Pining for Florida, vehicle 'issues', 'Secretary', 'Taking Chance'
(posted from home)
(This post covers 1-5 January, 2010)
-----------------------------------
Tuesday, 5 January-
OK, so I'm getting just ridiculously lax about updating the blog online. Today sets a new record of the length of time between posts. This started while travelling and being unable to post every few days. That led me to keep the blog in an offline version and then copy the offline version to the online version. That's ok when the offline-to-online process is happening every few days but I hadn't posted since December 15th. I spent the morning filling the holes in my notes today and converting them to narrative and then posted.
This afternoon I just couldn't wait to get out and walk. We've had a very windy and cold few days so today's mid-Thirties-and-light-winds day called to me. There are even a few patches of faint blue showing through the clouds.
I walked my six-mile loop, picking up three Walmart-bags of trash (mostly beer cans that appeared since my last cleanup walk about a month ago) on the creekside segment. The good-ole boys are putting out three to four beer cans a day. I can't imagine why. Maybe there are carloads of them passing through.
That evening I finished up catching up the blog while Labashi watched a National Geographic special on the Koran and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
-----------------------------------
Monday, 4 January -
I was surprised today to find the Miata battery holding a charge. It had appeared to have been so dead that I expected it wouldn't recover. But it seemed very strong. I took a short drive up to the local gas station to top off a leaky tire and get oil circulating through the transmission and rear end and rub the rust off the brake calipers.
I then tried to start ol' Cherry Larry, our beater-van. I noticed the door didn't seem to be closed the whole way and sure enough, the battery was completely dead. I put the charger on it but the charger lights don't look normal; I think the battery is beyond help.
That afternoon I took Labashi's car in to Walmart for an oil change. The change only takes a half-hour or so but when I went to pay, I noticed they had used the wrong oil. The clerk had the mechanic come in and asked why he hadn't used the oil I had selected. He said they don't have that oil which, of course is ridiculous given the work order entry was created by a drop down of the available oils at Walmart. He then asked if there's any reason I didn't want the oil he 'usually' puts in. In the meantime the clerk had found the oil I had requested and the guy suddenly had something to do in the shop and left. The clerk followed through on having the entire oil change redone, including a new, new filter. So $35-worth of brand new Mobil One went to the recycle tank.
I was really surprised by this. I take my cars to this Walmart because they've done a good job for me on previous oil changes and tire mounts. I can forgive a moment's carelessness but it seems odd this guy had no concept of the idea of contacting me before deciding to proceed when he couldn't find the oil I had selected.
That evening we watched two episodes of Corner Gas, Season Three. The quality of the writing is uneven but I do love watching for Canadian-specific stuff in the background. It reminds me of our visits to Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
------------------------------------
Sunday, 3 January-
Today Labashi and I went into town together. We had sort of a 'mini-date' to go to the Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears, and Target on some little errand (looking for drawer pulls) and have a burger at Fuddrucker's. Writing it down here makes it sound kind of pitiful but we were just happy to be enjoying each others company for a few hours. Then Labashi wanted to get back to her projects in her office.
Later that afternoon I decided I hadn't yet had enough motorcycle riding. For some reason I really enjoy riding in the colder weather. I'd MUCH rather ride in too-cold weather than too-hot weather. Then again, I'm typically just taking a little jaunt into town to run a small errand and perhaps hit the coffee shop for the papers. I've done a few multi-day trips but trust me when I tell you they're a LOT more fun and rewarding in Mocha Joe. I've done the trip down the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway by motorcycle and by van. It was kind of fun doing the twisties and all on the bike but it can't be compared to the life-experience of a nice, long tour in the van, particularly if Labashi's along. A motorcycle trip is about the motorcycling experience (at least at this stage of my motorcycling skills). A van trip, on the other hand, is a life experience. (And of course it's possible to do BOTH!)
Today's ride was just my Sunday ride to the Tollgate Starbucks near Dallastown to read the Sunday newspaper features. Given today's 23-degree high and sub-10-degree wind chill, the occasional snow flurry, gritty roads, and here and there an icy patch which could put the bike down, the ride had some spice to it.
That evening we watched 'Taking Chance' with Kevin Bacon as a Marine officer who volunteers to escort the body of a 20-year-old Marine home to DuBois, Wyoming. I highly recommend the DVD and then read Lt. Col. Strobl's original here: http://www.chancephelps.org/?page_id=126 .
No walk today.
