Bicyclists and Harley riders

Sunday morning was fun. I was driving to Church by myself as the wife and child went earlier to Sunday School and I stayed home to watch the Monaco GP. On the way down the mountain I came to an intersection that is normally cut by car drivers, but at this time it was filled with a pack of about 12 bicyclist. All clad in their spandex and helmets, totally ignoring the rules of the road. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid running over the pack of brightly clad morons and their response is to yell at ME! I had my windows down, so I made it clear that I was not the one in the wrong and if they could not tell their right from their left they should stick to bike paths. I am sure I made no impression on the pack of idiots, but at least I felt better by venting.

Speaking of venting. Saturday I went on the Great Centralia Cook Off (See previous post). The riding was great, nice twisty roads and a good vigorous pace. Off course at one point our group encountered a group of three Harley riders. I have been riding for 36 years and I can spot a good rider from a bad one a mile off. All three of these bozos had little to no skill handling their bikes. Every sweet curve was an exercise of slamming on the brakes in order to avoid running over them. Harleys can handle just fine if you know how. These guys did not know how. It was painful watching the helmetless, t-shirted Milwaukee clones trying to come to grips with their bikes.

I have very little respect for a motorcyclist that does not wear a helmet. I have tried it once at a Rally and hated every minute of it. There was no freedom for me, it was frightening. I just ordered a new helmet today. Cost is always an issue with helmets, the better you get the more expensive they are, however there are bargains to be found out there especially on the interweb.

The Great Centralia MRE Cook-off

Today the Mac-Pac went on a ride of epic proportions. Twelve intrepid members thought that riding to Centralia and cooking MREs would be a good idea. Well, not really, but we did it anyway for Jack.

This is Jack, it was his idea. Actually it was research for an article Jack is going to write for the BMWMOA magazine. Blame him it was hit idea. We mostly met up at the good old Pottstown Family Diner. We ate breaklfast and then we departed for Hermy's BMW shop in Port Clinton. We met up with a couple of other guys and split into two groups. A "fast" group and a "slow" group. The fast group went through various killer backroads while the others toodled along Route 61. We arrived in Ashland, which is right next to Centralia at almost exactly the same time.

At a quick stop, May's Ice Cream, this gentleman ran inside and got a cone. He came out with this one as we were mounting up to go down the road. "How fast can you eat that." Beep beep zip dang!

This picture was taken in what used to be downtown Centralia. Across the street was a single skinny row house, all the others have been torn down. Centralia used to be a town of about 7,000 people. They accidentally set fire to the coal vein which runs underneath of the town. Slowly it has burnt since 1962. At times they attempted to put it out, now they just let it burn. Almost all of the people have left Centralia, but there are a couple left. After this we arrived at the Old Route 61, the one that is blocked off from access. All of the pics which follow were taken there.

Silly people thought that this little dirt hump could keep the Mac Pac off of old 61. They are fools. Chris J. lept this and did a backflip on his Honda ST. Most of us BMW folks simply wheelied over it at about 60 mph or so. Others went slow. anyway we all got over it and on to the old road.

Here is the biggest fissure in Old Route 61. This is why the road is closed. What you can not see are the little wisps of smoke. Temperatures in this fissure where taken as high as 170 degrees.

This is what heat from underneath can do to a road. Its kinda like where potholes come from.

After "cooking" the mashed potatoes in the MRE you could see the condensation on the bag. It really did get hot, but it was still gross.

Chris J. putting the bag in whilst Rick shoots the temperature.

Rich preparing his MRE.

Chris on Old 61

That is some serious road heave.

Jack an Chris eating like kings while getting a sauna.

Not Going Down this trip, thank you very much.

The bikes parked on Old Route 61. And a good time was had by all. On the way home Rich and I set sail on our lonesome because we could scoot a different direction back home. It was a lot quicker for us than the other guys. I was home about 4:30 in the afternoon. About 190 miles put on the clock.

Fast Week

This week has flown by, thats for sure. The beautiful weather has insured us being outside playing every night. Last evening it was a little hot so we went down to Gammie and Pop-pops to use the pool. So nice, we also brought chicken and pasta salad so we had a wonderful dinner on the covered deck after swimming ourselves to starving.

