| Author | Message | ||
     Damnut |
Let me know when is good for you, my weekends are filling up pretty fast. Ever been to the Blue Ribbon BBQ in Newton? | ||
| Crusty |
Many times. There's also a Blue Ribbon in Arlington. The West Newton location is my favorite of the two. Then again, there's always Redbones in Somerville. I haven't eaten there in a while, but it was my favorite BBQ joint for years. There's also the Smokestack BBQ in Worcester. They're pretty good. I wasn't that impressed with Firefly's in Marlboro the times I've eaten there. I'm sure there are a bunch of places that I haven't been to that are good, but since I haven't been there, I don't know anything about them. Anyhow, to get back to your original question, Sure; the Blue Ribbon is good. Do you want to meet there one day for lunch or dinner? | ||
| Damnut |
Probably dinner or we could take a ride up to Troy, I'm sure can't be any worse than the last time we rode there.  | ||
| Ourdee |
I'm 114 miles / 1:45 away from Cincinnati. Let me know when the moving truck will arrive and I will help unload. | ||
| Crusty |
Jim; that was one hell of a wet ride home. When is a good day for you? RD; your offer is appreciated, and I accept. I'll let you know when it gets closer to happening. It will probably be late June. | ||
| Alfau |
Are you interested in selling your classic hd in qld au? | ||
| Tootal |
Well I hate to be a gloomy Gus but I just got back from burying a real good friend. Someone I rode motorcycles with, water skied, snow skied and worked with for over 30 years. I just got together with him 3 weeks ago and now he's gone! Then I come home and read your news. I pray that the outcome is as you expect. I really don't need to lose another friend! I'm so glad you finally got your home and look forward to seeing you there in the near future! | ||
| 86129squids |
Sorry to hear of this, Greg. We just got back a little while ago from helping our great friend clear out her basement of lots of junk- on 3/27 she lost her fiancée, also a great friend/brother from another mother to us. Very sad, but- "death and taxes", you know. Been a GREAT, beeeutiful day otherwise! | ||
| Court |
Well . . .if you need a reason to brighten your day . . . here it is . . >>>>Someone I rode motorcycles with, water skied, snow skied and worked with for over 30 years. I've recently had an interesting experience and the words "4 to 6 months" hit like a ton of bricks. But . . and motorcyclists would be uniquely positioned to understand this . . .it's nice, when someone asks what you'd change if you found you had 6 months to live, and you scratch your head and say "nothing". I've just come out of about 5 weeks to tests and it appears I've dodged a bullet but it was a poignant lesson in the import of being happy NOW . . not planning to someday. Your departed friend is one lucky guy. My heart and prayers are with you and his family. | ||
| Crusty |
Through a Migraine Filter I have a Migraine. I can’t decide if my head feels like it wants to explode, or if it feels like it’s being pierced by a giant scalpel. I can’t say I was surprised when it started; between the stress of buying the house and then adding the stress of discovering that my cancer is returning, I’d be surprised if I didn’t get a Migraine. Anyhow, my thinking is heavily influenced by the pain i’m feeling. One thing about my Migraines is that when I get them, there is a period of time when I’m wide awake and my mind is racing and bouncing around like a high speed pinball. That period of time varies. Sometimes, it’s very short and I can fall asleep and sleep through the worst of the pain. Sometimes I’m hyped for hours. This is one of those Migraines. Now, the cancer is treatable. Bladder cancer is one of the easiest cancers to treat. We’re catching it early enough that it shouldn’t be a major problem. I was first diagnosed with Bladder Cancer three years ago. It took two Procedures plus a series of BCG treatments, but it was gone. There hasn’t been a trace of it returning until now. I’m pretty confident that another round of BCG treatments will wipe this recurrence out as thoroughly as the last time. The Urologist stated that she was going to set me up to have the treatments in Cincinnati, so it won’t totally disrupt my move. It will delay the move a bit from when I was originally planning, but I won’t have to pay additional rent either on the apartment here in Hudson, or for the Storage Garage in Fitchburg. The tough part is that it will really limit my traveling for most of the summer. The BCG treatments are administered once a week, and one round is usually six treatments, so that’s six weeks. Add in another Cystoscopy after the last treatment, and I don’t see me going very far this year. That’s OK, I guess. I’ll get it all out of the way, then next year I’ll be able to ride to Tuktoyaktuk and the Beaufort Sea/Arctic Ocean. That’s one of the things on my bucket list, and I fully intend to chalk that one off. (There’s one other major item on my list, but it has nothing to do with motorcycles, so I won’t go into it here) It’s funny how hearing the word Cancer alters your perceptions and values. I’m lucky that having had Bladder cancer a few years ago, combined with my friend Bill passing away unexpectedly, was