The Zen of Bike Building Pt 2

A few more nights of beer and bike disassembly, but not as much time as I would have liked.

For a moment I thought I was going to have 4 days of Thanksgiving to work on the project. While the wife and I were supposed to go to Mississippi for the holiday and for the Egg Bowl (Ole Miss v. Miss State, Go Rebs...) a family member fell ill on Tuesday and I thought we were going to be here for the weekend, with no plans. Can you say lots of bike time... However, and this is good news, the family member got much better by Wed evening so we decided to head out EARLY Thurs morning to be with my family.

So, I haven't had as much time as I would have liked, but I have gotten a great deal accomplished.

Got the exhaust and headers off, got the rear wheel removed, and the swing arm out. Everything else attached to the engine (kicker, gear lever, rear break lever etc...) are off the bike. So now I am down to removing the front wheel and front fork. I have never messed with the forks on a bike so that will be a learning experience.

Then, after engine removal, it will be down to grinding off all unnecessary tabs and connection points not being used in the final version, fabricating a battery box under where the cowl will be.

I hope the finances are available when I am ready to send it off.



Dec 1, 2010... CB550 Wyatt Project...

The Zen of Bike Building Pt 1

OK, it has been a while since I have posted to the blog, but it has been a very busy summer/fall. Between my second stroke, and my inlaw’s medical issues, coupled with some financial drama I have fallen down on posting. That is about to change.

Now I will warn those of you who read this and are not into motorcycles, I have a feeling that most of my posts for a while will revolve around the rebuilding of my CB550.

First, some background on the project… I have always done my own preventative maintenance on my bikes. However, I have never taken a bike apart to any real extent and put it back together. I have always wanted to build a bike. But I told my wife that I had to start with something basic, and cheap. Basic, because I am not real knowledgeable about motorcycle repair, and cheap because if I messed something up that was irreparable I had to be able to throw the whole thing away without much concern.

Tammy found a bike one day at a garage sale. It wasn’t officially for sale, mainly because the owner had forgotten it was in the back of the garage. They said, sure we would sell it, so Tammy offered such a low price that she figured they would say no. They didn’t.

What she had bought was a 1975 Honda CB550. It had a Vetter fairing and supposedly it ran when it went into the garage, in 1996. Unfortunately I didn’t get pictures before I started taking things apart. That fairing had to go!

I had been planning on turning it into a bobber. Then Tammy said she wanted to learn to ride, so I thought something more understated. But now that plan has changed as well. My oldest son, who is 20, has shown interest in riding, and talked his mother into letting him have the bike, so long as he works on getting it up and running.

Well, a 20 year old, in the modern motorcycling climate, was neither interested in a bobber, nor an understated quasi stock street bike. What he wanted was an old school café racer. And after looking at the frame, and bike design I tend to agree that this particular model will be a much better café bike than a bobber.

So, tonight we got started stripping her down. We had 2 hours before Sons of Anarchy, so to the garage we went.

Two hours later we had the back fender off, the seat off, the air box out, the battery box out, the electronics board off, the carburetors off, the front fender removed, the headlight removed, the handle bars removed, the wiring disassembled, and who knows what else.

About the only things left to remove, are the wheels, brakes, forks, and engine.

Now it is time to finalize the design. And since I am not real experienced, or even good at design, I think I will just print off a picture and copy it, then draw in the design that we want.

The only thing I can see holding us up is the unknown of costs when it comes to painting, and any problem with the engine when we get it back together (since we were not able to get it running prior to disassembly.)



Prior to full disassembly. Fairing and seat previously removed.



End of the night, this is what was left, along with a large stack of parts.

The Zen of Speaking the Truth in Love

Nine years ago a great crime was perpetrated on more than 3000 people when 3 planes were flown into 3 separate buildings. Without question the people involved in committing those crimes were of the Muslim faith.

At the time there were those, and there still are those, who wish to condemn all people of Muslim faith for the act of these few. The big issue with me, and many others is that while there were many dancing in the street and celebrating, there were almost no voices from “moderate” Muslims condemning same action as being wrong in their sight or the sight of Allah.

I am of the Christian faith. Specifically, I guess what you would call an Evangelical Protestant. It is my firm belief that when I see something evil being done I have to speak out on the issue. For as it says in James, and I paraphrase, if you know the good you aught to do, and don’t do it that in and of itself is a sin.

So today I, and I pray many others will follow, would like to say that the planned Koran burning on Sept 11 by the church in Florida is an evil act meant only to insight and insult. I do not believe either of those intentions is acceptable to a Jesus who ate with sinners and tax collectors, and sat with a Samaritan adulteress without condemning her. I believe the emotions and intentions behind the burning of the Koran are no different than the emotions and intentions of those who brought a woman caught in adultery before Jesus and wanted to see if he would agree for her to be stoned, under the law. But his response was “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” There have been bastardizations of Christianity that have committed some VERY evil acts, just as there are bastardizations of Islam that have committed some VERY evil acts. So, no one can cast the first stone on this matter.

Now please don’t think I believe that we must lie down and accept defeat at the hands of an enemy bent on our annihilation. But we must never change who we are in our own defense. For if we do, we become the ones to bastardize everything we believe in. We must “take the high road,” for if we do not act righteously, even by our own standards, due to fear or otherwise, we become a greater evil than we are attempting to avoid. We become hypocrites who do not live by our own standards, but expect others to live by them.

So let me be clear. I as a Christian of Evangelical Protestant faith speak out clearly and without reservation against the burning of the Koran planned for this Sept 11th in Florida. I pray that the Reverend’s heart will be touched and he will not go through with that uncalled for act. For the simple “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” I would not appreciate anyone burning a Holy Bible, so I will act in accordance with what I would have them do. That is not to say that they won’t, but that is not the standard. The statement is not “do unto others as you would have them do unto you, unless they do otherwise.”

Retro

The Zen of a Clean Office

I had no idea how much my office was stressing me out. I have always been one who had stacks of stuff all around everywhere, but if I needed to find something I knew where was. Little did I know that all of those stacks of stuff, and the disorganization that it represented, was providing a significant amount of stress.

Today my office is stress-free. That is not to say that my work is stress-free, but rather that my office is not adding additional stress to that work. Thanks to a small comment on Twitter or by my former minister, Wade Hodges, I now have a G. T. D. compliant office.

For those of you unfamiliar with the GTD concept, it is a process by which you organize your thoughts, and then make rational decisions as to what those thoughts represent. The thing I like best about this process is that it involves dumping all of your thoughts out onto either paper or in some digital format that then allows your mind to be clearer, and more focused on the individual tasks that you have to accomplish.

In my work setting the way this plays out is that I always have a daunting list of things that need to be done. However, I was adding to my own stress by trying to keep track all of those things that needed to be done, and the reference material to do those things, and all of my scheduling etc. in my head. What I found was, just as they say writing a journal is therapeutic, so is the process all of looking at everything you have to do, deciding on a next step for those things, making a list of those steps, and then putting it out of your head. You refer to the list to take action, but don't need to stress over the other items, or whether you are taking the right action. The decision of whether you are taking the right action or not is a decision you have already made prior to putting the action on the list of things to do.

In addition to making those lists, rather than leaving things piled up and keeping tracking in your head to locate things, a simple filing system of A-Z allows you to put things in reference points so that you know how to get to anything you may need in a minute or less.

So today I get to add the Zen of the clean office to my Zen of a motorcycle life. For now that I have a clean desk, and the process by which to keep it that way, my head is clear.

