ramblings2009b » Page 1 of 1

5/7/09

...a third of the year gone, and "THAT" season begins next month. I haven't paid much, if any, attention to the early forecasts but my roof is ready whether I am or not. It was time for a new roof anyway so I started researching all this stuff. I now have a 26ga. ash gray steel roof. I figure any storm that takes that roof off will take the house as well, so this should be the last roof that "I" ever have to put on my house. Everything I've read says it should be good for the next 40-50 years and I'm not counting on living to be more than 100.

Despite being Thunder Beach weekend, both D&D's open house and the ABATE bike and car show at Pensacola Beach had pretty good turnouts. Those were the only events I attended, but there were plenty to be had. In case you haven't noted, on the "What's Happening" page, those events presented at the annual planning meeting are in bold italics and underlined while the "pop-up" events are just in italics. I try to put my support behing those who cared to show up at the planning meeting, although there are some worthy ones out there who didn't.

If you see me out in the S-10 instead of the on the scoot for the next few days, I'm probably on codeine. I had the last 5 bottom teeth pulled yesterday and a full plate put in. Chewing is not going well yet. I hope the folks north of I-10 didn't get washed away the past few days, either. We got 3.5" here in Myrtle Grove on Monday, the the roofers and I have been lucky with only the faintest of sprinkles Tuesday and Wednesday. Y'all take care, ride safe, and I'll seeya at PMS ,if not on the road!

5/19/09

Oh, quit your caterwauling about my not updating; I'm still here. I AM grateful I have readers who care enough to check up on me, though. On the health front, that's part of why I've been kinda quiet here. The dosage on the Synthroid seems to be about right, and I've had the hot riding days to check it out. No, the problem has been the teeth...or lack of same. The mouth just hasn't been healing fast enough and without lower teeth, I'm just not the happy camper I usually have been. I have discovered all kinds of food that I can eat. Just not many of them are available on the road.

If you go out riding in Baldwin County, you might want to check out the Barber Marina. This is the same Barber as Barber Museum and Motorsports Park. Forgive me for not remembering route numbers but, if you're heading toward Pirate's Cove in Josephine, take the right at the Barber sign and then the left on their 2 mile+ driveway. It's a really nice, smooth, asphalt all the way to Wolf Bay, I suppose, but look for the dinosaurs in the woods! Also, at the end, check out the clubhouse decking. This is only going to be available for us commoners to see for a little while. Barber's plan is to make this a gated community for the uber-rich and I doubt seriously any of my readers will qualify. If any of you do, will you adopt me?

This past Saturday, I rode over to Navarre to check out the Southern Cruisers dice run out of Cocodries. I don't think they really planned on Navarre Beach having their Fun Day at the same time. The entire beach parking lot was taken up with vendors and such, and traffic was horrendous. It was a slow slog all the way to Pensacola Beach and traffic wasn't much better from that end. Remind me not to try to ride the island on a weekend until summer is over!

Well, it's a beautiful, cool, Tuesday morning so I think I'm going to take a ride. Y'all enjoy work and when you do get to ride your scoot, be careful...it's scarey out there!

6/2/09

I've been riding a lot lately, but not for a day or so now. I went to my VA dermatology Doc yesterday and he had a field day with his liquid nitrogen gun. I think he was getting off on spritzing me, but the blisters on my face and arms wouldn't feel very good if they busted in the wind.

We had a great turnout for our baby run at PMS last weekend. The final numbers aren't in yet, but it looks like we may have raised something in excess of $18K for the Baptist Hospital NICU. This was with only two month's planning; wait 'til next year! Our next event is Hogs For Dogs, on June 27. This will be to collect supplies, not money, for the Pensacola Humane Society Shelter. For the dogs, they need Purina puppy and dog chow, as well as canned Pedigree, Ol' Roy and chopped Alpo. The kitties need Purina Kitten chow, non-fish canned Fancy Feast, canned Science Diet and Friskies kitten food. There's a whole bunch of other stuff such as cat litter, scratching posts, covered litter pans and a varied assortment of cleaning and office items as well. We'll pull out of PMS at 3PM to deliver the goods and then come back to party to live music. If you have any questions on particulars, call PMS at 850.607.7769. End of commercial!

Hopefully, these blister will heal by the end of the week and I'll see you on the road somewhere. Take care and ride safe!