enough to push me into intentional Homelessness and traveling through all 48 of the Contiguous States (plus a couple of Canadian Provinces) and also spending three months in Australia. Do I have regrets? Of course; I am human. However, I’ve been doing what I’ve been dreaming about for years. I’ve traveled through the Heartland of this magnificent Country on secondary roads and I’ve seen all sorts of wonderful things. And it’s not over yet. After I make it to Tuk and Alaska, there are other places I want to visit. I want to watch a Sunrise at the lighthouse on Cape Spear in Newfoundland and I want to return to Australia, get a bike and see more of that magnificent Country. The nice part is that I’ll have a Home Base that’s both affordable and mine. My own home. It really is looking like I’ll be able to have my cake and eat it too. You know; in spite of my head feeling like a rotten pumpkin, I feel pretty damned Fortunate. I really am living a Blessed life. | ||
| Court |
Crusty: Here's my thinking . . . . if going far is a logistical problem, during this summer, well . . . go near. You're a pro and a seasoned motocycliologist. You're going to be in your new home, you'll have a space station and your bike is . . . well, a lunar orbiter. I know if the new top secret undisclosed location . . . I have found no less than 312 hiking trails, about 29 parks, and found that I live within a 5 minute bicycle ride of 3 private forests. I love going to one of them and ascending the fire tower at night to watch the sunset in the west. Get to know your town . . . pack lunches, explore, adventure, seek out those "weirdest road trips". My youngest sent me some list, a couple years ago, of "the 10 weirdest places to visit in the USA". It didn't surprise him that I'd canceled appointments the next day and left for spot #1 within 15 minutes of getting the list. We stir dust on this mothership for a finite time. I recall my doubts, concerns and myriad of stupid mistakes when I got in an argument on the internet, shot my big mouth off and the next thing I knew I was circling the United States on a Buell . . . 37 states in s single ride. Regrets? I'll think of some . . . .but, I can't think of them yet. Kinda cool knowing that places like Lookout Mountain, Pike's Peak, Rodeo Drive, Mt. St. Helens, 4 corners, Jackson Hole and so forth . . . I was the first person ever there on a Buell. Yeah . . . let the migraine do what it needs to do . . focus on your health (I'm spending way too much time with doctors theses days, but it's nice to be here in the world capital of medicine) and get good at GOING NEAR. Next year . . . cancer countered, basic house doings done, migraine abated . . . GO FAR. I like the way you think, dream and eat. Court | ||
| Zac4mac |
Enjoy the slower pace of "downtime". I keep looking at my house, garage, 3 cars, 2 trucks, 4 bikes and right there is too much to do. But the new shop is busy, heads coming in faster than I can get them out. Telling them now I'm headed for Homecoming in a few weeks, Still need to set up a hard time for Tim to play with my RS Carbon before this years' mile sprints. Can't wait to see old friends and meet some more old friends. NOTHING like Homecoming Hopefully this fall will get slow and I can start to clean out my garage. | ||
| Two_seasons |
Court said "We stir dust on this mothership for a finite time."  Zac4mac said "Can't wait to see old friends and meet some more old friends. NOTHING like Homecoming"  After my heart attack four years ago, my perspective changed a lot.  | ||
| Tootal |
I want to watch a Sunrise at the lighthouse on Cape Spear in Newfoundland Let me help you with that!  | ||
| Crusty |
That's the first place in North America that sunlight hits in the morning. | ||
| Tootal |
Yep, the most Eastern point in N. America. I also have a similar picture of Quoddy Bay in Maine. It was socked in with fog too! It's the most Eastern point in the U.S.A. | ||
| Crusty |
Monday; I Think… I think that Monday would be a good day to go visit the Shop. I haven’t been there in a while, and I want to show them the Seal Mate. That flimsy piece of plastic did what it was supposed to do and saved me a lot of aggravation. It’s the best ten bucks (I got two) I’ve spent in a long time. Plus, I want to swap insults with everybody. I’ll bring my squeeze bottle and fill it with James River BBQ sauce, so I’ll have some. There are quite a few local food items that I’m going to miss once I’ve moved to Cincinnati. The James River BBQ sauce is one. It is the perfect sauce to put on a very rare roast beef with white american cheese sandwich. Speaking of which, I’ll miss Kelly’s Roast Beef. Going to Revere Beach and getting one of Kelly’s sandwiches with a side of onion rings is truly a culinary delight. I’m also going to miss Brigham’s Ice Cream. Brigham’s make the absolute best strawberry ice cream I’ve ever eaten. I have yet to sample anything that’s even remotely as good. It makes Ben & Jerry’s look lame, and Haagen Dazs limp. Then there are Kayem Natural Casing Franks and Schonlands Old World Franks. If you’ve never had either, you don’t know just how good a hot dog can be. And while I’m talking about Hot Dogs, Cain’s Sweet Pickle Relish is also a cut above the rest. However, the food