motorcycles, stumps and cat pee....

A cat urinated on my black leather coat. My $350 dollar leather coat that I've had for six years and really liked. The black leather coat I was going to use motorcycle riding. The black leather coat that I use to keep warm in the winter. It was my only winter coat. Now it just smells like cat pee.

I went online and got a new one off of ebay that looks a lot more like a motorcycle gang members coat and cost less than my old one. I will try to clean the old one, but getting a new one seemed like a good idea. I wasn't completely sure that it was thick enough to be really useful in an accident. So the new one looks like it will be rough enough. It looks like the person that orginally purchased it, rode once and then gave it up.

I hunted around on video.google.com for motorcycle accident videos. Morbid curiosity mainly,
but I notice almost all of the accidents were motorcyclists doing stupid things. Popping wheelies and then loosing control once they landed. One was a helmet video from a motorcyclist on the freeway. A car lost control and spun around in front of them and they were tossed over the hood. That one was scary b/c there was no way to avoid the accident. It also made me want to get a helmet camera ($329 on ebay and uses SD cards). That would be cool, to have a record on some trips. I'm thinking a cool one would be up along A1A/Hecksher drive to Fort Clinch. All beach front and marsh land.

I stayed home from work yesterday, I was having a lot of back pain from attempted stump removal this weekend. I say attempted b/c the stump is still there. We ended up cutting off the top of it and leaving it in the ground. I posted a few photos over on my photo site. It sucked and it took up all of my weekend. So taking a Tuesday off wasn't that hard.


Shanks and Adam working the stump




Stump removal actually started as me wanting to fix part of my fence. I did (eventually) get all the pieces for the fence with only two trips to home mega stores. Tuesday was also Maggies' birthday. We had a nice little family party. I got her a Dance Dance Revolution mat. She was going to town on it. I tried it and she kicked me off of it. We went back and forth a couple of times before my legs started to give out. It's a really good workout. I was interested to see it has a workout mode just for that.

Birthday parties and trips to home mega stores have eaten the savings. So I'm back to saving for a motorcycle. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long. I'm still really excited about taking the class. I'm also lurking on the Craigs List Motorcycle forums. It's interesting to say the least.

Nearly died yesterday... (again)

So after everything with the tires yesterday. I leave work via the elevator. I hit the button for two coming from five. I'm thinking about motorcycles and riding and helmets and riding gear and will the jacket be hot in the summer and if I will look funny riding around town and the places I want to ride to, talbot island along A1A, seeing the beach WHAM

The elevator slipped in it's tracks about 6 inches.

It stopped with a clanging of cables. I looked at the floor and I had just passed floor 4. I felt the elevator slowly rise up to floor 4 and stop. All of the floor buttons were black and the doors stayed closed.

My heart came down out of my throat. I hit two again and was lowered safely to my destination. I alerted our security desk, they took my info. Today the elevator is stuck on floor 4...

As I was walking out my brain spun with the various incarnation of what happened and the idea that if the safety brakes had failed I'd be dead.... Really though, that wasn't a big deal. If I died it wouldn't matter too much, the world would move on without me. It is something that's going to happen eventually so it's not too big a deal (to me). I think that I've been in this same kind of danger before (nearly slammed into other cars twice on a youth trip, knocked myself out on my bike as a kid, slid backwards down a hill on skis until I lost the skis and then it was just me spinning down the hill until a tree broke my fall). I know some friends of mine and have been really freaked out by it, wondering what would have happened and making changes in their lives because of nearly getting killed. To me though it's a part of living, we all will die one way or another. There are no senseless deaths, death is the natural course of things. Does getting hit by a drunk driver make less sense than getting killed by a falling tree limb, or killed in a drug deal gone bad? We only think we're supposed to grow old and die, but that's a new thing for our civilization and only b/c we have standards and laws that are there to protect us, so we don't die of black lung disease as children working in a mine or other dangerous conditions. I know there is a pattern to this insane world of death and destruction. I know there is a plan for all our lives, the question is do you realize the plan and the planner, can you accept that you have no control over how you or the ones you love will die? Dying is part of life and will always be there, but can you accept it and move on, grieve but not to the death of yourself, mourn the loss of a loved one, but know that you may see them again... or not.

Wheels on the van go round.... and then they're flat and I'm repairing a flat in the rain.... twice.

I left for work this morning and started down the block when I could tell something felt funny. My engine started making noises that were unusual and so I rounded the block and headed back home. Keeping up beat, but knowing something was wrong. I got home checked the engine and saw that there was a lot of water splashed on just one side of the engine, I was thinking maybe something was making it lower than the other side and voila! It was a flat tire.

The flat and going through puddles got water on the serpentine belt making it squel as it slipped and tried to run. So I found my jack, and got it out, for the first time ever. Then I found the doughnut spare (underneath the minivan with a weird lowering cable thing to keep it in place. I lowered it down, turns out i had to crank it out about 5 feet before I could actually get it off of the wire holder thingy. I jacked up the car and removed the old tire and put on the doughnut and lower the car to find that the doughnut was flat too...

