Nothing In Particular

Well, as you've noticed it's been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted. Truth be told, I really should be doing something else right now, but...
Let's see... I've been doing quite a bit of riding, lately. Mostly to work & back, but that can be quite a ride in itself. Working in construction means I'm moving from one location to another all the time. Friday I was working right down the street from my house, Thursday I was a lot farther away. So I roll with it. That's why Kate has the saddlebags, so I can carry my tools from one place to another.
As I was preparing to leave work on Thursday, I started receiving a lot of static from co-workers because they thought I should have another guy who was going to the same job Friday carry my tools on his truck. I wanted to bring them home so I could take out some that I knew I wouldn't need at the new site. Apparently , they don't understand the ingenuity that bikers posses. I do take a few of the heavier tools out & put them in the opposite bag, to keep the weight balanced better. I know the bags are only rated for a certain weight and I'm rather sure I exceed that on a regular basis. I also understand product liability and the process by which those weight ratings are established, so I take the responsibility on myself. I don't heavily overload the bags, I just use sense. I mean, come on seven pounds?
I had a couple of things that I special ordered from San Diego Harley last weekend that I hadn't heard about, so I gave them a call yesterday. My parts were in. I just hadn't gotten a call. So, I went down to pick them up. I took the truck and the whole family went. As usual, there was a party going on. They have some kind of event every Saturday. So after I got my parts ( A new cover and a hardware rack) we looked around, did some shopping and had lunch. I don't know who the band was but they did a great cover of Johnny Cash's Hey Porter and some other great songs. I wonder if Junkyard would be willing to play one of these?
The new cover fits great. It's a Nelson Riggs. I picked it because it's UV rated and Lifetime Guaranteed. While those are fine selling points, I'm not impressed with the customer service I've received from their website. I sent a very professional looking business style email, complete with greeting, opening and closing, asking what size to get and explaining that it was for a 2007 FXSTCI with saddlebags and windshield. Their response was simply "An XL would fit well".
Ok, I realize I'm a bit anal, but I would hope that anyone in sales would try a little harder to be polite and professional. I decided to look past it & order the cover anyway, figuring it was maybe a less than educated person on the computer, but when I got the cover, an XL just like they recommended, I practically needed a shoe horn to get it on the bike and no way were the straps going to reach to tie it on. I took it off, folded it up & shoved it back into the box. I called the Dealership & told them the problem. To their credit, there was no hassle, no problem. They told me to take it back & order the right size, now that I was sure what that was. A lot of dealerships would have made me send it back through the manufacturer. I highly commend San Diego Harley for their assistance in clearing this up.
As For the cover, the XXL fits great, and I'll let you know if it fails to stand up to the UV, or if they fail to honor their Lifetime Warranty.
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I can be such an Idiot sometimes. I bought tickets for my whole family to see Junkyard Several months ago. Now the show is next Saturday & we've just realized that my oldest son is working on crew for his high school musical and their final performance is the same night. I forgot to put the concert on his conflict sheet and now he's stuck. I can't let him walk away from his commitment, and I can't blame him for being disappointed in missing the show.
I asked his teacher if she could spare him for that one night, but she said no and now I'm wondering if I even should have asked. It's not her fault I spaced it. To top it off, my wife isn't sure she wants to go, so I may be eating two tickets.
Have I mentioned that I'm ADD? In my case that may stand for "A Damn Dumbass".
Take care, all. I'll Catch you on the road...

55 Degrees of Seperation

As you're probably realizing by now, I lead a very busy life. I have a full time job (that I'm actually working at again), I am going to college (perpetually chasing a better life. Hey, you're never too old to learn, right?), and I'm trying like hell to raise two boys in a positive lifestyle. Add to that, my wife wants to spend time with me for some reason (What's She thinking?). Just for the record, I bitch & whine about her a lot but it really says something that she's put up with all of my antics & shit for as long as she has. I should give her more credit for that.
ANYWAY, (sorry, I got off topic). The fact is, I usually only get time to myself for things like, oh, I don't know, Say, riding a Harley or writing a blog, for instance, Late at night or early in the morning, when everyone else is asleep. Sometimes my schedule gets even worse and it will take me some time to get back. Don't think I've forgotten ya'all, ok?
For these same reasons I try to combine things I have to do with things I want to do. It may be the only way to do what I want. For instance, I HAVE to go to work... at least until my career as a lottery winner takes off. I WANT to ride...(almost) anytime, anywhere., so when I got Kate, I bought saddlebags so I can haul my tools & stuff for work. Now I ride to work. This actually works out very well. Except this last week.
I was working at a Casino on a Native American reservation about 50 miles from my house. Every morning before work I get up & get online to check the weather at the job site. Monday through Wednesday, It looked very cold at that time of the morning, so I drove the car. When I got to work it felt much warmer than the temperature said it was and I ended up regretting not riding. Finally, on Thursday I looked at the temps. It said that at that zip code the temp was 54 degrees. NO PROBLEM!
Yeah, right.
The casino I work at is at the bottom of a canyon. That 54 degrees... yeah, that was at the top of the mountain. Had I looked at a few of the surrounding localities I would have found that the actual temperature at work was 37 bone chilling, finger frosting degrees. Holy Hell, I thought my fingers were going to fall off. It was about an hour after I got there before I could pick up my tools with any dexterity.
Granted, the temperature raised significantly before the day was done, to a high of about 92 degrees. Which provided a new problem.
Working in the desert, I filled the free space in my saddlebag with a small lunch (A protein bar & a banana), and bottled water. I did not save room for my vest, and if I had, I wouldn't have had room for my leather jacket for the ride home. So, for the ride home I went to the opposite extreme and wore my leather jacket, with the vents open (I'm not STUPID) and the sleeves sticking to my arms from the mixture of sweat & sunscreen (I think I've discovered the formula for superglue!).
But, you know what? I loved every second of the ride, both ways. There are very few things that can take a person's mind off of southern California traffic, But the ride, combined with the pinpoint focus brought on by extreme temperatures managed to make the traffic disappear. Although on the ride home, I saw something that set my mind to wandering, So, I had to share.
Vacation Anyone?
Please forgive the picture quality, I took this with my cell phone & I couldn't really see the screen due to the glare of the sunlight.
This place is just about a mile down the road from th Casino.
And, For the record, No, I did not climb the wall to look inside. (I've already been asked). I would be afraid to. I know the thoughts that come to mind feature beautiful young naked women playing volleyball (or tennis according to the sign... Hmmm. Don't trip...) but the fantasy is probably better than the actuality, so, I'll just hang on to the mental images & not take the risk.
What do you think?

Oh, and for the record, I drove the car on Friday... I'll make it up to Kate by giving her a bath & taking her for a ride to buy a new cover... Does anyone else ever feel guilty for not riding or taking care of their bike as often as they should?