that I’m going to miss the most is good Pizza. My brother David is as much of a good food enthusiast as I am, and he warned me about the pizza in Cincinnati. I’ve sampled a couple of different local varieties, and all I’ll say is that none of them would last very long up here in the Northeast. However, the BBQ sauce is available to restaurants in gallon bottles, so I could get Sandra to get me a gallon and ship it to me from the shop, and maybe I could have some franks shipped in a styrofoam box like Omaha Steaks does with their meat. With dry ice, I might even be able to get some Brigham’s sent, as well. But that would be for very special occasions, ‘cause it would make the items very expensive. It might be worth it, though. Cincinnati has its own delights, however. Skyline Chili is one. It tastes nothing like Texas style Chili, but it’s good. I’ve found that the more I’ve eaten it, the more it grows on me. And, of course, there’s White Castle. I love those little sliders. They’re probably about as healthy as Tina’s Red Hot Beef Burritos, but I love them, too. And I’m sure I’ll discover other things I’m going to enjoy, once I’ve moved. Anyhow, I was planning to write about something different, but I started thinking about lunch, and that’s what occurred to me. I guess I’ll write about my friends at the Shop in another Snippet. | ||
| H0gwash |
The Seal Mate worked for me too. It makes me think of all the hours and cuss words I wasted changing seals rather than simply cleaning under them. | ||
| 86129squids |
Crusty the Chowhound! I'm sure you'll quickly acclimate to the culinary landscape once you get settled in... that'll be lots of fun! @ White Castle: LOVE them. The nearest ones to me are London KY or Lebanon TN. Being a Tennessee boy, I've grown up on Krystals, but White Castles are superior. I can get frozen White Castles with cheese from the grocery, they're surprisingly good, but obviously nowhere near the real deal. I keep them around for a quick snack, tides me over til dinner or whatever. I'm hoping to be not too whooped Monday- NOT looking forward to working Mother's Day brunch. $$$ should be good, but dang if it's hard on my old sack of bones. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I just ordered the SealMate. | ||
| Ourdee |
Whitecastles in Indianapolis | ||
| Crusty |
A Good Day Well; today was new front tire day. So I made plans with Dondi to have her come by the garage in Fitchburg and run me and my wheel down to get the tire inflated. I got out the door a little late, then was hampered by Road Construction in several locations. I wound up getting to the garage later than I planned. However, Everything worked well for me for a change, and I had the wheel off the bike and the old tire off and the new tire on in about a half hour. Of course, Dondi had run into delays, as well, so I wound up just sitting and waiting for a while. It gave me time to enjoy the day. For the first time in I don’t know how long, the temperature was above average, and the sky was blue. Temps have been below average for the past month or so (it feels like a lot longer) so I was just loving the weather. Dondi arrived and we took the wheel to a local car tire place where they filled the tire with air, seated the bead and adjusted the pressure to 32 PSI. Then we drove back to the garage where I balanced the wheel and put it on the bike. If you don’t count the time I spent waiting for Dondi, I did the job in less than two hours. I’m satisfied with that. The bike is now ready for another run to Cincinnati next week. This time, I’ll pack my camping gear. I’ll be sleeping in the house for a few days while I’m cleaning, so I’ll need my sleeping pad and bag. I’m also thinking that I’ll put the 40 Liter bags on and carry more clothes, etc. Or, maybe not. I can’t move all my clothes, I’ll be back here for a couple of weeks, at least and I’ll need clothes to wear here. I’ll give it some more thought over the next few days. I’m really getting excited about the move. It pretty much dominates my thoughts. I wish I didn’t have to have that Procedure; then I could make the move weeks sooner. However, It is what it is. I should be moved by the first of July. I think. I can’t think straight this evening, so I’ll end for now. Life is sure looking pretty Sweet for me, at present. | ||
| Ourdee |
Great news there. I sat on my porch this evening enjoying a glass of tea my dog and 73 degree weather. | ||
| Damnut |
John I hope you don't mind but I was thinking of changing locations for dinner tomorrow night. I'm not really exited to be fighting 128 traffic at 5pm so I know of a great place to go that is right off 495. It's a little bit of a longer ride for you but we can eat outside and I know you've never been here before. This is one of the only places around here that serves Texas Beef ribs and man are they good!!! Let me know what you think. http://www.commonwealthbbq.com/ | ||
| Crusty |
Same Time? 5:30? Sounds good to me. | ||
| Damnut |
Yup same time | ||
| Crusty |
