Tuesday, May 31, 2016

It may not be much, but it has Mpg bragging rights


WHAT is it WITH OLD people?

Remember when you were a kid, you would go on a road trip and you were miserable, trapped in the back seat with your sibling or siblings as your parents drove you all over creation. A trip to Rhode Island, to say Rocky Point, seemed an eternity in the car, a trip to Maine was a lifetime.  But if someone asked you about a trip or a vacation you told them about all the cool stuff you did or saw. 

As you got older you would take pictures, The Mayflower, Airplanes, cars, boats, motorcycles, horses, dogs, farms...anything different. You related your experiences to your friends. 

Then there were Sundays at the grand parents, the entire family would show up. They would be talking about a trip they took, to Lancaster PA, Watkins Glen New York, A Cruise ship to the Bahamas. Would they have photos? Sure, of them sitting with friends around a table somewhere. They would tell you all about their trip, the trip would seem to be from one restaurant to another, All they ever talked about was the food they had.

At what point, at what age is it that we reach where there is no more doing or seeing?  There is no activity other than the drive and some place to stop and eat. 

I ask this for a reason, it would seem my age group is rapidly entering that period in our lives. Some one recently went on a trip across three states and into a fourth. It was a rather long ride, there should have been things to see along the way, buildings, animals, vehicles, historic sites, something, anything.   But no...

I have on my phone, a visual collection of their trip from photos they sent. There is a State sign, there are two photos of a restaurant, there is one photo of food at the restaurant, There are two photos of menus, two photos of other eating establishments, and another one or two photos of food, one looks to be an order of blueberries with some sort of breakfast pastry beneath it. 










Pursuit Chickens

To be honest I did receive two photos with chickens in them, but they were probably on the menu.

Did your parents or grand parents shoot 8mm or super 8 movies? Were there endless hours of footage taken out of the windshield?

I got one of those photos also, rain and a windshield wiper.

So now we all know what we are degenerating into, blind traveling, food fixated, weather complaining old folks.

Pretty soon we'll be talking about how the food affected us, what illnesses or age related issues we have, and endless hours of how we feel or felt at any given moment. 

You know why old people talk about the weather so often? It's because it's almost a safe subject. You are visiting your grandmother, she opens the door, what do you say?

How are you?    NO, She will tell you.
How have you been? NO, She will tell you
What's new? NO, to an older person What's new would be a new ailment.
So you say, Hello Grandma, Gee nice weather isn't it.
This will give you (on a warm dry day) a short reprieve, but it will lead to health issues. 

At what age do we not care about self-value? There is a point where your modesty is over taken by your need to have attention.
This is quickly indicated when you ask, Grandma, how are you? 
And she replies that "She messed herself last night"

That was her high point for the day, something different from the norm.

We will all be there,  sooner or later.

Dream Ride



https://www.dreamride.org/

AUGUST 26-28, 2016

Farmington Polo Club | Farmington, CT

Benefit Ride July 31st


Lord of the Rings Return Fellowship of Brokeback Doom


Ride Report, Sunday Curtis BBQ return trip.

I awoke early Sunday morning, turned on the television to watch the Formula One race in Monaco.
 My job for the Sunday ride was to lead the return ride. I called Dave at about 9:45 to inform him I would not be departing with the Club but would catch up along the way. He informed me that there was a ride change and that because only 5 bikes showed up they were going to Bear's Smokehouse BBQ in Windsor CT instead of Curtis. This actually worked out much better for me, with no return ride to lead, I finished the race then went to Mystic to watch the tourists. I returned home, dropped off the Dyna in favor of the Darden. I fired that up and rode it most of the rest of the holiday weekend.


Unlike the Dyna, you can cruise on this all day without any pain. 

Below is a map of the Sunday ride return trip.


Saturday, May 28, 2016

Anyone signing over their lives?

(yes, they fed me)












It's hard to work when you are starving

It's also impossible to come up with any other blog subject when all you can think about is food.
I wish, right now my Mother and/or Grandmother were still alive.

I can't remember the last time I had one of my favorite dishes.

Sauerbraten:   Exact translation would be Sour Fry, except, it isn't fried. Sour Meat or roast would be more accurate. It's a roast with gravy. The meat marinates in red wine vinegar, bay leaves, cloves, ginger snaps cookies, and onions, souring the meat. Yes crushed cookies.

And with Sauerbraten you need Rotkohl

Rotkohl is red Cabbage with diced apple, onions, bay leaves, red currant jam, juniper berries, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper simmered slowly and long.

Now since you have a roast and gravy you need something to put the gravy over, Spaetzle.

Spaetzle or a German egg noodle which are soft and stick together, often called sticky noodles.

and because you can, you will want Kartoffelknodels (Potato Dumplings)







 Not exactly overjoyed with the carrots added in these photos, That is more Americanized.







