‘Phoebe In Wonderland’, BleachWhite, New York trip, ‘Day for Night’, ‘MI-5’, ‘Rashomon’, walk-walk-walk, ‘Man on Wire’
(posted from home)
(This post covers 3 – 21 July, 2009)
-----------------------------------------
Tuesday, 21 July-
This morning I caught up on email and the web news. In the afternoon I took Mocha Joe to the West York Wal-mart for an oil change. I see I’ve put 10,000 miles on since my oil change just before my Florida trip in February. The Wal-mart oil change seems like a pretty good deal. I had always done my own oil changes up until last summer, just before our Alaska trip. But I found I could basically have them do all the work for about $10 and that included lubing the nine grease fittings, checking the air filter, belts, lights, and fluid levels, and vacuuming the front carpet. The deluxe oil change for my van is $61 but that includes the six quarts of the Mobil One oil I like and an oil filter. With that oil now at $6.27 a quart and a filter around $10, I’d have to pay over $50 just for the oil and filter. So $61 for the job seems very fair, even cheap. Mocha Joe mileage is now 137K.
That evening I walked-four and then we finished watching ‘Man on Wire’, a documentary about Philippe Pettit, the high-wire walker who wire-walked between the New York World Trade Center towers in 1974. This was an amazing story and well worth my highest recommendation.
-----------------------------------------
Monday, 20 July-
Today Labashi and I both wanted a burger from Fuddrucker’s so drove in for lunch, then did some shopping at Home Depot and Wal-mart.
That afternoon I took on a long-dreaded task. Mocha Joe’s front-passenger window doesn’t go down reliably. The problem has been sporadic but arose again over the weekend as Maypo and I drove around the Tuscarora State Forest.
The window problem is very odd. For several years, Labashi’s window control would not work but the one on my side always would. And mine worked, hers would start working again and would continue working for days at a time.
Eventually, we found the switch (for her window) on my side wouldn’t work as reliably. And for brief periods, neither would work. But then the problem would entirely disappear.
So today I dug out the manual and a can of electrical contact spray. The job of cleaning up the contacts turned out to be remarkably easy. I only had to remove one screw for access, pull the switch mount forward and turn it over. There I could see the wire connections. They are odd but the good news is I could easily get the contact spray in there. I cleaned them up repeatedly, then did the same on my side.
I then removed the battery cables and the chassis ground and cleaned up all the connections and put them back.
The window works but I won’t know for some time whether I’ve resolved the problem. Before starting today, I tried both switches and they worked fine. Only with time will I be able to tell whether I’ve solved this problem.
That evening I walked the six mile loop, then we watched ‘Rashomon’, a Japanese classic film made in 1950. We enjoyed learning about the film and its place in film history though, again, like in watching ‘Day for Night’ we feel we’re missing much of the context that made this a multiple award-winner.
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, 19 July-
Today I couldn’t stand it any more. I had to get out into the Tuscarora State Forest, just to cruise the roads and look around. I called Maypo and he happened to be free so joined me.
We spent the afternoon driving the dirt roads, stopping occasionally to check something out. By the end of the day we had seen three young bucks (two of them with two-to-three-inch antlerettes, one with just the buttons where antlers are starting to grow), four does, a turkey, and four hawks.
I had told Labashi I may not be home that evening, thinking I might stay at Fowler’s Hollow State Park. But I had to get Maypo back to his truck and at that point it seemed a long way back to the State Forest, so I just continued on home.
It had been a good day in the forest, though. There was an enduro going on around Fowler’s Hollow area and we saw lots of motorcycles. We also toured the Kansas Valley area and walked out to the overlook. We also stopped along Second Narrows Road at the Tuscarora Trail crossing and I realized this is a section of trail I’d like to do, perhaps this Fall.
That evening we watched the second episode of ‘MI-5’, Season One.
------------------------------------------
Saturday, 18 July-
Labashi isn’t feeling well today. We were a little concerned when we learned our grandnephew and grandniece had had swine flu a few weeks before our visit. We seemed to be fine after the visit but today’s ‘bug’ makes us wonder.
I had a long Skype video call with Orat today. We played around with Skype’s new screen-share feature. I was surprised to learn I could play a video clip on my computer and Orat could see it on his in real-time and we could even discuss it in real-time while watching.
That afternoon I took a long walk at Pinchot State Park, this one a nine-miler from the dam parking lot to the bridge beyond the campground entrance station and back. To make it last, I also did the spur from the Ridge Trail to the hard road and back and then branched off to walk some of the Lakeside Trail in order to give me more distance and time. The nine miles was plenty as far as my feet were concerned so I was glad to see the car at that point.