------------------------------------
Saturday, 2 January-
Today I got the motorcycle started (a bit of a chore involving my battery-charger on this 25-degree day) and rode into town to give it some badly-needed exercise. The wind was blowing in the 20-30 mph range with higher gusts so once I got off the bike I didn't tarry outside long. Several people asked if I'm crazy but once they see the plug for the electrics, they quickly understand I have heat. (Well, it's a heated jacket, not a full suit, but it keeps me warm enough for an hour-long ride in the Twenties).
I of course saw my barista-buddies at Starbucks and read the papers, then stopped at Best Buy to look for a speaker bar for the tv (no luck-- in fact the one I saw in Detroit but didn't want to transport home was $50 higher here). I also browsed the books at Borders but realize I really don't WANT any books. They're just too expensive. I briefly looked at a Sony E-book reader but was very disappointed. The demo may have been having a problem but the whole experience was a turn-off. And the Kindle thing is a turn-off for me. Too much for the reader, too much for an electronic copy of a book-- a LOAN of the electronic copy of a book, that is.
I also renewed my motorcycle insurance today after deciding to stick with my existing company and made the less-than-fun discovery that the battery on the Miata is dead. I put the charger on and while on town today priced a new one at Sears. $159!!!! Say it ain't so!
No walk today.
In the evening we watched a very odd film called 'Secretary' with Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader. Both Maggie and James are very believeable as a pair of odd-duck souls who get into a sado-masochistic relationship. Kinda creepy.
-------------------------------------
Friday, 1 January-
Happy New Year!
I miss Florida already. I haven't been going down until February in past years but would leave today if I could. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it down there this year, though, given all we have going on. But then again, if things fall the right way I may be able to get down there for a week or two in February or March. I do have an invitation to join Orat, my niece, and the grandkids on their Disney trip in mid-February. I've not been to Disney in a couple of generations (well, nearly) so that might be fun. At this point I'm thinking I'd just be happy to hit Disney for a day or two, then get out into the Ocala (the Ocala National Forest, that is). I'd like to see what last year's big fire did to Juniper Springs and the Wild Area and see what it looks like a year later. And I'd like to again enjoy the wonderful mustardy bar-be-que hot sauce at Old Crow Bar-be-Que in Altoona. And I'd like some for-real fresh-squoze orange juice and a big ol' bag of boiled p-nuts. Mostly, though, I just want to see the sun go down at a reasonable time and feel the nice, warm sun on my face.
I spent the day on the web, catching up on the various best-of-the-year info. No walk today.
*************** END OF POST ****************
(posted from home)
(This post covers 1-5 January, 2010)
-----------------------------------
Tuesday, 5 January-
OK, so I'm getting just ridiculously lax about updating the blog online. Today sets a new record of the length of time between posts. This started while travelling and being unable to post every few days. That led me to keep the blog in an offline version and then copy the offline version to the online version. That's ok when the offline-to-online process is happening every few days but I hadn't posted since December 15th. I spent the morning filling the holes in my notes today and converting them to narrative and then posted.
This afternoon I just couldn't wait to get out and walk. We've had a very windy and cold few days so today's mid-Thirties-and-light-winds day called to me. There are even a few patches of faint blue showing through the clouds.
I walked my six-mile loop, picking up three Walmart-bags of trash (mostly beer cans that appeared since my last cleanup walk about a month ago) on the creekside segment. The good-ole boys are putting out three to four beer cans a day. I can't imagine why. Maybe there are carloads of them passing through.
That evening I finished up catching up the blog while Labashi watched a National Geographic special on the Koran and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
-----------------------------------
Monday, 4 January -
I was surprised today to find the Miata battery holding a charge. It had appeared to have been so dead that I expected it wouldn't recover. But it seemed very strong. I took a short drive up to the local gas station to top off a leaky tire and get oil circulating through the transmission and rear end and rub the rust off the brake calipers.
I then tried to start ol' Cherry Larry, our beater-van. I noticed the door didn't seem to be closed the whole way and sure enough, the battery was completely dead. I put the charger on it but the charger lights don't look normal; I think the battery is beyond help.
That afternoon I took Labashi's car in to Walmart for an oil change. The change only takes a half-hour or so but when I went to pay, I noticed they had used the wrong oil. The clerk had the mechanic come in and asked why he hadn't used the oil I had selected. He said they don't have that oil which, of course is ridiculous given the work order entry was created by a drop down of the available oils at Walmart. He then asked if there's any reason I didn't want the oil he 'usually' puts in. In the meantime the clerk had found the oil I had requested and the guy suddenly had something to do in the shop and left. The clerk followed through on having the entire oil change redone, including a new, new filter. So $35-worth of brand new Mobil One went to the recycle tank.