6/9/09

Most all of the blisters have cleared up except one...and it just doesn't seem to want to cooperate. I must be getting old. I had amost satisfying ride last weekend; it was the first time since Ivan the Terrible that I've been able to ride from Navarre Beach to the end of Ft Pickens Rd, in the fort! It'll be a lot better after the bird nesting season, when I can go faster than 15mph inside the park.

It's turning into a fun battle of the bike nights. On Friday nights, Tequila Mexican Restaurant, on 98 past the Naval Hospital, is offering live music, fodd and drink specials, as well as a bikini contest. For $250, the ladies were really shaking it. Tonight, at Hooters on Bayou, I found out why the sport bike contingent was lacking: the Ale House at Airport and Davis was offering biker specials...and their parking lot is a LOT bigger than Hooters'. Now, I'd be real happy if we could just get the Sonic on Fairfield going on Tuesday nights again...a good chocolate malt is a lot harder to find than a cold beer.

It looks like good riding weather for the next week, so maybe I'll see you on the road. Be safe, and be happy.

6/23/09

I sure wish I could remember what I was doing last week that was so important that I didn't get around to updating here. Oh...maybe that WAS the problem: nothing memorable happened. I DO remember doing a nice Baldwin County loop last Friday, looking for the alleged Balloon Festival. I rode over on 98 and, having not yet seen any signs directing there, I headed north on the beach bypass and approached Foley from the north. I rode all the way to Gulf Shores and still saw NOTHING about the Festival. They sure did want people over there, didn't hey?

The plus side of this trip (other than just the nice ride, despite the heat) was that I stopped by Gulf Shores Powersports to se if anybody there knew whether '08 and up stock 1300R pipes would fit an '06. Nobody knew, but the plus was that they had the new Honda Fury on the floor. It looks even better than any of the pictures I've seen

in the magazines or on-line. Better yet is sitting on it! Being a hard-bag & windshield guy, myself, I wouldn't want it for the road, but the ergonomics fit me like a glove! I wouldn't even have had to adjust the shifter or rear brake pedal for my size-13's like I usually have to. I wonder, though, if that means you regular-sized people wouldn't like it? Just give it a shot in the saddle if you get the chance.

I took another nice loop in the other direction on Saturday, stopping by Ben's Cycles new place, the Grand Opening of Pace Southern Cycle, and then on to Pine Forest. Again, the riding was a tad warm but at least was proof to me that I'm over the Grave's Disease. The only riding since then was to the ABATE meeting and then home to catch NASCAR. Yesterday, I was in a focus group and had to sign such a confidentiality agreement that I may be zapped by a space-based laser if I ever divulge any more than that. I got paid for it though. It's been a long time since I've been paid $20/hour. Besides, it's no fun riding at 101 degrees!

Well, y'all take care while I do my laundry and go grocery shopping in the cool (HA!) of the morning. Be safe and I'll seeya on the road.

6/30/09

It's been another not-too-memorable week for riding 'cause it's been just plain too hot! All of my riding has been in the evenings, and not much of that. I didn't even make the Hawgs for Dogs run on Saturday but, instead, dropped off a donation of cash during the morning while I was out shopping.

Saturday night, though, I did ride over to Pensacla Beach to catch Ultraviolet's first gig in years. Yup, they still sound as good as they ever did but now I also remembered why I don't usually venture to the beach in the Summer! Even at 10PM, the traffic was acting stupid (that's not fair to "traffic"; the people driving were acting stupid). It was a lot more peaceful on this side of the bay.

It was so nice and relatively cool this morning that I decided to take a ride about 10AM. I was cruising on out Blue Angel to pick up Mobile Hwy when I was noticing a lot of headlights coming my way. When I cleared the curve before Saufley Field Road, I could see what looked like a solid wall of rain about where the back road to the fairgrounds was. I turned a long ride into a short one and got home with only a few drops. Since I was already out and about, it was time to do some delayed maintenance. I'd been noticing some cool-down gurgling after rides so I decided to burp my coolant system. While I had the tank off, I remembered I was kinda behind on changng plugs, too. while I was doing that, I cleaned the insides of my plug covers and side covers for what was eveidently the first time since I've had the bike.

All in all, it's been a sweaty, but productive day...nothing you can see, but what I needed to do. Maybe I'll even get to ride this evening! Y'all take care and I'll seeya when I seeya!

