ATV initial ride ; prep for Florida trip ; starting to talk to contractors for basement-bath project ; iPad problem

(posted from home)

(This post covers 1 – 11, February, 2012)

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Saturday, 11 February -

Today I checked the local Gander Mountain store and found they didn't have the clay-bird launcher I'm looking for in stock-- I guess the sale cleared them out. I found the Harrisburg store had one left and Labashi needed a break today so we drove up to take a look. It didn't take long to confirm that this one was really the only choice and it's a rugged unit. I'm looking forward to this! I've got a lot of learnin' to do!
I also took a look through the ATV-accessories section and found just the thing. I hadn't considered a handle-bar bag but this was perfect.... a simple bag to hold maps, goggles, gloves, dust mask, permits, my SPOT, cell phone, etc--- and all for $10. I've been looking at ridiculously-expensive rack bags but haven't seen anything that seems right. I will probably come upon the right waterproof rack-bag eventually but this will be perfect for now and will remain useful later.
Late in the afternoon I watched an interesting documentary called 'The Parking Lot Movie' on Netflix. It's about employees of a parking lot in Charlottesville, VA. It's surprisingly interesting to hear the employees talking about--- well ---- life as a parking-lot attendant.
That evening we watched a documentary explaining the Boer Wars in South Africa. Good one!

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Friday, 10 February -

Last evening as I was using the iPad it rebooted unexpectedly. I've had four or five of these since the new year began and two in the last two days. I researched it a bit on the web and decided it's time to take the iPad in for warranty service. Late last night I used the Apple web site to schedule an appointment with a tech at the Apple Store in Lancaster.
I had scheduled the appointment for this afternoon since we had another contractor coming this morning. This one turned out to be the best we've met so far. We could both sense that he 'got it' as we spoke. He has a similar sense of what we're looking for in our basement bathroom and a good solution for preventing a recurrence of our flooded basement should another Lee-like tropical storm happen.
On the way over to the Apple Store I dropped off the water-test samples and paid the $100 analysis fee. I could have gotten water-softener-specific tests free from a water softener company but I wouldn't be able to trust the results and it wouldn't include the bacteria tests-- the most important ones.
My Apple tech this afternoon was Jill, a very bright young woman with what looked like fish hook wires in her lower lip. I enjoyed our interaction as she ran diagnostics on the iPad and then restored its operating system and firmware. Somehow the operating system had gotten corrupted, perhaps from a static-electricity hit or perhaps from my connecting it to various HDTVs to show our Africa photos or perhaps from the Bluetooth keyboard / Evernote combination that seems to act a bit oddly and was in use on the first unexpected reboot.
Late in the day I again looked up the info I had saved from earlier research on an automatic clay-bird thrower for trap shooting. I've been thinking of taking one along to Florida. There's a perfect place for one at the shooting range in Ocala National Forest. With the Florida trip coming up shortly I needed to make a decision one way or the other today if I was going to have time to get one. I was considering driving up to Cabela's today for one. But when I found Gander Mountain has a 25%-off deal on them for the next few days, that made the decision for me.

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Thursday, 9 February -

We had a bit more snow overnight but by mid-morning I noticed the roads were clear. Apparently the warmer-than-normal weather we've had this year has meant the roads retain heat more and therefore clear snow more quickly. After a few days stuck in the house I was ready to get out. I took the Concours to York to pick up a water test kit at Associated Laboratories. We've decided to do another water test before we spend money on a water softener and possibly a UV light.
After picking up the kit I rode on to Starbucks for a cappuccino then home. I'd like to have walked but the trails would be too sloppy so I rode on home. There I worked on the cargo trailer and ATV. I replaced the bad battery harness (the connection for my electric jacket liner) I had installed a few days ago. I also came up with a solution for the tie-downs at the rear of the trailer. I had installed removable tie-downs but I had installed them directly behind the rear tires. If I installed them further toward the sides of the trailer I'd have to step awkwardly past tie-down straps when entering and exiting the trailer. And if I installed them inside the tire line they wouldn't be as effective at preventing the ATV from rolling sideways or forward. The position is the best compromise but the eyebolts stick up too high to simply roll over them without risk to the tires. Unscrewing them and replacing them each time I unload/reload isn't a big deal but shouldn't be necessary.
I cut two 12” lengths of 2x4 and cut a large hole in the center of each (using a hole-saw). I can leave them in place over the eyebolts and of course they're easily removed if I need to have a flat floor for other cargo. When I tested them with the ATV I barely noticed the bump as I unloaded and reloaded it.
That evening I researched the web for the 'right' GPS mount for the ATV and ordered it and some wiring accessories (Battery Tender harness, power outlet, etc) as well as a specialized battery float-charger (a CanBus-compatible one) for the F650GS.

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Wednesday, 8 February -

A bit of snow today-- only an inch or so. I woke with a headache but some Excedrin soon took care of it. I'm still under the weather a bit but feeling much better than yesterday.
We had an appointment with a contractor this afternoon. The guy seemed nice enough but we didn't really click. I don't imagine we'll be using him.

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Tuesday, 7 February -

We had contractors in today. I felt awful much of last night and it's even worse today. I have nausea, a bit of fever, and am very tired and can barely stay up. Labashi talked with the contractors for most of their sessions, then I'd come in to ask/answer a few questions at the end and get a feel for the company. At this point I think we're going to have problems coming up with an acceptable contractor. I predict we cut back plans to just having the work roughed in and then finish it ourselves.
After the contractor sessions I went back to bed and slept for a few hours each time. That evening we watched a Boardwalk Empire episode and then I went to bed early. What a miserable day.

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Monday, 6 February -

Today was another nice one, sunny and 50. I thought I might want to take the ATV out today but we have contractors coming to the house tomorrow to look at Labashi's latest projects so we had to talk through a few things.
That afternoon I rode the GS down to Starbucks, then to Rocky Ridge Park for my 5-miler. I finished in 1:43 today, walking part of it in short sleeves.

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Sunday, 5 February -

We drove to Chambersburg today to see our friends Hardy-Har-Har and wife. We spent the afternoon reminiscing and catching up.
On the way home we stopped at Lulu's Grill in the Altland House in Abbottstown for supper. We've passed this way many times but never given this restaurant a try. I was happy to find they had conch chowder, turtle soup, and fish tacos on the menu and tried the latter two.
We made it back home by the second half of the Super Bowl so I turned it on to see what was happening. That happened to coincide with a drive by the Patriots so we ended up watching to the end... something we hardly ever do. This one stayed interesting to the end.

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Saturday, 4 February -

Labashi and I drove to Messiah College today to see the Oakes Museum of Natural History. This nice little museum has some very interesting dioramas and taxidermy. The African savannah animals and North American bears are particularly impressive.
We then went looking for a new place to eat. I had taken a look at Yelp this morning and came up with Cedars Lebanese Restaurant in Camp Hill as one of the possibilities. We decided to drive by and check it out. We ended up having one of the five-mezza deals. 'Mezzas' are appetizers, sort of like having tapas. Ours featured things like pickled eggplant, aged cheese with onions and peppers, spiced ground beef, and others. Not bad at all! We'll be happy to go back and try other dishes.
That evening we watched 'Justified'-Season Two episodes.