That evening we watched the first episode of ‘MI-5’, a Brit television series somewhat like ‘Alias’. We like seeing the details of place, office buildings, homes, cars, etc. and the plot was pretty good.
------------------------------------------
Friday, 17 July-
Today I spent much of the day catching up my medical and estate logs. I find them very useful as reminders and as repositories of details but tend to let them go too long between updates (sort of like my blog, no?).
I was planning to walk this afternoon but just as I was preparing to leave, rain started so I put it off.
That evening we had a nice, long Skype conversation with Shilla and Moth, our friends from Boulder. We had great fun catching up since our visit to Boulder last September.
------------------------------------------
Thursday, 16 July-
Today I rode the Concours to Chambersburg for meetings with the financial advisor and lawyer for Mom’s estate. Afterward, Maypo and I spent the evening with wings-and-beer on the deck at a local pub, chatting about his new job and about the meetings.
-------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 15 July-
I was up for another walk today. This time I parked below the Pinchot State Park dam and again walked to the campground entrance station and back— about eight miles total.
That evening we watched ‘Day for Night’, Francois Truffaut’s 1973 homage to film-making. We enjoyed learning about it but don’t quite get why it was historic or worthy of so many awards. The Seventies were a time of great experimentation and looking for answers so perhaps we just don’t have the right context for this film but it doesn’t seem all that special to us. Nevertheless in our effort to ‘fill in the blanks’ in our film education, we’re glad we saw it.
------------------------------------------
Tuesday 14 July-
Today I needed to get out in the woods so took a walk at Pinchot State Park. I walked six miles, leaving from the East Mooring area and walking the Lakeside Trail to the Nature Center parking lot, then up to the Ridge Trail and across to the campground entrance station before backtracking that route to the bike.
-------------------------------------------
Monday, 13 July-
Today Labashi and I headed home in Mocha Joe. We detoured to Corning to visit the Rockwell Museum of Western Art (good, but not outstanding). Afterward we walked Market Street and had lunch at Thali of India, a very nice (and inexpensive) Indian restaurant. We took the bus over to the museum but walked back so I’d guess we walked something on the order of two miles today.
We took our time with our day and ended up on the north side of Harrisburg around supper time. There we realized we were close to Tavern on the Hill, a restaurant we’ve wanted to try. We celebrated splurged with two meals of their filet mignon covered with Roquefort cheese. We learned this restaurant is popular with state government officials and their lobbyists and they were in evidence all around us. I don’t think we’ll be returning.
--------------------------------------------
Sunday, 12 July –
Today we helped out with prep for the afternoon birthday party and then partied down with the kids. The four-year-old made out like a bandit and we adults had fun ‘helping’ him play with his toys.
--------------------------------------------
Saturday, 11 July –
Today we two carloads of family went to the Corning Glass Works for a tour. We then stopped at the Village Tavern in Hammondsport for supper—a great choice. I just had appetizers for my main meal but also had an excellent mojito beforehand and than after supper a chocolate martini. I loved seeing all the choices available there and will definitely be back.
---------------------------------------------
Friday, 10 July-
Today we loaded up Mocha Joe and headed up US15 toward Orat’s home in the Rochester area. We’re invited to a four-year-old’s birthday party so we shopped along the way. After some frustrations, we came up with the perfect gift—a bed-tent. Our little grand-nephew loves to make a ‘fort’ under a blanket-draped table so this ought to appeal to his imagination.
That evening we joined the pre-party party at my niece’s house. I very much enjoyed pulling my little one-year-old grand-niece around the yard in her wagon. The faster you pull, the bigger the smile around her binky! And when it’s roughest, she even flaps her arms, apparently to help us cross the speed-bumps. What a riot! (Here she is on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgz1KNVMaUU .
----------------------------------------------
Thursday, 9 July-
Today Labashi and I met with our local tax-prep guy for the last phase of our financial-checkup review. With the financial world in upheaval, the results almost completely depend on what you think is going to happen in the future. Like any such endeavor, the devil is in the details of the assumptions. Nevertheless this exercise was good for us in that it encouraged us to do a detailed review of our expenses and our budgeting and pointed out a few areas for us to consider changes.
That afternoon I mowed the lawn and considered it equivalent to a three-mile walk.
