FAQ

What are you trying to accomplish?

I am promoting positive actions that every individual can take. I am promoting what I call "the Power of One" as described in the book, Why Not Blame Drew? How all your problems originate from him. I would like to see people better understanding and representing themselves with integrity. I would like to see individuals take more responsibility for their actions. I would like to see people show more respect for others. I would like to encourage people to move forward in their lives and make a positive difference. Why not make a difference?

What was that vehicle I saw?

It is a 1976 Steyr-Puch Pinzgauer. It is a Swiss Military troop transport. It was built by the Austrian company Steyr-Puch starting in the 70s. If you wish to see it (and a funny series of comments) you can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFc3uVlW8FQ. For more answers, check out Pinzgauer.

What does the vehicle have to do with Yellow Kayaks?

It stands out. It draws attention like a big yellow kayak. (Not much more than that.)

Is that vehicle environmentally friendly? Is that a good example of being responsible?

Short answer - no. It is a flaw and fault that I readily admit. That said, it gets as good mileage as many vehicles currently on the road. Even then, I do not drive it on a regular basis. In general, I do not drive as often as most people, so if you want to get into a discussion of who pollutes more than whom, bring it on. (It is not so much a matter of what rate you pollute; it is a matter of how much you pollute in total.)

What is an "airport price"?

Suppose you happened to be waiting at an airport and someone saw you reading this book. You might want to give them your copy. Even better, you might just happen to have an extra copy on you. You might want to let them buy it off you. You could sell it to them for the price you bought it, but you might want to make a profit. You deserve at least a few bucks for bringing the book there to make it convenient for them. Right? You also want to cover the taxes that you paid. What would that amount then be? That is where the airport price comes in to play. You don't have to make up a number. There is one that you can offer as a reasonable price for them to pay. Why not?

How can a red book be green?

The books provided by Yellow Kayak, BookPeople, and through Amazon.com are printed on recycled paper and use soy-based ink. In addition, trees were planted to offset the paper used in the printing process. The intention was to have an environmental neutral book, i.e. a "green" book.

Books purchased directly from Yellow Kayak are "greener" because they have travel less. Books from Amazon have one extra leg of travel incurred (from Yellow Kayak to Amazon rather than directly to you).

Note that the books purchased through Lulu do NOT meet the same level of "environmental friendliness." Lulu is a print-on-demand company which prints the book when you request it. There are other advantages to this approach. In addition, the books through Lulu are not "customized." If you just want a copy to read, Lulu is fine. If you really want the experience, we recommend purchasing from this site or through Amazon.com.

What does "customized" mean when you write some books are customized?

Customized books have tracking numbers which may prove valuable to readers in the future.

I see TONYHW in various places including on the back cover of the book Why Not Blame Drew. Who is Tony HW?

TONYHW is "Why Not" from a different perspective. It is part of me asking people to see things -- in this case a short phrase -- from a different perspective. Why not?

Is there something else to the book Why Not Blame Drew?\?

There is much to the book Why Not Blame Drew? It is a deep book, in many ways.

Can I get the book Why Not Blame Drew for a Kindle?

No. We have looked into it. While it can be done, it is not pretty and degrades from the value of the book for more than a few reasons. A recorded version of the book may be available in the future, though

Do you sell Kayaks?

For the right price, I would sell a kayak or two; but, this is not about selling kayaks. This is about using an obvious image to promote the values in which I believe.

Is this like Yellow Bike?

No, although someone might be able to make a very tenuous connection. I do not think leaving kayaks around for people to use and exchange will be of much help.

Where did the name Yellow Kayak come from?

I used to have a yellow kayak on top of my vehicle all the time. When I lived in a third floor apartment, I could not get the kayak up to my room. I did not have anywhere else to keep it. I used it on a regular basis in and around Texas. The best place for it was on the roof of my truck.

Inevitably, people noticed it. People I had never met before said, "oh, that is you. I see you all the time" when I mentioned I had the kayak. I would get calls and voicemails notifying me where I was and where I had been.

Since people were noticing it, I thought about advertising on the kayak. I wondered how much I could charge. Then, I started thinking about who would pay for that advertising. That thought-process led me to the question of whether I would want to advertise certain messages. Then, I thought about what message I would want to show. If you could say one message to people on a regular basis, what would that message be?

That led me to consider what my core beliefs were. Ultimately, I realized the importance of integrity, responsibility, and respect. I knew that the three things I wanted to promote were integrity, responsibility, and respect. As you will probably read throughout this site, the combination of these three items in every person would make this world a much better place. They would not make it a world full of peace, but it would make it better for more people.

My challenge has been to market these three items in one concept.

Long story short, the yellow kayak helped me see what mattered. I want to use it to advertise that important message to the world.

What does the Yellow Kayak logo mean?

Obviously, it is a yellow kayak. More specifically, it is a yellow kayak on blue water. More subtly, you can see the arms and head of someone as though trying to embrace the world. Even more subtle are the three pieces: the yellow kayak, the blue center, and the blue water. These three represent... you guessed it, integrity, responsibility, and respect.

Do you have a link to the old version of the site?

http://yellowkayak.com/YellowKayak3.3.swf

Email your suggestions or questions to suggestions@YellowKayak.org