Living in the Moment

Although it's a cliche", I truly believe people need to Live in the Moment. Although I'm definitely one to plan, in recent times I've really tried to enjoy the now instead of worrying too much about the future. I have a 3 year and 7 year plan of what I want for the next part of my life and I cannot panic by the fact that those plans are in constant change and adjustment. The 50th tour will be a lesson in "living in the moment"
I have a 3 week motorcycle ride in which the only place I need to be is in or around Salt Lake City around Mother's day to pick up  and back in Sacramento by May 23rd.

You see.....I've extended the 50th birthday tour. My younger brother Paul (from Saucier, Ms) and my older brother Mike (from Milton Fl) have invited me to the Pensacola area for 3 days of golf. So I've submitted another 2 days of vacation and in addition to Memorial day and 2 sick days, the tour goes into a 4th week.
pensacola 2008
I may have the edge since I don't drink

Born to be Wild

 

Move over Peter Fonda, I'm climbing aboard.  And  I'm not riding Bitch.

People can separate us real  bikers from those wannabe's by terminology used. Us  Real Bikers use words like "shovel head", "knuckle head" "pan head" . We put all of our stuff in a checker board pattern hobo bag.  We ride with the wind with nothing in our way but the open road.

Wannabe's use terms like "Road Glide", "Electra Glide Classic", "Touring Bike", "Geezer Bike".  They use "pizza boxes and tour pack racks.  They use Garmin GPS units..

I ride a "Street-glide-HEAD"

My question is how is this "real biker" going to get all this shit in my little hobo bag?

plus the rest of my stuff....tent, sleeping bag, underwear, socks, shirts, tooth paste, razor.  The pile is going to get bigger as the week moves on.

The Teamster Turns 50

Well....sort of... Although my actual birthday is April 30th, my family held a 50th birthday celebration for me last night. In addition, we celebrated Mom's birthday as well (her's was on the 8th of April). Those in attendance were Mom, Dad, Michael, Oliver, Dawn, Dave, Nikki, Katherine (niece),  , Gwen, Hayden and Dylan.
I'd like to thank everyone for the cards plus Mom, Dad, Michael, Steven, Dawn, Dave, Nikki, and  chipped in and got me a gift certificate from Elk Grove Harley for $400.00. I was pleasantly shocked and thankful.

Over the next couple of

Over the next couple of days im going to be practicing posts directly from my phone. Some in text and some In picture form

Bald or Balding

 

We all have defining moments in our life. ...

One of many defining moments in my life was on a warm summer day in early June of 1993....Michael was 12 and Steven was 10.  I was a little league coach and on the school site council for the local elementary school.  I always had a baseball hat on.....You see......since I was about 23, I have been "balding".  One day at the barber shop getting a haircut, something felt funny while the barber was clipping away.  I couldn't put my finger on it, but something didn't seem or feel right.  As he turned my chair around, low and behold...he had cut me a comb over.  I was ephen 25 years old and this old man cuts my hair and my part is 1/4 inch above my ear....he says "hey mac, it's about time you face the facts"...my reply was "hey mac, you need to face the facts that you look like a moron with your comb over"...I just told him to "butch" it...I spent the next decade with the constant baseball cap on, hiding my balding head, and no one really knew I was "balding" except family and a few close friends.

Fast forward to 1993.  I'm 34 years old and have been wanting to shave my head for the past few months....The boys and I were living in Rio Linda California.  The same one that Rush Limbaugh has always made fun of.  It is somewhat of a "rural", "crank cooking" "hell's angels" type of area.  My son's did NOT want me to shave....They thought the kids at school would associate me with "skinheads".  I respected their wishes until one day......they gave me the OK...I guess they had been talking with each other  and I was well known enough in the community that  nobody would think I was any type of "skin head". 

So I shaved.  It was an instant transformation from "Balding" to "Bald"  I INSTANTLY liked the way I looked.  My confidence zoomed.  I have rarely had a baseball hat on since.  I do wear a hiking/fishing type hat to protect from sun burn, but never wear a hat to cover up my 'balding" look.

As everyone knows, I'm starting my 50th birthday tour in about a week and will be away from family and friends for almost a month.  What a perfect opportunity to grow my hair back.  (take notice that I use the term "hair", as in singular, because there's not much of it)

Depending on how the itch feels under my helmet, I may come home from my trip with a "full" head of hair..

DEE-SELL-HER-HATE-STUPID

That's going to be my custom made license plate. 

I am a professional driver.  I ride a motorcycle.  I watch Nascar.  This makes me qualified to post on the subject of stupid ephen drivers. 

I don't suffer from Road Rage; however I sometimes suffer from Road Frustration.

I'm a very safe driver while at work.  I represent the company while driving and understand the importance of "big rigs" driving in a safe and courteous manner.