----------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 8 July-
Today I took the Miata for a sunny-day ride up to Mechanicsburg. I wanted to see how the motorcycle marketplace is doing. I first stopped at the Harley dealership on the Carlisle Pike. I don’t see much evidence of prices falling, at least not in the price tags. Perhaps you can get a better deal than indicated. But I’m just not that enthusiastic about Harleys. I did take a demo ride on a StreetGlide but found it odd. The sales guy touted it as a performance bike but I don’t see that. It has a batwing fairing with a cut-down windshield and that means I had a lot of wind-blast on my chest and helmet. And the fact that it doesn’t have lowers means my pant-legs were flapping madly. And I was only on some back roads. At interstate speeds, I’d think that would be very disappointing.
I then stopped at the nearby Honda and BMW (Velocity Cycles) shop and saw ridiculous prices on the Gold Wing and the entire BMW line. I wouldn’t even consider paying $24K for a Gold Wing or paying their ‘Prepaid Maintenance Plan’ prices. They’ve got to be kidding.
I repaired to the local Starbucks for an iced tea, then went home and walked my six-mile loop.
That evening we finished up the ‘Corner Gas’ disk.
----------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 7 July-
Today I rode the Concours over to Lancaster. I first went to the BleachWhite franchise, hoping to get a walk-in appointment to whiten my teeth. I had blundered upon the BleachWhite franchise in York’s Galleria Mall a few months ago. Last week I finally decided to give it a try only to find it had closed. I had to go to the web to find another location.
BleachWhite is a twenty-minute treatment using a special blue-white light and a dental tray with a whitening agent. The blue-white light supposedly opens the ‘pores’ of the tooth enamel to allow the whitening agent to work. The process was very easy and did indeed whiten my teeth about two shades. The cost is normally $100 but I had found an online coupon which reduced it to $75 and considered that a good deal.
I also rode to Trans-Am Cycles in Lititz to pick up oil filters for the Concours and KLR.
That evening I walked my four-mile route, then we watched three episodes of ‘Corner Gas’-Season 3. Labashi is losing interest in it since it’s really just a sit-com but I still enjoy the setting and characters.
---------------------------------------------
Monday, 6 July-
I spent much of the afternoon cleaning out Mocha Joe in preparation for a trip at the end of the week. This was one of the remove-everything, vacuum-everywhere, and wipe-down the contents of storage boxes. I really need to work on cutting down the amount of dust that comes in past the rear door seals on the forest roads.
That evening I walked-four.
----------------------------------------------
Sunday, 5 July-
Sunday means a motorcycle ride to the Tollgate Starbucks to read the Sunday Times (and often there’s a Wall Street Journal).
That evening I walked my six-mile loop course and felt great fast-walking it.
-----------------------------------------------
Saturday, 4 July-
Today I took the KLR in to Best Buy and Staples looking for a replacement telephone headset for Labashi. Hers is quite noisy at times and I think she’d like to have a two-muff version. I was surprised to see how limited the selection is so ended up giving up on this little project. On the way home I took a tour of basketball courts to shoot around (I keep the basketball in the KLR’s saddlebag). I’d shoot for a half-hour or so, then move on to the next.
Back home I installed yellow Acerbis hand-guards on the KLR handlebars. I had bought these on a whim several years ago and never installed them once I realized it was going to be a hassle. It took me about two hours to install something that should have taken about twenty minutes if the mounts had been designed properly. As it was it took cutting and fitting to get the mounts to fit. But once on, they look great and will provide yet a bit more of conspicuity, particularly for oncoming drivers. Hopefully these and the bright jersey I wear when I ride the KLR will help oncoming drivers notice me and therefore not turn right in front of me.
That evening we watched ‘Phoebe in Wonderland’, a quirky film about a young girl who longs to be part of her school play and can’t understand why she doesn’t appear to be ‘normal’. If you can handle a movie which blurs the line between reality and fantasy in its storytelling, I can heartily recommend it.
As to Fourth of July fireworks, neighbors around us had an impressive array of the high-powered stuff so we didn’t need to go anywhere!
-----------------------------------------------
Friday, 3 July-
This morning I updated the blog, then rode the KLR into town for a shopping trip. That afternoon I shot around at the basketball court at Shelley Park but when rain started I bolted for home. The rain didn’t last long, so I then walked my regular four-mile route along the creek. I’m happy to report that this summer we have five or six goldfinches flitting around the powerline crossing. I’ve only seen the bluebirds I had been seeing all winter a few times this summer so the goldfinches are a welcome sight. I see the great blue herons and a white heron quite often but seldom see the kingfisher I was seeing nearly every day in winter.