Oh yes, by the way,  Potato Salad.   Potato salad in Germany is served Hot :   Kartoffelsalat


I'm not sure exactly what it is...But I want it


How much do you know about Computer Gaming?


One Left


Mister David Adams and Keith Gowin have claimed the other two

I ran a Insect height test last night

On Thursday I was out on the Dyna in the evening and my arms and face were pummeled by flying insects, and in case you live behind a windshield and a fairing, those things sting when they smack into you.

Last night I took out Charlene and conducted a height test. 

Most of the flying hazards maintain a low, one to two foot altitude, as you can see by the lowers


From the top of the lowers to just above the headlight appears to be the second populated flight height.

From the headlight up is the least populated zone, but bear in mind the aerodynamics of the fairing does push the insects away from impact.

The next process of this impact study will be the placing of a rider on a Dyna without a windshield. The rider will be wearing an insect impact determination suit.




Friday, May 27, 2016

One of those Strange Coincidences

I rode through Mystic on Thursday, and some one from a Parked Car yelled out "HEY!"

It was Carey Nielson, he was in from California because his son had a child, This by the way makes Carey an eleven time Grandparent, (I knew he was old). He was here for the week. 

I find it strange that I rode through Mystic, which I don't usually do, but to do it during a one week time frame that some one is here from the other side of the country?

I can tell you he is looking for a motorcycle, his was totaled in CA. It can be a single seater, because since the accident his wife will no longer ride a motorcycle. Getting plowed into on the side of your bike leaves tell tale signs, like a hell of a lot of scaring and chunks of muscle missing. (Both he and the wife have matching injuries).

Loosing part of your leg deters alot of people from riding again, but you have to remember, this is a former Secret Service person, who was Military Bomb disposal, and used to get dragged behind a motorcycle wearing steel shoes as part of a stunt act. He also used to ride in and crash his bike as part of the show, the ambulance would roll in, leave him lying on the ground, pick up his motorcycle, throw it in the back and take off with lights and siren, he would then get up and stagger off the accident scene.

The real news is, He has determined that he is too rude of a person to stay in California. He misses the rudeness of the east coast and the saran wrap humidity, So he should be coming home around September.


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What goes :Boom, blam blam whap whap whap ka-thunk doogk doogk thththththth?

That my friends is the sound of the right rear tire exploding in front of you on a tractor trailer. Most of the noise after the initial parting of air is the sound of whats left of the tire beating the shit out of itself against the trailer. the ka-thunks, and doogk doogk are the sounds of the flying debris coming from the tire beating the shit out of itself flopping onto the pavement in front of you. The thththththth is the sound those pieces make as they slide across the pavement trying to kill you.

I was moving along behind a truck in Groton yesterday on my way home when just such an event occurred, I made a flash decision, I didn't want to be in that lane any more. I made a rather aggressive lane change in a much shorter distance than usual and without as much room between the cages as I normally allow for. I believe the person in the cage under stood since received neither a horn blow nor an inappropriate gesture from that vehicle.

What I did find rather interesting was the amount of debris one tire throws up in the air and back at the following vehicles.

Happily I was not next to or coming out from behind this truck when it blew. What could have been really messy was allowed to be "That's something you don't see everyday" and it gave me this chance to tell you about it.

looks something like this by the way.

It's Memorial Day Weekend!!!!

Three days off,  Hotdogs and Burgers, Parties and Picnics. 

Let us not forget why we have these days off.  Memorial day was set aside as a Federal Holiday to Honor and Remember those persons who went above and beyond to protect This Nation. We honor : Those who have Fallen so that this Nation can stand and for the people of this nation to have the Freedom and Rights which we enjoy.

So while you are out this weekend enjoying yourself take a moment to remember. Thousands have lost their lives, both Citizens and those who strove to be Citizens all made the extreme Sacrifice to Create this Nation, Defend this nation and to Protect the People and the rights of the people who enjoy this way of life.

There is an excerpt from a speech by major Michael Davis O'Donnell in 1970 in Vietnam I like to remember. 

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you,
and save one backwards glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go".

I try to do this year round, not just for our Fallen Heroes, but for all of those we have lost in our lives.

If you plan on having flags on your bike, below is the accepted rule for placement. 


 Displaying a US Flag on a Vehicle
 


- Motorcycle

When the US flag is flown alone, it needs be at the center on the back of the motorcycle, or to its "marching right." The "marching right" is on the right side of the motorcycle to the rider's perspective when facing forward. If the US Flag is on your bike with another, it should be to its "marching right." All flags flown with the US Flag are the same size and at the same height of the US Flag. While the US Flag is on your bike with several other flags the US flag is placed at the center and highest. Other flags should be arranged in alphabetical order and in decreasing importance - Nations first, states (in order of admittance) and territories second, military third (in order of establishment), and then any others.


This also allows the American Flag to be highest when there are two flags displayed and the bike is on its side stand.