I'm an extremely safe motorcycle rider.  I use many of my "big rig" habits while on my bike.  I make eye contact with those around me, I watch the on ramps for cars entering the freeway, plus I only ride my bike for recreation, not for commute.

I have learned quite a bit from Nascar.  I watch the likes of  Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin race with the classiest of them all.  I've learned the art of gracefully wrecking friends and foes alike from Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.  I use the term "bump draft the mother epher into the wall" and "you're not going to pass me on my right asshole"....but I consider myself a safe driver.

Here is my problem.  The Highway Patrol spends too much time making sure people have their seat belts on (if someone wants to be thrown from their vehicle, it's the Darwin system of elimination).  They pull people over for talking on their cell phones and write them a 20 dollar ticket.

In my humble opinion, this is what they should be focusing on. 

1.  Tail gating.  Everyone thinks that "speed" kills.  It does not...Tail gating kills.  If someone is driving 100 miles an hour and leave themselves room to react to changing conditions, they'd be fine.  If that same someone is driving 50 miles an hour while riding the 3 feet from the car in front of them, and the car in front of them drives over debris, that person doesn't have time to react.  Highway Patrol should be targeting and ticketing tail gaters. 

2.  Taking away someone's safety zone.  This happens to me at least once a day.  While driving my "big rig" and leaving plenty of space between me and the car in front of me (the tail gate issue), a car will cut in front of me and take away that safety zone.  Often cars will do that just before and exit and almost hit the front of my vehicle as they cut across 2 lanes of traffic to make the exit instead of waiting the 12 seconds  to stay in back of me and exit.

3.  Lane selection;  if you want to drive 3 or more miles per hour below the speed limit, stay in the right hand lane.....you should be targeted and ticketed.

4.  Although my number 4 is probably the least dangerous, it's the one that pisses me off the most.  Drivers have lost the art of decelleration.  Cars will be travelling 10 to 20 miles and hour faster then the car in front of them and instead of letting their foot off the gas to adjust their speed, they keep up the faster pace until they have to slam on their brakes to avoid ramming the slower car in front of them.....Putting on your brakes on the interstate is dangerous....and should be targeted and ticketed. 

Thanks to all those who read this for the "vent" and stay the eph out of my way...........

I'm a buyer, not a shopper

 

Disclaimer....this is still practice.  I'm wanting to be proficient at blogging before my trip.

On of my favorite sayings is "success isn't measured by what we have, but by what we can live without"

For  those who don't know me, I would describe myself as a frugal person.  I don't spend a lot of time shopping and usually make a purchase as a buyer, not a shopper. I research what I need, find the best value and when I go to the store, I make a purchase (quick strike and get out with little or no damage)  I very, very rarely buy things on impulse. I buy things for need instead of want; mainly because there isn't a lot I want and very little I need.  I try to make purchases for quality instead of quantity.  I don't buy the cheapest nor the most expensive and I don't shop at Wal Mart. 

Recently I made two purchases which is a lot for me.  Here is an example of what I do for me...

 

this is an aftermarket windshield for my motorcycle.  It's only 2 inches taller than the stock one, but has a unique design to push more of the wind over my head instead right at my torso.

 

 

 

 

12 8 packs for only 20 dollars.  on sale at save mart for 2 dollars each, plus I grabbed 4 packs that had a dollar coupon for every 3 8 packs. 

 

A New Skill

As per suggestion and encouragement, I need to have my camera with me more often. My regular camera is a Nikon D 70. It's a little big to carry around in some places, and illegal for me to carry onto some military bases, Lawrence Livermore Lab, and Sandia Lab (a couple of Dept. of Energy work sites) that I deliver to. When I go to these places, the guards do a thorough search of my truck and would confiscate my camera or not allow me to enter their facility.

Periodically I'll sent a work situation picture from my phone. So I decided to take a couple pictures of my usual "Tuesday" night gig. I enjoy the game of racquetball and I've recently had the opportunity to play with a friend (captain Dave). He lives and works about 25 minutes from me and we alternate locations to play. One week we play in my town and the next week in his town. Both of us are pretty competitive and we play extremely hard for 5 games. Last week I won 3 of 5, this week "Captain" Dave won 3 of 5. Here is a picture that I took and a couple that Dave took of me...

Another blog skill learned and practiced. Plus this post only took about 10 minutes to create...

Technorati Tags: cell phone pics,racquetball,captain dave

I got distracted

Not by being busy, but by my reason for this blog. Someone from another blog had written on the subject of unions. I replied, but felt the responsibility to post my own philosophy on whether unions are needed in this economy.

After 4 days of careful research and deep soul-searching, I realized that my reason for blogging was for my trip, not to become a writer. I was spending too much time writing the perfect post when my goal is to be able to write from the road and write quickly.

I'm writing this post from the "Byron Inn Cafe" during my lunch and break from work (negotiated by the Teamsters). In fact, I wrote it in about 12 minutes...had to eat my sausage and home fries...