Too Many People...

I had a stream of people coming by last night... ok well three, and one was Maggie coming home. so it wasn't really a stream but I was looking forward to playing some WoW and didn't get on until 10:30pm. I got to play for a little bit before Helen came home and then had to pay bills and take care of things, and then I went back to playing... and then it was bed time. No time for relaxing...

I had fun though, in a fit of inspiration (In the Alterac Valley battleground) a bunch of people were grouping up to jump the boss of our group (the Horde), so I ran into them and mass feared them. They scattered everywhere and all of the bosses in the room began attacking them as they were running uncontrollably. It made the normal chaos of a battleground even more chaotic.

What I'm really interested in getting though is the DoomGuard. It's a demon you can summon that automatically just begins running around and killing people. Hehehe, I want to summon it in the bank area of a major city and watch the chaos that ensues!

On another note, Helen and I are taking motorcycle lessons this weekend. With the Van down we're looking at it as a we to get around without having to depend on cars. I hope this turns out better than my last miserable experience in taking lessons. Gotta get my jacket cleaned...

Wrong shoes, ouch

So the first motorcycle class is over. It was anti-climactic. I did find out that they don't want us using canvas high-tops to ride with. Which sucks b/c I just got a new pair recently. So I have a set of "tanker boots". The are cool boot, but about one size too small. I've jammed my foot in them for today and hopefully they will stretch a little. They are ok lengthwise, but it is tight across the top of my foot. It's very difficult to find size 16 shoes. Other than that they seem to be great boots. I'm really looking forward to the riding class on Saturday (7:30 AM!!!). It will be cold, but I'm ok with that, I get hot easy.

Pooks is worried about the baby cat. I am too. We have been suckered into feeding a poor starving kitten that lives in our garage. Yeah, we're softies.

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.

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.