the journey

2011-12-06T21:48:00.000-07:00

I remember when the drag races where populated by an un diluted type of person that drove around in pack rat wagons and bagabond buses to raise their children in a mechanical gypsy drove around the nation. Every event filled with people so pationate that their megar funds could be seen on display in the pits, but everything was hung out on the track. Kids stacked up on scooters and little red wagons modified with 2 stroke engines blasting past you with the puff of purple smoke and the vision of a 10 year old with a shit eatin grin. I almost forgot all those memories of this camp ground folley on the side of strip, if not for this last installment of the the Phoenix Super Chevy Show. I went for some crank and rods for my '83 Suburban that has spun to a different tune lately. There was cones set up in front for track racing and a very small group of cars attending, a few ticket wielding straglers sticking and leaving the sides of the track like the plaque in my arteries. At first it appeared as the place we got processed into consumers, coming in the gate in a hurried single file line and leaving holding bags and catalogs while wearing shirts depicting this or that vendor.

As I slowly made my way around I realized I was in a unique place in the best of times. The economy sucks, everyone is effected and these type of events are actually costing someone money. I enjoyed a day at the track with some of the best and most severly pationate people, everything that was ok 10 years ago and the liablility neigh sayer isn't paying to go right now. I'm not saying everything is legal, it just didn't bother anyone that was lucky enough to be in the pits fielding a car this year if your 12 year old moved the truck to the back of the lot. I had lunch with the Nierdam Family and at their family camps they run two jet cars. The brothers came in and out of the trailers making little adjustments and modifications to the few bits of the cars that could be tweaked as the father looked on and the women attempted to wrangle the kids into some form of order. I was given a nice embroidered shirt to wear down to the line and shoot some pics of the cars as they staged and raced for one last time. This was of course the point my battery died and I spied a young girl with a very big camera and asked her to double her exposure of the two jet cars, hoping secretly that this math problem wasn't boggling or that she knew enough of photography to attempt the term literally with a digital SLR. As the cars staged the parachute popped out of on of the cars and the other took off. Not holding a camera any longer and wearing the team shirt I hopped the rail and headed to the jet car as the turbine whined down. The crew chiefs sausage fingers couldn't fenese the parts together at this level of heat and everyone around the car is screaming, the fans in the stands are waiting...this was my moment. The crewchief packed the chute and held it in the spring loaded can as I pulled the cover over the top, lined up two very small parts and yelled to the driver to push the lever forward. It took two tries to nail it and the motor fragged the last two stages of the very expensive j-60 pratt and whitney turbine on that run. We went back to the pits to observe the damage to the Strike Eagle. The Nierdam Family is a great bunch that take everything in stride. A huge spread of food was brought out from a number of places and a few other players from other trailers where happy to swing by and say hey for a plate and that was fine by everyone.

The event itself was a bust. The stands where empty and the pits spotted with random transports. The car show was a great quality of craftsmanship, but still not the volume of cars that I rememeber it. I walked around the pits and meet a number of really great people all out to have a good time. The reality of the times was evident as every complement I gave a car owner elected the same responce, "The car is for sale" and then rather than chatting up the car the spiel to sell the thing that sacked the morgage or marrige was given an opportunity to live a new life.

I saw a rig there that really made me believe there was hope. A big rig with a huge sleeper on a single axle. Balanced on a channel beam was an old roadking, between the gas tank and the passenger side duals. The trailer was an old semi trailer with a home depot door in the home side of the tug. This guy did not offer to sell his car to me, or his bike. It was a beautiful day to be at the dragstrip, the loud cars and offensive language were a welcome thing for me, before I head back to my full time job of tip toeing the line of liablility and attempting to offend no one on my way through the day. Do yourself a favor if you cant afford it, you deserve it.

2011-10-30T20:03:00.001-07:00

I had a great day off. I just got called in and I'm working Halloween, so this will be short. Super Chevy show rocked. Small party of really great people. Had a blast meeting awesome racers, walking the pits and some great food at the bbq.

2011-10-06T21:00:00.003-07:00

I can't really explain how great life really is. Maybe its the cloud of narcotics and wine, but really its the awesomeness of living in the history of my long life. Riding the same bike I learned on over and over has given me and endless experience of wow. I traded the shaded shield on the v2 helmet for a cleary(hollywoods term) It's an experience listening to the engine only as I idle and ride down the road wearing my helmet of sound. The wind and other sounds are bleated as the sound directly below me is heightened and I ride around feeling like I need some feeler gauges to check the clearance of my shim under bucket v4 below me as I head to the book store for some unwinding of gears from the simple trip. I am enjoying the good life. Today I wasted my money on a heart monitor watch and chest band as well as some work out clothes. For a guy that rides a motorcycle, watching your health seems like an oversight of some sort. Here is to my brother the cop who on my insisting says he will make some sort of changes to make his health better. An ironic thing I am worrying about the health of my brothers in arms, when in chance anything but the opposite should be taking place. Why is it that the most insignificant of options for most would be the most important to another in the same DNA chain. You give me one, ONE, one more functioning protein link and by god what would I be. What would I give you. Is it my lack of clotting that gives me super human abilities of simplicity of education or with it and without the disorder would I be as awesome as my father, I have five brothers to answer the 50/50 question and the answer is no. I don't think anyone has answered the call or maybe the call has passed with time as the dawn of ages begins with out the sunset of another. I think we are all awesome in our own way, others fail to notice. For those still reading, the wine is taking effect and I would like to speak directly to your tempertempanic as I murmur something I should not know. TIME IS WASTING. Life is a gift that we all take for granted, youth is plundered everyday, this something we can see and agree on, but the thing you may not see is you are still young. Your definition of it is changing as you age, but as others age around you, it does not. You are still young, you are still mobile, changing, placid life. Live while you still can, die with no regrets. I hurt, we all hurt, hurt more, faster, better, become what you are made of and make something of yourself before everyone forgets you in some matter of dust or rock. Life is not what you make, its not what you do for yourself specifically. Steve Jobs, a very rich man, died at age 56...a success, a great man. What do you leave behind. bodies, people that depend on you, that spawned from you? What example do you leave behind. Are we worried about a longing memory or a longer epic entry in history. What spot in history did my father leave behind. ME! You? Lets make it happen together. I'm not enough for the memory of even one person, let alone two. So lets make our true potential shine though, lets make the impossible seem tangible, realistic and practical. Lets bring the moon a little closer and hollywood a child time story. We can be anything, why choose mediocrity. Why does every channel on the TV make Idiocracy look like a parable. If stupidity is popular, I want to be a super nerd.

2011-09-24T14:25:00.003-07:00

Ok so I know its been a while, lots has happened. Megan and Eve moved to Texas, I moved into in home care and riding my pops bike most places. These are the most bike relevant pics I balanced the front tire and picked up some wipers (fork seals), put a new tube in the back, went to Macayos down town and hicking in North Scottsdale (gateway), I also got a new tinted bubble shield for my V2 helmet.

2011-03-11T17:56:00.001-07:00

Just a rough draft, I havn't finished it yet, but it should sync as I work on it. Back to the grind, enjoy.

MapView

2011-03-11T12:09:00.001-07:00

Gotta go to bed for work, will work on google map more later.

2011-03-11T11:50:00.001-07:00

2011-03-11T10:26:00.003-07:00

Well the last part of the trip was a straight shot, due to time. I still made a few unscheduled stops, they make every trip the adventure it is meant to be. One of the differences between a road trip and a motorcycle trip is your visible to everyone, so the person stopping me for road construction starts up one of the few conversations she will have that day. Every motorcycle operator in 31 degrees threw out the low peace sign signifying 2 wheels, like a fraternity of like minded or absent minded individuals. I had been following a van that was going slightly faster than I like to ride the Madura (70 mph) due to the pleasure of wind buffeting it provided. The driver caught up with me at a gas stop and confronted me. A Japanese man in his 50's approached, "You follow me?" I said yes and he continued, "You follow me!". I didn't know what he was attempting to say with that statement and my tank was full, as I suited up, he ran over to a stand and pulled some pamphlets out and ran back over, "You follow me, you come!" Pointing at a tour map to a spot a few miles down. This how I ended up on a Japanese tour as the only english speaking individual. The others appeared to be college students, I pulled to the front of the trail head and parked the bike. It was kinda warm compared to the brisk weather I was riding in earlier and I still had 3 layers on the bottom and top, after I lost the leather jacket, gloves and helmet. Everyone met up shortly after and made a run for the top of the hill, I was admiring how this gent was showing up the 20 yr old kids as I walked up. As I neared the summit of the 100 yd hill, completely out of breath I realized the key to the bike was in the pocket of the leather jacket with my wallet, laying on the seat of the bike. My laptop also strapped to the passenger papillion, the full weight of my liability before me I felt like the rural area of Page, AZ and the horrible shape I am in warranted the calculated risk. The distance covered and left to cover looked marginal and my mind never fully made up I descended to the mouth of Horseshoe Bend sick with worry. All the while the tour guide continued in broken english and excellent Japanese, pointing out plants and wildlife as well as soil condition, rocks that break in your hand, sand, soil and rock planes existing feet from each other. These things I watched not speaking fluently in Japanese. As we neared the mouth the guide asked something of the students and the only female in the group grabbed my hand, my short ego boost was blasted as I realized we were all linked together and walking in a line. The guide made a loop around a oval rock telling us to watch were we placed our feet. We stood facing him and he said to take 3 steps back. Not watching us, but watching our feet. I 2 counted steps, before he said, "won", "true"(step) "tree" (step). We looked up at him for further direction, no one holding hands now. The guide simply said, "now tuurnn round." We turned a foot and a half away from the edge of drop off. I'm not sure exactly how far down it was, but I stifled the urge to scream like a little girl and the worry of my trip faded in the shear terror of sure death after a very long fall. After a little while it wasn't so bad, I enjoyed it immensely, but I had road to cover and the ache of liability soon returned and I began my assent to the top ahead of the group. At this point the fear instilled in all of us gave us a bonding point that if I ever see them again, there will be no awkward moments and instant friends. I feel fairly close to every person in that group. I made it back to the bike and piled on most of my clothing and took off waving to the group just covering the top of the hill. This accidental 30 minute stop defined my whole trip and is why I will always leave time for things like this when I can. The rest of the trip slowly sped up as I and the bike grew together and my apprehension faded to resolved reality. The bike ran better and better as I rode and my original fears faded into appreciation for every dollar spent on the maintenance of such a fantastic machine. I originally thought that Suzuki only made the madura for 3 yrs or so, because it was a failure to launch vehicle, with no core audience it made no purpose to build, but now I believe it was so over engineered and expensive to manufacture that they had to pull it from production. A V-4 overhead valve, water cooled, 6 speed with overdrive and shaft drive, great fit and finish. The only real complaint was the bike sits this 5'8" rider directly on my tailbone making no comfortable long term riding mount. It holds 3.5 gal and gets around 40 mpg, leaving me with my 2 gal gas can simply for lazy side of the road fueling to increase range between stops, made unnecessary by the absolute need to stop every 2 hrs to give my but a break.