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Friday, 3 February -

This morning I installed the bed-bolt tie downs in the cargo trailer. Since we again had nice weather I couldn't stand it to stay home any longer. I loaded up the ATV gear and drove Mocha Joe over to the Michaux State Forest ATV trailhead above Pine Grove Furnace.
At the trailhead I met a guy who lived in the area and was just out for a bit of a walk. He said a ranger had just been through on an ATV and warned me to be sure I had all the paperwork I needed for the ranger. We talked for few minutes about ATVs and traveling. He said he visits a friend in Montana and talked about riding forever-and-ever out there. Sounds good!
When I left the house I had planned to stop at the state forest office for a map of the ATV trails but as I drove it seemed that would take me well out of the way and put me late in the day by the time I reached the trails. I decided I'd go ahead without the maps and would carry along the GPS if I needed any assistance finding my way back out.
I spent the next hour and a half riding the ATV, exploring trails. The guy I had spoken with had given me some directions but those turned out to be wrong. But I didn't really have any problems getting lost.
The main trails were more jeep roads or logging roads with a lot of whoop-de-dos, puddles, and rocks. When I found myself atop a ridge at a good resting point, I stopped a walked about a bit and then ventured back a secondary 'trail'. The trail was very narrow-- barely wide enough for the Rancher-- and was more a series of marks on trees than a trail on the ground... at least with so many leaves down.
I was pleasantly surprised how well the Rancher handled the roughness of the trail, easily bounding over (small) downed trees and football-sized rocks and dealing with puddles. I did get myself into a couple of precarious-feeling situations. When side-hilling I had to be careful to counter-balance and felt vulnerable when I came to downhill-tilted dips. I felt I should have brought along the satellite-messenger. And when I came to a steep, rough off-camber downhill section, I backed out and turned back.
I was pleasantly surprised how well the two-wheel drive did. For the most part, that's all I needed. With four-wheel drive engaged I had more noise and more steering effort so I expect to use it sparingly. All in all, though, I was quite pleased for a first time out.

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Thursday, 2 February -

I made a grocery-shopping run this morning. Later in the day I rode the GS down to Rocky Ridge and walked the five-mile end-to-end circuit.
We're still having unseasonably-mild weather with highs in the Sixties. It's certainly odd to be walking in short sleeves in February..... but nice!
Late in the day we learned the prospective buyers had rescinded their offer on House 2. Our agent didn't know the reason but thought they had had second thoughts on the whole idea of buying a house as they saw reconsidered the financial commitment. He said they had been talking of another offer but he later received a phone call saying they had decided to pull out entirely.

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Wednesday, 1 February -

I spent much of today considering an offer that came in on House 2 and preparing a counter after speaking with my brothers.
I also took time out to install a Gerbing battery harness on the ATV. However, it turns out the harness is bad and will have to be replaced. I contacted Gerbing and talked it through with tech support and they've put one in the mail. This particular installation was a bit of a pain because the screws in the battery post aren't quite long enough to accommodate additional thickness of the harness connectors and I had to wedge the nuts in place to get them to connect. I'll have to go through that again on the new harness.


************ END OF POST ***********

Prep for Florida trip ; new cargo trailer and ATV

(posted from home)
(This post covers 17 – 31 January, 2012)

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Tuesday, 31 January-

This morning I prepped to take the ATV out for its first run. I then remembered I couldn't yet leave because the hitch was locked and I didn't have the key. Snap!
I wasn't quite ready to leave anyway. I called up my motorcycle agent for a quote on the ATV and was shocked to be quoted a $355 add-on cost. That just didn't make sense. I don't pay much more than that for my two motorcycles and I'd think the liability risk much lower for the ATV.
I called up my home-insurance agent and asked if they also do ATV insurance. It turns out they are agents for multiple companies and gave me comparison quotes on the ATV. With my discounts, I ended up paying $75 a year for the same coverage as the $355 quote. And you can be sure I'll be checking there when my motorcycle insurance comes up for renewal.
That afternoon Labashi drove me over to Lititz to pick up the F650GS from the shop. We had a wonderful 60-degree day today and we have rain promised the next few days so better now than later.
The shop replaced a valve-cover gasket and cleaned the engine up, all under warranty.
On the way home we stopped at Texas Roadhouse for ribs, then returned home to watch 'Boardwalk Empire.' Ah, Nucky, you scoundrel!

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Monday, 30 January -

This morning Labashi and I had our tax-prep appointment. We hadn't yet received all our statements so it was a short one--- just set up the basics then when the paperwork comes in we'll just pass it along.
A bit later I rode the Concours down to York. After my Starbucks fix I walked over to Lowe's and bought two combination locks. These are also Magnum locks with hardened shanks and very tough lock mechanisms but they are four-digit combination locks. Since I can set my own combinations I can come up with my own way of remembering the set of combos and not have to depend on keys.
I made the decision to return the key locks and go with combination locks after making a mistake. When I last parked the trailer I didn't yet have a ball-lock for it. Rather than leave it unlocked and unattended I used my motorcycle lock on the hitch's safety latch. Unfortunately, the key to that lock was now at the motorcycle shop in Lititz and I didn't have a spare! I wouldn't be able to use the trailer to go pick up the motorcycle unless I'd first make the round-trip to Lititz to retrieve the key. Yikes!
I spent a few hours in the afternoon planning our itinerary in Florida this year and then picked up Mocha Joe from the garage. The rear wheel brake adjuster had fallen out of place and I had a leaky rear cylinder. That cost me almost $200 in repairs (sigh).


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Sunday, 29 January -

This morning I worked on catching up the blog.
That afternoon I set up the combo locks with a set of combos I can remember and I made a license-plate mount for the ATV. I had to run to the hardware store for stainless-steel machine screws and nuts and rubber washers for the mounts but came up with a nice-looking mount for good ol' 00R00 (the ATV's new name).
I also had time to buzz down to Rocky Ridge Park for a walk (1:50).

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Saturday, 28 January -

Today Labashi and I drove into York on errands. We lunched at Fuddrucker's then went to Lowe's. I picked up locks for the trailer and she did some research for her upcoming projects on the house.
I ended up buying a hitch-lock kit that gives me one key for three locks at the hitch. One lock is for the hitch-pin in the receiver, one is for the safety latch, and the last is a ball-and-U-bolt arrangement to lock the ball-mount when it's not hitched to anything. I also bought a 30-foot armored cable and padlock so I can lock the trailer and/or ATV to an immovable object when the need arises.
For the doors I bought Magnum locks but I'm not sure I like them. They're the highest-rated locks but I don't like dealing with keys.


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Friday, 27 January -

Today I hauled the new cargo trailer up to State College and bought an ATV.... my main purpose for the trailer. I bought a Honda Rancher 420, which is one of the smaller ATVs these days. I wasn't fond of either the bright red or olive standard colors so opted for a camouflage paint scheme. The Rancher has selectable two and four-wheel drive and a manual-select transmission. The tranny is similar to the old Honda 50 in that you kick it into gear without using a clutch lever. Honda has electric-shift and 'automatic' (constant-velocity belt-drive) transmission options but that just seems like asking for complexity and therefore trouble.
The trip up was mostly uneventful but Mocha Joe certainly doesn't like pulling a trailer uphill. I had to climb the Seven Mountains hill at 25 miles per hour. I shudder to think what it would be with a loaded trailer.
The purchase process went smoothly. By going to this dealer I got the ATV for an out-the-door price less than the base price quoted by my local dealer back home .. and that was for one without the camouflage upgrade.
On the way home, though, I had a problem with Mocha Joe. As I neared home I noticed the brake pedal felt different when I'd apply the brakes. Since I was nearing my regular garage, I stopped there and had it confirmed that I did indeed have a problem. I ended up continuing on home to drop the trailer (since I didn't yet have locks for it) and then brought the van back for service when they can get to it next week.
That evening we watched disk 1 of 'Justified' Season Two.

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Thursday, 26 January -

Today I put the new trailer to good use. I loaded up the F650GS motorcycle and hauled it over to Trans-Am Cycles in Lititz. I had noticed a small oil leak on top of the engine and wanted to get the work done before the warranty runs out. As expected, I had to leave the bike for parts to come in next week.
That afternoon Labashi and I drove up to see Mom and Dad and had supper with them in the apartment.
That evening we finished 'Modern Family' 2:2.