A Speedo Problem I’m in Ohio. Just barely. I’m sitting in a Macca’s drinking coffee and drying out. All my “Waterproof” gear leaks. Jacket, rain pants, boot covers, gloves; they’re all really good at letting water in, then not letting it out. The good news is that I’m through the rain. The pavement has dried out and there’s even breaks in the clouds and I’ve spotted blue sky a couple of times. The last rain that I rode through was really heavy and I think that some of it got into my wiring. My speedometer needle is kind of floating between 15 and 20 MPH low. I know that 3500 RPM is 75 MPH, but the speedo is reading 55 or 60. Well, maybe it’ll dry out. If not, I’ll get some contact cleaner when I get to Cincy and spray the pins in the connectors. It doesn’t take much corrosion to really screw it up; as I discovered last winter. It also doesn’t take much contact cleaner to cure the problem. Yesterday should have been a really Lucky day. First, my odometer turned 77,777 miles while riding on I-84 in New York; then, when I stopped for dinner in Newfoundland, PA my check totaled $11.11. I don’t think my luck was any better or worse than usual. I still got caught by the rain before I got to a motel. Today’s luck doesn’t seem any better than normal either. Still, I enjoyed watching the odometer turn that much mileage. Well, this Mickey’s doesn’t have power outlets, and my battery is rapidly weakening, so I’ll stop here. | ||
| Etennuly |
I had a stroke of numerology last week also. I went to sleep at around midnight then woke for bathroom break at 2:47, woke again at 4:27, then got up at 7:24. Strange enough. Did not do a damn thing for luck. Numerology is like trying to win lottery without buying a ticket or collecting winnings. Doh! | ||
| Crusty |
The Storm Before The Calm Before The Storm I feel like I’m in the eye of a category 5 hurricane. The past few days have been really frantic and tomorrow is going to bring more insanity, but for now, there’s very little I can do. I found reasonably priced House Insurance and everything comes together at 9:30 tomorrow morning when I become the owner of my own house, but tomorrow is going to be a Bat-sh*t Crazy day. I have to get an HUD-1 form that’s been signed by both the seller and buyer (me) and bring it to the Water Works so they can turn on the water, The Gas company is going to come by the house and remove the lock on the gas and turn it on, Don’s going to be at the house to sort out the plumbing and I have to be everywhere simultaneously. Yesterday, David and I went to numerous “Big Box” stores and bought a sh*tload of cleaning supplies and other necessities that I will be using over the next few days. I think I’ve found a way to get enough water to last me until Wednesday when the Greater Cincinnati Water Works arrives to turn on the water. The GCWW has been the burr under my saddle throughout this ordeal. Once I’m in the house and they’ve come by to turn on the water and all is going smoothly, I’ll relate my experience with them. But not until then; they still have the power to screw up my life. Like all career Bureaucrats, they sure love Rules for the sake of Rules. I’ll stop now, before I say too much. Last night, we did a drive by to the Title Company where I have to go tomorrow to close on the house. We were in the car, and the rain was some of the heaviest I’ve been in for a number of years. It was an Ohio River Vally rain storm. If you’ve ever been in one, you won’t forget it. Visibility was somewhere in the vicinity of 100 feet, and traffic on the Interstate was moving at 40 MPH (and that was really too fast for conditions). the only reason we could go that fast was because David was staying just within tail light viewing distance of the semi he was behind. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been going more than about 20 or maybe 25. There were a couple of sightings of tornados in the area as well, but not where we were at the time. I think it was Mother Nature telling me, “Welcome to Cincinnati!” I’m finding this move to be both exciting and scary as hell. It’s exciting because I’m going to have my own house; my own castle where I can live the way I like. The weather runs about five degrees warmer than the weather in Massachusetts, so winter won’t be nearly as bad. It’s scary because I don’t know many people here and I’m not familiar with the area. I’m going to have to change a lot of things and that will require a lot of effort. Driver’s License, registration, bike insurance, doctors, which grocery stores I like, even just getting from Point A to Point B. I’ve moved around a bit during my life, but it can still be intimidating for a while. I think I’ll get used to being here fairly quickly though, so I won’t let the fear slow me down too much. Anyway, tomorrow I’ll be a Homeowner! I’ll have my own little house! I find that to be so wonderful that it seems like a fantasy coming true. | ||
| Ourdee |
GCWW, I get the pain. I hate it when I have to be quiet out of concern that others can be a fly in my ointment just because they didn't get their coffee just right. I bit my tongue a few times while getting into this house. It will all go well. You know how to sit back looking calm on the outside while making them feel like they are the greatest because of all the good they do. Mind that tell, the one where your right foot is heading for their gonads. Good luck brother. I still haven't figured out why this thread makes me so happy. Take time to go out and eat during all the cleaning! |
