I have enjoyed what time I have with the family and in the interim tried to accomplish something. The duality of this is usually not very productive as the simple addition of one person to the plan doubles the time constraints or more depending on the person. So I have reverted to my usual lower expectations and as long as my left foot comes into view as I walk, I'm feeling pretty good. We have finally picked up the el camino. GOAL!!!! It does need some work, but it made the trip surprisingly well and elation of a job well done was rewarded by watching the kids wipe 3 months of dirt and bird poop off the degraded finish with about 8 dollars worth of pull out wipes. I and McBro sat comfortably in our camp chairs, his periodical about other people fixing up crappy houses let him live the life as I justified my quite excitement about receiving Peter Egans "Leanings 2". Even without the spectacular linguistics and passionate perspective the book is perfectly composed of a number of short stories just long enough to drag you in. If your not familiar with his work, or like others could give a rats about motorcycles and books associated with motorcycles, it's simple. Mcbro asked,"Who is Peter Egan?" I was at a loss for a simple summation of such a complex question and knew I only had his attention until something shiny came into his peripheral, I stated. Pual Harvey. Peter Egan is the motorcyclists, Paul Harvey. He can tell a tale, sell a story or bring an emotion to a tangible taste in your heart. I have not been able to live a privileged life with travel and excitement around every turn, nor do I really want to invest myself into it that much. With someone elses vicarious telling of the event i have traveled to many different parts of Europe, sampled a number of motorcycles in detail, been a guest to Honda in the orient, met with the best this great land of America has to offer and reveled in all the details of each event. Including Bonneville, expecially Bonneville. I go to a place no one else could take me in his pages. The past. These changing days have brought good and bad. Digital photos, media, linking, forums, the exchange of information is so quick and technology for casting, machining, computer design and metallurgy have advanced to the point where the landscape of the hobby itself has changed. Aftermarket parts are ordered before the car is delivered. And the great ones are coming to the end of their era. All the men I looked up to in the pages of multiple periodicals and the telling of tales by others are passing and with them, history with it. Peter is in the same realm for me as Gray Baskerville, 'dad' of "Hot Rod Magazine" as an influential person that has groomed me for many years with knowledge and respect. The march of time stops for no one and I feel like my idols are falling at my feet before i even got the chance to get to know them better. I wrote a letter to Ak Miller about an article I read covering propane injection and turbocharging a small block chevy about 4 years after he passed. I met Boyd Coddington and Ed Roth only years before they moved on. I hope that I get a chance to just meet Egan once. I briefly thought of journalism in the sense of it's application in the hobby, but I don't think I'm geeked out enough to do it. I read forums and stay involved as much as a guy with other commitments to work and a school career in progress can. It takes years to build a network of information and the new application doesn't apply to guys like these greats. Its us. The standard guy, working on his car/motorcycle/boat/truck or etc. Freelancers and Master Administrators of .org's and .com's organizing shooting and writing full features for publication, because the technology has become so easily accessible. No one will need Rickmans eye for the photo, because you can just shutter bug away and pick the best pic. So here I reminisce about the greats, and what they have brought to me and I think many others. Thank you for teaching us all about so many things and thanks to the technology we have, it will never need to leave. And Thank you to spell check for all the repairs you have given me over the years, lest I ever learn to spell on my own for all the books I have read.