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Wednesday, 25 January -

Today I spent the day buying an enclosed cargo trailer. I found the trailer I was looking for at AJ Trailers in Harrisburg. It's a 6x12 vee-nose, single-axle trailer with side door and rear ramp-door.
The trailer brand is Carry-On and it weighs 960 pounds, cost just under $3000. I chose this model because it's 35% lighter than similar-sized trailers from other manufacturers. It's certified to haul up to 2000 pounds and is therefore under the 3000-pound gross weight limit before needing trailer brakes.
On the way up to AJ's I stopped at the Ace Hardware store and Tractor Supply to look at surface-mount tie-downs so I'd have an idea of what's available.
The actual purchase was easy. The guys took the trailer into the garage and added a spare (mounted on the tongue) and welded on a pair of stabilizing jacks to the rear. The jacks allow me to load and unload the trailer with it unhitched. I also bought a good set of heavy rubber chocks.
On the way home I lunched at the local Five Guys, then stopped at my local Ace Hardware to pick up three sets of 'bed bolts', i.e., tie downs that bolt through the floor, each with removable eyelets.
That evening we watched 'Modern Family'- Season 2 disk 2.

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Tuesday, 24 January -

Today I hooked up Mocha Joe to the fishing boat and took it to Chambersburg to drop off for Maypo's use next Spring. Also, I need the space in my driveway!
While in Chambersburg I dropped in at House 2, our second rehab project. I found the back door standing open a few inches. If we hadn't had a safety chain on it, it would probably have been open the whole way. I'd guess this happened because a prospective buyer touring the house hadn't closed it fully and the windy day several days ago opened it. I took a look around, checked the dehumidifier for freezing and ran the water a bit.

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Monday, 23 January -

Today was a miserably foggy, cold day. I spent much of it on the web researching enclosed cargo trailers for my upcoming Florida trip.
That evening we watched a 'Boardwalk Empire' episode and then a Nova documentary called 'Lizard Kings'. The documentary examines the very diverse world of monitor lizards and does a great job, both in photography and interesting content.

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Sunday, 22 January -

After watching 'Sunday Morning' (a favorite), Labashi and I drove into York. She dropped me off at Starbucks to work on my blog and did some grocery shopping at the nearby Wal-mart, picking up stuff we can't get at our local Giant.
That evening we watched 'Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa', an IMAX film from Netflix.

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Saturday, 21 January -

We woke to four inches of snow this morning, our second of the season. We took it easy until 1100, then cleared the drive and walk and vehicles in about an hour and a half.
That afternoon I watched a documentary-- 'Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead'. It's about two guys who went on all-juice fasts to get their weight and underlying diseases under control. It's a bit odd and perhaps too enthusiastic in pushing the juice-fast diet but interesting.
I then tried 'Trollhunters' but abandoned that after a half-hour. This one is a Norwegian mockumentary in the style of 'The Blair Witch Project' and seemed to be going somewhere. Then they brought out the 'trolls'. They weren't scary, they were ridiculous... at least to my eye. Perhaps their form means something to people more familiar with Scandinavian troll images but to me they looked more like Muppets.
I then watched 'Vernon, Florida', an Errol Morris documentary. I liked it! I'm sure it's WAY too slow for most people but I'm a fan of rural Florida--- warts and all --- and enjoyed it.
That evening we watched 'Mad Men' 1:9 and 'Kilimanjaro: Roof of Africa'.

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Friday, 20 January -

I spent much of the morning back on searching for an enclosed cargo trailer for the ATV and motorcycle. I had looked at one locally last week that seemed to fit the bill but it weighs more than I like (1325 pounds). This week I looked at a lighter one (960 pounds) but the dealer didn't have any in stock and it's not clear he'd have one in time for my trip.
We have snow headed our way this weekend so I had to get out today if I were to have a motorcycle ride and my walk. I zipped down to Rocky Ridge for my walk (1:46). I've noticed this colder weather (under 30) is hard on the iPod battery. The iPod now dies in about 1:15.
Looks like I'll have to be a little careful about my walking. After today's walk I had some pain in my left foot. I may be over-doing it a bit.
That evening we watched 'Mad Men'- Season One, eps 7 and 8.

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Thursday, 19 January -

I spent the morning patrolling the web then ran down to York on the Concours to Action Motosports to get a price on an ATV. The sales guys have me re-thinking whether I want to go with a sport ATV or a utility ATV. I went into this thinking I want the less-complex and 150-pound lighter sport model but I'm now not sure I want to give up the four-wheel drive option. This whole decision is complicated by trailer options. The sport model will fit in a 12-foot vee-nose trailer along with the F650GS but the additional length of the utility model causes a problem. The sports model only has four inches of clearance, though, (to the utility's 6.5 inches) and little storage capacity.
I then went over to Rudy Park for a walk (1:30 today).

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Wednesday, 18 January -

Labashi is still heavily into her Ebay stuff. For the last month she's been spending hours each day preparing to sell family possessions left over from her parent's downsizing when they moved from their home in Michigan to an apartment nearby. Unfortunately, the items aren't selling... but it's easy to understand why. The day she posted a silver-plated tray, there were 800 other listings for silver-plated trays and similar items.
I've been helping out when Labashi runs into technical problems or needs another opinion as she navigates Ebay and Paypal and researches the histories of the companies who produced the items. It's interesting but so far doesn't seem to be paying off in bids for the items.
I did get out a bit on the motorcycle today. I ran over to the bank on an errand then down to Rudy park for an hour's walk.

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Tuesday, 17 January -

Today Labashi and I took Mocha Joe for a drive to State College. I've been looking at ATVs nd wanted to talk to the guys at Track N Trail, a Honda dealer who claims to have 800 vehicles. I was surprised how small the place was. If they have 800 vehicles, then 700 of them are in the warehouse because they weren't visible anywhere. The sales guy seemed very slow on the uptake but as we talked more he seemed to relax and became more helpful, at one point going out of his way to find an answer to a question that had merely come up in passing. Still, the ATV model I had come to see wasn't there. The computer said they had two somewhere but the location was unspecified-- meaning they were either in the warehouse or due in sometime 'soon' (in the next several days).
The visit took less than an hour and we headed back home, enjoying the winter's day drive while listening to episodes of 'This American Life' on the iPod.
That evening we watched 'Buck', an excellent documentary on Buck Brannaman, a 'horse whisperer', i.e., a horse trainer with an extraordinary affinity for horses. Buck's own life story and his family relationships are compelling. What a great job of story-telling by the film-maker.
We stayed up late to watch a second documentary, 'Ride the Divide'. This one is the story of mountain bikers racing from Banff to the Mexican border on a series of Forest Roads and trails. The ride is incredible at any pace but to do as a race and doing it unsupported is incredible. I'm continually amazed at what the human body can endure but absolutely astounded what mental anguish people put themselves under to test themselves or prove a point.

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Starting to prep for Florida ; Lancaster day-trip

(posted from home)

(This post covers 9 – 16 January, 2011)

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Monday, 16 January -

Martin Luther King Day. I'm afraid the great man would not be pleased with what has become of our country. The Great Conservatard Backlash continues.
Today was a cold, windy and threatening-rain day and I spent much of it on the web researching various topics for the Florida trip. I did get out a bit in the afternoon to run over to the Giant for a few items but otherwise it's one of those days that makes me want to go to Florida just to feel less cooped-up. We received an flyer from Cabela's yesterday touting a Cabin-Fever Sale. My immediate reaction was it's too early for that but now I'm not so sure. We've been very lucky to have fifty and forty-degree days recently but the trend is of course downward now.
That evening we watched 'Big Love' Season Five episodes. I was wondering how the writers would keep us interested in this ever-downward-spiraling tale but they seem to have done it.