2011-03-09T20:20:00.004-07:00

Well it isn't an adventure if everything goes as planned. So far I feel very fortunate. I had a great trip, Paula sorry I had to leave early, now you know why. I had so much fun visiting with the few people I was able. It's nice to visit home, but it continues to change so much it makes me feel either old or under educated that I think it should be right to walk your dog with out a leash and let your kids ride quads down to Bestway for a coke, without a fine for a jobless town. Its still good to see that most people have not changed too much. Thanks to all the family that helped out, hung out and chilled with me. The bike was running great and the weather is cooperating, the new fuel pump relay seems to have done the trick. I am driving deliberatly slow for many reasons, so I don't expect to be back in town early. Its about the journey, much love for a gentleman named Jon, who is on the Main Street Commitee in Panquitch, Ut. He not only stopped and picked me up when the bike broke down, he came back and picked me up.

2010-10-10T23:37:00.002-07:00

$40 dollar speakers and a 20 buck amplifier, both the must have items from 89. I remember reading about these in Playboy at a hefty price tag so when I saw them @ my local goodwill, I had to have them, I put them on pass through rca's on my stereo amplifier Megan's mom left behind and pulled an input off the back of the Vizio for remote volume control. This system is just plain stupid. Turned up (once) I can watch the glass move in my apartment and can hear everything crystal clear from about 200 feet with the door closed. Thank goodness all my neighbors work during the week and Frank is near deaf (not my doing). Megan took a pic of me heading to work and through some dirt bike googles of our back yard. I have only been commuting to work, so no new bike pics. Hence the pic of dinner, not a vegan...

2010-09-14T20:15:00.002-07:00

Brand new tires and ratchet straps. Let it be known I live no where near the store even though its a bustling metropolis of bars and churches. Thanks to McBro for the putting the rubber where it meets the road. I owe you. These pics are a months income... I should finish school.

2010-09-14T18:51:00.003-07:00

For some reason I have been having troubles posting. In the past few weeks I have really stretched the limits of motorcycling in general. I have been using the beemer for everything and Bali has nothing on me this week. I took home a boat load of groceries, diapers, a bicycle and a tv home on the bike. I hit up some yard sales and use it everyday for short and long runs. This particular bike does everything so well. Its feeling loose with the miles so I baby it a bit, but it still hauls and I mean literally, very well. Work has kept me busy so the few trips I have taken have all been related. I take the long way when possible. I keep my magazines for some reason, I think my mom could tell me why, and I am always perusing them in some fashion. One of my favorite writers is Peter Egan from Cycle World magazine (and others). I like to find ways this individual that lives life in the margins we wish we all could resembles me. I wasn't surprised to find that he and his wife took this very bike 4000ish miles into Canada and back to Wisconsin without a real hiccup. He is a touch older in years, but I am catching up. His praise of the Buell Ulysses makes me second guess it, because I have inadvertently copied many of his moves, outside of successful writing. I wanted to share my first adventure in motorcycling, because it came up the other day. Growing up in the mid 90's gave me a good view at great bikes and my age and location placed me in the dirt bike tangent. My nephew had a yz250... I was in 7th grade and height impaired, it didn't stop me. This event galvanized my NEED for a similar system of self destruction(my nephew broke his arm twice on the bike). The begging began and my father busy with the farm turned the problem over to my brother for my Christmas present that year. This type of thing had happened once before after my closest brother in age had a groping party in our basement and showed the movie RAD, I believe I was the only person in the room in love. I asked for a Freestyle bike with a rotor and got a '72 sting ray chopper...in hindsight, I could have reacted better. This Christmas was to be like the others. My Mom sewed a thick cushion with a vinyl cover over a piece of plywood cut by my dad on the table saw. An old tote gote frame with a tiller briggs and stratton mounted and the work was done. My brother Karl is extremely insightful and his abilities of innovation are quite remarkable, seeing his hand 0n my "bike" made it real for me enuf and I sucked up the zero suspension bike with a cv clutch after only a few temper tantrums. The ever clever Karl had done up the primary side of the clutch with an 8" frying pan as a cover, a 4 vane water pump, large ball bearings and bailer springs. It worked good till I was full tilt and spun a ball bearing out and hit my calf. As soon as the bruising subsided I realized the bike now had a different launch pattern, almost tossing me into the flower garden. This is the moment when I started really learning piece by piece mechanics. I rebuilt the carb, cleaned the tank, removed and re installed the exhaust and played with the clutch and hand controls. I learned a little late about checking and changing the oil though and moved on to a Kawasaki enduro years later. Nothing can replace that old tote gote for me and the slow memories we had. 7 mph is actually really fast when your riding vertically up a hay stack when the throttle sticks though. I have had a few bikes over the years and I'm always looking at more, but for the first time in a while I have a little bit of that hardy go anywhere do anything ability that the first one had, and its a bit quicker too. Thanks to all my friends and family for supporting my bad habits as long as you have. Love you.

2010-08-17T21:22:00.002-07:00

To a bromance that started quite a while ago. I really enjoy my one day off, but much of that is made possible by my friends and friends of friends where ideas come together and conversation is relaxed and smooth, usually further enhanced by spirits. The weather is hot, but bearable. Cigars in the pool. Classic cool. Stay tuned for tomorrows adventure, I cant remember enough of this trip to post some rhetoric, but the night time confessionals are the best. When the booze loosens the tongue and the feelings flow out of a bleeding heart, the noise goes away and peace fills the soul.

2010-08-17T21:08:00.002-07:00

I try to head out to harolds cave creek coral when I can and my set appointment stands. Good times aside, the ride is smooth and winding through an awesome little retirement community of Palo Verde, near an entrance to Tanto national forest. This is just short vid of my regular commute, enjoy.

2010-08-11T14:20:00.002-07:00

No more excuses. I finally called my provider and hooked up the internet at my house. I have no reason for not posting more and will create a new blog for the family as that is what I am constantly talking about and will segregate allroads to my motorcycle mayhem and random reasonable debauchery. I have picked up a .30 cal WWI rifle for about a hundred bucks and took it to the range, although firing corrosive rounds from 1984 Czechoslovakia it is true enough and fun. Makes the idea of WWI a lot more scary knowing this is the least valuable weapon outside of a knife, which screws onto the top making the whole thing a 10 foot stick. My Harolds outings have been a little difficult, but a very important time of my week. I have great friends. Every moment is an accident I happen to catch a pic on. So these shots are random as is the commentary. I have been spending lots of time at the house doing what I enjoy spending time with the family, but I still make a little time each week to do random things and have some fun me time. As I'm sure it is with everyone we are watching the pennies and this was an easy desision to make with the cost of starbucks drinks. By brewing at the house and eliminating redbox, this easily will be cheaper and more efficient. I will post a link to my new Family blog to eliminate dual entries so you can chose what info you want to hear. I can say this. Living solo for so long has had a dramatic effect on my ability to communicate and react, but this life is an on-going process and the rewards are ours to extract the enjoyment from. That being said I'm loving every minute of it. Thanks to all.