For this clarity I sincerely wish to thank Wade, David Allen the creator of the “getting things done" method, and my secretary to put up with a lot as I was going through this process.

Retro

The Zen of Survival

You know, it is funny how after years of joking that I wasn’t going to live past 40 how it looses its comedy after my second stroke at 39.

Tuesday night I managed to survive my second stroke. For those that are unaware, on June 26th of last year (the same day that Michael Jackson died,) I suffered a stroke. At 38 years of age, needless to say it was quite a shock. The incident occurred on a very hot day when I was riding from Oklahoma City to Tulsa on my Goldwing. As I arrived in Tulsa I found that I lacked the ability to grip my brakes. As if this weren’t bad enough, the bike suddenly felt like it had a flat tire. I wasn’t sure what was occurring but was trying to believe that it was just that my hand had fallen asleep. But somewhere in the back of my mind I knew there was a possibility of stroke, because I pulled over and stuck my tongue out. After arriving home my wife recognized my symptoms and got me immediately to the hospital.

I ended up spending 2.5 days in the hospital, as my symptoms slowly abated. Afterwards my stroke was not obvious in any of my physical appearance, or performance. However, I did have some “cognitive dissonance.” There were words I just couldn’t remember, I continued to have problems using numbers, and my sort term memory was almost gone.

Release from the hospital was a welcome relief, as I felt the need to get back to some normalcy. To get “back in the saddle,” I returned to work that Monday. In hindsight I probably should have given myself more time, but I needed the consistency of going to work. Slowly the dissonance abated as well, and I was able to recover much of what was lost as far as I could tell (with some exceptions such as short term memory, either that or I am still oblivious to what was lost.)

Following last year’s incident I have not had any continuing symptoms, that is until last night. As I slept, the stroke began…. I woke to a numb arm, and I immediately thought of the potential of a stroke. After just a few moments I knew what it was, and woke my wife. It is amazing how quickly she woke up with the statement “babe, wake up, I think I’m having another stroke.”

Now I sit in the hospital again, all symptoms seem to have abated. And while I would rather be at home, and preparing for work tomorrow, I have grown to realize the blessing of simple survival.

This visit I have promised myself that I will take my time in returning to my normal break neck speed. The saddest part of this whole thing is that I may be quite a while before I can return to riding the motorcycle. While I yearn already to get the road under my tires, I will (not try but will) take my time.

Final thought: remember that just because you are young now doesn’t mean you always will be. Seize the Day, but occasionally remember to leave some day to be seized tomorrow, it’s better for your health.


Retro

The Zen of Fiberglass and Canvas

Some may immediately recognize what I am referring to when I mention Fiberglass and Canvas. Others might recognize it better if I said Wood and Canvas. Either way, ultimately the reference is to sailing.

On July 7th I was blessed with my first experience on a sailboat. It was a J24 racing cruiser, which is exactly what we were doing with it. A couple of the people I work with have sailboats and are members of the Windycrest Sailing Club. They actually go out and race these things a couple of times a week on Keystone lake.

On the 7th I took Tammy with me, and we met co-workers John, the skipper, and Margaret who was crewing. It was a beautiful evening, but the wind was low, somewhere around 5-7mph maybe. We had a good trip out and the race went well. I even got to help crew by stowing the Spinnaker (the sail that looks like a parachute when deployed), and hauling in the Ginny (the front, of the two sails.) Tammy’s job was to not get hit with the Boom as it moved from one side of the boat to the other, which she did beautifully.

On the way in, after the race was over John looked at me and said, “you want to drive a while?” I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity, so I was seated with the tiller in hand. John was teaching me how to know when to tack and how to steer to keep the sails in the right wind. I was doing great until we got into the cove, and John was watching and said, “OK I guess we aught to tack about here”. So I yelled to the crew, “preparing to tack,” then “tacking” and about that time….the boat stopped dead in the water.

Yes, the first time I was ever in a sailboat I managed to run it aground. I was slightly embarrassed, right up to the moment Margaret reminded me that John was still the skipper and I was just doing what crew should do…following instructions.

We did finally make it in to dock.

Yesterday I got the chance to go again. And yes, John let me back on his boat. Not only that, he let me drive again, more than once. I don’t yet know if he is brave or stupid…I’m going for brave. Yesterday however was a very different experience. John’s experienced crew of Mike and Margaret neither were able to be there, so for last nights race we had a crew of exactly two, the skipper and me.

I got the full sailboating experience crewing a J24 with just two of us. I got really good at tacking the Ginny (moving the front sail from one side of the boat to the other depending on wind direction and where we were headed. I also got experience “flying” the Ginny kinda like a Spinnaker. Since we didn’t have someone to fly the Spinnaker we had to make the most of the wind we had on downwind legs, so we went into something called the “wing and wing.”

Well, I don’t know how John will come out in the standings, but I think we did pretty well. And, buy the final leg, I was getting used to the procedures and what was next, so I was getting quicker and quicker at making the changes. However, I have to say that today I am sore from hauling the sail around and getting it “trimmed,” which really means, “fight the wind until the sail is as taught as you can get it.”

I have really enjoyed sailing, and look forward to crewing again. The best part is I have been invited to crew any time I am available.

All of a sudden I know what Christopher Cross was talking about when he sang,

“Sailing… takes me a way…”

Finding Your Zen

Is it true statement that everyone must find their own Zen. The interesting part is that everyone travels a different path to reach their own Zen. For some it doesn't take much, a simple quiet brook, for others it takes a larger life experience. I of course am of the latter group.

It's hard to believe that it has been one year. And no I'm not referring to the death of Michael Jackson. As tragic as that may seem to some, for me it is just a marker in time. One year ago last Friday, I suffered a stroke. One thing about the stroke is, I can remember exactly when it occurred. I was listening to the radio and had heard the rumors and reports that Michael Jackson may be dead. However, it was at the exact moment, KRMG of Tulsa, Oklahoma, announced officially that Michael Jackson was dead, that I began and suffering stroke symptoms.

Since that time, I have been forced to find my Zen, among other life changes, in order to maintain my presence on this earth.

For anyone has followed this blog, not that there has been much blogging going on in the last couple of months, you are aware of some of my ups and downs during this year's adjustment. I would like to report that there have been many more ups than downs, however, I'm not sure that is actually the case. I can say that the ups are much more enjoyable than they were prior to a year ago. And the downs, they usually don't seem quite so bad, considering the alternative.

So if you find yourself reading this, having not yet found your personal Zen I encourage you to go look for it. Keep searching, you may find the search for Zen in and of itself may be what brings you your own personal Zen.

The Zen of Silver Wings (not the bike but the air variety)

This week I will get to indulge in another activity I enjoy doing, flying. Now, this will be a commercial flight, so the enjoyment of the air time is significantly affected by the activities associated with flying commercially. Specifically, security and over booked flights.

The wife and I are flying off to Denver this weekend. Not for a vacation, per se, but we will get some beautiful mountain time in during this trip. See, because of what I do for a living, practicing law for the homeless, I have been afforded an opportunity to work with some wonderful people in the Denver area who minister to homeless youth. The organization is Dry Bones Denver (www.drybonesdenver.org). I sit on the board, and we have board meetings four times a year.