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Sunday, 15 January -

This morning the temperature was only 18 so before dressing for my Sunday motorcycle ride I went out and started the Concours to be sure it would run. I've ridden it temperatures as low as 12 degrees but have also had problems getting it started in temperatures below 30. Getting it started depends not only on the condition of the battery (how new it is) but also how much I've been riding that bike lately. The battery is only a few months old, I've been careful to use StarTron additive on gas fill-ups, and I've been out on it a good bit in the last few weeks. The bike started up on two tries, an easy one. I left it idling while I went in to don my safety gear.
I rode down to the Tollgate Startbucks on this gusty morning (wind-chill of 13 degrees), careful to take a route less likely to have ice from frozen run-off. I spent the rest of the morning catching up the blog, this time using the laptop rather than the iPad. I've found I can't rely on the iPad for this. Two weeks ago I spent an hour writing up a blog entry only to have the iPad screen momentarily go black and lose everything I'd just done. I'm not sure if that was an iOS or email fault but the fact that the system isn't keeping backups as I work tells me the iPad isn't yet ready for prime time.
After Starbucks I rode over to a nearby Five Guys for a quick burger, then on to Rocky Ridge for a brisk walk. (1:47 today).
That evening we watched “A Thief of Time”, a Masterpiece Theater film adapting Tony Hillerman's novel featuring Joe Leaphorn, a Navajo Tribal Police officer. I'm a fan of Wes Studi, Adam Beach, and Gary Farmer's films.

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Saturday, 14 January -

Today we drove up to Harrisburg to visit our friend rar and wife. We've not seen them in years and it was great to get together to catch up. We spent the afternoon and evening looking at travel pictures, chatting, and having an excellent meal (and wine!).
We arrived back home around 2100 and watched two episodes of 'Mad Men', Season One. We're into it.

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Friday, 13 January -

Today Labashi and I drove into town to run a few errands. We hit the Wal-mart, lunched at Five Guys, and then did some grocery shopping on the way home.
That afternoon I got back to researching a sport-model ATV and the OHV(Off-Highway-Vehicle) trails in Florida. I'm trying to decide whether it would be worth the hassle of trailering an ATV to Florida to explore the trails there. After seeing a map of the Ocala Adventure Trail in the Ocala National Forest and the trails in the Withlacoochee River and Osceola National Forests, I'm thinking it would be worth it. Perhaps I could hit the Hatfield-McCoy trails in southern West Virginia on the way home ; I've long wanted to try them. But I don't have a good place to store the trailer back here at home .
That evening we diddled around on the web, then watched our weekly 'Gold Rush' and 'Flying Wild Alaska' shows.

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Thursday, 12 January -

Today I took Dad's car in to the Honda dealer for inspection and to have an outside mirror installed. Somehow the mirror completely disappeared. We're not sure if it was knocked off by a vandal or what-- it was just gone one day. During the inspection a load-test of the battery showed it was on its way out so I went over to the local Battery Warehouse and had a replacement installed.
That afternoon I took care of a few errands then watched two more episodes of 'Better Off Ted'. I think we're going to pass on this one.
We watched three more episodes of the latest 'Big Love' season. I'm interested to see how the producers turn this around. At this point it's unrelentingly depressing.

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Wednesday, 11 January -

This morning I took the Ody in to the Honda dealer for an oil change and to repair a tail-light. Labashi had backed into a tree limb overhanging a parking-lot space and it had, fortunately, only broken the tail-light lens. That wasn't cheap (almost $200) but much better than body-work costs.
I didn't get back until mid-afternoon and was running late to take a walk. But once I changed clothes and went out to the bike, I noticed we had incoming rain-clouds. I abandoned the idea and instead watched a Gordon Eastman movie from the early Seventies called 'Savage Wild'. This movie is reminiscent of the wildlife movies we used to have come around to the local junior-high when I was young. Some guy goes off into the wilderness with his camera and self-produces a film which he then travels the country showing it to small audiences at schools, churches, and YMCAs. This one was about Gordon spending two years in the Yukon raising some wolf cubs and then releasing them. I used to love seeing this type of film for its footage of the wild and the gear used by the guy and his buddies.
I also watched two episodes of the TV show 'Better Off Ted' to see if we'd like it. Not sure yet.
That evening Labashi joined me in watching two episodes of 'Big Love'.

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Tuesday, 10 January -

Labashi wanted a break from her Ebay-ing today so we drove over to Lancaster for the day. We took a walk through Central Market, then lunched at Carr's Restaurant nearby. We then walked over to the Lancaster Art Museum for their local-photographers exhibit. Afterwards we toured the shops of Gallery Row and the gallery at Millersville University's Lancaster building.
On the way home we stopped for our favorite ribs at Texas Roadhouse and a look through the new Books-A-Million store nearby.
That evening we watched 'Powwow Highway', a good Native-American-produced movie with Adam Beach and Gary Farmer. The story is a friendship-story of two guys from the Coeur-d'Alene rez who take a road trip to Santa Fe after the death of a father. Well done!
We then watched a Netflix-Instant movie, 'Lebanon, PA', mostly because of the location. We were surprised how good it was though it did have a controversial point of view and treated us locals too simplistically.

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Monday, 9 January -

I spent the morning scheduling appointments for car maintenance and researching a motorcycle hauler for Mocha Joe. I have a discount certificate for a Harbor Freight hauler which looked suitable to the task. But once I read the owner's manual I saw it wouldn't really work for me.
Most of these receiver-hitch-mounted models suggest you have two people in order to get the motorcycle up on the ramp and in place and tied down. I need to be able to load and unload by myself (since I travel alone on my winter trip). That seems possible with some type of design which would allow me to roll the bike into a front-wheel grip and therefore steady it enough to get my front-end straps on, then deal with the back end. But the Harbor Freight design has you run the motorcycle only halfway across the back of the vehicle, then remove a pin so the motorcycle's back wheel can roll into a slot. The pin is then put back in place through the wheel spokes to secure the bike. Well, that just won't work. I also looked at Versa-Hauler models but once I saw how heavy they are I lost interest. I'm also betting I'd need to put air shocks on the van to use a hauler.
I hate to think of towing a trailer all over Florida just to get a few motorcycle rides in so it looks like I'll just forget about taking my bike down. I'll need to do some research on renting motorcycles down there. Come to think of it, if I'd be able to find some interesting bikes to rent, that would even be a better option. If any rental shops were to have the current Triumph Thruxton 900, I'd jump on that opportunity. That seems unlikely but I might find an interesting BMW rental. I know there are Hardley Abelsons available so I can always do that if the rental terms aren't too onerous.
That afternoon I walked at Rocky Ridge (1:48 today).

****** END OF POST *********

Happy New Year!

(posted from home)
(This post covers 1 – 8 January 2012)

-------------------------

Sunday, 8 January -

Hey, it's Sunday so it must be time for a motorcycle ride, yes? Today's weather isn't quite so nice but, still, it's almost fifty degrees out, though a bit cloudy. I took the Concours and the iPad, intending to catch up the blog. I worked for an hour or so as I sipped my cappuccino only to have the iPad suddenly black out the screen and lose my work. NOT cool.
I packed up and headed toward home, intending to divert to Rocky Ridge until I realized I didn't have suitable walking shoes. What the heck's wrong with me? Ahh, well, no bother. I did 5K yesterday and have been doing a good bit of walking so should probably rest anyway.
I returned home and re-created the blog entries I had lost and posted the blog update.
That evening we began watching 'Mad Men'- Season One.

-------------------------

Saturday, 7 January-

After a morning of doing a few chores and patrolling the web news sites, I took the GS down to York to look at cargo trailers. I'm thinking of taking an ATV and a motorcycle along to Florida this year and wanted to see if a trailer would be practical. I then hit Starbucks and walked at Rudy Park. I had again gotten a later start than normal so went to Rudy so I wouldn't get caught too far from the bike as darkness came on. As it turned out I had made the mistake of using the time on the GS and hadn't changed it to daylight-savings time. I had plenty of time before dark. (And that explains why the sun seemed higher in the sky than it should for that time of day!)
That evening we watched 'Smoke Signals', a nice little indy movie about two young guys from the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation who have a complicated relationship which plays out in a road trip to Phoenix and back. Good one!