2010-07-12T13:06:00.003-07:00

I had a great trip out to Texas and I can not get the pics to load right now. Wi-Fi is free @ starbucks so it shouldn't take long to figure out. I drove a moving van down loaded with the belongings of Ann, Megans mom. In the cab a furry cat named peter and I slowly made the way down. In the back was everything and the beemer. Although the truck drove heavy it was a good day to be on the road, Ann was following in her vehicle and was there for the assist as I ran out of gas on a hill in pouring rain. We split in Hempstead where her family is at. I really enjoyed spending the night in Hempstead. Great people, beautiful country and I could get the bike out of the back. I put it on a trickle charger as the battery is perdy much done. I headed out the next morning with thick black clouds to the south (my direction of travel), but thought I would beat the rain. Leaving all the rain gear Fred gave me packed tightly in my bags (except clothes, all my clothes got inadvertently left in Arizona in the re-packing around the bike) As I edged the point of the down pour I missed my exit for starbucks, had I made it I would have seen the text from Mcbro saying he was no longer in South Houston, but in Spring. I rode in the worst weather I have ever seen, standing water, the wake of a semi, my own wake, and rain drops that could be considered a bath in my only set of clothes. Pants and a hanes t-shirt. When I stopped under an overpass, just east of Pasadena, TX. I pulled my phone out of my helmet (the only dry area) and checked my messages. Turned around and rode the lakes of houston called freeways back to Spring. I was soaked to the bone when I turned into Mcbro's drive, but it was awesome, I wouldn't have changed a thing. That BMW is the best riding bike I have ever driven. At times the riding position is uncomfortable, you really sit up there on that thing and the pegs are a shade higher than my knees like, but once you hit the wet it works and on the road I put the seat all the way up with the screen and its perfect. The time at Mcbro's was the best in years. Rather than watch him work himself to death on the block party, we got to sit in the garage and talk, watch some movies, just chill. The fourth came and went with great food, good friends and interesting conversation. The kids did the fireworks this year and it went well. Megan and Evelyn stayed for the show, Joe her dad came over earlier with Nolan, her brother for a a bit. Time passed too quickly just hangin out. Mcbro and I went over the bike tuesday night and wired in a spare battery where the radio was and finally hooked up the relay to the fog lights (huge life saver). Without clothes and leaving additional stuff @ home made a streamlined beemer, light on its feet and letting the suspension do its job rather than jostling my joints. I hit the road around 11a, as a light rain began. I out ran the front around 2p and ditched the rain gear south of Austin. I settled in for the rythm of the ride. 6th and 4000 rpm, my new tire gliding over the asphalt surface and the engine just a whisper of growl from the exhaust pipe. The left side rocker could use an adjustment, but it only rattled a bit on start up as soon as oil pressure was up its tick would soften as the hydrolic lifters took up the slack. I did not have the money to change the oil before I left. This left a guilty feeling as the bike sucked up every mile without a whimper. Good bikes deserve good treatment. All fluids checked, but nothing changed and sipping the fuel, it still took about 120 dollars of fuel over the 1200 mile drive. Somewhere in the hills of east texas another storm front was waiting. Passing most traffic at my 90 mph pace with the foglights on, forming a pyramid of high power lights blasting a laser beam of light in front and my additional LED trailer tail lights and turn signals. With the mist of my wake being lite by the auxillary lights, it looked like tron on the freeway and I had no problem alerting passing cars of my presence. I'm sure my location this close to New Mexico had them checking the rear view for different reasons as the speed and amazing amount of light could only be from something extra terrestrial. At one point in Las Cruces, I was actually afraid I would be pulled over by police for having too many lights and wattage on the silver streaking beemer, but my bright yellow rain gear made it look like what I was, speeding cautiously, I was passed by 3 cops and was greeted by thumbs or nods. About an hour out as the sun started to crest, I pulled off into the desert to find a place to catch some rest before the swelter came. In the middle of no mans land I came upon 3 shoed horses. They just walked up to me, just past that a large steel open top cylinder filled with cool, green water near their trough. 50 yards past that a brand new border patrol truck with a young occupant. I greeted him with my intentions and given permission, put up the center stand on the loose soil and laid down on the rain gear, 3 hours later was shift change for the young man and my presence may not have been introduced. I was rousted by 4 men with guns in a suburban and a small chopper. Very cool alarm clock and this was the alert I needed to shoot 50 mph down the dirt road and hit the highway back to 90-100 mph all the way to Tucson traffic just as the sun started to hang in the middle. A stop for fuel in Casa Grande a gift from my girl back home as testament that she would like to see me again as my bank account had not been replenished by my employer yet and a good long inhalation of the circle K coolers put me into Fountain hills around 2pm the day after I left. I kissed Megan at Starbucks our tradition on my long runs and motored down the street two more blocks to our humble edifice, putting the beemer back on the center stand for what seemed like a week. Patting the gas cap and telling the beemer thank you for a safe trip goes against my Associates Degree in Automechanics, but it does explain the angel bell and St. Christopher emblems. There is always a lag. The adrenalin of the trip ending and the trip in general extends the next 24 hours, but for days later the slackness in attention and muscle tissue sets in. Everything becomes a dream, living your own life vicariously. I love my family and enjoyed seeing them the most, but a long day on the road, no matter the weather or conditions is enjoyable for the enduring challenges and changes needed to overcome it.

2010-06-09T13:14:00.002-07:00

The move has gone great and now the commute takes minutes. It makes more time for family and day care is really just there if we need a date day or something. My hours have changed a little, but it works out great. Mona came by for a visit and we got to have breakfast together and coffee. OMG Zola is growing up just as fast. I feel older every day. Thanks for all the love and support. I mostly spend my time cleaning now and catching naps when I can, but give me a ring and see. I do have 4 days off a week.

2010-05-20T11:43:00.003-07:00

I picked the best of the best and wanted to post one more time on the trip before I moved on. The pic of the beamer and I in the valley was about an hour out of El Paso and I needed to use the restroom, there where no services at this exit, but the expanse of nothing was nice. As the sun peaked up on Thursday morning 2 hours to Tucson I began to think of my responsibilities at home and hit the road early, making two great pic's in the process. About 6 days after I got back, it was time to head to Harolds. I had a great time and the burnout was short but smoked out the bar. You can see the headlight between Dirty and me in the pic. The routine has since picked up and all is normal again, but it looks like a good tune will do. I will be burn'n and turn'n on the morning of July 3rd to get to McBro's in time for the party. Megan, her bro and Evelyn will be flying down and spending time in the area as well as the party.

2010-05-07T09:51:00.003-07:00

I posted these a little close and the chronopictograph is incorrect. It was an awesome and somewhat epic trip for me. It was so awesome to see family again the trip itself paled, but was still very enjoyable. Somewhere west of Las Cruces I blew a fuse and should have put a relay on the driving lamps like Fred said, I hard wired them for 16 bucks after a failed relay repair $21 bucks didn't do the trick, the bmw sips fuel and the tires are cheaper than the last two bikes I have ridden. The ABS is working a little more intermittently, I believe a new battery may just help it out a bit. I helped a stranded motorcyclist get some fuel and he tipped me more than I paid for food all the way back. There is something surreal about chasing that mirror of a mirage in the distance for hours, the camera was just what I needed to focus on the details and actually made for a safer trip as I was always looking for something to take a picture of. The kick stand finally gave way just outside of Tucson while I was looking for a bush. Just as it kissed the ground and started to give I caught the bike in its momentum and caught it, but the kickstand had been failing for a while and I happened to be the guy who severely overloaded it one too many times, the center stand works flawlessly. The vids with the bike riding should be watched with the sound down as the condenser mic does not like wind too much. Looking for more rides and time in the future, but for now a little love would do the beemer justice for ticking like a swiss watch through the dirty south and into the dusty west. Love you and thank you all. Especially Fred and Linda, Thank you for your hospitality, love and time.

M4H01371.MP4

2010-05-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

M4H01590.MP4

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M4H01685.MP4

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2010-05-01T23:49:00.000-07:00

I have a really cool family. Fred and I have spent the last few days together just chilln and rebuilding a bike together, granted the bike didnt need much it was fun. The RT was a little tricky in spots and Freds Mcguyver came out a little, but we were having fun. While we were at the preventitive stuff we put in some spot and brake lights as well as some tunes. It turned out real good. Heading to baton rouge tomorrow and need to get some sleep.

2010-05-01T23:18:00.000-07:00

Just checking out picasa 3, Out of all the things in Alabama to check out, I had to stop here. It was my inspiration for velcroing my stuff to the motorcycle.

2010-04-29T10:32:00.002-07:00

Since landing it has been a nice mellow stop by the house. It's nice to just hang out and spend time with family. Fred and Linda have been so much fun to spend time with when we are out and just spending time together. Have you every tried to order food while holding a toothy smile? Fred and I share a similar interest in mechanical dis abilities, painfully knowledgeable, but lacking the full shop of tools and ability. Their home is lovely and the yard is sooo green with vegetation and grass.

On the first day I slept, in the morning we went to sbux and down by Mobile Bay, then over near Daphine to visit with her mom. Alabama is gorgeous. I took the bike for a little spin and found a nice leak coming from the oil cooler line, repaired it at home as Fred pulled in from work. I don't remember where we went for dinner, but it was a nice mexican restaurant. The serving portions were huge. Fred stayed up for a short tour of his place and fixed my computer before he turned in. Now it is time to do a shake down run and see how she goes.

2010-04-26T20:10:00.002-07:00

I have been working lots of hours at the skilled nursing center in Fountain Hills, I really enjoy my position and what I do, but it meant that I had to drop the coffee shop from my repetwah. To all my faithful followers in bean land, I'm am sorry. I will miss my partners and the position there, but it is nice to have a day off once in a while. I have also been land locked in the hills since my motor blew in the Suburban. This happened at a bad time, but I dont want to junk out the truck or hang onto another cash killer. Stuck in another conundrum I have elected to do nothing about it daily and have left the problem in the driveway of a very good friend. Its a big block 454, th-400 auto lock 4x4 3/4 ton beast that I always dreamed of. The reality is every penny into it can never be extracted and the milage is so bad it makes Mad Max look like a Hallmark commerical. My answers are coming quick in the hands of friends and family and I will be rolling on the typical non-traditional stock shortly. I gotta say without Dirty, I couldn't have survived in AZ this long and with out my family..I couldn't have survived.

2010-04-26T15:42:00.004-07:00

have been really busy, but for those in the know all is well and getting better. Follow along with me on my 8 day tour of the lower 48 the best way I know how, on a bike. I have just purchased a new camera for the trip and the gps thing is cool, but will have to wait for subseqent trips. I will be landing in Pensecola, Florida on tuesday night and spending the first 2-3 days with my brother Fred and his family in Alabama, then on to Baton Rouge, New Orleans and where every else I wonder to including McBro's in Texas. After a few days there, a blast up to Queen Creek, AZ to spend some time with Dale, Ryan, Jeremy and Brandon, back to Fountain hills wed to rest for work on Thursday. I am attempting to employ all the web based tools for those that choose to follow along and comment.
View "lower 48" in a larger map

2009-11-29T20:57:00.002-07:00

I had an absolute blast even though it was an up and back trip. Ron and Brandy opened their beautiful home to all of us, and did a fantastic thanksgiving dinner to boot, after finally getting some rest I had an awesome breakfast and went over to DJ's like I had planned the night before. He has the best system of gaming and entertainment in the basement, seriously could charge admission. I did a quick tour of the stomping grounds, my picadilly factory closed, fat jacks is under new ownership and I just plain wasn't hungry after eating all the great food offered at DJ's and Ron and Brandy's to even think about the best shake ever at the Malt shop or Rogers Dairy Freeze bishop malt, and without the picadilly, wheelers hamburgers are just good, not great. So with lunch out of the way I cruised out to the places I knew best, only to wish I would have never gone. Sanpete is extremely beautiful, but not all of it. I missed some of the old timey stuff and was surprised at how up to date some of the places are, I mean seeing a hughs net dish mounted directly to a brick wall constructed in the 'teens is kinda ironic to me. I wish I had more time for all the family and friends in Utah, but without making any real plans i just kinda went around to as many locations as possible and tried to stay awake. Thank you, all. And Thank You DJ. I have to say one of the highlights was seeing the two beautiful babies, Congradulations Mona and Brandi, love you all.

2009-11-10T01:08:00.003-07:00

Harolds, for everyone. Don't mind the slow business or fact that the customers are staff members clocked out and walk around the bar. This place is so cool, you wouldn't want to leave if it was work. Is your work that cool? I took vid of some of the bar, some of the people and some of the wall of wonder. This place was started by Jim Beam before the whiskey business and is one of my favorite places to hang. Its where I took Megan on our first date and it's my Wednesday tradition.