A word about Dry Bones Denver…. This organization is made up of people who have a heart for the homeless youth in the Denver area. They are focused on creating relationships with those youths, and through that relationship showing them Christ. The thing I fell in love with, in this organization, is that there is no “seeking and saving the lost” focus in their work. That is Christ’s job. The people of Dry Bones are truly fishers of men, in that they go out and spend time in the water’s of these youth’s lives, and bring them into their lives. In so doing they exemplify Christ in their actions. A.k.a. “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another as I have loved you.” They meet the needs of the youths with friendship, and a shoulder to cry on, and someone to trust, and in so doing they bring these kids before Christ, who does the changing and knocking.

So, when I was offered the opportunity to put my experience and support behind these folks I jumped at the opportunity.

One of the side benefits of working with this group, is that I get an excuse to make several trips out to beautiful Colorado. Last fall I made that trip on my Goldwing, an experience I will not soon forget, and hope to repeat parts of soon. This winter I missed a meeting due to snow fall in Tulsa. Yes, you read right, I was headed to Colorado, home of the snow capped peaks, and it was a snowfall in Tulsa that kept me grounded.

This trip, hopefully, will go off without such hitches. The wife and I are going together this time, which she has never had the opportunity to do before. I had been looking at the weather and noticed that there was a significant chance of rain in Denver this weekend. Mentioning that to another board member I was reminded that this trip is the annual “retreat” board meeting, where all the board members bring their families and we go off to a mountain cabin or two for the weekend, rather than staying in Denver. Well, forgetting the effects of elevation, I had not registered that if it was raining in Denver then up around Winter Park where we are headed it will be snowing. And, I was just about to pack down my winter clothes, since spring is arriving in Tulsa.

Whether snow or not, I look forward to some time in the mountains, in front of a fire place, or around a campfire, with the one I love, and others whom I respect in the utmost. Here’s to safe flights for all flying in for the weekend, and to a productive board meeting.


RETRO

Finding Zen after Tax Day

I know it has been almost a week since I blogged. Forgive me, I was recovering following the shock I received after tax day.

Admitting that I procrastinated way too long in doing my taxes that still did not account for the shocking revelation that I was going to owe additional rather than get a refund this year. But worse than just owing additional is the shear amount in additional that I owe. I have to take some blame in this, for not paying full attention to my paychecks. See I, in years past have claimed “Married” with 4 exemptions, for myself, my wife and my two sons. This has never been a problem, because we make so little, with those claims we still overpaid and received a refund.

This year however was different. In my inattention I did not realize several things; first that with my paltry salary (not complaining, because I love what I do, just pointing out that it is small) and that claim configuration most of the time the amount withheld from my checks was exactly $0.00. Second, with my oldest finally moving out of the house and us not “officially” providing ½ of his support for the year he was no longer a dependent. Third, because my youngest became 17 this year he no longer qualifies for a child credit. Finally, because I was able to get a deferral for my student loan, there was no large interest payment on student loans this year. The result of all of these changes is a tax bill between state and federal of about $5500.

Now before anyone reading this begins to think that I make some large amount that I just think is paltry, let me say that $5500 represents about 20% of everything I make in a year. Moreover, there was some that was paid in, specifically the proper withholding from my wife’s paychecks.

So what is my response to this…. After the shock wore off, I realized that I owe it, and will pay it because that is what I am supposed to do. The government provides services that have to be paid for, specifically national defense and interstate transportation, among a few others. But, I am not happy with the process. I have not been happy with the process for a long time, but it was more an academic disagreement, rather than a personal one.

I have known over the years, due to my practice as an attorney, many people who have gotten themselves in trouble with the IRS. Most often this trouble comes not from them trying to avoid taxes, or cheat the system in any way, but rather from the absolute inability for anyone to fully understand the tax system in this country. I have a couple of classmates who went on to specialize in tax law, and they agree that the system is a joke, there are so many exceptions to the rules, that the rules are impossible to understand and truly predict. They are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each year by businesses, for whom a tax error could mean the end of the business, because without the tax advantages built into the system for specific things, the base taxes are so onerous that it is impossible for a business to exist ignoring the tax consequences of every decision they make.

That last statement is just SAD! It means that at this point in time the effect of government on businesses drives decisions and not the effect of the marketplace. What is so sad about that for the individual is that for anyone who just wants to live their life, and pay their taxes, they can’t do it. Like me, I just worked and wanted to pay my taxes, but because I don’t own a home, I don’t get the discount given for home mortgage interest, and because I raised my kids and they are no longer under my roof, no deduction, and because I drive a motorcycle everywhere (which is more fuel efficient than most hybrids and almost all “alternative fuel” vehicles) rather than a “green” car I don’t get the credit given to those people. So, because I did not take specific steps that the government, and not the market, thought were important, I lost all the deductions that I might have otherwise been able to take advantage of. And, because the tax code is written to promote specific activities, it becomes burdensome on anyone who doesn’t want to practice those activities, thus I am now paying much greater % of my income in taxes than I otherwise would with my limited income. But then, I don’t want to live my life by what a politician wants me to do, rather I would like to pursue my own happiness.

So, now that this is personal, rather than academic, what options are there to resolve this issue. After all, I cannot be the only person dealing with this dilemma. The answer is to take the power to direct every single little portion of our lives out of the hands of politicians. No, I am not advocating disbanding the idea of taxation, after all we have to have $ to pay for those necessary services. What we don’t need is a big brother government entity snooping into every private aspect of our lives to see where we spend every penny we make. It is ludicrous that tax forms take more than 10 min to fill out, and that we have to tell some bureaucrat how much we spent on food, gas, insurance, and even how much we gave away in order to keep from having to pay an inordinate more than our shares. Because I have, academically, had problems with the tax code in the past I have looked into several options to take that power out of the hands of politicians.

My personal preference is a flat tax percentage. Tax time would take 10 min max. How much did you make? Multiply that by X% and send it in. But the big problem with such a system is that people don’t save, and it becomes onerous on those in the very bottom of the income curve. Thus, the best actually workable solution I have found it the Fair Tax as promoted by congressman John Linder, or more famously promoted by Neal Boortz, the talk radio jockey.

The Fair Tax, as a plan is about as workable and sensible as I have seen. It is a national sales tax. It moves the entire tax burden to purchasers, that is everyone of us. It is progressive in nature because obviously those who earn more spend more. And the best part is that it moves the power, and noses of politicians out of my pocketbook and life and returns the power to the people with the purse (that would be the citizen in case you didn’t get that.) Moreover, it would make the most onerous federal administration a friend to the poor, and a welcome part of everyone’s lives. This is because the IRS becomes a vehicle for issuing refunds for the taxes spent on necessities, rather than the long arm of big brother collecting by threat of imprisonment. So, for a family of four (and these numbers are completely made up, but are used as an example to make a point,) it is a necessity to eat. So the IRS determines that a family of four, shopping economically can eat for a month for $500, and when they did so they spent $125 on the taxes, making their total food bill $625. Well, because that is a necessity the IRS would send a check back to the family for $125. But obviously that $500 would not buy filet for every meal, and would not allow for caviar, or even several nice bottles of wine. If you have the income to splurge on such extravagances, you may spend $1000 a month on food, and pay $250 in taxes, you would still get a refund check for $125, and the rest would go to taxes. Thus, the poorest in the country don’t pay an unfair share of the tax burden, because they can’t afford anything more than the necessities, for which the tax is refunded.

The beauty of this system is that when a politician starts talking about how much something will cost in Washington, or even in your state capital, it will not be some “billions of dollars” that doesn’t register with you and your pocketbook. The politician will have to come to the people and say, this measure will cost you an extra 10th of a penny every time you spend a dollar. You want to see people get involved in politics, make them see what effect every action has on their pocketbook.