************* END OF POST *************
(posted from home)
(This post covers 3 – 21 July, 2009)
-----------------------------------------
Tuesday, 21 July-
This morning I caught up on email and the web news. In the afternoon I took Mocha Joe to the West York Wal-mart for an oil change. I see I’ve put 10,000 miles on since my oil change just before my Florida trip in February. The Wal-mart oil change seems like a pretty good deal. I had always done my own oil changes up until last summer, just before our Alaska trip. But I found I could basically have them do all the work for about $10 and that included lubing the nine grease fittings, checking the air filter, belts, lights, and fluid levels, and vacuuming the front carpet. The deluxe oil change for my van is $61 but that includes the six quarts of the Mobil One oil I like and an oil filter. With that oil now at $6.27 a quart and a filter around $10, I’d have to pay over $50 just for the oil and filter. So $61 for the job seems very fair, even cheap. Mocha Joe mileage is now 137K.
That evening I walked-four and then we finished watching ‘Man on Wire’, a documentary about Philippe Pettit, the high-wire walker who wire-walked between the New York World Trade Center towers in 1974. This was an amazing story and well worth my highest recommendation.
-----------------------------------------
Monday, 20 July-
Today Labashi and I both wanted a burger from Fuddrucker’s so drove in for lunch, then did some shopping at Home Depot and Wal-mart.
That afternoon I took on a long-dreaded task. Mocha Joe’s front-passenger window doesn’t go down reliably. The problem has been sporadic but arose again over the weekend as Maypo and I drove around the Tuscarora State Forest.
The window problem is very odd. For several years, Labashi’s window control would not work but the one on my side always would. And mine worked, hers would start working again and would continue working for days at a time.
Eventually, we found the switch (for her window) on my side wouldn’t work as reliably. And for brief periods, neither would work. But then the problem would entirely disappear.
So today I dug out the manual and a can of electrical contact spray. The job of cleaning up the contacts turned out to be remarkably easy. I only had to remove one screw for access, pull the switch mount forward and turn it over. There I could see the wire connections. They are odd but the good news is I could easily get the contact spray in there. I cleaned them up repeatedly, then did the same on my side.
I then removed the battery cables and the chassis ground and cleaned up all the connections and put them back.
The window works but I won’t know for some time whether I’ve resolved the problem. Before starting today, I tried both switches and they worked fine. Only with time will I be able to tell whether I’ve solved this problem.
That evening I walked the six mile loop, then we watched ‘Rashomon’, a Japanese classic film made in 1950. We enjoyed learning about the film and its place in film history though, again, like in watching ‘Day for Night’ we feel we’re missing much of the context that made this a multiple award-winner.
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, 19 July-
Today I couldn’t stand it any more. I had to get out into the Tuscarora State Forest, just to cruise the roads and look around. I called Maypo and he happened to be free so joined me.
We spent the afternoon driving the dirt roads, stopping occasionally to check something out. By the end of the day we had seen three young bucks (two of them with two-to-three-inch antlerettes, one with just the buttons where antlers are starting to grow), four does, a turkey, and four hawks.
I had told Labashi I may not be home that evening, thinking I might stay at Fowler’s Hollow State Park. But I had to get Maypo back to his truck and at that point it seemed a long way back to the State Forest, so I just continued on home.
It had been a good day in the forest, though. There was an enduro going on around Fowler’s Hollow area and we saw lots of motorcycles. We also toured the Kansas Valley area and walked out to the overlook. We also stopped along Second Narrows Road at the Tuscarora Trail crossing and I realized this is a section of trail I’d like to do, perhaps this Fall.
That evening we watched the second episode of ‘MI-5’, Season One.
------------------------------------------
Saturday, 18 July-
Labashi isn’t feeling well today. We were a little concerned when we learned our grandnephew and grandniece had had swine flu a few weeks before our visit. We seemed to be fine after the visit but today’s ‘bug’ makes us wonder.
I had a long Skype video call with Orat today. We played around with Skype’s new screen-share feature. I was surprised to learn I could play a video clip on my computer and Orat could see it on his in real-time and we could even discuss it in real-time while watching.
That afternoon I took a long walk at Pinchot State Park, this one a nine-miler from the dam parking lot to the bridge beyond the campground entrance station and back. To make it last, I also did the spur from the Ridge Trail to the hard road and back and then branched off to walk some of the Lakeside Trail in order to give me more distance and time. The nine miles was plenty as far as my feet were concerned so I was glad to see the car at that point.