2009-11-08T08:00:00.002-07:00

I went out to LA and had a blast with my sister and sister and niece. Estrogen all around.

2009-10-05T19:26:00.002-07:00

I have been very busy this last month. I have found the love of my life, Megan and her lovely daughter Evelynn. Picked up a new bike, the 07 yzf-R1, Sweet. Dirty picked up a sweet 69 ford Bronco, it's been a blast. Went to nickelback and lots of other fun stuff. Mostly I have been working. Just opened up a new store, drive through and walk up only, we call it Starbox. Hours at the hospital have picked up considerably. I could talk volumes about Megan and I, but I think everyone will get a chance to meet her, suffice to say, I'm in awe and feel incredibly lucky. Everything else pales. My need for sleep persists past this message, so I must comply. I am saving for a slower motorcycle as we speak. I will not survive long on this as a daily driver. I love you all. It's been a great ride. (seriously I am driving this thing as cautiously as possible, don't worry too much)

2009-09-02T20:27:00.002-07:00

Thought I would post some week old archive photos of the beard. Since my CNA job has picked me up full time, I have decided to start shaving again. Also a shot of the bottom of the small hill called Trune Mountain. The shorts were a very bad idea, but it was hot. I have scars I will carry for life, cherish. I also destroyed those shorts. Also in the area of the Fox and the Hound was A Harley shop, I decided to walk in and check out some of the new bikes, that are not at every location and was treated to a RSD R1 in the 05 anniversary edition, only redone even cooler. kind of a burnt metallic yellow that actually popped. The signs are all around me now. I am going to Harolds now, opening sbux tomorrow and working 9p-3a at the hospital, then back to open sbux again at 4a, so its going to be a long day. Eventually the paychecks will start rolling in, until then... oh, had Pita Jungle today after my sbux breakfast. Its going to be tricky getting out of round with this agenda.

2009-08-31T18:54:00.002-07:00

I have been really busy for work, but make sure I still have some time to live life. On Sat I worked a 12 and pumped all my change in the tank of big blue for a quick run over to Desert Sky. I missed all of Cheap Trick, but caught most of Poison and Def Lepord. The show was awesome and the amps were turned up so high it sucked the wind out of the tenth row I was standing. Similar to a higher elevation top fuel bike pass, simply amazing. The next morning I was over in Glendale at the Fox and the Hound, AZTrackday.com took over the whole place and put the MotoGP's on every screen with sound. Met up with Aaron who took this pic of me next to a familar, but different bike. This is the TZR250, nice two stroke race bike. Today I had an epic moment when on a lunch I spilled my Iced quad venti vanilla latte...into the main computer at a very busy sbux, at the worst time on the worst day. I celebrated the moment, but running out of gas in the driveway with tips delayed.(employee hours worked, scheduling and payroll was today) I decided to remember why we do these things we do. I grabbed 40 oz of cold water, my phone, camera and in shorts, started climbing the stack of boulders in the back yard called Trune Mtn. That was an awesomely bad idea. I reconnected...with a very thorny thing I learned a lesson from 8 yrs ago. After pulling the thorns out I kept going up to the top. At about 20 ft from the top, I climbed around and started my decent. Accupuncture works, because my knees and ankles stopped hurting as soon as I was covered with sharp, long needles buried in my skin with some sort of barb end, making removal very painful. All in all a very good day.

2009-08-23T22:45:00.002-07:00

I have no new pics to post. Although I will say that my bank account is finally in the black. Not by much but acceptable. I am enjoying life in ways I could not describe to most family members. i will say to brother fred, you cost me a roll in the hay that I very much earned. I will never be caught without a phone charger again.

2009-08-18T17:18:00.002-07:00

You live, love, learn and some time lose. Out of all my friends each one is different from the next and I enjoy time with all of them. Going through life alone isn't something I think achieved easily and wouldn't want to try. Challenges are worthy and failure is more bearable with company. Loving life means living it and someone who taught me that has paid a price for it. My hopes and prayers are with him and his, while I try to make my self available for something more important than a paycheck or payment. on the mend in more ways than one. My thoughts are on the things he has said and the meaning he is to mankind. If their was someone to sit and listen, his time was generously given. I treasure the time and wish I would have listened more closely as I have plenty to learn still.

2009-08-04T18:35:00.002-07:00

Jenga level 31 try it buddy, not easy. try it my friend its not easy. Got my factor, happy camper. let you know more later. Nice and easy in cave creek

2009-08-04T12:53:00.002-07:00

What do you do after disassembling the bike and reassembling it in a day with borrowed tools in a borrowed garage with no prior knowledge of the mystery motorcycle in question. Shake down. A simple trip up to Payson for some pancakes and coffe at the Knotty Pine cafe of course. A straight shot up the Bee line in the morning after my first shift of 12 hours seemed like a great idea. I picked up susan and woke her minutes before we were blasting up the semi warm road. A great little blast with only one hang up. a loose bolt spacer had the audacity to fall into my brand new belt and wear a nice little niche into the flats before I could stop and walk it out backwards. No issue's as the drive side of the drive belt faces the other way. After a nice breakfast we got lost on the back roads making random turns to get to Zane Greys cabin, accidentally driving straight to it. They have an awesome tour and one of the greatest collections of misc. items unavailable to the average man. I suggest this trip to anyone....who stays the night in the cool climate of Payson. Our blast back was an epic journey of sweltering heat and high speeds that saw me pulling over to take a break, the combination of sun screen in my eyes, no sunglasses, sweat and fatigue. Enjoy the pics, it was a fantastic trip culminating in a naked coma undernieth the cieling fan.

2009-08-04T12:45:00.002-07:00

My life savings in a tow and a belt, the really good news is great friends and alot of help saved me tons. I could not have done this without, Susan, Derek, Matt and some guy who did it in the UK and posted the pics. It is actually really easy after you completely disassemble the bike and have access to a half inch impact with good pressure to zap the 1 1/2 inch socket on the compensator sprocket nut. Even the bike has big nuts. Out side of an IFS this is the biggest socket I own.

2009-08-04T12:02:00.002-07:00

one word temperpedic.

2009-08-04T11:55:00.002-07:00

A while back I went to the river with Matt and Tania. It was really fun, I'm never too tired to drink and swim. It was great hang'n and although it was brutally hot this day, the water was cold and around the river the temp was really nice. A smart move on a hot day. BYOB.

2009-07-21T19:01:00.001-07:00

I can not find my camera. I have no idea what idea what i did with it. I took the bike for a bit of a spin and the battery is kinda dead. I am still coming out of my coma. It was awesome.

2009-07-21T10:10:00.003-07:00

I'm tired. After driving, slowly for a long time, I had to clean out the bed of the truck before it rained. A shower later, here I am sitting in my home store in Fountain Hills, AZ. Feels good to be back. Got a little sleep, but looking forward to a long nap or sleeping good tonight. I love you bro and miss you, but I can always visit. I wouldn't want to do the fourth anywhere else. Will up date with pics whenever I get the chance. Everyone else is on the way. Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way. Big thanks to my sponsers, Eva and Roger, Mark and Mona and Mckay.

2009-07-20T15:44:00.003-07:00

I have some great images, but I am having some problems uploading them and I really want to get back out on the road. Sufice to say getting lost near Austin is awesome. Like driving back into my home town. I spent more time than I should in some small towns just checking them out. At the bottom of this hill in this small town at 3am is a steel bridge. I blocked it with my truck, shut the lights off and took some pics with ambient light. You can't do that everyday.

2009-07-20T15:24:00.003-07:00

Ok I stopped at starbucks to upload this and pick up some good coffee. I will post more when I hit the next stop. All my video is flipped because somehow that option got modified. Will fix on further vid.

2009-07-13T21:47:00.002-07:00

Should we all be so lucky. A good friend came by to visit and although I'm not actually in any of these pics, I was behind the lens for all of them. The shot of his bike is a file photo from my phone I took a while ago. I live my life, but when I'm not I sub-contract to others vicariously and Dirty did it. He rode from AZ to Florida for bike week and to visit making the whole trip as slow and eventful as possible. When he was passing through, the weather was good. Meaning unbearably hot, but not raining. We kicked it pool side standing on chairs in the deep end to avoid direct sunlight and I'm not to sure glass bottles are allowed. I really enjoyed the visit, we went to Mo's for some traditional bbq, which I thought was great. I know there are more bbq places in Houston than Mexican restaurants in Phoenix, this one was just the best, closest one. Properly stuffed to sickly levels and a quick trip by the house to ignite some otherwise illegal fireworks and my part in this ride was over. We were all really tired, but I can imagine that the guys on bikes where beat from riding in the heat from Bourbon Street the night before. Like I said I live my life...vicariously. Hence the blog.

2009-07-13T21:30:00.002-07:00

I didn't post anything from the fourth of July, because it's all on Facebook, so here is one of the events that has been since, there have been a few. This is an accidental day of and I happened to accompany Mcbro to a... well in this neighborhood, it's just another day, I would call it a party. They had two tables of food folding in half from weight. Seriously I didn't even see the table under all the food in the house, that was the snack table. Hush Puppies, Shrimp (even the ones wrapped with bacon), fried gator and cod etc. My favorite was the Margarita machine, my glass was small so I didn't stray far for the first part of the party. Everyone traveled by golf cart or bicycle and if they happened to be in a car driving by they still stopped to hug some people and maybe sit for a few. Location, Location, Location right on the beach, of course the water is toxic in this area, but it still looked pretty. We had a ball sitting on coolers or hanging on the patio and just enjoying each others good company. I would not call this doing nothing, I think it's what everyone should be doing when they aren't doing something else. Play Hard. I did miss an impromptu car show to attend, so worth it.

2009-06-30T23:52:00.002-07:00

Everyday absolutely awesome nothings happen, I think that is why some people make some small things so much larger. Today a number of nothings happened, that on recollection may actually be something larger. Some of the neighbors came over, we kinda dug a hole in the front yard and leveled it for some brick work, we replaced some lights with florescent bulbs and everyone sat down in the living room eating scooby snacks (goes good with beer) and watching miss congeniality. That's when we noticed the florescent bulbs blinking, just blinking. Being a type b personality, the first thing we thought of was iCarly's random dancing and all the other lights went out as stereo thumped. just the kids and two cripples tripping in the living room. Another day of nothing.