OK, stepping off the soap box with this last statement, if any of this makes sense to you, please go to www.fairtax.org and offer your support, and if it doesn’t make any sense to you please go to www.fairtax.org and read up on the plan, at least get informed.

Thank you for this dalliance, I know this post was long, but when I start talking politics it can sometimes take a bit to explain what I want to say. I will try to get back to less heated topics in future posts.

Retro

Retro Winger's Wing for Sale

First let me say I promise not to allow this blog to become my personal flea market, it is just easiest to put the information here and point all other ads back to here.

If you read my blog you know that I have recently purchased a new to me Harley Davidson. Well, I didn’t intend to sell the GoldWing, rather keep it as a secondary bike for foul weather, or really long highway trips. However, the opportunity to purchase my dream bike has come up, and that is the reason my Wing is up for sale.

About the bike:

1984 GL1200i aka Goldwing Interstate
Has a little over 106,000 miles on it.

The good –
Engine runs perfectly smooth and burns NO oil.
I would jump on this bike and head to Colorado (which I have done in the last 6mo.) Not that I can warrant it would not have ANY mechanical issues, after all if I could truly predict that I would be playing the lottery, not selling the bike. But I wouldn’t hesitate to go anywhere on it.
Tires have ~1/2 life left in them (replaced aprox Aug last year)
Factory AM/FM/Cassette, works
Drivers backrest
Highway pegs
Starts every time without a moments hesitation

The not so good –
The slave cyl on the clutch was leaking, I have replaced it, and haven’t had any trouble with it, but don’t know if that truly fixed the issue or not (so I’m just letting you know, it shifts smooth and doesn’t appear to be still a problem.)
The vents on the R side have a couple broken off on the fairing. Not a mechanical issue, just cosmetic.
The tops of both backrests have sun damage and have been restiched poorly. Again not an issue, just not as perfect as possible.
The lower inside of the fairing has a crack as well in one of the cover plates.
The L side fairing pocket leather cover is missing.
The rubber for the L passenger floorboard is missing.
On the L side muffler there is some discoloration where some battery acid leaked after replacing the battery. (discoloration is on the slip on muffler, not through so no exhaust leak.)
The aux driving lights that someone added on the engine guards don’t work for some reason. (not the headlight, it works just fine.)

So… all the things that are not so good are really just cosmetic in nature. This bike is extremely trustworthy. It has been my daily driver and I put 20,000 of those miles on it in the last year. I have changed the oil religiously at 3-5,000 miles, and never saw any indication in the oil that there was any problem with the engine. Again, I would not be selling this if it were not for the fact that I want a different bike.

My asking price is $3250, but I am negotiable, especially if I don’t have to do any packing it up for shipping.

Looking at the pics the bike appears to be black, however it is actually Midnight Blue, very dark blue with little flecks of light in it. I will try to get some better pics if needed.


Retro

The Zen of Good Friends

For my entire life I have run in many circles of friends. I have to say I consider myself one of the most fortunate people in the world, because over my lifetime I have had several groups of friends, from many different quarters, on whom I could truly depend. This fact was brought home last year after my stroke. But that is not why I write this today.

Today’s entry is actually about one of my circle of friends, and how they have rallied around a member of the community who is going through a tough time. This particular group is my high school classmates. One of our classmates, a little over a year ago, was diagnosed with colon cancer. Immediately many of our classmates began making plans to be with him, whether it was to have a party to celebrate steps in treatment, or meals for he and his wife, or just phone calls and constant contact.

So, things went very well for this friend through treatment. In fact about 3wks ago he was told by his doctor that he could consider himself “Cancer Free!” It was a moment of great celebration by all of us. However, what was supposed to be a routine surgery to remove his colostomy bag, ended up putting him in the ICU for a week, and rehospitalized for probably 3-4 wks. I learned about this and immediately made plans to go visit. (A thing I was very uncomfortable doing until after my stroke when I learned how comforting those visits were.) When I got to the hospital to visit I was fascinated by his stories of how many classmates had taken the time to come up and actually visit, and how many others had called, or texted, or e-mailed. And the communication between classmates has been fascinating, because with Facebook and other social sites many others are keeping up, but not having direct contact.

Now this may not sound that interesting to you, but what I find interesting about this is that most of these people, up until about 2yrs ago, had not spoken to each other but every 10 years or so. See we graduated in ’88 and with some exceptions of friends who stayed in contact with one or two people, we all went our separate ways. I, for one, unless I just happened to run into someone, had not consciously communicated with anyone from high school in 9 years when I heard of preparation for our 10th class reunion. Then again I had not consciously communicated with anyone for another 7years. Then came a beautiful thing… one of the class members put together a web forum for us to communicate for reunion planning. Well that became open communication for everything going on in each other’s lives. And, suddenly we were all just tight as back in high school. No, tighter, as most of us have grown up a bit and have much more honest relationships than we did back in high school.

Again I found myself in a close knit community of friends. A point that was emphasized last year with my stroke, when the first person to visit me in the hospital was a classmate. In fact, recounting, off all the people that visited me in the hospital, classmates were the largest contingency, followed by church family, and bio/marriage-family.

But as I said in the opening, I have been extremely fortunate to have several circles of friends that were this close, over my life. Some of these friends I may not actually see for years and years. And others I may not even speak to for years at a time. But when we reconnect we play catch-up, and it is like no time passed at all. A trait I think I learned from my mother, who I can remember would visit friends when we traveled, and when I asked when she last spoke to the person she would say, oh, about 20 years ago.

The great thing about all this modern technology is that it actually keeps people like me connected with all those different friends, even the ones I don’t see often. Through Facebook and Twitter I can keep up with what is going on in friends lives better than ever before. In the past it was only when I heard from someone that I was able to play catch-up, now with a tweet here and there, and a posting update they let me know what’s happening in their lives.

So I guess the point of this posting is that I am a very fortunate man. And if you find you don’t have such a group of people that you consider “friends” reach out, because they are worth more than gold.


Retro

Finding the Zen in not so Zen Moments

The zen I found to day was difficult to recognize at first. See the wife and I were an hour late meeting the riding group for our Tuesday night dinner ride.

Tonight we were eating at Mattie's Rt 66 Steakhouse. Now usually I would just say we went to a resturant and give a location. However, tonight I believe Mattie's deserves a mention (aka plug) by name. To explain why, I have to give you a little local news. One of our small town elementary schools recently had an oubreak of meningitus. Sadly it has resulted in the death of two young children. But, to me even sadder is the story of one of the children who contracted the bacteria. He is an elementary school child who has now had to have all four limbs removed to save his life. Unfortunately the parents did not have adequate insurance, and the specialist necessary were well out of state where the coverage under Sooner Care does not cover.

So a couple of national chains, including Chile's were going to donate 10% of all sales tonight to the family. But our riding group had already planned to go to Mattie's for tonight. We were going to change the ride so as to make sure the family recieved the assistance from our dining. However, one of our members thought to call Mattie's and let them know we would probably not be there and would schedule for another Tuesday, call and let them know. (When we are going to a small local resturant we try to call and give them a heads up because sometimes our group on Tuesday can outnumber the total number of regular customers for a mom & pop local resturant.) After apologizing for having to reschedule, the member explained exactly why we were rescheduling. Well Mattie was so wonderful, she agreed to give us 10% of everything we spent to donate to the family. So we didn't reschedule, and we got a nice little check to give the family as well.

