South African-developed vehicles, spanning a forty-year period, with over 280 photographs, many of which are previously unpublished.

The most trying times in a child’s life are during their pre-teen and teen years. Even the most well-meaning and engaged parents and teachers are often ill equipped to deal effectively with adolescents and their remarkable yet confounding social and emotional changes. Surviving Adolescence follows the roller coaster ride parents with teenagers experience, stages that author Michael Gilbert calls Ratcheting Up, the First Drop, Loop-de-Loop, Climbing, the Steep Drop, In the Tunnel, Into the Daylight, and Leveling Off. These stages cover issues such as preparing for adolescence, the reality of confronting puberty, the family unit, and how to help teens confront a new social environment, including cyberspace. Additional areas covered are recognizing the need for productive activities, discussing burgeoning sexual issues, bullying, and substance abuse. Suggestions for communicating effectively and taking care of yourself are included, too, making this a well-rounded and valuable resource for parents and educators alike.

Introduction -- The height requirement -- Secure your shoulder harness -- Fuel for the motor -- Filling your empty seats -- Riding in the front seat -- Picking up speed -- Hands in the air -- Smile for the camera -- Epilogue -- Final word -- Acknowledgements -- Additional resources.

In October 2016, 59-year-old Chris Joseph was stunned when he learned he had third-stage pancreatic cancer. In the midst of the panic and tremendous fear that immediately ensued, Joseph followed the doctor's orders without hesitation and underwent chemotherapy-a choice that was almost a fatal mistake. Months of chemotherapy poisoned his body and nearly destroyed his spirit. With no immediate plan in mind, Joseph fired his oncologist and embarked on an alternative path of recovery, including both natural and Western medicine immunotherapy-one that, against all odds, opened his eyes and healed him, both physically and spiritually. Life is a Ride documents Joseph's journey from terror and doubt to independence, redemption, love and hope. Whether he's launching a "borrow and pay back" company for all manner of musicians in New Orleans, making his journey to Germany for cancer treatment and watching his friends put together a GoFundMe campaign to make the trip possible, or finding opportunities to bond with family and friends, Joseph's spirit, determination and courage will inspire anyone who's struggled-with illness or any other seemingly hopeless situation. By changing the narrative and choosing to write his own story, Joseph found new levels of determination and courage, as well as joy, wisdom and gratitude. Life is a Ride is the tale of a man that turned a death sentence into a life embrace.

Before Kyle rides a school bus for the first time, his older brother gives him a list of rules he must follow but after breaking every single one the first day, Kyle discovers the rule his brother left out.

The teen years are an emotional roller coaster. So, how can you make it through? In this important guide, leading dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and teen expert Sheri Van Dijk offers four core skills to help you manage your emotional ups and downs, build great relationships, and thrive! As a teen, you're experiencing intense changes in your life—both physically and mentally. To top it off, you're probably unsure of how to handle your emotions in a positive, constructive way. Surviving the Emotional Roller Coaster offers evidence-based techniques to help you regulate your emotions and find balance in all areas of life— whether it's at home, at school, or with friends and peers. By learning to be more aware of your emotions, you'll be able to let difficult feelings pass without reacting to them in destructive ways. You will also learn the four basic DBT skills to help you manage your emotions: core mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. You'll discover how to apply these skills to help deal with a number of negative emotions, such as low self-esteem, anger, anxiety, depression, and more. By changing the way you react to your emotions and to others, you'll be able to build better relationships and feel more confident as a result. If you’re ready to understand and better manage your feelings, stop acting on impulses, and calm yourself in moments of emotional stress, this book will show you how.

Tom has decided he doesn't want to live. Adam wishes he had a choice. Tom's lost his job and now he's been labelled 'spermless'. He doesn't exactly feel like a modern man, although his double life helps. Yet when his secret identity threatens to unravel, he starts to lose the plot and comes perilously close to the edge. All the while Adam has his own duplicity, albeit for very different reasons, reasons which will blow the family's future out of the water. If they can't be honest with themselves, and everyone else, then things are going to get a whole lot more complicated.

Full of roller-coaster twists and turns, Neal Shusterman's page-turner is an Orpheus-like adventure into one boy's psyche. Sixteen-year-old Blake and his younger brother, Quinn, are exact opposites. Blake is the responsible member of the family. He constantly has to keep an eye on the fearless Quinn, whose thrill-seeking sometimes goes too far. But the stakes get higher when Blake has to chase Quinn into a bizarre phantom carnival that traps its customers forever. In order to escape, Blake must survive seven deadly rides by dawn, each of which represents a deep, personal fear--from a carousel of stampeding animals to a hall of mirrors that changes people into their deformed reflections. Blake ultimately has to face up to a horrible secret from his own past to save himself and his brother--that is, if the carnival doesn't claim their souls first!

Dr. Sherry Blake, a prominent, licensed clinical psychologist who serves a clientele that includes some of America's top professionals and entertainers, discovers through a series of subtle and harrowing incidents that her mother and father are no longer able to live independently. Her mother suffers from an unexpected onset of Alzheimer's, while her father battles dementia. Dr. Sherry, as she is better known, compares her caregiving experience to that of an emotional roller coaster ride with gravity-defying twists and turns, uphill climbs and downhill slides that leave her terrified and off-balance. She enlists all of her resources, skills and talents to step up to the challenge of meeting the many needs of her parents and their care. As the ride reaches maximum velocity, Dr. Sherry finds herself in a head-on crash with a pair of willful parents, especially her mother, and a set of siblings stuck in what she calls the "denial zone." Over the course of 10 years, Dr. Sherry executes a series of solutions for her parents' care--from an extended stay at an assisted living home, to placement at a residential care home when they become too frail, to a final return home to live out their last days. Dr. Sherry's goal in "Care for the Caregiver" is to provide useful and needed information that will reduce emotional stress and provide readers with critical tools for their respective journeys. After analyzing her own journey and the experiences of many other caregivers, she concluded that there are three distinct "Rs" or phases in caregiving: Recognition--Pre-Caregiving; Reality--Caregiving; and Release--Post-Caregiving, with specific aspects of each phase, including: recognizing, adjusting to and understanding the physical and/or emotional changes of your loved ones; identifying and providing what is needed at any given time; and coping with and accepting the ongoing multiple changes without losing control emotionally, while preparing to let them go. While readers may not be able to get out of their caregiver coasters, "Care for the Caregiver" will definitely make the ride less frightening and stressful and a great deal more manageable.

Time Bomb is a compelling account of multiple DVT and aneurysm survival. Spanning sixteen years after a life-altering car crash, Time Bomb explores the connection between recurring instances of deep vein thrombosis after long-haul flights and the subsequent discovery of a 5.5 by 7cm aneurysm looming ominously on Kim McDonell’s ascending aorta. Journey with Kim as she details her experience with persistent pain in the region of her heart and the missed opportunities to connect this pain with the growing emergency that it was signalling. In this insightful book, Kim shares the details of her journey from diagnosis through surgery to recovery.