2009-06-24T22:06:00.002-07:00

On June 20th I went to Houston Motorsports Park. I must, I enjoy going it alone on things I alone enjoy, but this is one event that left me wanting to bring the whole family and the cooler. I have been to many strips in the past and have many left to travel, but this is high school foot ball team type of event with a regular dose of stupid fast cars. They say things are bigger in texas and I guess my inner teen came out in atleast it's most ignorant form, when I drove down here expecting a large cattle ranch, but Houston is a city, like any other city and a large portion of people are just people, but the people who race are really the people they were talking about. I was expecting a regular Saturday night and it was for the most part, minus the mindless speed. Some cars were clearing 160's in the 1/8th mile and everything else was just stupid fast. Track prep was thourogh and at every event they had plenty of hands out helping, which made for more than spare time leaving the rest of the evening something of an NHRA meets NASCAR run to finish the heats and mains before the lights go out. I walked freely in the pits finding everyone very nice and friendly, also a positive note a very diverse crowd. I have always believed that any indiffrence is just a choice without some catylyst. Cars for me have always proved to be the solution. I may not have anything in common with many people, but as soon as we start talking about anything automotive I can atleast try to listen. I don't have a hearing problem, just a listening one. I would like to thank the owners for allowing me to swing out and to my McC for the autostitch idea. I shot all pics off of the el cheapo point and shoot using basic settings and I am happy with the end product. for those looking for quality shots of the evening I saw a gentleman handling a sweet 90D with the words nitroart.com on the back. Please use common sense and deductive reason as carefully as possible to navigate to it rather than suduko or those other sites...yes I'm eighteen... and I have been since I was sixteen, just like everyone else. And for those in the know, nitroart.com is the site I thought I had to be 18 to look at. oohhhhhhh.

2009-06-24T21:42:00.003-07:00

Life does not pass by quickly, but the chances to share do. The cell phone is truly a necessity and extravagant as I rarely answer the tell tale tone. I am learning more and more why a family my size rarely corresponds as freely as smaller ones and it's the same problem as your Internet search engine faces, too many answers to find the one you want or need. The quick tale on these pics picked to mimic the distance of time from my short sbuck back room rant is that I really am not comfortable putting pics of other people other than myself, up for everyone to see, but who can beat a bunch of kids in the back of a flooded el camino. For those in the know the bike and truck are synonymous of a tale told by the pic its self, date specific of course. For those that don't know, my buddy rode down here and we hung out, my truck next to his bike is a sight for sore eyes, good to see both. In the end though I must suggest owners of el camino's be more specific with the intent of their vehicles as the smugglers box is also a river to the interior.

2009-06-09T13:27:00.002-07:00

Not a whole lot has been going on, so I have not had anything to write about. Work is going great and I'm going to just slip in for benifits at the end of this month. This makes me really happy. I did get to go see "The Hangover" and offensive as it was, I loved it. I also hung out with Matt and his friends one more time before he gets ready to head back to AZ. A good friend has passed before his time and words could not express the tradgedy, suffice to say, he lived. I have also been manipulating my laptop to harness a whole lot more music. I am not a real music buff, but I always want a sound track. Blue October and Kings of Leon are getting the 5 star click on my media player and I have dragged out the ol' Zen Micro, because it sync's real easy. On the down side I remember how much I payed for it and how awesome it was when I bought it, my micro sd card from wallmart is 4g at 14.88, my phone is more techy. Love that phone. So call once in a while so I remember what it was made for.

2009-05-29T17:27:00.002-07:00

Mercer Botanical Garden. Its free! Mark and Mo wanted to do something and I had no idea what to suggest, this was mo's doing. I had fun, the place was very well kept and anyone wanting to do something even close to this had better look at how many people it takes to maintain this environment, before going with the usual rocks, dead tree's and the non running vehicle look I like. It was perfect weather to walk around and just be without thinking of the many things that usually seep into the cracks of grey matter while doing nothing at home. Mark was locked onto the butterfly exhibit, but apperently the screen door ripped and they all got out. So you couldn't exactly step into a room full of butterflies, but they were all about the beams of light shining through the thick forest. I would rather drive to this place with a good book than spend anytime on landscaping my own home. I hear Koi ponds are like monkeys, it seems like a good idea till you do it. I go with the loner monkey or Koi pond in this instance.

2009-05-29T17:08:00.002-07:00

My sister and her husband flew into town on Monday and by acci-coincedence I had tuesday off. Mcbro had the sweet idea to cruise down to the beach, AKA: Galveston. Project Brown Water was slated to start in the wee hours of the morning, but being cavedwellers we rose slowly in the mid afternoon. With light traffic we made good and legal time with a complete audio tour of Houston by Mcbro riding shotgun. I am quite fasinated by his knowledge of this place and it made the ride down very interesting, except I was driving so the finger pointing in front of my face to a church or building in front of my nose, was not meant for my attention. We made it safely to the notoriously unsafe Galveston. The evidence of the prior statement was the complete iniehilation of our way point. The dock that held all the little shops on the boardwalk had been destroyed by Hurricane Ike and washed out to sea, the second stop, the visitors center had been under 4 feet of water and was still being renovated and rather than search out the second one, we opted for an authentic sea food dinner at a local joint and watched the harmless waves dash against the newly returned sand bar(brought in by barge). We took the 2pm Duck Tour and had a great time. It was a dual purpose visit, we got to see what Galveston would be like and what kind of damage had been done. It was a sobering look at the life people here live through and still do. The ride back was mostly in silence, from being tired walking around, pain in my brothers case and of course remorse for this little sea side town that has suffered from the beginning and the wonderful people it creates due to the extreme nature of it all. If ever I had a bad day, I could always ponder the impossible actions of the Born On Island locals of Galveston,TX.

2009-05-21T12:37:00.002-07:00

Ok I found more pictures. The first one"Is it ever going to take a picture" by evan. The second "stabbed by a six year old" by melody and lastly "A picture of what" by Mckay. We are all getting to know the little point and shoot that has served me well. I could add more info than that, but if you don't know more, you shouldn't know more. lastly, call them ships not boats.

2009-05-21T12:18:00.002-07:00

I sneak'ed..I snuck out, is that even a word, or code for something. I was up late and could not sleep again and by the power of the internets I noticed a showing of Terminator Salvation at my local joint that serves frosty cold beer and nachos for cheap. Quickly spinning the ignition and rolling out of the driveway as quietly and quickly as I could arriving just in time to get a great seat. I have changed, movies have changed and I believe people with them, or maybe just me and everyone else is just the same. I can only answer for myself, but the movie was fantastic, I will not remember it or want to see it again while T1 and T2 are permanently etched in my head. I don't know, like flash in the pan or something, it was very showy, but not many could sit through T1 and enjoy it while similarly aware of HSM and/or a rip stick. First person of course. I remember sitting through "boy in the bubble" with my family and it was difficult because the pace was so slow, my little sugar filled mind could not handle what my little caffeine filled mind could handle now adays. Hoping you all find some menial enjoyment like me today. Sit and breath, its like kiegal exercises for your soul. Who doesnt like a good picture of a ship in the waterway looking toward Houston.

2009-05-20T20:33:00.003-07:00

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.

2009-05-13T22:23:00.002-07:00

Alot has been happening in Mcbro's interim from the dept. The El Camino sits in the garage where he left it and have yet to bring it home. Lots of potential there, being the miser I am I have purchased a 2010 camaro and began making modifications immediately. 4 stage iridium blue paint being the first one and at 6 dollars, not cheap. Today we had a big day in Pasadena cruising the old playground. A lovely place if your mechanically driven as the bulk of the town appears to be factory owned. Today was also a day of remembering fallen officers, the service was really awesome and the officers in attendance where top notch. I got a tour of the new department an excellent investment if I may say so and in the back some lifted 4 wheel drive police trucks marked, High Water Response. A gun and a Truck, Nice. They also had a few Tahoes, Chargers, Goldwings and a fleet of PI Crown Vic's. We picked up the contents of his old car's trunk and almost filled the bed. It was a big day. -Evan

2009-05-08T12:01:00.002-07:00

We are everywhere. I was riding up Rosa's driveway and the motor mount on her little electric scooter broke, while I was riding it. I knew what was broke and even how to fix it, that didn't mean that I had any access to the right tools. A simple muffler shop with a mig could have easily fixed it, but this is the shop I stumbled in down the road. Why me, why here, will this sickness ever go away. I admired the mans skill and the bike on the rack is actually going to be featured in an up coming periodical, hence one photo from a bad angle, If you want to see more, buy "The Horse" two months from now. The geometry on the sporty chop is a little extreme and if you want the option of turning its a strong arm proposition, with little suspension in the front and none in the rear the handling of a tractor is probably more comfortable. I loved it. While you read this I can access your webcam and stare into your glassy eyes and hand shoved in cheek propping your head up to keep you from impaling yourself on a starbucks cup so I'll move on to something interesting. Venti Double Wall Starbucks cups. I bought 4 and if you want one your out of luck. Oddly enough we have all written our names on them, of course to designate ownership, but it's the names. I have and alias and that works most of the time, but in this case we all went for some reason with nicknames or surnames. Kimbo, Mcbro and EZ, with X10sin on the side. Am I the only one that refuses to grow up, I think not. To all the stubborn children of the earth that cast aside a certain amount of adultness thank you. this excludes pouting and throwing tantrums like that woman on youtube that missed her flight from japan to the united states, funny, but not what I'm talking about. If you have ever saran wrapped a coworker to an office chair and used him/her for a game of bowling for pins of shredded paper waste containers. Good Job. If you have ever threatened a coworker of taking your stapler or stealing your post its with access of the supply closet one floor away with an attack of a blunt but knurled object, that might have been too much, you should seek help, I can give you a good recommend. All kidding aside have some lucky charms for breakfast and sit for a coke and a smile on your unpaid break. If you have nothing left to do Friday night, all the other people that don't do anything on friday nights are meeting down at the movie theater for some big event or something.