I was really surprised by this. I take my cars to this Walmart because they've done a good job for me on previous oil changes and tire mounts. I can forgive a moment's carelessness but it seems odd this guy had no concept of the idea of contacting me before deciding to proceed when he couldn't find the oil I had selected.
That evening we watched two episodes of Corner Gas, Season Three. The quality of the writing is uneven but I do love watching for Canadian-specific stuff in the background. It reminds me of our visits to Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
------------------------------------
Sunday, 3 January-
Today Labashi and I went into town together. We had sort of a 'mini-date' to go to the Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears, and Target on some little errand (looking for drawer pulls) and have a burger at Fuddrucker's. Writing it down here makes it sound kind of pitiful but we were just happy to be enjoying each others company for a few hours. Then Labashi wanted to get back to her projects in her office.
Later that afternoon I decided I hadn't yet had enough motorcycle riding. For some reason I really enjoy riding in the colder weather. I'd MUCH rather ride in too-cold weather than too-hot weather. Then again, I'm typically just taking a little jaunt into town to run a small errand and perhaps hit the coffee shop for the papers. I've done a few multi-day trips but trust me when I tell you they're a LOT more fun and rewarding in Mocha Joe. I've done the trip down the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway by motorcycle and by van. It was kind of fun doing the twisties and all on the bike but it can't be compared to the life-experience of a nice, long tour in the van, particularly if Labashi's along. A motorcycle trip is about the motorcycling experience (at least at this stage of my motorcycling skills). A van trip, on the other hand, is a life experience. (And of course it's possible to do BOTH!)
Today's ride was just my Sunday ride to the Tollgate Starbucks near Dallastown to read the Sunday newspaper features. Given today's 23-degree high and sub-10-degree wind chill, the occasional snow flurry, gritty roads, and here and there an icy patch which could put the bike down, the ride had some spice to it.
That evening we watched 'Taking Chance' with Kevin Bacon as a Marine officer who volunteers to escort the body of a 20-year-old Marine home to DuBois, Wyoming. I highly recommend the DVD and then read Lt. Col. Strobl's original here: http://www.chancephelps.org/?page_id=126 .
No walk today.
------------------------------------
Saturday, 2 January-
Today I got the motorcycle started (a bit of a chore involving my battery-charger on this 25-degree day) and rode into town to give it some badly-needed exercise. The wind was blowing in the 20-30 mph range with higher gusts so once I got off the bike I didn't tarry outside long. Several people asked if I'm crazy but once they see the plug for the electrics, they quickly understand I have heat. (Well, it's a heated jacket, not a full suit, but it keeps me warm enough for an hour-long ride in the Twenties).
I of course saw my barista-buddies at Starbucks and read the papers, then stopped at Best Buy to look for a speaker bar for the tv (no luck-- in fact the one I saw in Detroit but didn't want to transport home was $50 higher here). I also browsed the books at Borders but realize I really don't WANT any books. They're just too expensive. I briefly looked at a Sony E-book reader but was very disappointed. The demo may have been having a problem but the whole experience was a turn-off. And the Kindle thing is a turn-off for me. Too much for the reader, too much for an electronic copy of a book-- a LOAN of the electronic copy of a book, that is.
I also renewed my motorcycle insurance today after deciding to stick with my existing company and made the less-than-fun discovery that the battery on the Miata is dead. I put the charger on and while on town today priced a new one at Sears. $159!!!! Say it ain't so!
No walk today.
In the evening we watched a very odd film called 'Secretary' with Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader. Both Maggie and James are very believeable as a pair of odd-duck souls who get into a sado-masochistic relationship. Kinda creepy.
-------------------------------------
Friday, 1 January-
Happy New Year!
I miss Florida already. I haven't been going down until February in past years but would leave today if I could. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it down there this year, though, given all we have going on. But then again, if things fall the right way I may be able to get down there for a week or two in February or March. I do have an invitation to join Orat, my niece, and the grandkids on their Disney trip in mid-February. I've not been to Disney in a couple of generations (well, nearly) so that might be fun. At this point I'm thinking I'd just be happy to hit Disney for a day or two, then get out into the Ocala (the Ocala National Forest, that is). I'd like to see what last year's big fire did to Juniper Springs and the Wild Area and see what it looks like a year later. And I'd like to again enjoy the wonderful mustardy bar-be-que hot sauce at Old Crow Bar-be-Que in Altoona. And I'd like some for-real fresh-squoze orange juice and a big ol' bag of boiled p-nuts. Mostly, though, I just want to see the sun go down at a reasonable time and feel the nice, warm sun on my face.
I spent the day on the web, catching up on the various best-of-the-year info. No walk today.
*************** END OF POST ****************
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:11
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