So much for saving gas car-pooling. This morning I get my wife all the way into work and my daughter blurts out that we forgot her movies. Egads. Today is movie day at the munchkins school. It is her last movie day before she leaves school for the summer, and then Kindergarten, so she will not be back. So it was a big deal for her.

So I drop off the wife and the munchkin and I drive back home to get her movies. Hey, it was a big deal for her, so it is for me too. I was late for work, but my position is flexible, so no harm done. Big ride tomorrow, look for a report on Sunday.

Tom Chapin in Concert

We took the family to see Tom Chapin last night. He is the brother of Harry Chapin, who had many hits, like "Taxi" and "The Cat's in the Cradle". Tom travels and tours with two other musicians who are very talented. They played for about an hour and a half and were very entertaining. They do what they call "Family music". Its not The Wiggles, and that is a very very good thing. His music is complex, well played and the lyrics are intelligent and thoughtful not insipid. My 5 year old loves his music. Here are the lyrics to a song he wrote recently called "Not on the Test":

Not On The Test
by John Forster & Tom Chapin
© 2007 Limousine Music Co. & The Last Music Co. (ASCAP)
Go on to sleep now, third grader of mine.
The test is tomorrow but you'll do just fine.
It's reading and math. Forget all the rest.
You don't need to know what is not on the test.

Each box that you mark on each test that you take,
Remember your teachers. Their jobs are at stake.
Your score is their score, but don't get all stressed.
They'd never teach anything not on the test.

The School Board is faced with no child left behind
With rules but no funding, they're caught in a bind.
So music and art and the things you love best
Are not in your school 'cause they're not on the test.

Sleep, sleep, and as you progress
You'll learn there's a lot that is not on the test.
Debate is a skill that is useful to know,
Unless you're in Congress or talk radio,
Where shouting and spouting and spewing are blessed
'Cause rational discourse was not on the test.

Thinking's important. It's good to know how.
And someday you'll learn to, but someday's not now.
Go on to sleep, now. You need your rest.
Don't think about thinking. It's not on the test.

See what I mean about the lyrics being clever? He has a lot of songs about taking care of the planet and "educational type stuff". One of my personal favorites is "Two Kinds of Seagulls":

Lyrics for Tom Chapin’s “Two kinds of seagulls”
There’s two kinds of seagulls: he-gulls and she-gulls.
He-gulls like she-gulls and that’s why there’s seagulls.

There’s two kinds of pythons: girl-thons and guy-thons.
Girl-thons like guy-thons and that’s why there’s pythons.

There’s two kinds of wombats: Dad-bats and Mom-bats.
Dad-bats dig Mom-bats and that’s why there’s wombats.

And there’s two kinds of squirrels: himmels and herrels.
Himmels are nuts about herrels and that’s why there’s squirrels.
Most creatures come in pairs. That’s the way they mingle.
One kind only would be lonely. It takes two to tingle.

There’s two kinds of penguins: lady-guins and men-guins.
Lady-guins flip for men-guins and that’s why there’s penguins.

There’s two kinds of blackbirds: jill-birds and jack-birds.
Jill-birds thrill jack-birds and that’s why there’s blackbirds.

There’s two kinds of lizards: herzards and hizards.
Herzards think hizards are wizards and that’s why there’s lizards.

There’s two kinds of llamas: papas and mamas.
They wear different pajamas and that’s why there’s llamas.
Most creatures come in pairs. That’s the way they mingle.
One kind only would be lonely. It takes two to tingle.

There’s two kinds of peoples: he-puls and she-puls.
He-puls like she-puls. She-puls like he-puls.
And that’s why there’s me-puls, and you-puls,
And peoples.

I really wanted to use those when I was teaching Sex Ed down in VA, but it wasn't on the test, oh well.

Sunday Breakfast

Every 3rd Sunday of the month the Mac-Pac meets for breakfast at the Pottstwon Family Diner in Pottstown PA. They love us there, we tip well I guess. Today's turnout was a little light, but not bad for a rather dreary day. Above is the esteemed Jack speaking to his adoring crowd. The man standing on the chair is Brian.