2009-05-05T20:27:00.002-07:00

To the young man who was kind enough to show me and McBro his dads SRT-8 Challenger while his/your Mustang was at the house. The benevolence subjected gave me even more hope than the recent crop of awesome muscle to leak out of Detroit lately. Thanks for your time and dealing with, extreme excitement I subjected and letting me sit in it. Sweet ride, let me know if you buy a Camaro and where/when that car show is again.

2009-05-05T19:34:00.002-07:00

I came in through the back of Munday Chevrolet for McBro's easy ingress when I spotted the third demension of the thing that my dreams seem to linger on for to long. Like the long blond hair and fancy figure you spot at starbucks hoping the face is as hot, I raced at my brothers walker pace to the silver lined panels of the first v-6 victim my fingers would fondle. Over the yellow plastic chain and out on the handle the dash began to glow in a dim suble LED hew around the reminisent guages of long lost, the hidden switches and buttons showed them selfs by name in the yoke literally illuminating controls on controls, paddle shifted automatic 6 speed transmissions similar to the Ferrari of a few years back. The sun roof made sense, driving this thing could make the drivers head swell. HID headlights with the angel ring around it actually did not bother the salesman in the small cube directly ahead of it, for he was the one who asked to be blinded like me by the things this car can do. Rather than the look of an onslaught of guages, switchs, knobs and levers like I had expected based on the long list of features on the sticker, there was a clean finish with every button hidden in a knob with a variety of features and where some 8 or so buttons across the dial hold presets, they change a feature with the turn of the knob that hides the button. It took all of five minutes to figure out most of what it could do, begging for more trial and error it was on to the rest of the car. Given the attention to the cabin it's difficult to forget the stares this thing would get on any boulevard. The sales brochure could come with a tissue, and elect far fewer uses as the vehicle may eliminate every bodily function. oh, and Sassy does not like her cone, the entertainment for tonight is watching her bump into everything in the living room, with no peripheral vision and eyes on the side of her head I can relate to her given the beginning of this day. Happy cinco de mayo.

2009-05-05T18:58:00.003-07:00

This has been an epic day of nothing. My first day off and I had already made an appointment with my neighbor/GM sales manager to see the new 2010 camaro. Nothing dampened my anxiety about the event of seeing something so long in the making only hoping that this new super efficient v-6 and the upcoming volt could save the general from bankruptcy, like the K car did for Chrysler in the 80's (only with some form of respect and credit I hope) I was extremely impressed with the fit and finish of the vehicle and my online education of the new direct injection, variable valve timing with coil on plug ignition super efficient and powerful v-6 is truly a masterpiece for the masses. The only thing holding the car down is ironically it's gravitational pull and steep sticker. As for the latter the RS is packed with creature comforts and features that will keep the ipod generation fumbling over the same simple keys on the dash to do a variety of neat features that is evident in my minutes of mastering the radio that does enough that the idea of going from the bolstered seat in the cockpit to the couch seems like a step down given the 4 household devices on the coffee table that take up residence in the smoothed out dash. It felt well thought out and before my brother could even figure out what I was doing I was syncing my blue tooth phone into the on board stereo to make a long distance brag call from the interior of the subdued blue lit leather lined and strong, but soft covered den of men. I hope they sell a million of them, it really is a great car. The Volt will I hope be an even better interpretation of what we need vs. what we want. The RS is the least of a compromise, because it's everything you want and something you need. Of course the same thing that stopped you from buying that last sweet deal on a first gen still exists, but financing on new vehicles vs. older ones is always easier for some reason. I have no idea why the snap of me and a beautiful '56 corvette roadster turned out so good. Standing next to something so nice its nice to look nice, at 53 years old, I would still do the corvette. They also had a 52 corvette at Munday Chevrolet, I am not a Corvette fan really, but I can appreciate greatness when I see it. Go check out this car for yourself, I double dog dare you to find anything that strums the soul quite like this. The last pick is of the air slowly deflating out of me and Mcbro, both having had a long day doing nothing.

2009-05-05T16:00:00.004-07:00

I have been having problems with my new firewall and have not been able to post. Sbux has kept me busy and I love the drive through. Before all of this though, we installed a flower garden for the family. That little tiller kicked my butt. Kim and Rosa did a great job setting up and planning the whole thing and the kids even got dirty. Mcbro was there for all of it selling/yelling his opinion on a regular basis. I know it was on a Thursday, because Matt and Meredith were over. We had a blast and Sara soaked the whole thing real good. One day later it started raining buckets and didn't stop for three days, so we can do it again. I have been holdn out for a while, we do something on a regular basis and I take pics some of the time, but the best stuff is really trapped in my mind to come out at a later date when either time is plentiful or long lost synapse are chemically triggered by reverse alzhiermers...fingers crossed.

2009-04-19T08:48:00.002-07:00

In true rare form I watched some actual television, ok not that rare. The big screen is tuned into a news program and the typical peripheral tv blasting some kids television show. After a while I barely noticed, the canned ham laughing actually souned in tempo to the news casters monolgue of news delievery. The carefully planned pauses and accented words to emmit more sympathy or dwelled on thoughts in time with loud laughing and clapping. Prince so and so is coming to Washington to deliver an address to the association on blank...(kids tv) "hey, hey, HEY"....and then he will be traveling to... I mean the perfect rythm of I believe nick and cnn or something was quite helarious. I am quite sick though, those of you that know me, might have already known, but i mean seriously sick, like it hurts to cough and nothing tastes good. I'll keep you up dated on the everything in the mean time, mcbro is slowly making progress.

2009-04-15T06:37:00.002-07:00

As promised I have uploaded some new photos. I usually never leave home without the ol' point and shoot, but Easter evaded me. Here is my second consecutive Easter basket in a decade. I was happy to see a "cars" basket full of the favorites, I got my peeps on shortly after this. I could not leave a perfect opportunity that is the lack of carpet and the addition of the wheelchair ramp go untested and as my childhood perceptions of the nirvana of riding your bike directly into the house, and then around in the house really is as RAD as I expected. My new haircut in low light only because the flashed on proofs looked like DMV fodder and lastly the great motivator, morning coffee with Dave and Mcbro's crotch, the rest of my bro would intermittently migrate towards the hot coffee and coconut crumb doughnuts, then recede back to all the seclusion and safety a laid back wheel chair offered. I have no doubts he will be returning to police work as soon as possible, all of the people in his beat will have to fend off the over run of doughnuts in the district until then.

2009-04-15T00:52:00.004-07:00

loath for the ungrateful dawn. The days come by quickly and progress made is forgotten daily, the only true measure of movement towards the decimated goal is charted by biweekly posts when the large part of my day is consumed by the very tool I have yet to master before me. Speaking of tools, I replaced the water heater today and like other projects in my rear view mirror it will be revisited at least one more time until the grease pencil can scribe a line on my expanding list. I may have secured a position pawning coffee to the masses in an ever moving home location, the need exists perpetually further from my domicile. I need a steady stream of scalding joe to keep moving or the tremors keep my fingers dancing on the keys like my quivering lips in a standard rabid phone call. I picked up some groceries on the list in an effort to get one more monkey off my back and walked in on the doomed tuesday. Periodicals are my weakness. I browsed the ones I could not take and bought the one I could not leave like a six year old it the pound, not looking for the one I would take home, but the ones that would surely be killed upon my departure. Hot Rod, put out a rag worthy of someone elses disposable income. I sweated out my labor of love for hot water (try it Europe it's the bees knees) and dwelled in every word on the slick pages of my mag. David Frieburger is back in a seat that I have maybe seen in my slightly dishonest peek in the den of iniquity that is the Pedersen Publishing Offices, the fourth floor (didn't realize their were so many mags in that house) can now rest assured that some form of rhetoric that I can latch onto is still in place. Pavlov's theory was proven again this side of Russia as I almost literally poured over every page of loveliness. More so than anything Larry Flint has minted in his lifetime, the sickness has taken over for tonight, so in my Ambien en dosed state I feel the need to share my opinion that does not effect anyone with as many people who don't care as possible, hence the inebriation. As soon as the green butterfly comes we can all rest assured that the gray matter will slowly switch over to something that does..well.. matter. It's the double sided sword of logic and reason in the standard epic battle that fights in every man I believe, the duality gene. The reason the brain is split in two quite literally because the ensuing battle royal that would be it's end anyhow. That thin membrane that separates us from the part we would like to kill is the sanity that we endure. I don't have any new pictures to post tonight as my camera is a full 5 feet away from me, but I will elaborate without evidence that Mcbro and I look quite alike to his hairstylist and I am the proud owner of the best cop hair cut 12 dollars can buy from someone who speaks a tad more Mandarin than English, could have been Cantonese, I couldn't hear over the straight razor on my scalp. It looks great seriously, I couldn't get a ticket with this do. Thanks to all and I hope you all did something special on Easter.

2009-04-06T15:20:00.002-07:00

Ok, mr. reliable here. I know I have not posted in a while and I have the technology, but I don't feel comfortable posting pictures of other people and i don't take pictures of my self very often, but as a word here and there I have no excuse. Things are going nicely down here in Texas. It rains a lot, but when the sun comes out it's beautiful. We are spending more and more time outside. We went to Ronnies craw fish fry next door a few weeks ago, and Mckay had a blast. I also had fun, but he was looking forward to it for days, just to get out of the house. The kids have there activites and Kim is constantly helping everyone. Honestly i don't know how she does it all. I have been reliving my childhood quite a bit, the music, the food and the brother that put me through the best of the eighties. Growing up, I thought the Pet Shop Boys were bad ass, because my bad ass big brother dug them, after giving it a second listen, If it wasn't for the regular surges of testosterone and disipline I would question the lifestyle of anyone owning an lp currently. My urge to ride has been supressed by bad weather, worse roads and an ignorant knowledge of roads laced together with unfamiliar names linking to lands unknown. I did don my riding gear to ride the haro in the back yard, the kids are required to wear helmets when riding, and I wasn't about to disappoint, however without hitting a car my safety was not in question, with the exception of SOB, short of breath, maybe I'm too big for the tight jacket and heat stroke, take my word for it, wrapped in leather and unable to breath is hot. or try it for yourself after the kids go to bed.