That evening we watched the first episode of ‘MI-5’, a Brit television series somewhat like ‘Alias’. We like seeing the details of place, office buildings, homes, cars, etc. and the plot was pretty good.
------------------------------------------
Friday, 17 July-
Today I spent much of the day catching up my medical and estate logs. I find them very useful as reminders and as repositories of details but tend to let them go too long between updates (sort of like my blog, no?).
I was planning to walk this afternoon but just as I was preparing to leave, rain started so I put it off.
That evening we had a nice, long Skype conversation with Shilla and Moth, our friends from Boulder. We had great fun catching up since our visit to Boulder last September.
------------------------------------------
Thursday, 16 July-
Today I rode the Concours to Chambersburg for meetings with the financial advisor and lawyer for Mom’s estate. Afterward, Maypo and I spent the evening with wings-and-beer on the deck at a local pub, chatting about his new job and about the meetings.
-------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 15 July-
I was up for another walk today. This time I parked below the Pinchot State Park dam and again walked to the campground entrance station and back— about eight miles total.
That evening we watched ‘Day for Night’, Francois Truffaut’s 1973 homage to film-making. We enjoyed learning about it but don’t quite get why it was historic or worthy of so many awards. The Seventies were a time of great experimentation and looking for answers so perhaps we just don’t have the right context for this film but it doesn’t seem all that special to us. Nevertheless in our effort to ‘fill in the blanks’ in our film education, we’re glad we saw it.
------------------------------------------
Tuesday 14 July-
Today I needed to get out in the woods so took a walk at Pinchot State Park. I walked six miles, leaving from the East Mooring area and walking the Lakeside Trail to the Nature Center parking lot, then up to the Ridge Trail and across to the campground entrance station before backtracking that route to the bike.
-------------------------------------------
Monday, 13 July-
Today Labashi and I headed home in Mocha Joe. We detoured to Corning to visit the Rockwell Museum of Western Art (good, but not outstanding). Afterward we walked Market Street and had lunch at Thali of India, a very nice (and inexpensive) Indian restaurant. We took the bus over to the museum but walked back so I’d guess we walked something on the order of two miles today.
We took our time with our day and ended up on the north side of Harrisburg around supper time. There we realized we were close to Tavern on the Hill, a restaurant we’ve wanted to try. We celebrated splurged with two meals of their filet mignon covered with Roquefort cheese. We learned this restaurant is popular with state government officials and their lobbyists and they were in evidence all around us. I don’t think we’ll be returning.
--------------------------------------------
Sunday, 12 July –
Today we helped out with prep for the afternoon birthday party and then partied down with the kids. The four-year-old made out like a bandit and we adults had fun ‘helping’ him play with his toys.
--------------------------------------------
Saturday, 11 July –
Today we two carloads of family went to the Corning Glass Works for a tour. We then stopped at the Village Tavern in Hammondsport for supper—a great choice. I just had appetizers for my main meal but also had an excellent mojito beforehand and than after supper a chocolate martini. I loved seeing all the choices available there and will definitely be back.
---------------------------------------------
Friday, 10 July-
Today we loaded up Mocha Joe and headed up US15 toward Orat’s home in the Rochester area. We’re invited to a four-year-old’s birthday party so we shopped along the way. After some frustrations, we came up with the perfect gift—a bed-tent. Our little grand-nephew loves to make a ‘fort’ under a blanket-draped table so this ought to appeal to his imagination.
That evening we joined the pre-party party at my niece’s house. I very much enjoyed pulling my little one-year-old grand-niece around the yard in her wagon. The faster you pull, the bigger the smile around her binky! And when it’s roughest, she even flaps her arms, apparently to help us cross the speed-bumps. What a riot! (Here she is on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgz1KNVMaUU .
----------------------------------------------
Thursday, 9 July-
Today Labashi and I met with our local tax-prep guy for the last phase of our financial-checkup review. With the financial world in upheaval, the results almost completely depend on what you think is going to happen in the future. Like any such endeavor, the devil is in the details of the assumptions. Nevertheless this exercise was good for us in that it encouraged us to do a detailed review of our expenses and our budgeting and pointed out a few areas for us to consider changes.
That afternoon I mowed the lawn and considered it equivalent to a three-mile walk.