Here are a couple of the bikes in the back of the diner.



And here are just a few more.


Here is a close up of my baby. Geez I love this bike.

One the way home I stopped by the Reading Pagoda. I had never been up there, and it wasn't too far out of the way:


The view from up here is good as well. Here is a nice view of the City of Reading.



In the Center of this picture is the Reading Hospital. I work close to there, as does my wife. We live in the mountains to the left and up in the picture. Great view. Shame it was raining I would have stuck around longer.




Yesterday I was able to get my father's old bike running well. Finally, its been sitting since 2004. Now I need insurance and a licence tag and I can put that one back on the street too.

He's in !!!

About 10 years ago I started on the quest to have my grandfather Orie Steele elected to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame, which is affiliated with the American Motorcyclist Association. Well today I got the news that he has been elected and will be inducted on October 6, 2007. This is great news for the whole family, but especially my mother who has been going through a tough recovery from her accident.

The Hall of Fame has asked me to speak, since I kind of took the lead on this deal. That has me a little nervous, but a good friend is a speach writer and he has offered his help. He is a very funny man, so I am sure that I will get them all to laugh.

Geez, I am getting nervous already. I have been involved with motorcycles my entire life and my grandfather played a big role in that. You see my parents met at Road Knights Motorcycle Club events. Their dates were often on the back of a motorcycle. They traveled to Daytona, Laconia and all over the East Coast on motorcycles. Then they had kids and settled down. Dad worked in my Uncle's Harley shop in Northeast Philly for a long time. Then he went to work at Stan's BMW in Doylestown, PA. I started riding when I was 6 on a Bronco mini-bike that my Dad got from the shop. Then I moved up to a couple of different dirtbikes, then I got my first street bike, a 1979 Triumph Bonneville. Followed quickly by a BMW R60/6 which I used for commuting to college when I returned to school. Then after my father passed away I got his old BMW R75/6, which I still have at home in the garage. Its not running properly right now, but I am still working on it and hope to have it on the road soon.

As a child all of my parents friends had motorcycles. I thought people without them were weird (I still do). Now to have him recognized like this is incredible. I am very excited to say the least.

Our little way of screwing the oil companies. . .

My wife and I are fed up. On Monday it cost us $70 to fill up her Aztec and my little Mazda 3. So I looked at her and said "Lets carpool". So yesterday we did. I drop her off at her school, then my daugther at daycare, then to my work. In the afternoon I picked her up, then the munchkin, then we took her to dance class. Normally my wife takes her and I go home. I did that duty in the fall when my wife was teaching a college course, but we both hung out at the mall. They are nearing the recital date and so we can't watch the 5 year olds immitating ballerinas. So we sat out at the food court. My wifes Mom picked her up and they went to a church thing and I took my daughter home.

In all I figure we saved about $10 in gas on that one day. We car pooled again today and will do so every day. Really it is not that inconvienient for either of us, and if we can continue with it we can save a small fortune.

Weekend roundup

Wow, what a busy hectic weekend.

Saturday I had committed to help a member of the Mac-Pac motorcycle "club" move. So did a bunch of other guys. The old house was in New Hope PA, close to 100 miles from home. Saturday being such a beautiful day and not needing to bring anything but me, I rode the bike. I took backroads because the turnpike went way south of were I needed to go. It was a nice ride, but took longer than I thought and I got there about 1/2 after the rest of the guys. Well by that point the house was empty. I got to carry a lamp and a box of records to the truck, and that was it.

So we mounted up our respective rides and headed to Sellersville and the new house. Eastern PA traffic stinks on a Saturday and we wound up sitting at traffic lights and such. The bike and I got hot, but it was for a good cause. We got to the house and I parked among the other 7 bikes there. The horse trailer and pick up got emptied first, then the big box truck, then the pick up. I less than a 1/2 hour we had it all unloaded. Many hands make light work, and we weren't tripping over each other either.