2009-03-16T22:47:00.002-07:00

Ok to those who do not know. I have relocated to Spring, TX. It was a very long and boring drive. Thanks to all those who picked up the phone and kept me entertained for any specific time. I am really actually enjoying being here. I finally stopped raining and I got to go out for a drive today. All the roads are green with grass and even though it is the middle of the city it has a small town feel to it. It is similar to Seattle as long as it's raining. I havn't found a job yet, but I have a lead on a few good ones, nothing solid yet. The health care job is going to be the most difficult and I could just rent the house next door I was thinking of buying, cheaper and it does not come with a commitment. Mckay is doing fabulous. Everyday is a milestone, his pain is very real and he will be down for a while, but his recover in every little bit is a welcoming sight. Tonight is my first night with just him, the kids finally went to sleep. They are all so awesome. Nolan is growing up fast and I feel like I completely missed Melody growing up, Sara is just as cute as a button, currently curled up on the couch with a yorkie puppy, it's like a hallmark moment every minute. Kim has been awesome, in every bit of the word. Thanks for all the love and support you send this way, keep it coming it really helps, and if there is any left, send it my way, I'll love you right back.

Derick Barnes, feel free to give me a call and I'll fill you in on the details as i did not hear from you while events transpired. Thanks ya'll.

2009-02-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

OMG WTF! mo start a private blog. so i can link it and or whatever.

2009-02-06T12:11:00.003-07:00

I have not been in contact for a while. Stephanie and I broke up the details are not dramatic, we just couldn't see eye to eye on anything. Life itself has got better, stress is down and I am feeling a little more free than before. that being said, I have always wanted to grow a beard. Later in life I planned on buying the ultra, but I'm on an accelerated schedule so here is beard progress to chart and graph later. oh yeah and some sneak peak pics of a bike that's not on sale until may the new indian chief

2009-02-06T11:35:00.002-07:00

So I found this incredible deal on craigslist. a 82 suzuki gs 750 for two hundred bucks. I convinced susan it would be a great idea. I have been toying with it ever since. I have rewired the bike the charging system is shot, I rebuilt the forks, but the guides need to be replaced. I changed the air filters to pods and rebuilt the carbs, but now the jetting is way off. I installed new tires, but ordered the wrong size for the back, so it has a dinky little 110/18. The chain is rusted and original, oh and I had to do the top end twice, because I made a mistake. lowered 2 inches in the front and rear the bike stands at attention all the time on the stand and the center stand is for anyone who can lift the whole weight of the bike, but it runs and I'm starting to get attatched to the little gs. I took my first ride on it with rags over the carbs, a car battery in my lap and the rear wheel moving about an inch at the chain tensioner. It reminds me of kareokee, fun, but I know why I'm not a professional. The bike still needs a few hundred more bucks, but the 5x the purchase price has been hit so it will sit. I have a few more important things to work on, but when the bucks are up, you can bet this little pony will see some light.

2009-02-06T11:27:00.002-07:00

I went to Bisbee on a motorcycle trip and had a blast. lot's more to say but thats pretty much the hard core facts. I remember walking the dirt roads of tombstone at night, light by the inferior lights and remnants of the moon, actually standing in front of the Crystal Palace. I thought to myself about all the people that lived in Tombstone to carry on the place for all the spectators, a humble historian act as well as a wage derived situation

2008-11-13T17:46:00.002-07:00

Here are some of the pics from LA. I and Mark had breakfast at the Farmers Market and walked through the pavilion honestly the drive there was totally fun. Mark is a pro at the traffic. I headed around town on my own to find some trouble and found plenty. I stayed for just one day and Mona made it awesome by spending the evening chillin and watching a movie. Anything else would have been a waste of time. I mainly drove there to see them and deliver my phone charger. The ride back was also extremely memorable. The moon was almost full and coming up the sun setting behind me lighting the biggest part of the desert on fire. Literally 86 miles West of Phoenix a tractor trailer rig went up and I was in a line of traffic 9 miles long. We just cranked up the tunes and got out of the car, truck or van and had a little meet and greet on the middle of the highway. I met Duke a Korean Vet at one of the many truck stops I hit and caught up on the rolling thunder and ride to the wall events that are held annually. I met two guys riding up to sadona, but couldn't match their rapid pace into town. Thanks to all involved, love you Mark and Mona, thanks for having me and making your home available.

2008-11-11T01:03:00.002-07:00

Here is Dennis on his 84 fxr with a kicker. We caught up a little on the side of the road while he taught me a little about evolution engines. It made me really want to get something similar, I have been eyeing the dyna for a while, this just clinched it for me. Thanks for the lesson.

2008-11-10T23:50:00.002-07:00

So I am on a three day haitus to LA and I must say this is fantastic. The pictures are in the wrong order, I went down in the day and amazingly the sun went down as I rode. It never got cold, maybe brisk. I stopped a couple of times on the way to have mini adventures. Road food is a good one. The way people drive in LA reminds me of adopted puppies fighting for a swollen teat, josling and jocking into a slightly different position just to move over again at a pace that makes a crack addicted critter dizzy. I survived, partially due to my deafning pipes. I like it here, I think I offended more people getting lost in my sisters neighborhood than I could have even hoped to bother in a year. I'll shoot the amazing shots of tomorrow when I get there. It was a great trip.

2008-11-06T23:54:00.002-07:00

Courtesy of the local car show in Fountain Hills. We have some serious muscle in this little town and some really serious cars. I think per capita we have the coolest cars. Of all of them, this was the top of the middle of the heap. I could not reward a vehicle that would easily get a trophy of some sort in any basic car show. I judge on a curve the hottest get dropped the, lowest stay and the middle ground vehicles are graded on a very opinionated aray of science and art, two things that don't really sit well in the same area. I think mechanical things are beatiful, when walking in the corridor for staff of a 4 star hotel, I was more impressed than the marble and gold leaf in the lobby with the aspects of the operational side. I have evolved my eye for function over form, but with a nod towards clean and neat. Sure it's stock, with just wheels. But it's just a car, not a life form, clean, neat and realistic.

2008-11-06T23:38:00.000-07:00

2008-11-06T23:21:00.003-07:00

I could not leave without sharing more of Halloween and a trip out to glendale arena for the motorcycle's expo with you. I went with Derick and two of his friends, actually accidentally meeting up with Hollywood at the show. Like I said I went as the joker from the dark knight, but that was more of an accident. I went as a Vampire anyone who knows me would think that funny and ironic, but I could not call drinks with the vampire teeth in and had to touch up my make up anyway so I finished the lips out and was a very creepy and convincing joker. My ex txt me Happy Halloween, I sent her a pic of my face make up, dressing up's not always my bag, and she laughed that her husband was going as the same thing and sent me a pic of her fairy outfit and I went home to my Stephanie, dressed as a fairy, hmm weird. any who, this is her, me on the ultra exclusive KTM RC8 with full treatment. Base price is close to 20k and with the works closer to 40k, this is the latter. also the buell 1125r with factory race parts and the evolution engine powered xb12r set for and used for racing. I also spent a load of time admiring the bikes built by Roland Sands, who I found out also has a blogspot. The guy has an eye for things that should be beyond the sum of his years. I really admire his work and what he is doing for the hobby and sport of motorcycling. I really need to start admiring bicyclist's before I get any fatter though. See enclosed photo of my belly roll at the car show, I choose to think that people that make small subtle changes and modest budgets have more pull to what go's than a whole shop full of tools and time with a bucket of cash on top for the average man. So I gave an award to a gentleman that not only stood still for my conversation hostage attack, but also whittled out this 62 Oldsmobile stardust. Thanks all. -Evan

2008-11-06T22:52:00.002-07:00

Suffice to say that alot has been going on, hence the lack of correspondence. I have changed the engine in Stephanie's malibu. 3.1 L gm engines and there vehicles have been slightly demystified for me in the need for on-going secondary education. I must admit there are still things that puzzle me like the 4 ground lead on the back of the engine that I needed to take to a technician to diagnose, but the car is running fine so far. I gave the electra glide the street glide treatment to bring it down about 40 years in age of ownership, but I missed the crystal clear radio and cb option that allowed not only a passenger of the non-ball variety, but also the ability to hear them with out yelling, not that it helps any passenger from screaming. The bike handles superbly after the 35 pound diet. I and Stephanie went to the State fair and rode all the good rides, mine were scary and her's were of the spinning tea cup variety. I did get a sweet chance to play with John Deere tractors in the sand. Derick and I have had a couple of good cruises around the area, as well as a accidental trip with Matt and Tania out to Greasewood Flat's in Cave Creek, all great times. I have been working, planning or playing all of the time. I was the dark night for Halloween at star $'s and made more drinks on Nov.4th than we usually sell all day. I have been having a blast. I did see War inc, thanks mo and I don't think I have seen anything in the theaters in quite a while, an accomplishment I think. Thanks to all of my friends that have been so supportive of me in my absence. Hollywood, David and the entire family, specifically, but many many more I should but could not name. I have started some new trends, like the starbux hug and five for five at the skilled nursing center(my back hurt so I found people like me), mo your the only person that understands that. LOVE you all. P.S.-did you see that pic of stephanie working on the car...I get her responsibility and this is the best I have to offer...teaching her how to change her engine in a pinch. I still think that the minivan 3.9L engine would have fit and made this car fly.

2008-09-29T00:07:00.001-07:00

You will never have another tommorrow and the stories you will tell will never be about the plans you made. I love you all. Very much, for creating me, making me...not the best, but better.

2008-09-12T21:04:00.002-07:00

Baby gets a new pair of shoes, in this case Metzler Marathon 880's WWW in a bias. I love those Wide White Walls. She has never handled better, it just sticks to the road. Here is the party that moved in the house when the rain came down, bonus that's the rest of the half naked man. I took a real nice cruise with Susan up and around the mid state of AZ. Hitting a few small town's between. Globe was awsome, but a little to much bike made for a very short stop. I will be back for sure on a smaller steed, this was a nook of arizona culture where everyone lives on a hill top. Dr. Suess meets Frank Lloyd Wright. At the end of the short 6 hour trip, and yes I forgot the camera, I found a very nice crack in my bald dry back tire. I'm working constantly, so send me an e-mail. later

2008-09-12T20:45:00.002-07:00

What do you do with a loaner harley? Everything you wouldn't do with your own. I took the bike in for an issue that was covered under warrantee and they threw me the keys to a different bike every day. I took out, in this order, Fat Boy, Road King and a Street glide. I only had the last one for a day. I had a blast on the Fat Boy, the 96 inch balanced engine is a hoot, it brings out the real hooligan in any rider. I and Susan took the Road king out to Bush Hwy, Stephanie and I took it to Payson, AZ. The stock exhaust was meant to be replaced, flat out replaced, it sucks. I had some freinds over for a garage party and it was a blast, this is the only picture fit to print and the shirtless man in the back ground was not the only other person there. There was a micro burst and the lightning and thunder just sparked the clouds like a flickering light bulb for hours. So much lightning, so close together it was like the sun was trying to shine through the thick clouds, kinda freaky. Had a 70 or so year old guy say he had never seen anything like it, that says something.