7/7/09

I woke up early this morning to the sound of rain on my metal roof. It was a doubly pleasant sound since I had been having a nightmare...and I was glad to escape. I was in a large city somewhere, trying to get home, and I couldn't figure out the public transit maps posted on nearly every corner. As best as I can remember, they would take me anywhere, EXCEPT where I had to go. As soon as I determined that a particular route map wouldn't work, I'd fight the crowds to another corner...another, different, route map...and discover the same thing. I was becoming exhausted and frantic! As I lay in bed, transitioning from this near panic state to the calming sound of the rain, I realized my nightmare was actually nearly true memories of being a "suit" in Washington, D.C., and Louisville, KY. and other centers of urban sprawl. DAMN, it's good to be home!

The closest I've come to all that was this weekend when, after leaving the Firecracker Bike Show in Milton, I got stuck in a miles-long (2-3, anyway) backup on I-10. When the average speed is between zero and about half of 1st gear idle, a clutchless motorcycle sounded like a real good idea. I thought about getting into the shoulder lane but I could see cars and trucks ahead darting over there, so I opted for the safer, law-abiding, approach. I was joined by a Harley dresser who came to the same conclusion after he was almost sideswiped while doing it. His scoot was overheating and down to one cylindar well before we ever got to the wreck and were able to resume speed. Yup, I like my liquid-cooled V-twin.

Y'all take care and ride safe now, y'hear! I'll seeya when I seeya.

7/14/09

Kinda contemplative after this past weekend... It was good to see old friends at Syl Holley's commemorative this last weekend, but sad that it was about the only place we did. Some of us we yakking and decided to try to revive the Fairfield Sonic Tuesday evening get together. The game plan is for somebody to be parked out front around 7 and see if we can draw the others back. Hooters on Bayou is just too big a hassle and the traffic is deadly.

Going back to Saturday up at Quintette Park, it was a good day and although I didn't suffer the same effects I had before getting treated for the Graves' Disease, I still over did it with the heat. I guess I'm gonna have to start acting my age, once in a while...at least when it comes to looking out for myself. After all, if I crap out, who's gonna take care of Mom?

I haven't checked the weather yet, but if it isn't raining, I'll probably be at Sonic for a bit this evening; maybe I'll seeya there? Be safe, y'all!

7/24/09

Hmmm, been riding a quite a bit but not a lot to report. I just checked my log and I figure 3 fill-ups in 5 days should have produced SOMETHING to talk about, but the only thing I can think of right now is that Bayou Blvd Hooters Bike Night seems to be a bust; there were only cars in the lot when I came by. I sure would like to get Fairfield Sonic going again on that night but I can't seem to get ny takers.

Thursday evenings at PMS have been going well, though. Even last night after the rain had a good turnout, although I was in the truck. It was still wet when I was headed downtown to the library and it seemed kinda pointless to ride less than 5 miles. That wouldn't even get the exhaust system dry!

I'm 'spermentin' with my horn on the scoot. Over the years, I've always had them go bad, I guess from all the dirt, grit and wet they get being right behind the front wheel. Rather than buy a new one this time (37K miles..about normal), while I was cleaning the front end ( there's no good way to get the chrome shiny without removing the windshield) this morning, I blew a bunch of brake cleaner into it 'til it was dripping, and then blew it out with my compressor (90 lbs oughta do it). I'll let you know how that works out when I ride later.

Heck, that's enough for now. I'm gonna take a shower and see if I can go through a few more tanks of gas this weekend. Seeya on the road, or on BikerorNot.com. Be safe!

7/30/09

Lessee now, first Hooters' bike night seems to have fallen apart and now, the Tequila Mexican restaurant's Friday bike night has seemed to have called it quits. Maybe, some folks are finding out that welcoming bikers just when they want them instead of all the time just doesn't work out. No accusations, folks, just thinking out loud.

For those following the cheapskate saga, my horn maintenance only seems to last for a short time and then it reverts to its old, croupy, self. After pricing an OEM replacement at $51 (gasp!) I went to O'Reilly's for $13.99. Maybe I'll go for a better sound someday...but I'm cheap(...and easy too)!

Between the heat and the unsettled weather the past few days, the riding mileage is a bit down. I did get out last night, though, and wound up at PMS. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll be there tonight, as well. I just hope I have a shot at some riding first. Ordinarily, I'd be at the concert in Seville early, but I just can't handle The Sawmill Band. I made it through about 15 minutes last year, and that fulfilled my country music quota for the foreseeable future.

Hope to see y'all out and about. Ride safe and watch out for those cell-phone-eared lane drifters.