Other members of the "pac" had set up food on the back patio and so we got to sit and relax and tell lies to each other for a while. Fun was had by all, even the "movees". I left around 1 to go visit Mom at her home. Then blasted home via the Turnpike and got there just as the rain drops and thunder and lightening got there, 6 pm. Mileage for day 215 miles. Nice. I say that I blasted on the Turnpike because I was averaging about 80 mph. Meanwhile people were flying by me in the fast lane. Below are some pictures:
First - The chaos of moving day














The yard of the new house. How would you like to see this at your neighbor's house when they move in?














Then the mad rush to get stuff off of the truck.














Finally we are all done and get to relax. I am the one in the middle with the Oscar the Grouch shirt. Don't let the two guys to my sides fool you, they both got there too late to actually help in the move, but they helped dispose of the food!




Mother's Day was nice. Church, home for lunch and then my wife used her gift, a slushie maker. She is very happy with it, and so are the munchkin and I. We did some yard work and planted some replacement plants for the ones we lost due to late frost. Then down to the in-laws for swimming. The daughter and I went in, the wife was chicken. The water was warm, but the cool air made it chilly, esp when you got out of the pool. All in all a great day.

You want how much for that pot?

Last night my wife's Aunt hosted a cookware demonstration. She had "won" the demonstration at a home show, normally it costs money because the guy brings food and cooks it in the cookware that you are supposed to buy. Our guy was humorless, and hard of hearing, so the demo was no pleasure. At one point he ask if anyone was a salesman, my reply was "No, but my father-in-law is a Bullshit artist!" He did not even crack a smile. I thought it was funny, so did my father-in-law. Oh well.

I was supposed to be someplace else at 7:00pm, but he didn't finish until 7:45, so that pretty much ticked me off there, I mean he started at 6:00! I was very very hungry too, but thats besides the point. The food he made was OK, but not great. And the cookware looked nice and all, but not worth $2600.00, which is the cheapest set! Egads!

So that was a bust. Oh well.

It's Tuesday. Hurrah!


Tomorrow it will be Wednesday, hump day.

Thursday is Show and Tell day.

Friday of course is the goal.

Well, at least its not still Monday.

School will be out in a few more weeks. Then I get to be immersed in the world of the five year old. Yeah! We do have fun. Sorry not much today, too tired.

The Birds!

No not the Alfred Hitchcock movie, but real birds. We have bird feeders out behind the house, right at the edge of the woods, and this weekend it really paid off. The first was Saturday. My sister was down visiting from upstate New York. We had the windows open and we were enjoying the cool air while sitting in the Family room. we spotted this bird at the feeder.

Do you know what it is? We didn't at first, we ran for the binoculars and the bird book. After a couple of minutes we had our answer. Its a female Baltimore Oriole. I have never seen one before, I have seen males though. I am sure with a Female around there are males too. Very cool. You can find out more about Baltimore Orioles here:All About Birds

Return of the turkey. Also as we were sitting around we could hear a male Turkey in the woods gobbling. Generally males gobble to call in the harem, for various reasons. If the female doesn't come to him, he will go to her. This is how hunters try to hunt the male Turkey. They imitate the female call and get the males to come to them. This is difficult to do, and the wild turkey is a very smart, wily bird. My neighbor, who is a hunter explained that he has tried doing this for years, and he likes the challenge because in reality the hunter and the turkey switch roles. The male is actually hunting for the female. More about the Wild Turkey HERE


When we went to leave to go to lunch we spotted a female in our neighbors yard. The male was really gobbling up a storm back in the woods. He was probably trying to get her away from us. Cool stuff getting to see and hear that right in your own yard. So far in the house we have spotted the following animals in our yard:
Deer
Red Fox
Squirrels (duh)
Wild Turkey
Opposum
Raccoons

Maybe not the worlds most impressive list, but for my 5 year old it wonderful.

Finally on Sunday we looked out at the feeder and saw this guy:


At first we thought maybe he was a bluebird, but he is actually not. Its an Indigo Bunting. Here is a little interesting fact about them for you. Their feathers are not blue, they are actually black, but the refraction of the light hitting them makes them appear to be blue. Its the same for the Blue Jay.