2008-08-02T22:02:00.002-07:00

I started my new position as a Nurse Assistant at the local long term health care facility in the Skilled Nursing Unit. I really love my job and what I do, but I'm not quiting my day job. This makes for some really long days and a little missed sleep. I still get some time for myself, but if I'm not as social please forgive me. It feels great to help people who need help the most and never seems difficult. I have some of best times on the job and yes, they let me wear the chuck d's on the floor. I like it because my 3 scrub sets cost me 10.40 and I can throw everything in the washer. I do not work in the hypobaric unit, but that little stamp saved me lots of money. I'm going on a ride tomorrow and the destination is unknown as of yet. Fine by me. Matt, Derick, and Tania are all on board. Hollywood's bike is still in the shop from when some one t-boned the back of his GSX-R. He's fine and her insurance is covering all of the superficial damage. Tania's bike is back from starter death thanks to bikebandit.com and rebuilding the starter only cost 33 bucks, compared to 400 new or 180 rebuilt. Matt's mend from the last spill looks to have made things better than ever, although no bike is ever complete. I would post picks, but you can see the story on youtube.com under sportster story. His bike left the ground completely and flipped in the air, but was repaired and ready to ride just as his ankle was healing up. Like the bumper sticker education of common sense I must repeat what I said on a very inspirational t-shirt, "Life isn't about how many breaths you take, but how many breaths your life takes away". I hope we all have some passion in our days, what every you have make life enjoyable. Although motorcycle's and mechanics are my selfish self exploration, I hope to live long enough to serve as many as possible. My current position paints many different possibilies for the future, not changing how I feel, but illuminating the social status of life and further defining my opinion. Life is fragile, live while your still alive, tomorrow will never come.

2008-07-29T10:51:00.002-07:00

Breakfast in Payson. With 45 mpg out of the bike when Derick suggested breakfast in a town about 66 miles north of Fountain Hills, it was a no brainer. We met up at starbucks and rolled out onto the old bee line highway that is the end of town and the begining of the Ft. Mcdowell Indian Reservation. 66 miles of peaks and valleys and open landscapes of Joshua trees. Weird looking flowers that look oddly taken from some demented cartoon, and mountains made from a delicate balance of huge boulders, placed by nature like some dangerous marble jenga monument. On to the Knotty Pine Cafe in Payson the food was excellent and the ride was an odd concoction of sun burn and goosebumps. We both reaked of sun screen anyway, to no avail our fair skin rolled pink over the course of a few hours under the sun. The weather was very nice in the 70's all day and we abliged our speedometers to the same treatment for a few miles north of Payson. Down one of the coolest little switch back decents into a specific canyon manned by two older park rangers is the natural bridge. My ankle was still a little twisted from finding 1st gear and the starter button tangle with the weight of the big bike on it, so we walked down to make out point, look out #4, and took some pictures. Just as Derick was taking one of the first pictures of me during the trip my batteries failed, so other than his word their is no evidence of the trip every happening. Perfect. The remaining pictures were taken on our phones and I have yet figured a way to take them off of it and onto the computer. We stopped at an old bike salvage yard and found a tresure trove of awsome hogs. Period chops and war bikes, I paid less for my running twin cam ultra than this guy wanted for a long term project so we roared back to starbucks and broke camp. This was one of many day trips to come. Stephanie is looking forward to taking me to some of the more illusive points of intrest in AZ. There are many, although I don't think we will be stopping off at any motorcycle salvage yards, we could turn up and awsome wind chime of blown glass and copper. By the way and unexpected modification made the bike wicked quick, yet the favorite so far is the hardwired garage door opener. Harley Nerd? new term? Love you all.

2008-07-29T10:38:00.002-07:00

I was looking for this on my blog. I graduated from an accelerated course in Nurse Assisting before I went to Texas. I had a blast and learned how awsome it is to help someone in need. I'm just about to go turn in my hire packet at the local long term health care facility and wanted to share with everyone how happy this is for me. Yet I forgot to post pics when I graduated and the awsome one off scrubs Susan made for me. Made from cotton/poly twill the material is both softer and less transparent than any available scubs. Thank you Susan and thank you to everyone who helped along the way. I enjoyed my clinicals more than expected and I am on my way to completing my goal in healthcare, the ever expanding self completion that is helping give back to those in need.

2008-07-21T23:22:00.001-07:00

At the top of Fairview canyon, plinks in camp and Paula and Robert chilling in front of the camper under the pop up.

2008-07-21T23:15:00.002-07:00

family camp redux

2008-07-21T22:49:00.003-07:00

I had a blast in Utah. This year the camp was up Fairview canyon. We literally picked up the bike from the shop and drove straight to Sanpete. 11 hours in the saddle with stops for fuel. We averaged about 33 mpg, but we were going a little faster than cruising. DJ was cooking the whole time and Brandy put me up when we got into town and again up on the mountain. Mary and Joe came down for a night and I even got to see Dale and Mary for a little while. It was awsome. I got to actually spend some time with DJ when I went to his house before heading out and Roger came over. Brandi and Dallon, Jayci and DJ's girlfriend Debbie made a nice lunch. Stephanie and I traded the harley for a few hours for the mini van and drove up to Maple canyon. Flip flops made it about 100 yards into Box canyon before heading back. I gave mom a ride down skyline drive on the bike and had a Bishop malt at Rogers in Mt. Pleasant. Seeing the family was great, even if all we did was sit around the fire and bs. Thanks for everything DJ, Paula and Robert, Ron and Brandy, MOM, Eva and Roger and everyone else. It was great to see you all, if I do it next year, I'm taking a week off to drive up in two legs or bringing a car so I can sleep half way. oh and I found my eye glasses, but if you find my blue hat... I and my bald spots miss it.

2008-07-10T22:21:00.002-07:00

I got a good sun burn today, Stephanie's is much worse. So worth it. A life changing event. I will post more pics when it stops raining, because this bike is too beautiful to take pictures of in the garage. Thanks so much Jerry for everything and everything else. She ran great and true, I really stretched the legs on her. Tomorrow she's going to Hacienda Harley for a full tune and take care of the little things. I couldn't ask for more. Sorry Mckay, you'll have to wait till for better pics.

2008-07-07T10:51:00.002-07:00

I said I would post the video's after decompression. I and the video's are fully decompressed. Thanks for the greatest vacation in a long time I really miss/missed you all. I have more video, but this is the only one worth posting. Goes with out saying the trip home was a success. Stephanie is already planning trips back and trips to other family in other states, more on that later

2008-07-06T16:01:00.002-07:00

Spending time with my brother in Texas. Everything is bigger in Texas. We went to NASA and set up for the fourth. I spent 9 hours staying up with him just smoking the meat. We had a blast just sitting in the yard. Dave, Mckays neighbor spent 6 hours and close to $2000 bucks wholesale in fireworks. We were popping morters for hours. I helped Mckays youngest Sara light her first 1 1/2" morter of course she is 6 years old. Photo's don't do any of this justice, we had a blast. Much love to everyone who was there, missed it all together and/or helped me get here. Looking forward to coming back next year if possible.

2008-05-21T21:45:00.003-07:00

my bad about the fiddle sticks golf pic twice. It was really fun though.

2008-05-21T21:10:00.004-07:00

I can not believe it has been that long since I published. I have been real busy with work. I'm not sure if I can even state where I work online. Better safe than sorry. I'm enrolled in a 30 day CNA class and I still volunteer at the hospital. I'm really excited about school starting soon. I will try to upload a photo of me in work gear and me in CNA garb, because they are both part of my future. I am not dead as some of you may believe. I do have a line on Real medical benefits, two actually. I took a couple real long motorcycle rides, on loaner bikes and have run in with some serious motorcyclists. It's an awsome life. Free awsome coffee all day long. I saw the premier of Ironman, unfortunatly I also saw baby mama, forgetting sarah marshall, made of honor, horton hears a who, 27 dresses, hitman and speed racer. Not so good. I have made a few trips down to the pavillions car show. We are experiencing technical difficulties with the home PC and it's difficult to post from the laptop with images. I'm on an extreme budget and will be starting a new job in addition to my current position after July. Texas and Utah are still on the schedule although the days keep shifting around and I havn't got tickets yet, Stephanie is getting this trip. We are also taking a trip out to Minnisota later this year. Susan took us to fiddlesticks to play a round of miniture golf, We have a Wii so most of our spare time is bowling, golf, surgery and need for speed carbon. I mostly hang out at the book store now. I'm budgeting... love ya'll.

2008-02-26T14:49:00.002-07:00

I never get sick. That being said. I got sick. Everyone in the house had a turn and mine finally came around. I have been really busy since then, this was at least 2 weeks ago and those that have called have got the low down on what it's like to get sick so little. Helpful knowledge for the people who get ill so little. You can not fully stiffle a cough. It's not like a sneeze you can hold in. It will come out of one of your orifices as needed. I have since recovered fully and am working as often as possible to recoup my financial situation. I have had some issues with my phone that Stephanie and Mona have worked on repairing, mucho bueno and gracias for that. I'm working on Stephanies intake manifold gasket on her 3.1 L v-6 by gmc and if the people that have had a hand in the engineering or manufacturing of this specific engine feel free to swing by so I can punch them in the neck I would appriciate it. I'm working at the bar 3 days a week, at frys as often as possible and of course my new fav STARBUCKS!!!! I'm still in training for a little while and then I will be a barista, it has been a little bit of dream of mine for a while. Free coffee...mmmmm. I will be celebrating the big 30 at Overtime Sports bar this Saturday night if you would like to swing by in Fountain Hills, of course those specific individuals from GMC stated earlier are not invited. Love you all.