Not exactly the most uplifting thought, raising money for a family and a child who has just lost all his limbs. But it is really nice to see someone step up and help out, when they didn't have to. After all, all we were doing was exactly what we would be doing anyway, no effort on our part to eat out. But Maggie went the extra mile that was not necessary.

The other not so zen moment that occured this evening was more difficult to see the zen in. See, I was polishing the new Harley, which goes against my very nature. The old "I'd rather ride than wash," has gone out the window with all that chrome. Can't let it begin looking bad, the bike just shines when it is cleaned up. So, since I am not used to doing this polishing, we were a little late getting away from the house to meet the group for dinner.

The wife and I ran the 45min over to where the group meets to ride to dinner, but we were about 12 min late. The group had already left, so I headed to where I believed the resturant to be, about 20+ min down the road to the South. Not seeing the resturant I did what any guy would do.... no not ask directions, we all know that doesn't work... I pulled out the phone and Googled, then Google mapped. According to the map I wasn't that far off, just about half a mile.

But when we went to the location Google had mapped for me, the resturant was not there. Worse, the address didn't even match, and being a rural address I had no idea where it might be located. Called the resturant only to find that it was North of the meeting location, the oposite direction from what we traveled. Not only did we have to go back, but we had to go about the same distance in the opposite direction. So we finally made it to Mattie's, only an hour late for dinner.

What zen was there in this misfortunate bout of misdirection? Well, after contemplation I decided it could have been a much worse evening. After all, it was a beautiful 80 degrees, the sun was shining, I was on my new Harley crusing around with the woman I love stradled behind me, and I got almost 2hrs of riding that I was not expecting. What could be more peaceful and zen than that?

So remember when there is a dark cloud, it may not make for a pretty day, but you don't have to worry about a sunburn.


Retro

The Zen of the Open Road

Today I wake up sore and stiff. Not bad, kinda like I did a workout that was new, muscle soreness. I don't blame the Harley for this soreness, rather just a difference in the seating postion, and ride style. I've gotten soft riding my "Couch Rocket" as some refer to the Goldwings.

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day here in N.E. Oklahoma. So I got up early and preped the Dyna for it's first official (albeit short) road trip. Preping consisted of lowering the windshield, which I was glad to learn that I could do, rather than having to buy a shorter one. Also, preping consisted of adding my fabled "Bear Skin" seat cover. No, it is not acctually bear skin, it is sheepskin, with a natural brown color, and the long pelt so it looks wild an wooly. I bought it for the wing, to give it a wilder and less civilized look (along with the fact that sitting on it feels good in both summer and winter, keeps the bum at a comfortable temp and adds a little cushion for those long rides.) So the sleek, sporty, chromed out Harley now has a touch of me, wild and wooly.

The wife and I hopped on and headed out for Natural Falls St. Park, just this side of the Arkansas border. Some of our riding friends were camping there and we joined them for breakfast. A beautiful ride. About 70mi in we took our first stop and I noticed one of the biggest differences between distance on the Wing and the Harley. Comming off the Harley I felt like I had just had a massage (discounting the newly streched muscles.) Not only that, my hands had a vibration to them, that was somehow both disconcerting, and enjoyable. Don't ask me to define that, I couldn't if I tried.

After breakfast we sat around the campfire and told stories, like we usually do with these folks. And, I recieved my first gift for the bike. These guys had purchased me a Guardian Bell for the new bike. You don't know what a Guardian Bell is? Allow me to explain, see legend is that as long as there have been motorcycles there have been evil road spirits to plague those motorcycles and their riders. The legend goes that you can ward off those evil road spirits with a little bell attached to your bike. The evil road spirits are then trapped in the bell until they are driven insane by its constant ringing and let go, falling to the road (Ever wonder where pot hole come from?) Any small bell is effective, but the effect is considered twice as potent when the bell is a gift from a close friend or relative. So now I have a guardian bell, evil road spirits be warned (and thanks to my benefactors of said bell.)

There was a Harley dealership I wanted to visit up in Bentonville AR called Pig Trail Harley Davidson. I had been there once before during Bikes, Blues and BBQ, and wanted to see it again, when I could actually move in the place. So up the road we went. My lovely wife found several shirts for herself and the grandson, and I picked up a t-shirt as well. After that we needed to get home so I could perform at the Olio (a local variety show I have been known to pick and sing a number or two at occasionally.)

The ride home was much warmer, sun was out, and the temp got up into the 70's, so I was in heaven. The wife however was still a little chilled from the morning ride which had been much cooler (40's-50's).

Arrived home exactly 278 miles later. Not a bad day on the road, for just visiting and not traveling. I answered my question, which was, would we be able to use this as a touring bike, not just a local cruiser. The answer was a resounding yes. On the Wing I maxed out at about 500mi a day for trips. Not due to being unable to stand to go farther, but because when traveling it is never one day, it is 2-3 days of that back to back to get where I'm going. That way I never got up in the morning and didn't want to get back on the bike. And usually when I plan a trip, if riding more than 2-3 days in a row I try to keep my distances at about 300-400 mi a day, giving me some down time and R&R at the end of each day. So... having done just almost 300 on the bike yesterday, and knowing that I was fine with hopping right back on today (I took it to church rather than the Wing,) my question is answered. YES... this bike will be a great tourer, not the big highway miles tourer that the Wing is best at, but the back roads, really seeing America tourer that it was meant to be.

And as for the bike itself.... If it could talk it would probably be asking What the He-double hockey sticks happened? For the last 15 years the bike has averaged 200 miles a year (that's right if you remember it is a 15 year old bike with 3000 original miles.) And now we go and put "a years worth" of miles on it in a day... Now how you could own a machine like this and only put 200 miles a year on it is a mystery to me. I will exceed that on the Wing probably each month, and that is now my secondary bike. But I know not everyone is a 20k+ a year rider. It's just that the equipment was built to be used, and I find most bikes actually work better putting lots of miles on them daily, rather than letting them sit in the garage for weeks or months at a time, and getting them out only on perfect Saturdays and Sundays, of which there are only 52 per year total, and many are not perfect.

OK, stepping off the soap box. Can you tell I am an advocate of motorcycles as main forms of transportation, not as toys?

Anyway, the open road was great, and riding my new steed only made it better.

Retro

The Zen of a Rumbling Big Twin

Well the temptation of Retro is complete, he has given himself over to the “Darkside.” Today I made an offer on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and it was accepted. Tomorrow I will be a Harley Owner.

Before I go any farther, let me pause for this important message HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR!!!! Today is my beloved’s (XX) anniversary of her 29th Birthday. For which we claimed she got a convertible. However, today was as much my day as her’s, in that I got a Harley! I have the best wife in the world, who else has a wife that not only is OK with them riding, rides along often, moreover, buys me a bike without my expecting it (last year the ’84 Wing) and to top it all off, allows me to buy myself a Harley for her birthday!

Now, while I will try not to bore those of you who do not ride with incessant and inane talk about cc’s or cubic inches, and fork rakes, or the virtues of baggers vs. sportsers… occasionally I have what I call a typical guy moment, where my veneer of the “Renaissance Man” slips and I become just a bike guy. (OK, for those more well read, you will realize that what we currently call a “Renaissance Man” really isn’t, because usually he is softend to the mechanical arts, and the idea of building anything with his hands, other than “art” is anathema. When in reality the term comes from the Renaissance of not only beauty and art, but of science away from unabridged spiritualism. I.E. along the lines of Da Vinci, who built war machines as well as amazing and moving art.)