-------------------------

Friday, 6 January -

We spent the morning on the web and then later in the day we joined Mom and Dad and one of their neighbors for a visit to Cafe Bruges in Carlisle. Dad loves the moules-et-frites there and I like their Monk's Ale, a sour red ale. Today's temperatures were over sixty so it made for a nice day to be out for meal.
I also worked on Dad's answering machine today (it was hung up, perhaps by a power surge) and on his Skype application on his PC. Dad and Labashi use Skype quite a bit for routine contact so I need to keep it running. Unfortunately, the latest Windows version has problems with Windows Vista. I downloaded the beta version and that seemed to tame the problem.
That evening we watched 'Gold Rush' and 'Flying Wild Alaska' for our nightly entertainment.

--------------------------

Thursday, 5 January -

This morning MissusMaypo made us a hearty (and low-carb!) breakfast, then Maypo and I drove over to the Greene Township park to look at the new ice rink. This is the first year the township has tried the rink (which of course is an extra-warm year). We happened to arrive as one of the township guys responsible for it was just wrapping up today's inspection of it. He had hoped to get started on the final surface prep today but it's not quite ready. The surface prep is done with a squeegee-type contraption with a water connection, in this case to truck-mounted water tank since there's no water connection handy. The water melts the surface a bit and then it refreezes to a flat surface for the skaters to enjoy. It was great to run into this guy and get some inside info on the ice rink and efforts by the township to increase recreational opportunities, even in such tough economic times.
After the rink, we drove to the nearby Gander Mountain store to peek in the used-guns case and look around in general. Nothing special today.
After dropping Maypo off I headed home, arriving around 1400. I changed clothes and jumped on the Concours and rode over to Pinchot for a walk.
Pinchot Lake is ice-covered but it's still unsafe for skating and ice fishing. We had a pretty good breeze today so I headed away from the lake and walked up to the Ridge Trail and circled back to the Nature Center. Again, I started out a bit late so my walk today was only an hour.
That evening Labashi and I watched the last disk of season one of 'Modern Family'.

------------------------

Wednesday, 4 January-

This morning I called Maypo and arranged to meet him at his house around lunch time. He's off for a few days. I drove Labashi's car over, stopping at the Carlisle Starbucks for a quick cap-to-go along the way (lunch!).
We jawed a bit catching up on the holidays and then went over to 'Good Ta Go', a local beer emporium that's relatively new to the area. I had not been to this place before but Maypo had been there just yesterday with his son and had enjoyed himself. I'm not much of a beer drinker but was interested to see the place. It's a bit odd in that it has covered drive-through lane yet has bar-style (high) tables, a munchie-menu, and a big-screen TV for those who want to venture inside.
We were greeted by an offer of a free draft and then given a tour of the rows of six-pack-filled coolers with sections devoted to Domestic, Import, Specialty, (and other) beers. You can mix-and-match a six-pack if you like (subject to some restrictions). They also have a PC set up to access BeerAdvocate.com to help in your selection process.
They also have almost a dozen non-traditional beers on tap. After finishing my freebie Yuengling, I tried a Lindeman's Framboise Lambic and Maypo tried a toasted lager (I can't remember the name).
We went home after just the two beers but not long after arriving Maypo received a call inviting us to 'the FBI'-- the Fannettsburg Inn.
I drove us (me, Maypo, and MissusMaypo) the forty-five minutes to the FBI where we met up with a small group of Maypo's friends from work. We had a very pleasant and light-hearted evening as most of the group indulged in Taco Night. I stuck with a Coors Light and a bacon-cheeseburger without the bun to try to stay somewhere in the neigborhood of what I should be having on my diet.
On the way back to Maypo's he invited me to stay over rather than make the long drive home tonight and that sounded like a great idea.

------------------------

Tuesday, 3 January -

This morning I had another late start because of being awake a few hours during the night. I began thinking I'd like to go visit Maypo today but waited too long to make up my mind so didn't go. By mid-afternoon I was getting antsy so rode the Concours down to Rocky Ridge for a walk. Unfortunately, I waited too long to start out and had to cut my walk off early, only getting about an hour of walking in.
That evening we watched 'Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dellaire', an intense documentary about the civil war in Rwanda and the isolation of the UN peacekeeping force during the genocide.

-------------------------

Monday, 2 January-

We're so out of it we didn't even realize today's a holiday. I wondered why there were football games on TV and why the mail didn't go.... until the lightbulb finally went off.
We started back on our low-carb diet today and I'm looking forward to it. The diet quickly gets my blood pressure back down out of the 'borderline high' range and I normally sleep pretty well while on it.
I had called in our phone line problem last week and we were supposed to have a visit today from the phone company tech this afternoon. But he called late morning and said the problem had been fixed. A mouse had built a nest in one of the phone pedestals down by the creek road. In any case, the buzz and crackling noises are gone. Thanks, Verizon!
That afternoon I rode down to Rocky Ridge on the GS to take a walk. When I saw the parking lot crowded I headed for the more remote parts of the park. And when it started to rain lightly, I thought that would be good to clear things out a bit. I was surprised to run into four other people in the steeper and most remote part of the park, all with the same surprised look at seeing someone else back here on a rainy day. This walk was a longer one than normal, taking about two-and-a-half hours- about six miles. Afterwards I took it easy riding the wet roads home.
This evening we caught an episode of Alaska Wing Men, a reality show about pilots accompanying the Iron Dog long-distance snowmobile race. At the end of the show we saw a brief shot of one of the pilots, Jim Arie, with a note saying something like 'he died doing what he loved best'. I stayed up late finding the notices of the flying accident in which he was killed. His plane clipped a tree while searching for wildlife at very low level. After watching him operate in very sketchy weather conditions to support the snowmobile racers, it was a shock to learn he had crashed in good weather and it was apparently due to pilot error. What a shame.

-------------------------

Sunday, 1 January -

Happy New Year!

I was awakened around 0200 this morning by unexpected noise and lights. I heard a few whoops of a police siren and then noticed our back yard was being flooded by the strobing lights of a police cruiser. The back yard runs along a side street and apparently someone being tailed by the police car had pulled off the main road into the relative safety of our side street.
I couldn't see much due to the trees on that side of the yard but did see there were at least two police cars and the perp's vehicle. I didn't hear much, just muted voices--- and they didn't seem angry. After a half-hour one police car left but the other stayed another half-hour or so until the tow truck showed up and took away the car. I'd guess it was a drunk-driver stop but who knows.
After sleeping in a bit I took the Concours down to Tollgate for my Sunday coffee-and-blog, then went on to Rocky Ridge for my five-miler. Nice day.
That evening we watched 'Darwin's Nightmare', a documentary about the lives of Tanzanian citizens affected by the perch-fishing industry as managed by the First World countries. Not a pretty picture but very worthwhile.


****** END OF POST *********

Starting to think about this year's Florida trip ; Quick visit to DC burbs

(posted from home)

(This post covers 21 - 31 December, 2011)




----------------------------

Saturday, 31 December -

The falling temperatures of next week had me thinking I need to get my rides in now. I figured I wouldn't be able to make my regular Sunday ride down to the Tollgate Starbucks so I went today.
Afterwards I took the longer way home and stopped at Rocky Ridge for a quick break (but no walk) late in the day.
Back home I realized today was my last day to stream the movie 'Black Robe' from Netflix. I had been using this movie for testing at Labashi's brother's home but had only seen a few sections of it. Today I saw it all-- it's one of my favorites.
That evening Labashi and I watched Ingmar Bergman's 1961 film 'Through a Glass Darkly'.

--------------------------

Friday, 30 December -

This morning I finally made some headway on the telephone problem. As I'd attempt to determine whether the problem was in our in-house wiring or the telephone network, the problem would largely disappear. Today I noticed some of this came from my using two different test phones-- one masked the problem more than the other.
But today the problem seemed to stay. We had both a strong hum and a crackly static sound. I took both test phones out to the network interface box and it was now clear the problem originated with the phone network. I used Verizon's web-based repair service to schedule service for Monday.
With today's extra-nice 50-degree temperatures I decided to take the GS to Rocky Ridge today. I did my regular walk in 1:47 today and it seemed easy.