You can read more about them here: Indigo Bunting




Thats the weekend. We did drive down to visit Mom at here medical facility which is part of her retirement community. She is looking great and doing well. We took games and we all played Care Bears Go Fish (I won!), Princess Monoply (Munchkin won), My Littlest Petshop Game (Munchkin won again!) and we helped Mom finish a puzzle that she had started with my sisters and brother in law. Fun stuff. Busy weekend, with lots of stuff, but thats OK.

I miss M*A*S*H. Yeah, there are a few good shows on TV, but you could always count on Hawkeye and crew to keep you laughing and thinking. Sure it was a comedy, but they were never afraid to have you think about the horrors of war.

I wonder why there are no shows like that now?



Coincidence? I don't think so.


Another beautiful day, enjoy people!

Well, it rocks!

Ok, so I picked up the Rush CD on the way down to visit Mom. I had a good 3 hours in the car to listen. There are some really good songs on there as well as a couple of clunkers. But of course after a while the clunkers may turn into gold as I listen more and more. There is one song on the CD which was written as a pantoum. Pantoums have certain structures to follow, like a haiku, but it also involves a pattern of repetition within the structure. The music was written to go with the same pattern. So there is no bridge or chorus, its not structured like an other rock song out there and its really good. Here are the words:

if we're so much the same, like I always hear
why such different fortunes and fates?
some of us live in a cloud of fear
some live behind iron gates

why such different fortunes and fates?
some are blessed and some are cursed
some live behind iron gates
while other see only the worst

Some are blessed and some are cursed
the golden one or scarred from birth
while others see only the worst
such a lot of pain on the earth

the golden one or scarred from birth
some things can never be changed
such a lot of pain on this earth
it's somehow so badly arranged

some things can never be changed
some reasons will never come clear
it's somehow so badly arranged
if we're all the same, like I always hear

Copyright - 2007 Neil Peart

Here is the image for the song, from Rush.com


Good stuff there, deep but not pompous.











Here is some fun for you to try:

Snakes and Arrows

May 1, 2007 A big day for us Rush fans. The new CD Snakes and Arrows is released. While the excitement of this maybe tempered a bit by the various internet leaks and streaming media that have been playing the songs for the last few weeks. I have stayed faithful. I did not download the CD. I did burn a CD of the first single "Far Cry", but I did not see this a bad thing, because it was there on the Rush website for anyone who wanted to hear it, whenever. Burning a CD just made it more convenient. Enough of that. The reviews have been kind of mixed from the media. It seems that anyone who has never gotten Rush still doesn't, thats no a shocker, and if you don't care for them you will not magically like the new stuff. That said the new stuff is kinda like a return to the old stuff. The sound is richer and some of it is "heavy". The lyrics are all themed towards "Faith" and the lack thereof.

The lyrics slant seems to be that Faith is a individuals thing, and that fundamentalism, whether it be Christian or Islamic can be a bad thing. We all know this to be true as well. Without hearing the whole thing I can't really comment on that yet, but I have never been one to be offended by lyrics. Its one person expressing himself/herself and therefore they can not be "wrong" even if I do not agree with their stance. I can still dig the music.



So dutifully this morning after dropping off the munchkin at Daycare I went to Wal-Mart to buy the new CD. Its not there. Ugggg, so now I will have to wait until the day is over. I do know a few fans who have actually taken the day off from work so they can sit at home and listen. Well, thats nuts. I will get to listen to it as I drive down to visit Mom, who is out of the hospital finally (Yeah!!) and back "home". Home is in quotes because she is in the medical support center of the facility where she lives. They will give her all of the things she needs to get well and move back into her apartment. She will not enjoy the new Rush CD, so I will not play it for her. My father liked some of their older music specifically Permenant Waves and Moving Pictures. For a long time Dad and I butted heads about music. Rock was crap and Big Band was were it was at. Once we had a discussion about what music really is, emotion. When you make it, you feel emotion and when you listen you do as well. Focus on the emotion. He did that and I played him "Witch Hunt" from Moving Pictures and he was very moved. He never would have even thought of liking the song until he examined the emotions behind and within it. Dad was a good guy and I will think of him when I listen to this CD for the first time later today.