The bike I will acquire on the morrow is a 1996 Harley Davidson Dyna Glide FXDS-Convertible. Not called a convertible because it has no top (though it doesn’t,) the name comes from the fact that the Convertible was designed to be the ultimate “utility” Harley. It was given a Big Twin 88 cubic inch power plant with a 5speed transmission capable of pulling a house uphill. This was all set in a Dyna frame which was the midsized frame available, bigger than the Sportsters, but slightly smaller body parts and wheel base than the Electra Glide or Road Kings. But attached to that frame is the fork and lean clearance of a Sportster. Meaning that this bike has the power and comfort for distance touring, but is agile and nimble enough to feel and look comfortable in traffic. Additionally, the bike comes equipped with a detachable windshield and quick release saddlebags. So, when you are touring you have the comfort of some wind and road protection, as well as luggage room, but when you are just cruising town, you can strip it down for a lean mean look.

So far what I have told you is true of EVERY Dyna Convertible… now let me tell you about MINE! This bike is beautiful. It is two-tone Harley red on red, with all the brass eagle and chrome accessories that you would expect to find, air cleaner cover, battery box, etc… There is not a scratch on the bike, likely because the bike might as well be new. She has only 2934mi on the odometer. And, before the nay sayers begin it is a digital odometer so tampering is difficult, and unlikely. Not only that, but everything else on the bike speaks to the fact that it has only been ridden <3000>

The best part is I paid anywhere from $2-3k less than I though I would have to for a bike of anywhere near this quality, and probably that much less than what the bike would sell for in a few weeks as the weather gets nicer and nicer, and the owner waited for a more heavily pocketed buyer (it would be worth every penny of it…) So not only did I fulfill another item on my bucket list, Own a Harley, I did so at a bargain. And to top it all off, with the bargain I got, I don’t have to immediately let go of my beloved Wing. I will keep it to ride on poorer weather days, or when I am in a hurry and the Harley may take too long to warm up, or just because the seat may be more comfortable for a particular riding day. (And in reality, I am kinda excited about the prospect of sharing it with my brother who has been putting off buying a bike of his own, but now he and his wife can ride with the Retro and Spouse and enjoy their knees in the breeze too. Life is better shared.)

So, as a friend on a web forum I read puts it… I now have Multiple Bike Syndrome, and the most interesting part is the two bikes I own are often the butt of each other’s jokes, so I guess I can just pick on them all, and laugh at us all. After all if you can’t laugh at yourself, you really need to get a sense of humor (or medication.)

Retro

p.s. These two picures are NOT MY BIKE!!! But they are of one of the same year and model with a similar paint scheme and similar added chrome and brass amenities. And yes, my bike looks this good and better.

The Lure of the Dark Side… be there Zen?

I know, they say to make something a habit you have to do it consistently for something like 21 days… and here I am less than a week in and I am missing two days in a row of blogging. Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way, work and social life have kept me hopping and taking the time to write something more than… today I had pizza… with more thought and insight than… I think black is hard to see at night… sometimes may be impossible. And while I will try to always get back to the blog, I will never promise to “make up for it” because that would imply that somehow I could be particularly insightful on demand (which would be helpful, but unfortunately is not a skill which I have acquired.)

Today I am speaking on the temptation of Retro Winger… to explain. The name Retro Winger for those who are unaware comes from the fact that I ride a 1984 (26yr old) GoldWing or as I call it OldWing. I began riding Goldwing’s not as an “old man” as you normally see, but as a 27yr old. The cause of my first Goldwing purchase was that I was broke, and had just had my last bike damaged to the point it would not operate. I was trying to find a ride, and found this ’78 Wing at the bus barn at the church where I attended. It had been donated and needed “some work.” But the church didn’t have any good way to make use of it, or get rid of it, so I was able to purchase it for VERY LITTLE. Come to find out, even an old Wing that needs “some work” often is a great ride. There is a reason all those old guys ride Wing’s. They are bulletproof engines that with a little TLC and routine maintainer will provide 150,000+miles of the most comfortable riding you have ever experienced.

I will admit as a 27 year old I did feel a bit silly riding around on an old Wing, until I really learned how to ride it, and how maneuverable that bike was. How nimble it was, and how much power and lean it had for the curvy’s. Since that time I let that bike go thinking I wanted a “cruiser” styled bike so I got a Suzuki Marauder. I enjoyed the bike just fine for running around town. But it was not the bike you wanted to get out on the highway, or do any back road touring for any real saddle time. The worst part was, I owned my old Wing when the wife and I met and married. So, she was immediately spoiled to the big comfortable pillon seat that the Wing affords. Needless to say, she was not impressed with the Marauders postage stamp of a pillon seat. In fact, while she would ride around town some, we made one trip from Tulsa OK to OKC OK and back in one day (212 mi round trip) and she never made another out of town trip on that bike, the seat was so uncomfortable. So, the next bike I was going to get WAS going to have the big comfortable pillon seat.

So, the next bike was this ’84 Wing, which I have had for about a year now. I put about 20,000 miles a year on a bike. One of the things I have always loved about the Goldwings was that here I had bought a 25 year old bike, with 93,000 miles on the clock, and yet put 20k more with only routine maintenance (with one minor exception which was my fault, had some icing on my front forks coming back from Dallas after the Cotton Bowl which caused me to have to replace the fork seals…)

Another thing you need to know about me, and my potential decent to the dark side, is that I am learning patience, especially fiscal patience. I have been the world’s worst about “finding” what I wanted just because the potential to purchase existed, not necessarily because it was the right time to purchase, or was the best deal, etc..

So, as I mentioned in a prior posting, we purchased the wife her convertible last Saturday. That purchase was a prerequisite to my purchasing a new bike. Thus, now I can start looking and considering what type of new bike I want. We had done some budgeting and figured that I might be able to purchase as early as Christmas (which also happens to be really close to my birthday so probably a combine present.)

Then, a friend tells me he is considering the purchase of a newer model Electra Glide Harley and selling his Road King. Better than that he has the wife sit on the back seat to see that it is a big comfortable seat, and lets her know that all the “big twins” can have those types of seats. Well, we check the budget again and find that there is the possibility that we can borrow and buy, but do we want to? What he is asking for the bike is a very fair price but not an unpassable deal. We were not really going to be ready to purchase until Dec, so we would be pushing our budget. So we made the “grown up” decision not to. We discussed it at length and decided that if it was meant to be that the right deal would be available when we were ready to purchase, and when it was not going to stress the budget, and until then I could look, but unless it was an unpassable deal I was only looking.

Wouldn’t you know, yesterday, leaving the office our building engineer, a Harley rider, and I are talking and I am confiding in him that I have been discussing getting rid of the Wing and going with a Harley only after talking to some other 20k+/year Harley riders and being reassured that the jokes and stories of Harley maintenance are largely from AMF and pre EVO days of Harley. That with proper maintenance and upkeep a big twin can comfortably do 20k+ a year with routine maintenance and be a 150k mile bike. He tells me of a gentleman he knows with a ’94 Convertible with 7k miles on the clock. The guy is a motivated seller as he has another bike, just lost his job, and when he tells me what he wants out of the bike my jaw hit the floor. It was a good $3k under what I know the bike would sell for if he were patient, likely $4k under, and well within my price range.