I move the car (with the flat doughnut) and put the old tire in the back of helen's car. She went up to get a new tire. I stayed home and warmed up. Oh have I mentioned that it's 4o degrees F and raining outside? It was wet and cold and I was wet and cold and moving a tire in that weather sucks ass.

Helen comes back with the new tire and I roll the van back into the drive way, jack it back up, Maggie comes out to help she's sick though, remove the doughnut, put the new tire back on, Maggie is coughing and sneezing while helping with this. The van gets a new tire and we decide to go to lunch. I have to fuss at maggie for screwing around while we're trying to get going. We eat chinese buffet and enjoy it. I'm feeling pretty tired and beat by now. My nose starts to run. I grab a tissue to blow it, and then look up at Maggie and say, "You did this to me!" She grins like an cat that ate a canary.

Off to work where we have to do something about lake O.

so long

Ed left work today. He is a friend who's moving out of Jax and onto VA beach. I missed his going away lunch b/c I was too tired & worn out from being up all night last night. It started w/ a doughnut run at 1:30 and a bad night for Maggie and me getting the bug to setup a streaming music server in the house. So I was up all night and left about 3 hrs early from work.

Part of it was left-over excitement from Sunday. Idzeeboo and I went too compusa and Dave&Busters. I had never been to D&B before, it was really an arcade that recognizes adults have more money and dslightly different interests than kids. Both me and idzee tried to do Dance Dance Revolution, but i think the we either suck at it or that the machine was broken. It must be the machine. :-)

8 days before motorcycle lessons! I tried a motorcycle simulator while at D&B and was wondering why I wasn't going anywhere. Someone told me that my right foot was on the back brake... doh! Once I took my foot off the brake I was able to move forward and then it took me a little bit to figure out the throttle on the right handle bar. There was a gear shifter but apparently I was in automatic mode and didn't use it. After the game was over I realized there was a front brake on the right handle bar that I hadn't touched at all. doh! So my riding experience was less than stellar, but I'm still looking forward to the real thing.

When I got home today I relaxed for a while and then slept for 7 hours. I woke up around 9:30pm when the girls got home. We hung out for a while and then I made myself a small dinner and started blogging. I'm still in bed, just doing this instead of sleeping. I did like going in at 7am this morning though. I think I'm going to try to keep that up. I like the idea of getting out a little earlier than everyone.

Can't stay up as late as I used too....

I've always kinda been a night owl. I would rather stay up late than get up early in the morning. So for some reason last night I decided I wanted to be "up" and so I was, until about 2:30am. I played some WoW and fixed up one of my servers to host web pages. I enjoyed doing that although it's gonna need a re-install/upgrade soon. I've found a site that has tons of prime numbers, and just found the next largest twin-prime. I mainly just want to get their prime number lists. :-) at 5.3GB for all primes up to 8,000,000,000, I think I have the disk space for them.

Pooks and I got frustrated with each other over a stupid little power transformer last night. She needed it to power a wireless router to give to a friend and we ended up rifling through every box in the house looking for it. We just got frustrated with it and each other. She left for her friends and I just went to bed. I was tired and frustrated. When she got back we made up and were both sorry that we were both jerks in our own ways.

One thing from the long weekend, I helped Mrs. White setup her own blog. She is a retired religion editor from the Jacksonvile Times-Union newspaper and had a weekly column for many years. She hopes to post some of the former columns on the web for ppl to read. Take a look and add a comment to encourage her if you can.

15 days to go...

...until I take class one of motorcycle safety. I'm excited and can't wait. I got the glove from ebay this weekend and so I'm ready for it. I keep going back and drooling over various bikes. I am worried about not being good at it. But I also know it's a learning process.

In other news me and Pooks are worried about paying for all the things we want to do in the coming months. We're busy and have a couple of unexpected bills to worry about. It's stressful but we've got a decent budget and some savings to fall back on if needed.

I actually have been impressed with the paypal money market account. It earns interest quicker than my bank savings account. It's not insured by the FDIC though, so it's all risk.

I just need to get cracking on working up more of my sites to earn money. It's hard though b/c after work i really don't feel like "working" with my computers. I just want to vegg in one way(Animal Crossing) or another (WoW). Speaking of computer games, I really love my DS. It's been a lot of fun to work at making home improvements in Animal Crossing. In the art imitates life section: I replaced a real door at my real house this weekend. It would be surreal, but both virtual and real home improvements are needed and 'real' in their own sense.

It's the first day back to work after a long weekend and I'm ready to go home. I'm slightly tired and have a headache. It doesn't help though that most of the department is out for one reason or another.

Not a boring day, but nothing I really feel like writing about...

Sometimes....

I'm wrapped up in a blanket sipping on hot coffee on this chilly morning. It's been an interesting night and day. I didn't get any of the chores done last night that I had wanted too. So dishes are collecting again and laundry and we're still surrounded by boxes and Christmas crap.

Thinking about some old friends yesterday and I miss them.

I did get some new things yesterday, a pair of black canvas converse hightops, and the ErgoProxy anime dvd set. ErgoProxy got a little damaged in the mail, but nothing serious. I want to re-arragne my office better so I can watch dvd's while working on my computer (or just playing games really). I kinda wish there was more room for some comfy guest chairs, or even just a nice rocker for me.