--------------------------

Thursday, 29 December -

Today we drove home from our pleasant visit with friends. We hung around through the morning before starting for home around noon. We made it to East Berlin and Restaurant Sidney by 1500 for a late lunch, sharing one of Sidney's excellent bar-be-que pork sandwiches.

--------------------------

Wednesday, 28 December-

We had another day with our friends in suburban Washington today. We got up late and Labashi's brother and I worked on getting Netflix working on the new TV. We never did get an acceptable speed for watching movies and blamed it on the PC we were using for the streaming. We also rode along on a shopping trip to Costco and then stopped in at The Big Screen Store to look around. The biggest TVs are now 90-inch behemoths.
That evening we went to dinner at a restaurant in Warrenton called the Iron Bridge Wine Bar and Restaurant. We arrived ahead of time for our 1945 reservation but didn't get seated until 2030. Our meal, though, was great. We had tapas plates and split everything up. We had mushroom pizza, a cheese fondue, a gourmet hamburger, ravioli, scallops, a flight of wine, and a chocolate creme brulee dessert. And because we had had to wait so long for our table, the manager comped our drinks and dessert.

--------------------------

Tuesday, 27 December -

Today Labashi and I loaded up her car and we drove down to her brother's home outside of Washington, DC. We took the GPS-recommended route and that one went around the Baltimore and Washington beltways. I had thought traffic would be light given the holidays but we ran into several slow-moving sections.
We spent the afternoon chatting and then went to dinner at a Bonefish restaurant. They had just gotten a 55-inch flat-screen TV so we watched 'Avatar' and stayed up very late.

--------------------------

Monday, 26 December -

This morning I dug out our older-but-good Weslo treadmill and cleaned it up and tested it.
We're giving it to Labashi's brother on our visit to his home in Northern Virginia tomorrow. They have a very similar one and were looking for a second one so they can exercise at the same time. We're just happy to get it outta here! I'd much rather walk or jog outside, even in very hot or very cold weather. Walking or jogging in place just seems like the ultimate bore.
I took the Concours down to Starbucks to give it some exercise. When I went to pay for my mocha I was told a 'philanthropist' had bought a gift card and told them to give everyone free coffees for as long as it lasted. Nice!
I then rode up to Rocky Ridge Park and took my end-to-end walk. Along the way I ran into a mountain biker and we chatted about the trails here and mountain-biking trail centers in Delaware and Florida. My walk time of 1:57 reflected my long chat.
I do enjoy these walks this time of year. For the last 40 minutes or so I'm headed westerly and though it's only 1600 or so the sun is low in the sky and it's just very pleasant, particularly if the sun is on my face and the wind has died.

-------------------------

Sunday, 25 December -

We spent the afternoon with Mom and Dad in their apartment for Christmas today. That gave me a chance to set up LogMeIn on Dad's computer and my iPad and give it a try. LogMeIn had just dropped the price (from $29.99 to free!) so that gave me the incentive to try it. It seems to work fine but I need to try it from somewhere other than the same LAN as Dad's PC.
I also helped Labashi's sister get Skype up and running for the first time. She had just gotten a webcam for Christmas and this was her first experience with Skype and she LOVED it. It was great fun to see the look on her face and hear the excitement in her voice as the family gathered round to chat-and-see long distance.
We also connected up with one of Labashi's brothers and his wife in northern Virginia and another sister in southern Michigan had skyped-in this morning. Skype rocks!

-------------------------

Saturday, 24 December -

Today I waited a few hours for the day to warm up above 40 degrees and then rode the GS over to the BMW shop in Lititz to pick up my saddle bag. This is a warranty replacement for the one I dropped off a week or so ago. I enjoyed talking with Charlie the service manager who seems to be perfectly matched to his job. Afterwards I stopped at the Starbucks only a block away. How perfect is that?? A motorcycle shop with interesting bikes and a Starbucks nearby.
That evening we watched a few episodes of 'Rules of Engagement'. We're not sold on this one. I understand the concept of 'suspension of disbelief' but I'm not fond of what I think of as negative reinforcement of gender roles. Then again it's just a TV show.

-------------------------

Friday, 23 December -

Today I spent most of my day researching Florida stuff in preparation for my winter trip. I collected it into an email and sent it off to my brothers, hoping to lure them down for a few days.
This exercise started when I ran onto a Field and Stream article about kayak fishing on Hobie Mirage pedal-fin kayaks in the Keys. That of course got me to thinking about things I've wanted to do in the Keys-- such as a JetLev ride or ultralight floatplane ride. I can't afford to do them all but I can work one or two in this year and save the others for next time!

----------------------------

Thursday, 22 December -

Today was a Starbucks-and-walk day. Weather's still holding up pretty nicely so I took the F650GS for the ride in.
My walk at Rocky Ridge was a 1:50 today.


-------------------------

Wednesday, 21 December -

This morning we drove down to the hospital area to have our TB tests read. We had the injections Tuesday and today was merely a matter of having the nurse check the injection site for signs of a bump under the skin. This was just a routine followup from our series of pills and injections for and after our Botswana trip. We still have two more appointments in February.
I spent the afternoon researching Wide Open Baja cars. These are sand-rail style cars powered by a flat-four Subaru engine of about 175 horsepower. And they have something like an 18-inch travel on the front suspension.
I'm looking at them because they're available for rent both here in Pennsylvania and near Ocala, Florida (one of my regular stops on my winter trip). I gotta do that!
That evening we watched 'Get Low' with Robert Duvall. I think we would give it something like an 85 on the Tomatometer.

********* END OF POST ********

Sent from my iPad

Trip to Orat's home ; Getting into iMovie

(posted from home)

(this post covers 10 – 20 December, 2011)

-------------------------------

Tuesday, 20 December-

We're having some odd buzzing sounds on the phone line so I tried troubleshooting that and didn't make a lot of headway. The buzzing is intermittent and just when I think I'm making headway, it disappears. I'm 70 per cent sure the source is the phone company's problem but need to narrow that down before calling for service. I did open up all the connections and spray electrical contact spray and give them a quick brush but I think the problem is in the line coming into the house. We've had problems with it in the past.
Labashi went to her parent's apartment today to follow up on some medical issues and I caught up the blog. My experiment in using the iPad for the blog was for the most part a failure. I spent more time cleaning up the formatting because of copying it to Evernote and then copying that to email. I'd be better off to take my laptop than my iPad along on my Sunday ride-and-blog trips.
I also reviewed video clips from my little Sanyo camera today. I had taken the old Sanyo along as a backup and kept it handy while we drove. The Canon's HD footage far exceeds the quality of the Sanyo's 640x480 format but I did get a bit of you-are-there footage with the Sanyo.
That evening we finished the Wallander – Season One extras.

-------------------------------

Monday, 19 December -

Today we drove back to Mom and Dad's apartment in Mechanicsburg. I needed to look at Skype on Dad's PC and also go to the car dealer to see what it will take to replace a broken mirror on Mom's car. After I determined that Skype now seems stable and working fine (for no obvious reason), I drove Mom's car over to the dealer and got a quote to replace the mirror. I also took it to a local body shop for a quote. I think we'll delay getting that done until next month and get an inspection at the same time.
Labashi took Mom to the doctor's office today and didn't get back until late. Dad made supper and we then had a nice long chat before returning home.
We watched the third 'Wallander' episode and one of the DVD extras about Henning Mankel's Wallander novels. I really need to read some of his work. Movies are fine but the really interesting stuff is in the novels.