Needless to say, if all the information is accurate, this is an unpassable deal! I may go to the dark side and have to eat all the jokes I have told for the last several years about Harleys and Harley riders. However, if it happens, it would be fulfillment of another lifelong dream, owning a big twin Harley (any Harley for that matter.) The good thing about being a Goldwing rider, as opposed to a Harley rider up to this point in my life is that Goldwing stuff doesn’t usually take over your life the way Harley stuff does. You know the type, first he gets the bike, next he gets the Harley jacket and car tag holder, and before you know it everything he owns has a Harley logo on it, including his Ford truck! So if I do go to the dark side, I don’t have so much stuff to get rid of that says Goldwing.

I will keep you updated on my decent, or lack thereof.


Retro

The Zen in a Spinning Wheel

As you read my posts you will likely tire of hearing how great my life is. But the fact is, I have a great life. Not because it is perfect by any stretch of the imagination. No, my I have a great life first, because I choose to look to the positives and not dwell (nor ignore) the negatives. Second, I can honestly say I have a great life because between personal experiences, and the experiences of those I help every day I know how it could be.

Today many people might not consider that spectacular of a day. I got up, went to work, after work spent time on a hobby, had dinner, and now am sharing this with you. I however choose to see today differently, according to my "great life" view, it looked more like this...

I woke up to a still snow covered ground, but celebrated that the temps stayed high enough the roads were just wet, mostly, which meant I got to ride my motorcycle to work (not an unusual occurance, but since my stroke I celebrate every riding day.) Once at work I have the opportunity to actually help people, which always warms my heart. I keep a file of success stories for those colder hearted days (you know when I am feeling like a "regular" lawyer.)

Now one of the downsides of non-profit law is that it does not pay well. Like I said my life is far from perfect. However one nice exchange is that since we don't get overtime occasionally getting out of the office early is an option. Today was just such a day. I headed out to 3rd Street Clayworks, where I do pottery. Very Zen. I have a love of wheel thrown pottery, and even enjoy slab building, although I am too impatient to be good at that.

This evening I had the opportunity to throw on a new wheel, a "Randall" wheel. For me this was huge, the style of wheel fit my throwing style and technique to a "T". It felt almost symbiotic between me and the wheel working together, rather than the way it had felt, like me having to "opperate" the student wheels. It just felt amazing. And that made for a very productive evening. I was able to throw several mugs, a couple of bowls, and a grapefruit juicer, and still have enough time to glaze a dozen other mugs I had previously thrown.

Then, after all that, I get a 50 degree bike ride home (which is plenty warm in case you are wondering.) Topped off by walking in to find that my wonderful wife had cooked me breakfast for dinner (one of my favorite meals.)

So yes, in some ways today was just a "normal" day, and not that great. But from the Zen of the spinning wheel to the little miracles, I think it was one of the greatest days of my life.


Retro

The Zen of Nuptials

There is a definite Zen to someone ELSES’ nuptials. The reason it has to be someone else’s is because it is almost impossible to reach a truly Zen-like state at either your own wedding or the wedding of a child at which you carry any responsibility. Only at the wedding of someone else can you sit back and relax, enjoy cake, music, dancing, and reminiscing about what you can actually remember of your own wedding day (or the courtship surrounding it.)

Today was a Zen wedding for me, not so much for the First Office of my riding club, for he was the father of the bride. Remember that movie, the one with Steve Martin, where the day before the wedding they had a rare/never freeze and they had to move the geese into the bathtub to keep them from freezing. I also remember one of the funny thing I thought was so funny was them using hair dryers on the flowers they had staged the day before. And they ended up having to move much of the wedding from the back yard into the house and under a tent, which turned out to be beautiful, all because they had originally intended to have an outdoor wedding.

Well, fortunately for all involved in today’s wedding, there was not near the mad dash to move everything due to the “Oklahoma Spring” weather (which if you read yesterdays blog came in EXACTLY as expected!) All parties involved are life long Okies so they know much better than to plan anything outdoors for any season in Oklahoma without an indoor backup, or in the case of a wedding, you just don’t plan them outdoors EVER!

It was a beautiful wedding, the bride was blushing in white, the groom was tall and sharp in Marine Dress uniform, which always looks amazing at weddings. Brought back memories of my own wedding, not that I was a tall Marine, far from it, just brought the memories. One day, when I am not writing at midnight I will have to tell the story of how the wife and I met and our wedding. I was in trouble often in planning it. Today was much better, show up, sit back, enjoy, eat, dance, go home.

Happy Wedding Day, and many good wishes Bride and Groom Andrea and Brandon.


Retro

The not so Zen of Oklahoma Weather

Rather than just deleting my previous blog entry, where I claimed Spring had arrived in Oklahoma, to remove proof of my error, I will just admit it. The weather in Oklahoma will make a fool out of you any time you make absolute statements. The next surrounding 48hrs will be the perfect example.

Today it was a beautiful Spring day. By mid day the temperature was reaching up to the low 70’s (about 73) and there was a nice cool breeze in the air. The sun was shining which made the day warm and wonderful. In my haste to take advantage of it, I found an opportunity to go for a ride this evening (not that I really needed an excuse, but it is nice to have a destination sometimes.)

The wife and I headed out about 3p to look at a car found on Craigslist for her. (I have promised her a convertible, a story for another entry.) We headed down historic Route 66 to The Rock Café, which if you have not heard of it, was an inspiration for the Pixar movie Cars (the Porche is based on Dawn the owner.) From there we rode on down to Shawnee to look at a classic 1969 Chevy Impala, which unfortunately turned out not to be what we had hoped for.

As we stopped at Micky D’s (McDonald’s for the uninitiated) for my sweet tea addiction where we got an interesting question from a police officer. He asked which way we were headed? I thought he was asking because there was rain coming in from the west and north and he was going to warn us. NO!!! he was wanting to make sure we were aware of the weather coming in tomorrow.

See this is Oklahoma, and while it was a beautiful sunny 73 today, tonight it is raining and the temp is dropping constantly. Tomorrow it is going to drop on down past 32 and start snowing, expected accumulation 6-8 inches! Yes, 73degrees to 6-8inches of snow in 36hrs! Only in Oklahoma!

So as we readjusted our route home, because the route we took already was getting rain and had dropping temps we hit the road. Across the great American Highway 40 to Henryetta we rode, and then up to home. At Henryetta the temperature was still in the 70’s though cloudy. However as we rode North you could see the clouds gather, and the wind pick up. Then it began, a sprinkle, which wasn’t a big deal. But as the sprinkle began, the temperature dropped precipitously. The sprinkling was enough the last 10 miles my safety glasses were getting wet, and between there and home the temp dropped from 70 to 51. Gotta Love Oklahoma Weather. Like I said, 3h50min of great riding 10m of cold wet misery. (worst part is I had to admit I was wrong…may Spring return quickly)


Retro

Wii Fit Yoga Zen

You are only as old as you think you are… and Wii fit tells you that you are!

About a month ago I decided I would get a Wii for the express purpose of using it for the Wii Fit Plus exercise program. Sounds like a good reason to buy a video game to me. What was amazing was that when I went to actually purchase the game machine, there was not one in the entire state of Oklahoma. When I started calling around what I found was that places were getting shipments in of 2 or 3, maybe 4 and selling out almost immediately and they were almost not hitting the shelves. Then, finding the Fit Plus with Balance Board was an equally difficult task.

Sure, I could have ordered one from Amazon, but I am an instant gratification kinda guy. Thus, I want to get my exercise from a video game, not an actual gym, you see the logic. So I had been watching the websites of stores that carried the Wii and one Sunday morning I found stock, so I called my wife on her way to church and she stopped. She walked up to the counter and they had 3, someone was buying 1, she bought 1 and as she was checking out someone walked up and bought the 3rd…sold out. Amazing, a kid’s video game.