----------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 8 July-
Today I took the Miata for a sunny-day ride up to Mechanicsburg. I wanted to see how the motorcycle marketplace is doing. I first stopped at the Harley dealership on the Carlisle Pike. I don’t see much evidence of prices falling, at least not in the price tags. Perhaps you can get a better deal than indicated. But I’m just not that enthusiastic about Harleys. I did take a demo ride on a StreetGlide but found it odd. The sales guy touted it as a performance bike but I don’t see that. It has a batwing fairing with a cut-down windshield and that means I had a lot of wind-blast on my chest and helmet. And the fact that it doesn’t have lowers means my pant-legs were flapping madly. And I was only on some back roads. At interstate speeds, I’d think that would be very disappointing.
I then stopped at the nearby Honda and BMW (Velocity Cycles) shop and saw ridiculous prices on the Gold Wing and the entire BMW line. I wouldn’t even consider paying $24K for a Gold Wing or paying their ‘Prepaid Maintenance Plan’ prices. They’ve got to be kidding.
I repaired to the local Starbucks for an iced tea, then went home and walked my six-mile loop.
That evening we finished up the ‘Corner Gas’ disk.
----------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 7 July-
Today I rode the Concours over to Lancaster. I first went to the BleachWhite franchise, hoping to get a walk-in appointment to whiten my teeth. I had blundered upon the BleachWhite franchise in York’s Galleria Mall a few months ago. Last week I finally decided to give it a try only to find it had closed. I had to go to the web to find another location.
BleachWhite is a twenty-minute treatment using a special blue-white light and a dental tray with a whitening agent. The blue-white light supposedly opens the ‘pores’ of the tooth enamel to allow the whitening agent to work. The process was very easy and did indeed whiten my teeth about two shades. The cost is normally $100 but I had found an online coupon which reduced it to $75 and considered that a good deal.
I also rode to Trans-Am Cycles in Lititz to pick up oil filters for the Concours and KLR.
That evening I walked my four-mile route, then we watched three episodes of ‘Corner Gas’-Season 3. Labashi is losing interest in it since it’s really just a sit-com but I still enjoy the setting and characters.
---------------------------------------------
Monday, 6 July-
I spent much of the afternoon cleaning out Mocha Joe in preparation for a trip at the end of the week. This was one of the remove-everything, vacuum-everywhere, and wipe-down the contents of storage boxes. I really need to work on cutting down the amount of dust that comes in past the rear door seals on the forest roads.
That evening I walked-four.
----------------------------------------------
Sunday, 5 July-
Sunday means a motorcycle ride to the Tollgate Starbucks to read the Sunday Times (and often there’s a Wall Street Journal).
That evening I walked my six-mile loop course and felt great fast-walking it.
-----------------------------------------------
Saturday, 4 July-
Today I took the KLR in to Best Buy and Staples looking for a replacement telephone headset for Labashi. Hers is quite noisy at times and I think she’d like to have a two-muff version. I was surprised to see how limited the selection is so ended up giving up on this little project. On the way home I took a tour of basketball courts to shoot around (I keep the basketball in the KLR’s saddlebag). I’d shoot for a half-hour or so, then move on to the next.
Back home I installed yellow Acerbis hand-guards on the KLR handlebars. I had bought these on a whim several years ago and never installed them once I realized it was going to be a hassle. It took me about two hours to install something that should have taken about twenty minutes if the mounts had been designed properly. As it was it took cutting and fitting to get the mounts to fit. But once on, they look great and will provide yet a bit more of conspicuity, particularly for oncoming drivers. Hopefully these and the bright jersey I wear when I ride the KLR will help oncoming drivers notice me and therefore not turn right in front of me.
That evening we watched ‘Phoebe in Wonderland’, a quirky film about a young girl who longs to be part of her school play and can’t understand why she doesn’t appear to be ‘normal’. If you can handle a movie which blurs the line between reality and fantasy in its storytelling, I can heartily recommend it.
As to Fourth of July fireworks, neighbors around us had an impressive array of the high-powered stuff so we didn’t need to go anywhere!
-----------------------------------------------
Friday, 3 July-
This morning I updated the blog, then rode the KLR into town for a shopping trip. That afternoon I shot around at the basketball court at Shelley Park but when rain started I bolted for home. The rain didn’t last long, so I then walked my regular four-mile route along the creek. I’m happy to report that this summer we have five or six goldfinches flitting around the powerline crossing. I’ve only seen the bluebirds I had been seeing all winter a few times this summer so the goldfinches are a welcome sight. I see the great blue herons and a white heron quite often but seldom see the kingfisher I was seeing nearly every day in winter.
************* END OF POST *************
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
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