-----------------------------

Sunday, 18 December -

This morning I did my normal scan of the web while waiting for the day to warm up. We had a tiny bit of snow overnight and I wanted the roads to have a chance to warm before taking off on the motorcycle. I spent much of the time drooling over accessories for the Triumph Thruxton 900 I've been looking at both locally and at a dealer near Orat's home. I've not made up my mind to buy one but after seeing a nice bikini fairing for it and lots of performance gear, the temptation is growing. Now if I just had somewhere to keep it.
I took my regular Sunday ride to the Tollgate Starbucks and took the iPad along to catch up the blog. I had installed Evernote on the laptop and iPad and thought that would do it, particularly after reading an article by a full-time blogger who uses Evernote for this purpose. But Evernote let me down. After typing only a few sentences it began slowing down. I could type three or four words before they'd appear. And then it got worse-- I'd type a few words and the letters in each word would repeat. I powered down the iPad and started over with Evernote but it soon did the same thing. I switched over to email and that worked fine... no delays at all. I'll just have to remember to send myself the mail rather than depend on Evernote's sync function to share the text between platforms.
Later in the day we drove over to see Mom and Dad at their apartment in Mechanicsburg. We called in a to-go order for ribs to Texas Roadhouse and picked them up on our drive to the apartment.
After supper I worked on Dad's PC which had developed an odd problem with Skype. It would start up but then fail with a message saying it couldn't run anymore and suggested I install the latest version as a fix. But it was already on the latest version.
I tried a few things and deleted some redundant security software but that didn't help-- at least not consistently. It would work sometimes but not others. I'm going to need to look at this some more.
That evening we watched four episodes of 'Corner Gas' – Season Four. They've lost the magic.

-----------------------------

Saturday, 17 December -

Labashi mailed out her yearly newsletter to friends and family today and I had to get out of the house.  I rode the Concours to the East York Starbucks and found it so crowded I sat outside despite the 40-degree temperature and a bit of chilling wind.  I didn't last long at that and then went up to Rocky Ridge Park for my 5-miler.  I had the iPod along but found it dead.  I had forgotten to charge it after using it a long time for 'This American Life' episodes we listened to on our drive to and from Orat's.
The walk today seemed colder than today's 40 degree temperature but that was because of a persistent wind.  I've walked that loop enough to realize I'd be cold on the first part because of walking into the wind but after ten minutes or so I'd turn downwind and it would be much more comfortable--- and that indeed was the case--- at least until I turned back into the wind for the last 20 minutes of the loop.

------------------------------

Friday, 16 December -

Today Labashi and I spent the entire day editing a video of my grand-niece's winter concert performance.  The end product was only two minutes long but we had a lot of learning to do in using iMovie, particularly when we started working with sound.  I had a pan of the crowd near the end of the concert and Labashi came up with the idea of putting that first as an establishing shot. But the accompanying sound was wrong for that.  Labashi found crowd sounds in the iMovie effects library and did a great job of editing that to fit the visuals.
We also played  quite a bit with titles, backgrounds, and transitions.
Late that afternoon I posted the video to Youtube and sent the link to my niece's email.  Within minutes she put it up on her Facebook page and sent us a heartfelt thank-you ---- a very satisfying end to the day. That evening we did our usual thing on the web and then watched our weekly fix of 'Gold Rush' and 'Flying Wild Alaska'.

-----------------------------

Thursday, 15 December -

Today we had another leisurely breakfast with Orat and then took off for home.  The GPS plotted out a new route down the east side of Canandaigua Lake and when I realized it took us past the local Starbucks, I said 'why not?'.
Today was a rainy day off and on so the trip home wasn't quite as pleasant as the trip up a few days ago but I loved seeing the unfamiliar countryside.
At Mansfield we tried a new restaurant (Lamb's Creek Grill) and found it a good alternative to our normal stop at Wendy's and had a long lunch.  I then dropped in at the nearby gun shop I always visit on our way through here for a look at the used guns.  There wasn't anything I couldn't live without but I did find an H&K .380 that looked interesting.
We didn't get home until 1600 or so and by the time we 'arrived' (emptied out the van), it was dark.

------------------------------

Wednesday, 14 December -

This morning we sat around the table with Orat having a leisurely breakfast--- nice!  Labashi then drove over to JustJeff's house to help Giddyup settle in to the new house while Orat and I ran some errands.  Orat and JustJeff are rebuilding an older pickup and we needed to pick up parts.  That turned out to be easier said than done.  The parts house (AutoZone) had to send us to another location for some of the parts and once we arrived there we were directed to yet another location.
 After rounding up the parts we had lunch at a nearby Five Guys and then went shooting at the Rochester Rifle Club.  Orat is a member there and this was my first visit.  It's a nice little out-of-the-way low-key clubhouse but has a nice shooting lane setup, proper ventilation without the common problem of too much air movement at the shooting station, decent lighting, and good lead-elimination hand-cleaning soaps for afterwards.
I started out with a Glock .40 and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.  We had small target sheets but this was ridiculous.  In the meantime I watched Orat punch holes in an amazingly-small pattern near the center of his target.  Obviously I was using the wrong gun.  Oddly, when I tried the H&K 9mm Orat had been using, I was only hitting the paper half the time.  Another trade-out for another 9mm didn't fix things but upon trading back to the H&K I at least put 13 of 15 on the paper and had a center-high cluster going.  That's good, though.  I've not been shooting lately and this is just what I need to get me back out there.
That evening we all went to a winter concert for my third-grade grand-niece.  I had the little Canon point-and-shoot along and shot videos of her very animated performance. What a gas!  Later we returned to my niece's home and viewed the raw footage from the concert and that turned out to be a big hit.

-------------------------------

Tuesday, 13 December -

Today Labashi and I loaded up the van and headed for Orat's home (in the Rochester area). We left at 0830 and made it to our destination around 1400. We spent the rest of the afternoon helping the movers and then had a hearty spaghetti supper with family.
Afterwards I plugged the iPad into the family big-screen TV and went through the stills from our Botswana trip.  It was quite the circus. The little kids both loved the pictures but also had the attention span of, well, little kids!

------------------------------

Monday, 12 December -

Today I helped Labashi replace a ceiling tile in the guest room. This tile had been damaged by a small water leak and Labashi had spent a good bit of time and energy trying to cover it up with paint. She had taken a similar tile in to Lowe's and had it color-matched but the resulting color wasn't even close.
The problem here was the tile is part of the CeilingMax suspend-ceiling system and takes a bit of finessing to remove and replace. The tile came out easily but getting the new one in place proved a challenge. We still like the CeilingMax system more than a traditional dropped ceiling because it provides more clearance in the room and doesn't have such an industrial look.
That evening I called Orat and learned JustJeff had settled on his new house today and would be moving in tomorrow. I quickly made arrangements to travel up there. We had been planning a trip up there before Christmas and this would make a lot of sense-- help with the move, see the new house, visit with family, etc, etc. Perfect!

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Sunday, 11 December -

This morning I researched and then downloaded 'Evernote' on the iPad and my laptop. This app gives me a way to take notes and have them automatically synced between platforms.
I then rode the Concours down to the Tollgate Starbucks for my regular Sunday ride. I took along the iPad and keyboard and caught up on a few blog entries.
I then rode over to Rocky Ridge Park and walked my five-miler in 1:50.
That evening we watched more 'Modern Family' episodes.

-------------------------------

Saturday, 10 December -

This morning I needed a motorcycle ride so headed into town, initially planning to go to Starbucks. Along the way I remembered I still need to submit a warranty claim for the F50GS's right saddle bag. It's called a 'Vario' and expands and contracts using a lever inside the bag. But mine will no longer contract-- it's stuck in the expanded position.
I rode over to Trans Am Cycles in Lititz (where I bought the bike and bags) and dropped off the bag for the service guy to handle the warranty claim. Today was only a 40-degree day so I wondered how my electrically-heated clothing would do. As I crossed the Susquehanna River bridge I realized my hands were getting cold even though the temperature controller for the gloves was turned all the way up. I turned on the GS's heated handgrips and that took care of it. It seems odd to heat the outside of the heavy gloves but the internal heat was being overwhelmed by the cold air flowing past the gloves. The additional heat from the grips balanced that out.
At the shop I spoke briefly with Dan, the sales guy, and Charlie, the service guy. Both are quite friendly and know their products.
After the shop visit I stopped at the nearby Starbucks for a warm-me-up before the long trip home and spent an hour or so catching up on the news via the iPad. I love the convenience of taking the little iPad along and having access to the web.
That evening we watched several episodes of 'Modern Family', season one.