Anyway, took it home and hooked it up. For those not familiar with the Wii Fit, it uses a balance board that can tell where your center of balance is, how much you weigh, how well you move, how good your reflexes are, and all kinds of things. So, to start with it has you put in your height, birth date, and it runs you thorough some tests. Then, sound the music….. it gives you… Dum Dum Dum…. Your Wii Age….

The first time I did it I was 52…. 52! (You have to understand in real human years I am only 39, yes I am “morbidly” obese at 6’ and 316lbs but my wife tells me I look good, as all wives should.) I was hurt more than devastated. I didn’t expect to be in great shape, but I was hoping for something a little closer within a decade.

So I started an exercise regime which has included some Yoga, for balance, stretching and focus. Strength training for the obvious. And aerobic exercise for stamina. I do about 30 min a day balanced between the three. And have been going for about 3 weeks now. I knew that I had good balance when I was dancing in my history. And that I had good body control as well. Apparently that is coming back more quickly than I thought because as I have taken new tests over the last weeks my age has steadily decreased. A week into it I was down to 42. Last week I was so excited… I hit 37, two years younger than I actually am now.

But the coup de gras was last night…. After completing my workout and cool down, I did a couple of minutes of deep breathing exercises and hit a body test again. You could have blown me over with a feather when the result came back…. My Wii Age as of St. Paddy’s Day was ….wait for it…. 28… that’s right eleven years younger than my actual age.

So if you are only as old as you think you are…. And the Wii Fit tells you that you are… I will live FOREVER!


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The Zen of Weird Al Yankovic

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I know it is a little early in my blogging life to let my geek flag fly. I was doing so well, being a motorcycle rider, talking tough about riding in weather others won’t ride in and all. But now I go and “ruin” it all.

I have been a Weird Al fan since back in his Dr. Demento days. By the time Eat It came out and people starting saying “have you heard this guy?” I had to say, “Yea, I’ve heard that guy. I have bootlegs of him performing live out in LA on cassette I traded by mail with a D&D buddy for.

Since that time I have purchased every album he has released (including “Polka Party!”) I have had the opportunity to see him live more than a dozen times. Which I know for some real tour followers isn’t much but for someone who just goes to concerts when they are there that accounts for a bunch. THEN…. Living in Tulsa, when he was filming VHF here I went down to the Brady every chance I got that I thought I might get to see him, and even was there when they filmed one of the outdoor scenes, which was cool. ALSO… in about 1985 I got to meet Al’s parents when I was on tour with a gospel singing group out in CA.

What was really great though was more recently, when Straight Outta Lynwood came out with the song White & Nerdy. See I have a now 17 year old son. At the time he was about 14 or 15 and he was into the hip hop music. And he thought dad with his Star Trek loving, D&D playing, computer geeking, comic book reading ways was just too much to deal with. THEN… Weird Al comes through to another generation and he comes home telling me about this really cool song he heard on the “you tubes.”

You should have seen the look on his face when I pulled the CD out of the computer where I had been playing it non-stop for over a week and a half because I had pre-purchased it. (OK, geek flag flying a little too high…lowering….) I was cool dad for a moment because the song was blowing up. And the best part was the song was blowing up hottest about the same time Al came to Tulsa for the tour. So what did I do? Bought tickets for both of us of course!!! For about a week I was awesome. (But it didn’t last long. Teenagers are fickle)

I however, am not fickle! I was pleasantly surprised that my starting a Twitter account actually paid off in the 1st week. @alyakovick posted some new tour date heads ups and guess what….. Tulsa is in there!!!!! There will be one butt in one seat for sure.

Thank you Weird Al…. you are a genius among mere mortals….


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Zen in Spring - Brother bikers

Finally it looks like spring is peaking its head out of the clouds and the mercury is going to stay on the north side of 40 for a few days. Even better than that, there is this big orange thing in the sky, which if I remember from somewhere back in October or November was the Sun. However, it could just be a figment of my rain and snow addled mind.

It is good to see other bikes on the road again. Being a year round bike rider it sometimes gets lonely out on the road. However, the opposite of what you would expect, where you can usually assume NO ONE SEES YOU, it is funny that when it is 20 degrees and while the roads are clear there is snow on the ground, the fact that you are on a bike catches people off guard enough that YOU ARE SPOTTED. They not only see you, they point, and almost drive off the road and cause accidents looking at you, which you then have to watch out for their reckless shocked reactions, rather than just the indifference you become used to. Which just goes to the saying, don’t get too comfortable.

While it is good to see more other riders out again it did have a surreal experience the other day…

It was the first REALLY beautiful riding day we have had around here in a LONG time. Temp in the high 50's-low 60's sunny with dry roads. It was great. I was on the bike Downtown Tulsa, as I am during the day (I work there). Another rider on a Harley look-a-like pulls up next to me at a traffic light, we exchange nods, and he says...

"Isn't it nice to be able to get the bikes out again?"

I'm dumbfounded! What I want to say is, "I don't know about you but there have only been about 14 days all winter that I haven't been on this bike." OR, "I rode to work the day it was 9, why haven't you been riding?" OR, "I put this bike back on the road after the snow the first day I thought I could safely find a wet but not icy path to the office."

What I actually said was...

"Well, it is nice to not have such a cold wet day to ride."

As I pulled away I thought to myself, did he not look at my bike as he pulled up behind me, it is covered in road grime because I haven't had time to clean it up (my motto I'd rather ride than polish.) And I though, surely road grime can't be mistaken for garage dust?

Not that I expect everyone to ride like me, heck at times I think I’m silly for choosing to ride on the days I ride, but I have always dreamed of living my life on the back of a bike. It was the assumption that I had just pulled it out of the garage that got me. I learned a LONG time ago not to make such assumptions. Such as, the big guy covered in tattoos with long hair and a beard down to his chest… don’t assume he rides a Harley (I’ve got a couple of Goldwing riding buds who look like they came straight out of the outlaw clubs, and for all I know they did.) And NEVER assume they are outlaws! It amazes me how many of those old tattooed guys are former military, police, firemen, and other very “structured” professions. So I may comment on the weather, but I would never assume just because someone’s chrome was all polished that they were a weekend rider, or just pulled the bike out of the garage. For all I know they own a detail shop and keep their bike pristine even riding it all winter in all weather…. Enough rambling….

Now for the Oklahoma spring weather…. Bring on the tornados.



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Introduction - The begining of Zen

I have resisted for years writing a blog. Largely because I spent most of my life telling everyone who I could make listen, everything I thought. And I actually thought they wanted to know. After many years, and much pounding into my head I learned that most of them did not want to hear what I thought about anything, much less EVERYTHING.

However, recently I have been convinced that I actually have something to say. And that I probably had something to say back then, it was more the approach to the message. So, this time I am taking a more Zen like approach to disseminating my wisdom to the world. (Wisdom being said with tongue firmly in cheek, as it is more likely my ramblings being disseminated.) Thus, with this blog, and my new Twitter account no one is forced to listen, they can tune me out to their hearts content.

As for the purpose and content of this blog, you will have to read my next post (and the hundreds to follow) to determine that. Because it is going to be a general rambling of my own ideas on subject ranging from Family, Politics, Motorcycles, Religion, Music, Theater, Art, Food, TV, Law, Education, Travel, Business, Personal Growth, and whatever else I come up with.

If you are still reading I thank you and welcome you to my world, and yes the sky is sometimes blue.

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