I'm still in motorcycle expectation mode....

Train of thought break....

I'm listening to NPR podcasts this morning, and I'm getting pissed at the people trying to block the increase of troops in Iraq. It seems to me that the pacification of a nation needs enough people to actually do it. Shows of Military strength are one of the ways that conquerers have always shown the locals, "Yes we won and it is stupid to resist b/c we'll kill your ass." Of course we're also trying to feed and restore Iraq back to some of it's pre-war functionality. Or at least I think we are, it would be stupid if we were not. Giving people more than ideological reasons to hate America is something we tend to do pretty easily. Not feeding the hungry would be one on them.

and back to motorcycles....

I'm getting a new set of motorcycle gloves from off of ebay. They look like big gauntlets, except in black leather instead of beaten metal.

out of coffee, damn... brb...
ahhhh.... first cup was black, this one I put chai spice in and it's tasty! (I'm no sissy I like the taste.)

So I have 22 days before my motorcycle class and I can't wait. I did have to get the gloves b/c the ones I have now are not full finger. That was also the reason I got the Cons they cover my ankles. I did look at full bike boots, but they would be a special order for my size 16 feet and would cost $$$$. So I think I have everything I need except actually knowing how to ride a motorcycle and actually having one. Little things.



Well it's off to work for now.

Motorcycle Introspections...

Most people know that I'm a pretty introspective person. I try to understand my feelings and emtions before doing something, so I can know how it will affect me and if my rationality for something is right. So I'm trying understand why I want to get a motorcycle. I signed up for the lessons on the weekend of the 3rd & 4th of February. I just need to bring ankle-high shoes and full coverage gloves. They provide helmets and the bikes to learn on. I'm very excited about it and can't wait. Although, what I really can't wait for is to actually try riding on one of their bikes.

Of course then there is getting a nice simple bike of my own. I don't know what exactly to get yet. The biggest piece is figuring out what I can afford. Most dealers have reasonable prices on used bikes. I think I'm leaning towards a Honda or BMW for now. Both look very cool, and both seem to do really well in reviews. I don't plan to get one until after I have taken the class though. Mainly because I know it's a different driving experience and I have only ridden a motorcycle twice ever.

I'm like a kid at Christmas waiting to see what good thing I can get. Of course this time I'm my own santa and I have to pay for it... so that tempers the expectancy. So only 30 days to go before I go shopping, of course I'm spending my time drooling on the windows. Back to introspection though, I really don't know Why I'm so excited about it. Maybe just a new thing that I use for a while and then give up, (which really worries me in how much I'll spend on a bike) but I think there's more to it than that. For a long time I've always wanted a convertable too, but this seems even cooler than a convertable. I had a friend ( a minister) that got one to use for tooling around Florida going to church conferences and things. He made good use of his bike until his age got to him and he had to give it up. Maybe it's because it's "dangerous" and I'm wanting to live on the edge... no, I'm a scaredy-cat, I don't like to swing to high either. Maybe it's wanting to be different... more different than normal. Maybe I've had the mini-van too long and I'm feeling like a suburbanite ready to go over the edge if I see another "forest green" anything. Maybe it's the horse for me, the knight, to sweep my princess off of her feet.

So with all the reasons and possibilities floating around in my head, I'm looking forward to the classes and getting started riding.

New Year, New games, new fog covering the city.

Still playing WoW. I got a riding wolf now, I have made one payment on my house in Animal Crossing Wide World and I have gotten my friend code for it too!

Getting the riding wolf was a long expensive procedure where I had to grind away at getting stuff to sell and selling it and doing it over and over again. 87 Gold for a wolf. It was a lot of work. I'll post a screen shot later on.

Maggie has outpaced me in Animal Crossing. Animal Crossing is a video game for the Nintendo DS that places you in a new town paying off a mortgage to a raccoon. Stupid Raccoons. So fishing, collecting fruit, collecting shells and fossils and running errands for other residents allows you to get "bells" (the money of Animal Crossing) so you can pay off your mortgage and also get things to improve your house. It's a very popular game and a lot of fun just exploring a little world. The real fun started when me and Maggie linked our DS's and went to each other's towns. I felt bad because my house looked bad, peaches all over the floor and nothing setup nicely. So I spent some time last night cleaning my virtual house and planting flowers around it. Hmmm.... so now I'm doing this in the virtual and real worlds.

I spent my day off on Tuesday cleaning the front garden. Somehow I like gardening. I weeded the flower beds. Whoever was here before us simply mulched over a rock bed so I was digging through rocks as well. I dead-headed the flowers and edged around the beds. I think I want to get a mower soon so I can get the grass cut. I think that some step stones would look good in the front as well and I want to do a stone border around all the flower beds.

By the time I got done I was really sore, but it felt good to be working outside. While I like working with computers, working outside is cool b/c I can always see the progress I have made. I was sweating and the sun was burning my skin, but it was good. I spent time praying and thinking while pulling up the weeds. It was great.

I'm back at work today and a thick blanket of fog was covering the city, it's pretty much lifted now though.