*********** END OF POST *********

Late-Fall motorcycle rides ; Uh-oh at House 2

(posted from home)

(This post covers 1 – 9 December, 2011)




-----------------------------------

Friday, 9 December -

This morning I revisited the slideshow of Africa stills I had created and added comments from Labashi and also made a few changes of my own. I think it's finally ready for distribution.
Mid-day I hopped on the Concours and zipped down to the East York Starbucks. I took along the iPad and wireless keyboard and my blog notes. I enjoyed my mocha and caught up the blog. I also had a long conversation with Chris, a guy who works at the nearby Lowes. Using the keyboard with the iPad made a big difference (compared to the on-screen keyboard) and I see it's very possible to start making blog entries this way. But I have to be careful to make backups on the laptop in case the web site were ever to lose my data.
The temperature today is again in the upper 40's and the motorcycle riding very comfortable-- in fact I saw two other bikes out today.
We watched a few episodes of 'Modern Family'- season one.

-----------------------------------

Thursday, 8 December -

This morning I finally got my laptop back.  I needed to figure out how to take put our Africa stills online in a form we can send to friends and relatives.  After checking out several options I found that iPhoto has easy import and email functions.
I had edited the photos a bit on the iPad and needed to transfer the files to the laptop.  Fortunately I found an iPad app (called "Photo Transfer App") for this purpose.  It couldn't have been easier.
I had not been on iPhoto before so took a bit of time to research how to import and edit the photos.  That too turned out to be easy.  The import was a matter of pointing at the folder containing the transferred photos.  Editing (color correction and cropping) were intuitive and emailing was easy-- with a few little gotchas but they made sense once you found them.
I sent test emails to Labashi and we reviewed them and tried a few things to improve them.  The original file was over 9 meg and I figured that would be a problem for some recipients since many email servers won't take files over 5 meg.  But some judicious deletions of borderline-quality photos took it down under 5 meg.
I then added some comments to each photo.
That afternoon I took the Concours down to Rocky Ridge for my 5-miler (1:50 today).  I had gotten a late start for this time of year so couldn't take time to stop off at Starbucks.  But the woods were beautiful in the evening light (at 4 pm!!)
That evening we watched 'Somewhere', a Sofia Coppola film.  This one is a character study and is rated fairly low on Netflix but we like her work.  And that was indeed the case for this one-- we liked it.  It's not a traditional movie in structure; it's a character study.  But this is another movie that grows on you after it (unexpectedly) ends.

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Wednesday, 7 December -

More rain today.  Labashi has decided that the video clips I had done could use some work. She had been a video producer before retiring and had done a lot of professional editing so the bottom line is she's right.  I was content to have videos that looked like home movies if they captured something interesting.  But Labashi wants to edit out the shaky footage, even if it means a much shorter piece.
She had not used iMovie before so I got her started and sat nearby using my iPad. (See, honey, it WAS worth buying an iPad after all!)
Labashi edited and uploaded six or seven videos by supper time.  It had taken me three or four days to do that.
We then went out to supper at Deb's Pizza in Manchester.  We like their ham boat and roast-beef boat sandwiches.

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Tuesday, 6 December -

It's Tuesday so it must be raining.... as indeed it was.  Tuesday is our take-out-the-trash day and it seems I'm always doing it in the rain.
This morning I had a dental checkup.  Since the dentist's office is near Mom and Dad's apartment Labashi went along and we visited them for a couple of hours.  I diagnosed a problem with Mom's printer and we had a nice chat.
That evening we were introduced to the TV series 'Modern Family'.  When I first saw Ed O'Neill I thought we had made a mistake but the pilot was hilarious.  We went on to watch all the episodes on Disk 1.  Now we can't wait for more.

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Monday, 5 December -

Today I drove to Chambersburg to work on House 2 a bit.  I've had an odd problem with the back door.  It's a new door and keeps swelling.  I've had to plane it off and repaint at least four times now.  When we visited Maypo at Thanksgiving I found I couldn't even close the door (after forcing it open).
As soon as I entered the house I noticed the smell of fuel oil.  It was strong enough that I really dreaded entering the basement.  I found a pool of fuel oil about six-feet around at the furnace.   Fortunately we had left a roll of paper towels and a trash can with liner.  I sopped up the oil and washed the floor, then found the problem--- a fitting was loose.  Last summer we had bled the line after some work and apparently had failed to tighten it. The problem showed up when we had the tank filled for winter.
I then fixed and repainted the door and headed home, all in all about four hours of work.

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Sunday, 4 December -

Later in the morning I rode the Concours down to the Tollgate Starbucks for my weekly Sunday ride.  I took along the iPad instead of buying a paper.  I'm really loving this thing.  It gives me an excuse to look for new apps and I've read more books and magazines in the last month than the previous six.  I particularly like having so much capability right with me, from doing video calls to looking up stuff on maps and in Wikipedia and of course Google.  I have music as wekk as the photos and several of the videos from our Africa trip.  Very nice...
I rode the Concours home and changed my clothes and then rode the GS down to Rocky Ridge park for my 5-miler (1:42 today).  These days it's getting dark by the time I get back home and I'm quite ready to take a couple of ibuprofen and then take it easy.  So far the body is taking the walking well and I'm not sore in the morning from it.   While walking I listen to the iPod and am currently particularly fond of Sia's 'Breathe Me' and 'Lullaby' and Zero Seven's 'Home' (I'm a Tina Dico fan)

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Saturday, 3 December -

Today I spent all day going through the log of our Chambersburg work to figure up our hours and trips. We spent just under 500 hours (actually, just under 1000 man-hours when you realize that both Labashi and I were working) and we made 17 round-trips to Chambersburg for this purpose.
While perusing the log I also uploaded two Thanksgiving video clips for the rest of the family to see on YouTube.
Labashi worked all day in the yard, running her burn barrels. She's an amazing worker and just goes for hours on this. She went down there about 0900 this morning, took maybe a 20-minute lunch break and worked through till dark. She just loves it. And the yard looks great!
I spent the evening catching up and posting the blog.

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Friday, 2 December -

Today I took on a project I've been dreading. I had repaired our front pole light a few months ago and it only lasted a month. I had found – with great luck --- the break in the underground cable leading from our front porch to the pole light. This section had been under our old sidewalk and the construction guys had done a less-than-workmanlike job of splicing the cable after cutting it. I found it using Maypo's metal detector and had done what I thought was a very professional job of re-splicing it. But, as I said, a month later the problem was even worse. Where before we had no light, now we had a dead short which flipped the circuit breaker whenever we'd turn on the light switch.
I dug up the splice today and though everything looked fine, I cut it off and tested the wire in both directions. The tests were good! What the....????
It took me awhile to find the problem. Apparently I had pinched a wire in installing the light fixture and over time the pinch became a short. If I had done my test of the wire from end to end before cutting off the splice, it would have tested okay and would have saved me some work. But in any case, now the light works.


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Thursday, 1 December -

I spent the morning on the web and then rode the GS down to Starbucks on this beautiful mid-Fifties day. We don't have many of these left this year so I'd better take advantage while I can.
I then rode up to Rocky Ridge Park and walked my five-miler, this time in 1:50-- a relatively slow pace. I'm enjoying the new music I've found because of the Soundhound app on the iPad. I heard a song I liked playing on TV and used Soundhound to identify it. That led to more exploration and then my purchase of five or six new songs. This is SO much better than the old music world.
That evening we watched the Fellini film '8 ½'. Now we need to see it again with the commentary turned on.

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